Page 79 of Love Notes & Lifelines
My blood rings in my ears. I’ve never been this angry—rage doesn’t begin to cover what I’m feeling. Then I focus on the way she said her brother’s name—the hurt that surrounded it, and I hold back some of the fire coursing through my veins.
“Is this really what this is all about? Davis? You can’t handle that he chose to be here, with us, rather than home with you? When we were goddamn kids?”
“He left me all alone with him,” she blurts and immediately snaps her mouth shut. She blames me for taking Davis from her and leaving her alone with her father, but that’s no excuse for what she’s doing to my girls now, so my plan moves forward. She’s had years to fix her shit and she hasn’t. I won’t allow her to ruin any more lives.
“I kept you afloat as a courtesy, Dani.” The words rumble in my throat as I fight to keep my composure. “That courtesy has expired. Every wrong decision you’ve made, every bad deal, every time you thought you’d come out on top and failed,just knowthat wasme. I’ve been picking your company apart since the day my father died, and this time I’ll ruin you.”
A little color drains from her face—she wasn’t expecting that, and I’m even more grateful that Elijah suggested I hire outside counsel for those deals. They’re likely the only ones Caleb didn’t tell Danica about. But she knows now, and things will get messy.
“How long has Caleb been your little lap dog?”
Her sneer spreads across her face. “Your father should have taught you something about loyalty, Becker. If he had, maybe you’d still have some secrets to keep.”
That’s what I thought.
“You have no idea how deep my secrets go. Get out.” I reach blindly for Stella and pull her into my side. “We’ll see you in court.”
“Only if I don’t make a move first,” she threatens as she walks through the front door.
I slam it behind her with enough force to shake the foundation.
Both hands fall to the wood frame and I lean forward while dragging in ragged breaths. It takes a full minute before I gather myself enough to turn around, and truthfully, I expect Stella to be gone, but she’s still standing there, white as a ghost.
She shakes her head when I step toward her, then stop. We’re a room apart, but it feels like miles separate us now.
“You’ve been tearing apart her company for revenge—to destroy her—personally.”
“I had to, Stella. Her family took everything from me.”
“You’ve been doing it for years.” Her voice has an eerie quality to it I don’t understand. “Even before the girls.”
“I had to do it slowly, meticulously. There could be no errors.”
She blinks and lowers her lashes as if she can’t bear to look at me. When she finally meets my gaze, the pain in her expression guts me. “You’re going to take everything from her. You’ll leave her broken and alone.”
It’s such a strangely specific thing to say that I’m at a loss for words.
“Do you take pleasure in tearing her down?”
My jaw nearly hits the floor. “Do I take pleasure in ruining her? Yes. She’s been after my family my entire life. Do I make a habit of this type of systematic takeover? No. I prefer to build things that people want—that enrich their lives. But I won’t lie and say that my dedication to ruining her hasn’t gone nuclear. Did you not hear what she’s willing to do to the girls?”
Frustration makes my voice rise. I don’t mean for it to, but I don’t understand where her head has gone or how it went down this path instead of the one where I’m protecting innocent children.
“I did,” she admits, then stares at her feet. Her right hand twists around her left wrist. What’s going on with you, Stella? It’s a long moment before she lifts her face again, and she’s wearing a pain I can’t begin to fathom. “How does that make you any better than her? You want me to go along with this scheme of yours, but how can I trust that you won’t do the same thing to me?”
“I—”
Stella turns before I can finish my thought. “I’m getting the girls from their room and taking them for a walk. We’ll be back.” Her tone sets off alarm bells. Ones that tell me she’s not okay, but I’m so far out of my element, I’m not even sure if we’re in the same stratosphere anymore.
I don’t move as she goes upstairs, or when I hear them leave through the back. I stand here contemplating how the best sex of my life turned into collusion, coercion, and the possibility of losing the little girls I’m already growing to love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
STELLA
I’m coveredin a cold sweat as memories assault me from every angle even though the air still carries the chill of early spring on the coast.
At least I remembered to bundle up the girls better than I did myself, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. How could I when I heard how malicious Beck was, or how easily he’ll ruin her?
