Page 27 of Dex

I knock on the door and walk into the old man’s office.“You wanted to see me?”

“Sit down.”He gets up from his chair just as I’m easing myself into the one opposite him.He stands, hands in his pockets, staring down at me in that calculated way when he has something of importance to impart.This man likes to have the upper hand, to look down and control the room at moments like this.

“What did you make of last night’s soiree?”

I knew he’d ask me this instead of admitting the truth.That he tricked all of us into meeting her.

“Did you mean to ask that, or do you really want my opinion on the heiress?”I cross my arms.I have a feeling I know why she was there, but I want to hear it from my father.

“She has a name.Daniela.”

“We thought that deal was dead, that it never went anywhere with Jett.And yet, suddenly, you orchestrate an event and fly her in from Brazil?”I shake my head.“Last night wasn’t about networking.We can network with those people any time of the year.Last night was all about parading her in front of us Why can’t you just admit it?”

The old man glances at his watch.“She’s here to form an alliance, if possible.One that will be mutually beneficial to the Oliveiras and the Knights.”

I sit up straighter., I’ll be damned.He’s admitted to it.“Why couldn’t you tell us before?”

“Would you have turned up last night?”he asks.“I’ll give it to you straight.She approached me.”

I stare at him, unable to process what I’m hearing.“Sheapproachedyou?”My jaw clenches.“You told us that you went to them.”

“Months ago, yes, before Jett ran off to Bermuda for his little escapade.”

“It wasn’t an escapade,” I snap.“He’s in love with Cari.She’s been good for him, and you should be happy for him.”

“Escapade,” he repeats, his tone dismissive.

“He’s happy.Brooke has a mother figure she adores, and Jett—”

“I don’t want to talk about Jett,” the old man interrupts, waving his hand like he’s swatting away an insect.He doesn’t like talking about Jett because my brother one-upped him.

Every time I’m before this man, I feel like a seven-year-old boy.How did my mother put up with him?Whydid she put up with him?

She didn’t.

Sheenduredhim for us.And when she found out he had a secret family, it was more than she could bear.And then I … I made things worse.I push away the dark thoughts that stalk me every time the past comes up.

My father keeps talking.“Daniela Oliveira called me, because her father is most eager for an alliance.”

The heiress initiated this?

“Why didn’t her father call you?”

“His health is failing.”

I cock my head and try to figure out what might be going on, but it would only be pure speculation.“Jett turned her down, and if she’s still desperate—”

“This isn’t about her.She’s not desperate to make a match for love.She’s doing it because she’s a businesswoman and she and her father believe our families merging would be mutually beneficial for us both.”

“It still smacks of desperation to me,” I mutter.

“Jett,” my father says, pausing to take a breath.“Jett embarrassed me.”

I try not to smile at the memory of that Knight family dinner when Jett brought Cari along—something that never happens in this family.He stood up and said he wasn’t going to go through with my father’s arrangement.Declared he loved Cari.Made a grand statement and told everyone he loved her.“That was pretty cool,” I say, proud of my older brother.

My father sneers at the memory.“And now, Daniela has chosenyou.”

The words barely register.

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