Page 48 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

Granted, there were only three to choose from, but Quinn wanted to go down to the alpine lake.

“Then we have to walk back up,” Micah and Yasmine said at the same time.

“I’ll go as far as that lookout and take a photo. You two go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“Subtle,” Micah said as Quinn darted down the path. He resisted the urge to call out that she should hold the rail. She wasn’t a child, but he’d be damned if he would let her put herself back in hospital.

“I like her a lot,” Yasmine said as they began to stroll along the trail.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.” Except herself, Micah realized with a jolt. Not that Quinn hated herself. She wasn’t that twisted, but he didn’t think she appreciated how special she was.

“Thank you for coming,” Yasmine said with an earnest flash in her gaze. “I know it must have been hard news to hear.”

“That my father was a monster? It wasn’t news to me that he was one, only the full extent.” He paused at a rail that allowed him to see Quinn below, taking photos of the sharp peaks across the valley. “I’m sorry, Yasmine. I’m truly sorry for what he put your mother through. Your whole family. And for how I’ve behaved at different times, believing my father’s version of the past.”

“There was no one to tell you differently. My parents hid the truth even from me.” Her smile flickered and faltered. “To be fair, my father did actually double-cross yours.”

In retaliation for the crime against his wife. Micah didn’t blame him for that, especially when Kelvin Gould had made every effort to punish them. Her parents had had to move to Canada to get away from his father’s attempts to destroy them financially.

“I want you to know that I’ve spent the last few days asking my legal and accounting teams for a market value assessment of all that I inherited from my father.”

“Oh my God. Micah, no. That’s not why I wanted to meet you.” She was horrified.

He wasn’t surprised by her refusal, but ignored it.

“I know it won’t make things right, but it’s important to me to try. Your parents might be gone, but your family deserves compensation for what my father put them through. They would have had a different life if my father hadn’t made it impossible for them to stay in Paris. And you have certain claims that are rightfully yours. A board seat. We can find a way to appoint someone to vote your share if you don’t want to identify yourself to the rest of my family. I completely understand if you would rather not. At some point I’ll have to tell them that my father was responsible for another child. They’ll want a paternity test, but we can redact your name and all of that can wait until you and I have negotiated the settlement.”

“Micah,please.” Her eyes were boggled. “All of my needs are met. I don’t need anything from you.”

“It’s not from me, Yasmine. It’s what he should have done. Don’t let him get away with what he did. Don’t let the rest of his family blindly continue to benefit from his lack of consequence.”

She frowned with consternation, absorbing that.

Quinn finally caught up to them. She was clutching her chest, huffing and puffing. “I forgot about the elevation. That climb nearly killed me.”

“We didn’t want to be right,” Yasmine said, following as Micah steered Quinn toward a nearby bench.

“It just comes naturally?” Quinn suggested pithily, looking between them.

Micah shared a smirk with his sister.

Micah seemed both relaxed yet still keyed up as they returned to Vienna late the next day.

By then, they had sent a group selfie to Eden who had soon replied.

This makes me so happy! It’s my new lock screen.

Privately, Eden had messaged Quinn.

When are you going to tell me what’s going on between you and Micah?

“Why am I here and not on my yacht?” Micah asked as they started to take a glass of wine onto the terrace only to be chased back inside by the dry city heat.

“Don’t let me hold you back.” Now that the visit with Yasmine was out of the way, the argument they’d had the morning over the rings seemed to flood back in and fill the room.

“You need to know something.” Micah eyed her over the rim of his glass as he took a healthy gulp.

“What?” She froze part way to seating herself on the sofa.

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