Page 36 of Exposed

“Miller was highly trained to protect my daughter,” Mr. Pruitt said. “And she needed protection. If I recall correctly, half the time you were together you were dating her in secret. You weren’t exactly at the top of my list of contenders to keep her safe.”

“We were engaged. She was living with me. I was keeping her safe.”

“And yet…she died during that time.” He put ‘died’ in air quotes. “So really, you didn’t keep her safe at all.”

“You’re the one that did that, you fucking maniac!”

“No, I stepped up and protected my daughter. Because I love her.”

“If you wanted to protect Brooklyn you should have locked Isabella up in a psych ward!”

“I did. For a time. I thought she was better. Even James agreed she was better.”

“James was high out of his mind when he married Isabella.”

Mr. Pruitt shrugged. “That’s not really any of my concern. Speaking of marriage. Does your intrusion mean your engagement to Poppy is in fact all a ruse?”

“She’s as crazy as Isabella. Of course it’s a ruse.”

“Interesting. I expected as much. Blackmail, I presume?”

“She’s threatening James’ daughter. She wants to take over the family business. She thought you were worried about her lack of finance skills. And apparently dating me would help that. Not that I’d ever touch your dirty money.”

“I never wanted you to be a part of my business. Another one of the reasons I wanted Brooklyn to be with someone else.”

“Fuck you.”

“Watch your language. My property. My rules.”

I wasn’t here to be reprimanded. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to give your business to Poppy. Because she actually wants it, unlike Brooklyn. And you’re going to get her to sign the contract I sent over, which just agrees that she’ll never hurt anyone in my life. And then you’re going to leave me and Brooklyn the hell alone. And her son.” I swallowed down the lump in my throat at saying those words. She had a kid.

Mr. Pruitt smiled at me. “Done.”

Wait, what?“You’re going to step down?”

“I stepped down yesterday. As per my daughter’s request. She said I couldn’t be in her life or my grandson’s unless I wasn’t part of this business. So I am no longer part of this business.”

“You’re really done?”

“I am. Now back to that last thing you said. You, Brooklyn, and my grandson… Is that the future you see?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Brooklyn and my grandson are my only living heirs. Of course their future is my business. Are you planning on marrying her and adopting my grandson?”

“Of course I am.” I didn’t even hesitate to respond. I wouldn’t be here telling him to fuck off if I wasn’t planning that. And yeah, Brooklyn and I just had a fight. But that’s what we did. We fought and made up. And I hated that she had a kid with someone else. But I didn’t hate that she had a child. I loved kids. I’d always wanted a big family. He was a piece of her. And that meant I was going to love him too.

“It just so happens that your relationship contract is still signed and sitting in my desk. So you have my agreement. I owe you an apology, though.”

“You think?”

“Not for faking Brooklyn’s death. More what happened leading up to it. As I’ve said, I didn’t think you were a suitable match. I knew I was going to fake her death all along. I was just waiting to convince her to pull the trigger on my plan. I never intended to let you marry my daughter. Your parents were just trying to distance themselves from my good name. And I wasn’t going to allow it.”

“What the hell? You knew she was excited. You knew…”

“No, what I knew was that she was 16 years old. Which was too young to make a lifelong decision. And that she was mine to protect.”

“Brooklyn is not an object. She’s notyours.” I clenched my jaw. But wasn’t that how I thought of her too? As mine?

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