Page 148 of Down Knot Out
Quinn darts out of the office, and we follow her back into Dom’s workspace.
She stops next to Dom’s overflowing desk. “This is where Uncle Dom designs everything. He has a special desk that goes up and down with a button!”
The scent of pencil shavings lingers in Dominic’s office, mingling with the faint citrus of his pheromones. Afternoon light streams through the windows, illuminating the drafting table where blueprints are weighed down by bean bags. Architectural models sit on a shelf, the miniature cabins and Homestead rendered in detail.
Interest piqued, Sadie studies the blueprints with surprising focus, her fingers hovering over the careful lines without touching them. “This is so detailed.” She takes in the scope of the resort project with admiration. “Dad always said this place would fail without the family connections. But they’re really doing it.”
“They’ve had a few setbacks, but Phase Onewill open on time.” Pride swells within me. “The Homestead is complete, and the cabins will be ready for the summer opening.”
Sadie frowns. “Dad mentioned something about permits being held up. I didn’t realize it was a serious problem.”
Quinn wanders to the window, distracted by a squirrel in the trees outside.
Sadie’s gaze drifts across Dominic’s desk, landing on a notebook left open, and her body goes still. “Why do you have this?”
The sudden tension in her body draws me over. “Have what?”
She points to the notebook, her finger trembling. “Redwater Holdings.” The words are underlined several times in the notebook. “Why is it in Dom’s notes?”
The name has become familiar over the past weeks as the pack traced the pattern of sabotage. “That’s the shell company behind the inspector payoffs. They’ve been trying to delay or sabotage the builds.”
Sadie’s face drains of color. “That’s… That’s the company Dad uses to pay for my rehab to keep it off-books. If this is the company paying to sabotage your resort plans, then our dad is behind it.”
Chapter Forty
Blake
When Sadie, Quinn, and Chloe come downstairs for lunch, I know right away that all is not well. I see it in Chloe’s pale face and in the way Sadie grips a notebook, knuckles white and the cardboard cover bent from the force of her hold.
Nathaniel, Dominic, and Holden pause in the process of setting the table, sensing the change in the air.
Quinn runs to me. “Uncle Blake!”
I bend to scoop her up, but my attention remains on the women. “Did something happen during the tour?”
Chloe turns to Sadie, giving her an encouraging nudge.
My sister comes forward, thrusting the notebook forward. “We need to talk about this.”
Dominic frowns as he takes it. “This is the notebook from my desk.”
“Yes.” She glances back at Chloe again.
She gives my sister an encouraging nod. “It’s okay. You won’t be in trouble.”
Sadie takes a deep breath. “It’s about Redwater Holdings.” She turns haunted eyes to me. “Dad owns the company.”
The foundation rocks beneath my feet, my hold on Quinn slipping. Nathaniel quickly takes her from my arms, lowering her to the floor before I drop my niece. “What did you say?”
“Dad opened the shell company the first time I went to rehab.” Sadie hangs her head. “He didn’t want the media getting wind of it. Redwater Holdings is the company he uses to pay for everything he wants to keep off the books. Rehab, blackmail, bribes, insurance fraud…”
Each word drills into my skull, driving out every other thought. My father has been the one trying to destroy the future we’ve been building here for our pack. He’s the reason the resort is in constant jeopardy, and why Nathaniel and I might be forced to leave our pack. And for what?
“Why?” Before she can answer, I shake my head. “Never mind, I can guess.”
He lost face with his peers when I walked away from the family company. He lost the one person who always cleaned up Sadie’s messes. He lost the polished image he paraded around of the perfect family, perfectly intact. This was how he intended to take it all back.
Itoldhim we were a true bonded pack, but he never believed it because it didn’t fit into the narrative he built for our future. Just like how he has controlled Sadie, when?—
