“I heard a rumor, Aiden Cardell…”
“What’s that?” I ask, placing my helmet on the shelf next to me. With some hesitation, I drop into the chair across from him.
“You’re a good fighter. So good, in fact, your name came up at the Lodge this week. I think I’m recalling that topic now.”
I lean forward, elbows resting on my widened knees. Narrowing my gaze, I make sure to hold his attention. His blue eyes sparkle with mischief, like his daughter’s.
“You heard correctly. I now own about thirty-six percent of your company’s shares…and plan to gain over half.” Yeah, I’d done some more bargaining to get what I could from various shareholders.Bargainingis probably the wrong term.
I think it’s called blackmail.
His cheeks grow red. I’ve seen the same reaction in Ashlyn and now know where she gets her temper. “What’s your aim here, kid?”
“I want her. I want Ashlyn. To be married to me, appointed to me… I wantallof her.”
Ace’s jaw shifts as he contemplates me. “So you’re bargaining for the shares of my business for my daughter. I guess you’re more than a pretty boy, huh? A slick snake in the grass, too.”
He shoves off his chair, aiming toward a gold mirrored bar cart in the corner. But the thing is loaded with bottled water. No alcohol in sight. Grabbing a glass, he pours some fancy sparkling stuff into it and tosses it back like it’s vodka.
“She’s supposed to be appointed to Talon Moretti. It was arranged with his family previously, since she and he—well, since they were in high school.”
“I don’t give a shit. End it.”
He swivels around to face me, some of the pretense gone. “Look, I don’t like the squirrelly kid. Too whiny for my taste. A little bitch, if you ask me?—”
“Me, too.”
His lips pinch like he’s trying to hold back a smile. All he gives me is a subtle nod of agreement. As if we now connect on some level. “But the unfortunate thingfor youis that now the POT, that Northview committee, is in charge of the orders, Ican’t change anything. And his family and I have made a deal. Afamilydeal.”
I stand and close the distance—not to loom, but to make the case.
“But if Talon were out of the picture, if I could get the committee tochangetheir minds…would you agree?”
“To you, manipulating me for my daughter’s hand?”
“Yeah.”
His palm rubs through his hair, as if shoving it into place. But there’s not one wayward strand. “How does she feel about you?”
My eyes drop. I’m not even sure what to tell him. Because I don’t know. But it must be written on my face.
“Fuck,” he says, rubbing his jaw. He stretches his thick neck. “She’s really into you. Sneaking around, I guess. How long have you two been?—”
“Since Crest.”
Some level of understanding comes over his expression, and his eyebrows stitch together. “Crest…”
When he reaches for me, I flinch, and he slaps my shoulder, harder than I was expecting, but with a practiced hand that keeps it from truly hurting. I don’t grunt out loud.
“If you get the committee to overturn it. Get rid of the Moretti situation, including what I owe his family, then I’ll agree. Ashlyn can be appointed to you.For the shares.”
He crosses to the desk, lifts the shotgun, and rakes the pump once. “You’re extorting me, Cardell.”
“No,” I say, chest tight. “I’minvesting.”
His eyes narrow, the same daggers Ashlyn saves for me. “You make her sad for a day,” he says, voice low as gravel, “and I will beat you to death with my own hands.”
And with that, I head out the front door and back to my bike.