Authors: Janet Dailey
"I know," Cole said, studying the brandy in his own glass as he stood beside her.
"I listened to all their argumentsâtheir justifications. The company was going to go bankrupt anyway, they said. And the way they looked at it, they had to get money out of it any way they could. They were destroying the Crescent Lineâand they didn't care." She stopped in time to choke back a sob. "I thought I knew them, Cole. They're my family. To see themâto hear them . . . oh, God, it hurt."
"I know."
She breathed out a shaky sigh, realizing that it would never go away, that feeling of a faith betrayedâa trust, a love. "I. . .1 knew I had to stop them. You and I had to take over the company. It was the only way to save it." She paused. "It still is."
"It won't be easy, Remy."
"Easy"
She laughed at the word. "It will be ugly. Very, very ugly. But it has to be done."
He watched her with a sidelong look, his gray eyes quiet and measuring. "Now you sound like a Donovan."
She smiled faintly. "Maybe I do."
"You know, you could work a deal with your family," he said. "In return for their signing over their proxies to you and resigning from the board, you could withdraw the charges you filed against them tonight."
"I thought about that," she admitted. "But once you start compromising, where do you stop, Cole? And what justification would I use? Would I say it was to avoid a fight for control? Or to avoid a messy scandal and protect the Jardin name? Charlie died helping a woman he knew as Remy Cooperânot Remy Jardin. It's time the Jardin name stopped meaning so much."
"Or maybe it's time for it to mean more."
She looked at him and smiled. "Maybe it is."
He touched his brandy glass to hers, then lightly curved his arm around her and drew her into the crook of his shoulder.
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All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1990 by Janet Dailey
Cover design by Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN 978-1-4976-1591-5
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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