“You bastard,” she whispered.
But, Teddy was smiling. “So, Tallulah, if you’ll put your clothes on and—”
“No,” Max said. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“That is not your decision,” Teddy said. “Now, if you wish to come with her, son…”
“Neither of us is coming with you.”
“How do you think that will work out? I have the resources to ruin you,” Teddy snapped. “You think this is bad. You don’t have any idea what I can put you through, put you both through. I know people who can make your life hell.”
“My life was hell in your house,” Max said, and she was surprised to hear the smile in his voice. “But, you did me a solid, see you’re not the only one who knows people now. I got damn close to a few people at those fancy parties, people like the DA.”
Tally didn’t know where this was going, but Teddy was a little more in the know, though he was taken aback. “I don’t see why I—”
“See, baby,” Max said, over his shoulder without taking his attention from Teddy. “All that shit with the flush talk and the Abacus stuff intrigued me enough to pay attention. They weren’t archiving, they were hiding evidence, shredding files at the office and replacing them with dummy files in the house archive… It’s all money laundering for their illegal operations.”
“Max!” Teddy exclaimed.
“I know, it’s ok,” he said. “It’s just how the business works, I get it, and I don’t really care. Most of the stuff you do is legit, who cares if you make a little extra on the side with the wrong kind of people in shitty corners of the world… People you’re not supposed to trade with. Who do you think would care about that? I could probably ask the DA for advice, might even know someone at the FBI… or maybe Homeland would be more interested.”
Tally couldn’t believe it. Stretton Chemicals did create some unsavory and dangerous things, chemicals in industrial quantities that no one should want to fall into the wrong hands. But, money was alluring, and she guessed that pull was too tempting for Teddy to resist.
“You can’t do this to your own father.”
“My own father almost cost me the only damn thing in this world that’s worth anything to me,” Max said. “Then you come to our house threatening it again.”
“You won’t get a cent,” Teddy hissed. “I can’t believe you would give up billions… for this.”
“For her,” Max said. “Tallulah is my fortune… You’re completely worthless.”
Teddy began to shake his head. “I can’t understand it.”
“Yeah,” Max said, with an odd strain of pity. “ ‘Cause I guess you’ve never been in love… not with anything but the money.”
Opening his arms, Teddy dropped them in a shrug. “So, that’s it… You threaten me, expect me to leave—”
“You threatened me, expecting me to come,” Max said. “Go live your life, Teddy, let us live ours… And, don’t ever contact us again.”
Teddy glanced over Max one more time, but his gaze lingered longer on her. “You’ve cost him everything.”
“Then I better spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to him,” she said.
Relief didn’t come close to what she felt when Teddy turned around and walked out. But, she breathed out and thought she might collapse to the floor if Max hadn’t come rushing over to gather her into his arms.
“Are you ok?” he asked, pushing her head back and getting her hair from her face with a rough hand. “Baby?”
“Let’s never do that again,” she said, resting her hands on his chest. “How did you know about the illegal stuff? I didn’t even know about that.”
“You weren’t involved in the company. That talk the night of the dinner party made me curious, so I checked it out… Didn’t dig much until I lost you, then I started putting stuff together… I brought a few things that will help us prove our case if he tries to come for us.”
“My God,” she said, and socked his shoulder. “You might have told me we had an arsenal.”
“I didn’t want you to be any kind of accessory to anything. I should tell them what I know. I never participated in it, but I do know about it… that’s a crime in itself.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she squeezed herself close. “I knew you were a bad boy when I first laid eyes on you. You live in the grey.”
“Not anymore, sweetheart,” he said, holding her. “Now it’s you, me, and junior, everything’s black and white. Top of that list is never letting anything separate us again. What do you say we get dressed and go on down to the courthouse today?”
Tipping her head back, Tally needed to look into his eyes. “Are you sure? I mean, everything, the money, your father… You can still go back there. You can still choose that life… You can still be rich.”
His mouth slanted in a half smile and he cupped her face with one hand. “Instead of happy?” Max shook his head. “Nothing could make me walk away from you, Boss. I wouldn’t trade you in… not for all the money in the world.”
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Also by Scarlett Finn
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STANDALONE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
MAESTRO’S MUSE
REMEMBER WHEN…
THIRTEEN
EXILE
HIDE & SEEK
KISS CHASE
THE BRANDED SERIES
BRANDED
SCARRED
MARKED
THE KINDRED SERIES
RAVEN
SWALLOW
CUCKOO
SWIFT
FALCON
FINCH
THE EXPLICIT SERIES
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION
EXPLICIT DETAIL
EXPLICIT MEMORY
RISQUE SERIES
TAKE A RISK
RISK IT ALL
GAME OF RISK
HARROW DUET
FIGHTING FATE
FIGHTING BACK
MISTAKE DUET
MISTAKE ME NOT
SLEIGHT MISTAKE
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