in here?” an unfriendly voice demanded from the doorway.
Rachel shifted in her seat to confront her ex-husband. Her knees bumped Max’s thigh. A tremor passed through her, heightening his determination to give her closure with her ex. By the time Max finished with Brody, the guy wouldn’t dare bother Rachel or her sister again.
Carson hit his son with a meaningful look. “Max has come to us with a proposition.”
“Is that so.” Brody’s lip curled. “And what is she doing here?”
Rachel inclined her head, all nervousness mastered. With a half smile, she said, “If it wasn’t for me, Max would never have become interested in Winslow Enterprises.”
The return of Rachel’s confidence eased Max’s tension.
“Of course, my brothers are not convinced that your company is large enough for us to pursue. But after we get a look at your books, I’m sure they will be persuaded.”
Brody’s gaze bounced between his father and Max. Anger melted into uncertainty. “Well, it’s not for sale.”
“You don’t get to make that decision,” Carson reminded him, his voice tight with reproof.
“Why not? You’ve put me in charge, haven’t you?” Brody seemed to have forgotten that this family squabble was in front of witnesses.
His father’s gaze flicked in Max’s direction. “We’ll discuss this later. Right now I’m going to take Max on a tour of the facility.”
“Let me do it,” Brody said.
The tension between father and son tainted the air like exhaust as Brody led the way out of the office. But instead of taking Max and Rachel on the tour his father had suggested, Brody steered them into a conference room and shut the door.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here,” he snarled.
“We’ve got a lot of nerve?” Rachel began, her fingers curled into claws as if she’d like to rip her ex-husband’s eyes out. “You bastard. I want the money you stole from Hailey.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“She’s been paying you for her college.”
“So?”
“We agreed as part of our divorce settlement that I would pay you for her education. You had no right to go behind my back and demand money from her, as well.”
Brody laughed. “Too bad.”
“I want every penny back that she gave you.”
“Not going to happen.”
“You haven’t had time to lose all of it.”
“I haven’t lost any of it.”
“Good. Then you can return the hundred thousand you stole from my sister.”
“I didn’t steal anything from Hailey or you. She agreed to pay me.”
“Because she didn’t know I was already paying you.”
“And whose fault is that? You were always so determined to keep her in the dark about everything. Our marriage. Her education. You made it so easy for me to tell her anything I wanted and have her believe it.”
Max decided it was time to step in. “Return the money.”
Brody heard the threat loud and clear. “Or what?”
“Or I’m going to make your father an offer on his business he can’t refuse and a team of accountants will show up to do due diligence and your father will learn just how much money you’ve embezzled from this company over the years.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But Brody’s bluff fell flat.
Max snorted in disgust. “I can see why you lose at poker as often as you do,” he said. “What do you think is going to happen when your father realizes that you haven’t kicked your little problem the way you claim you have?”
“You’ve been stealing from the company?” Rachel looked almost sorry for her ex-husband.
“More so after you two divorced,” Max interjected.
“Have you lost your mind?” Rachel questioned. “After he paid off your gambling debt with the Menks brothers, he swore if you gambled again he would sell the company and cut you off without a cent.”
Max chipped in. “Imagine how unhappy he would be to hear that you never had any intention of quitting.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” Max couldn’t believe the guy thought anyone would believe the words coming out of his mouth. “My brother used to be a professional gambler. When he reached out to his contacts they put him in touch with a number of people you’ve borrowed money from. Your associates were happy to shed light on your past dealings with them.” Max shouldn’t have enjoyed twisting the knife as much as he was, but this guy had mistreated Rachel and deserved everything he was getting. “And they’ve agreed to have a chat with your father if I ask them to.”
“You’re bluffing.” Brody’s eyes were blind with panic.
“I don’t gamble,” Max told him. “That means I never bluff. Every negotiation I go into, I’m holding a royal flush. I never lose.”
“Everyone loses sometimes.”
“The only one who loses today is you. Get the money.”
“I don’t have it with me.” Brody’s tone was close to a whine. Despite the air-conditioned comfort of the room, a bead of sweat trickled down his temple.
“Pity.” Max set his hand on the small of Rachel’s back and turned her toward the conference-room door.
“Wait.”
Max turned the knob and opened the door to reveal Carson Winslow. The older man was frowning.
“I thought Brody was going to take you on a tour.”
“He’s been telling us how much the company means to him,” Max said. “I didn’t realize he was so passionate about the business.”
From the way Carson regarded his son, the current owner of Winslow Enterprises hadn’t, either. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“Thank you for your time.”
Carson shook his head in confusion. “You’re leaving? But we never discussed the reason for your visit.”
“I had hoped for a more amiable meeting.” Max shook hands with the elder Winslow. “However, Brody made his position clear. He’s not interested in doing business with me. I’m sure in time he’ll regret making such a rash decision.” He
