One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(93)
Seething that his own biological father would have him arrested within minutes of the truth coming out about his parentage, Knox played the last card he had as the deputies dragged him out of the lobby. “If they arrest me, I can’t stop the sale.”
Ty followed them out, strutting like he owned the place, Emily on his heels. “As if you would stop it,” Ty said. “As if you haven’t been trying to stab me in the back since I brought you on board. I’m done with your lies.”
The fragile strings of Knox’s composure snapped all over again. “My lies? You’re done with my lies?”
“Sweet Mother of God, Ty. Knox. What the hell’s going on?” A pale-faced Decker jogged to meet them at the curb, where they stood next to an idling patrol car. “Knox, are they arresting you? What happened?”
Emily braced her hands on Decker’s shoulders and shook them until she had Decker’s attention. “Are they all right? Carina and the baby, did they make it out of surgery okay?”
Decker cast a sideways glance at Knox as a deputy strong-armed him into the backseat of the cruiser. A tentative smile kicked up at the corners of his lips. “I’ve got a son, and he’s good, strong. Eight pounds, probably thanks to all that good food you fixed for Carina. And as for Carina, she’s a tough one. They have her in a recovery room and the baby’s taking a brief detour to the NICU since his heartbeat was so erratic in the womb. But that’s just a precaution, they said.”
Ty took off back in the direction of the lobby.
Knox bit his lip, disgusted that his only option out of this pissing match was to swallow his pride and beg Ty to direct the officers to release him. Was he really prepared to invest the bulk of his wealth to take on full ownership of a resort with crumbling foundation that would need a complete overhaul? Was he really willing to risk everything to be a part of the family that shunned his and lied to him about who he was?
Don’t do it for them. Do it for Emily.
“Ty, the sale. I’ll stop it if you don’t press charges. I’ll find a way. Do it for your girls,” Knox called, careful not to infuse the word with a single iota of desperation.
At the door, Ty stopped and shot Knox a look over his shoulder.
“What sale? And why would Ty press charges?” Decker said, looking more confused by the second. “Did you two get into a fight or something?”
There was no way Knox was going to interfere with Decker’s happiness. “Let’s just say tensions were high,” Knox said from behind gritted teeth.
Emily must have agreed with Knox’s decision because she told added, “Don’t worry about it. It was a misunderstanding. We’re handling it. You go back in and take care of Carina. Let her know I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Decker only hesitated for a moment before nodding, then pivoting on his boot heel and fast-walking back inside, bypassing Ty on the way.
“Knox is right,” Emily said to Ty as soon as Decker was gone. “Tell them to let him go. Do it for Carina and Haylie. For the new baby. Don’t let Knox’s arrest and the subsequent destruction of the resort be the final word of the Briscoe legacy.”
Those must have been the magic words because Ty’s hard gaze flicked to the officers. He swallowed hard enough that his Adam’s apple bobbed and his jaw rippled. “Let him go.”
The next thing Knox knew, Ty had rushed him, wearing a sneer that bared his teeth. “But you hear me out, boy. With these deputies as my witnesses, if you sell the resort out from under my family, I’m going to kill you with my own two hands. And that is not an empty threat.”
And then Ty stormed back into the building.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Knox had borrowed a company car to drive Granny June to the hospital. He parked it in the nearest employee parking lot at the resort and left the keys inside, then set off at a run toward the fire road where his truck was parked. Nothing short of a full-out sprint could match the rage pumping through Knox’s veins at the betrayal by his dad.
His dad. What a big fucking joke that Knox still thought of him as that. Guess what, chump? The man who taught you to hate your grandparents and your uncle—no, your real father—is really your uncle. Surprise!
He’d tried, in the only way he could, to prevent Knox from learning the truth about the man he’d groomed Knox to believe was the enemy. Ty, the greedy uncle who’d cheated Knox’s dad out of the family fortune. He was the reason they’d grown up scraping the barrel for enough money every month to get by, the reason Knox and his siblings had grown up as the poorest kids in their neighborhood. Ty was the reason Knox’s dad had rarely been able to hold down a steady job, the reason he’d let his anger rot his insides until, finally, his body responded with a fatal heart attack.
“Mom always did say those Briscoe boys were charmers,” Knox muttered as he ran. But Knox hadn’t put it together until today that she’d been talking about both brothers.
Mom, what did you do?
But Knox already knew the answer. She’d lied to Knox. Just like his dad had. And his grandmother. The whole lot of them. What a fool they’d made Knox out to be.
Seeing his dad’s truck parked on the edge of the dirt road just beyond the resort grounds pushed his festering rage out of control. No wonder his dad hadn’t wanted his truck to drive onto the resort. No wonder his dad had tried to thwart Knox’s every effort.