Controlling Interests: A Step-Brother Romance (The Legacy Book 2) (38 page)

“Your office, Mr. Bennett.”

The secretary offered more than just a tour of the corner suite. She leaned against the door, her fingers toying with the lock.

“Anything else I can get for you?”

I wasn’t interested in blondes.

“Yes, call my father and ask him to join me. I’d like to thank him for the office.”

Her scowl wasn’t nearly as endearing as the treats she offered. She pouted but heeded orders.

My father didn’t knock. He entered unbidden, shaking his head.

“Nicholas, I hoped you’d enjoy your new office.” He was not subtle. “And the secretary.”

I laughed. “I can find my own women, Dad, thank you.”

He smiled. “Serves me right for match-making. Though, forgive your father. You might begin thinking of finding someone.”

“Part of the business plan?” I sat at my new desk. “Job. Presidency. Wife?”

“Child. What did I tell you were the cornerstones of success? Power and…?”

“Family.”

My father nodded. “Exactly. You’re a young man, but one day, you will be responsible for this family and company.”

“Maybe I should work a full day before I start the search for the future Mrs. Nicholas Bennett?”

“It isn’t the wife that’s important,” my father said. “It’s the legacy. This company
is
our future. One day, it’ll be your turn to ensure its safety.” He held my gaze, formally welcoming me to the Bennett Corporation with a handshake.

“I hope you’ll be as proud of your son as I am of mine.”

I was not a man who tolerated being ignored.

Not my calls, not my correspondence, and not my invitations to lunch.

Roman Wescott tried my patience, and he would lose.

I would not allow my company’s decisions and business interests to be controlled by another, especially one outside the family. I worked too hard, sacrificed too much, and spent too many nights alone to allow a stranger to rule over us.

I worked only to ensure her safety.

And a month was far too long a wait for me to suffer.

Max bounced his good leg as we idled outside Wescott’s office. He saw through it all, even my solemn silence.

“You sure you want to do this?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“And you want to do it
my
way?”

“That choice was made for us.”

Max didn’t believe me. “You really fucked this up, Nick.”

No. I did exactly what I needed to do.

I protected Sarah, first and foremost. Whatever else happened was inconsequential.

If that meant the board ordered me to do their bidding like a damned whipping boy, then fine. If it meant serving my father and parroting his every word for the past month, all the better.

If I was the target of their cruelty, then I was the bastard they’d punish. They wouldn’t target Sarah for Roman Wescott’s refusal to sign the amendment freeing her from the board’s sights.

But the board’s patience was limited.

And I had no other options but to engage Wescott in a more…unprofessional manner.

“This is what we have to do to save her life,” I said.

Max pointed through the windshield, toward Roman Wescott’s office and the last obstacle preventing me from trading Sarah’s trust for her life.

“What if he doesn’t sign?” Max said.

“He will.”

“We could keep moving her.” Max offered solutions I already imagined and rationalized as too dangerous. “Just shift her around until the trust hits on her birthday. That’s only what, seven months? There’s plenty of little cabins in the Poconos where she could hide.”

“I’m not taking that chance. I want her free from the board.”

“Just because she’s kept alive doesn’t mean she’ll be safe,” he said. “Dad will find her.”

Like the thought hadn’t kept me awake for nights on end, imagining what would happen if we slipped, if somehow he discovered where she hid. What little sleep I earned ended in nightmares of her death and the celebration of those in the Bennett Corporation who lived only to watch her die.

The days passed. Then weeks. Then the month.

Protecting her meant hiding her, even from me. I hadn’t spoken to her since the day I rescued her. My brothers stole her away, exchanged helicopters for planes and planes for cars and crossed the country in record time to deliver her into strict isolation.

She was alone.

She was scared.

But she was alive.

And, for the moment, that pleased both my father and me. He made an unfortunate ally, protecting Sarah for his own perverted reasons. However, for the purposes of securing the company, I could think of no better partner, mentor, or veteran in a war against our own board.

What should have become my board.

I sacrificed my interests to save hers. My life, my future, my empire—gone. Destroyed by an Atwood, just as I knew would eventually happen.

And I would have signed my life over again.

I’d never regret a moment of her safety.

“This is more than earning his signature,” I said. “I need to know why Wescott is denying her.”

Max snorted. “And while you’re asking all these questions, what am I doing?”

“What you do best.”

“And what’s that?”

I didn’t look at him. “Helping the family.”

His smile chilled me. “You mean, doing what I’m told?”

“Yes.”

“And how does bruising my fists help the Bennetts?” Max exhaled. “How does this make what we’ve done any less repulsive? Do you think Sarah will ever forgive you for that night?”

“No.”

“You think this will make her safer?”

“No.”

“Then tell me why you’re asking me to crack this asshole’s skull just so you can give Sarah’s inheritance to the board and hand the company right back to that fucking bastard.”

Easy.

It was the easiest decision I had ever made.

“Because it means I’ll see her again.”

The last memory I had of Sarah was her clutching at Reed as my father threatened her virtue. I didn’t say goodbye. I didn’t tell her how I planned to save her.

She peered down at me from the helicopter, hand pressed against the glass, and then escaped from the danger that I forced upon her so many months ago.

I had to see her, to know she was okay, to earn her forgiveness.

If only to end the nightmares.

In my sleep, my love for her twisted into heinous lust, and the things I did and the ways I hurt her satisfied a barbaric and primal part of me. My nightmares made me more like my father than any decision I made for the corporation, sacrifice I chose for the family, or evil I committed to avenge our name over our enemies.

I would spend my billions, surrender my company, and abandon my future success for only one minute with the woman I’d betrayed, if only to ensure I hadn’t lost the one chance I had for happiness in this world.

I didn’t wait for Max. I buttoned my suit and entered Wescott’s offices—a series of laboratories the entrepreneur financed with the billions he earned from his own ventures and trusts. A secretary texted on her cell as we approached, greeting us without looking up. I ignored her, and Max unplugged the console phone as she protested our entry into the office looming behind the oaken doors.

Roman Wescott laughed from behind his desk, ending his call with a widening smile.

“No, no.” He waved to the panicking secretary, eager to help but unable to prevent Max from taking his rightful place at my side. “It’s okay. I’ll see them without an appointment.”

“Yes,” I said. “You will.”

Wescott nodded as his secretary closed the doors. “I hadn’t expected to meet with you today, but it isn’t like the Bennetts are required to follow social etiquette.”

He tested me.

It was a mistake.

“I was under the impression my emails, calls, and invitations would serve as interest in a meeting.”

“I’m a very busy man, Nicholas.” Wescott offered me a seat with an extended hand. It wasn’t a friendly gesture. His voice chilled like broken marble. “I’m sure you understand.”

“I assure you, this matter will take very little time to resolve.”

Wescott nodded. He offered a drink. We declined.

“You want me to sign the Josmik amendment,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Strange.”

Max said nothing. He waited for my order. But something in Wescott’s tone interested me.

“Do you have an objection?” I asked. “Allow me to ease your concerns.”

“Forgive me, but this amendment is quite bewildering,” he said. “Why would Nicholas Bennett storm my office and demand that I sign the very document that removes his family from power and awards it to an Atwood?”

“You took no issue in signing your stock over to the Atwoods. Does it matter what happens with the Bennett Corporation once you’ve taken your investments elsewhere?”

Wescott gestured across his desk. “It’s curious. Two Bennetts in my office, urging me to consider an agreement that will destroy their company. This goes beyond Daddy issues.”

“I’m asking you to sign the agreement,” I said. “Simple as that.”

“Why?”

I wouldn’t explain my actions to anyone but Sarah. “It’s irrelevant.”

“But it isn’t. Don’t tell me you’re doing this for the benefit of the Atwood girl.”

“My motivations may differ from those of my step-sister.”

“Step-sister? I doubt that’s how you think of her.”

“We don’t have a lot of time to piss around,” Max said. “Sign the damn agreement so we don’t end our professional relationship on bad terms.”

Wescott wasn’t threatened. He knew it would come to this.

“Nicholas, a few months ago, you called this office to arrange a meeting. You were
adamant
about ending the Josmik Trust. You promised a new model for the corporation with innovation and research and development to drive our profits. You almost convinced me to void my portion and remain within the company. I might have believed in you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Was that all a lie?”

“The situation changed.”

“No. It remained the same. Business as usual for the Bennetts. Cutthroat and ruthless and…” He nodded toward Max. “Violent, when the situation calls for it. I’m not an optimist, Nicholas. The world is full of darkness, and we’re fools if we deny that presence in our souls.”

“Hardly relevant.”

“Whatever happened between your family and Sarah Atwood only made her stronger. I’m glad for it, if only to have someone willing to end your reign.”

He picked up the amendment, signing his name along the line.

“I have no issue in awarding the girl what is hers,” he said.

“Then why did you wait?”

Wescott capped his pen. “She didn’t agree to my terms.”

Sarah didn’t mention anything about
terms
. She told me he refused to sign.

“What did you ask of her?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter now. I see that I was right.” He gestured to Max. “Had I not signed, I’m sure Maxwell Bennett would have negotiated in his own ways.”

“I live to serve,” Max said.

Wescott nodded. “Don’t we all? But this is the root of the problem, Nicholas. I had hopes for you.”

“Don’t discount me yet,” I said.

He pushed the contract to me. “I never meant to delay her fortune or deny what belongs to her. I didn’t sign this amendment because I knew, eventually, the girl would return the stock to you.”

I said nothing though the implication burned.

“I hoped someone could lead the Bennett Corporation in the right direction. That was why I sold. I thought you would be different, but you’ve proved my instincts were correct. I’m disappointed.”

“Don’t be,” I said. “I won’t explain myself to you, and I’ll choose to forget your insults. You can believe me when I say I’m acting in the best interests of my family. I will do everything in my power to protect the ones I love.”

“I don’t doubt that. I only question
how
you plan to protect them. You have always wanted to control everyone and everything. And when people don’t obey you?” He nodded to Max. “You send in the dogs.”

Max lunged, but I stopped him before mistakes were made.

“No matter your reasons, no matter your intentions, one thing is perfectly clear to the world.” Wescott leaned close, his voice low. “You would ruin others to protect your own. And that, Nicholas Bennett, is why you are no better a man than your father.”

My fingers curled around the barrel of the baseball bat.

The knock rattled the chalet, each strike against the door echoing from the loft to the living room.

I regretted the pleasant fire in the hearth. The smoke was probably visible. It didn’t matter how deeply I hid within the wilderness, even a cozy fire was irresponsible.

The bat scraped off the floor, but I cringed as the steps creaked under my feet.

I learned which stairs squealed during the month I’d spent hiding within the mountain chalet. I planned escape routes, planted weapons, and prepared myself for any and all danger.