Page 81 of The Seven Rings
“I think that snapped something in him. He couldn’t get his way with you, ends up with a broken engagement—which embarrassed him, made him look like what he is. A loser. Couldn’t have that, so he did all he could to dump it on you. That didn’t work either, not really.”
“He pushed me out of By Design.”
Lion’s eyes fired as Cleo shot out a finger. “No, he did not! You made a choice, the right one. But knowing what happened, Matt and Laine lost a lot of respect for him. They couldn’t fire him over cheating on you, but he knew, had to know, they looked at him differently. Thought less of him.
“Couldn’t have that,” Cleo continued, “so he sabotaged your work and worse. I bet he popped a cork when you resigned. But what happened? You started your own, and you did just fine. I’m betting that burned his conceited ass.”
Wound up, Cleo circled both arms. “Then, holy hell, you get a whopping inheritance. Now the woman who dumped him’s rich, with a big, beautiful house, her own company. It’s burning and snapping and burning some more. But Ryder? You getting the Ryder Sports account over him? Woo! More, he gets canned because he went at you, lied right out loud.”
“To sum it up,” Sonya said when Cleo paused for breath, “I’m the reason for everything that hasn’t gone his way since last summer.”
“That’s how his tiny dick and massive ego see it. Add jealous, because to him, you landed in a sea of roses, and he wants in. And you, being just another weak-minded female? He can talk you into it.”
“Squeeze what he has out of my inheritance, steal some of the shine from Visual Art before he dumps me. That’s the core, right? He needs to dump me. Get me back, get what he can, then break my heart and dump me.”
“I’ve got a good feeling when you and the Doyles get through with him, he’s going to give that up and go hunting for another ego boost and payday.”
“It was never me.” Not quite as exhausted, and no longer demoralized, Sonya sat back. “It’s not me now either. I was just, well, a kind of mark, right? I checked off enough boxes for him, that’s all. Is it crazy that makes me feel better about it all?”
“No, it is not.”
“Good, because it really does. First there’s Trey with his quietly simmering rage and wall of legal logic, now you with your loudly boiling rage and sensible psych evaluation. And to backtrack, my ghost and pet defense. I definitely feel better about all of it.”
“Good, and when you tell Winter, you’ll have a mama’s fury and comfort.”
When Trey came out, Cleo rose, and when he stepped onto the deck, walked to him. She wrapped her arms around him, pressed her lips firmly to his.
“Nice to see you, too.”
“Anybody who goes after my girl, Sonya, they go after me. Anybody who stands for her, stands for me. Now, you sit down with her awhile. I need to put the groceries away and start dinner.”
“I put them away; Owen’s bringing dinner. We thought it was a good night for pizza.”
“When isn’t it? Then I’m going to go open us a bottle of wine.”
“Opened, breathing on the island.”
“I like a man who thinks of everything.” Pleased, she kissed him again. “I’ll just go get glasses, put together a little crudité.”
When she went in, Trey sat. He took one quick study of Sonya, and smiled.
“Bouncing back, aren’t you, cutie? You always do.”
“If I start to worry, I just bring back a picture of his face when he ran out of the house. It’s right up there with the picture of Dobbs when I hit her with the rock.”
“Owen’s up to date so you won’t have to go through it again. And my dad’s drafting a letter to the fuckhead.”
“A letter?”
“Very formal, very legal. He’s great at that. Basically, a cease and desist. Citing the harassment before the Ryder proposal, the incident here, the threat at the end of it. Legal action, blah blah, if such actions continue, if he disparages you or your company, and so on. He’ll copy you when it’s done.”
“Covering all the legal bases.”
“It’s what we do. They’re pretty steamed.”
“They?”
“Ace was with him when I called, so expect—between them—the letter to be ice-cold and crystal clear.”
