Twisted Together (Monsters in the Dark #3)(83)

Frederick never took his gaze off her as she reached for the file. Asking me, he muttered, “Do you think it’s a good idea… after all, the current market is rather…volatile.”

Tess froze. Her eyes snapped up. “Volatile?” Looking to me, she added, “What’s going on? Do I even want to know what’s in here?”

Yes, you damn well do because then you can get over my wealth because it won’t just be mine anymore.

I glared at Roux, before glancing her way. “Yes. Frederick is only aware that if you sign it, you share equal risk. If the business crashed tomorrow you would be held accountable, same as me, for any debts payable. But I have no debts outweighing my assets, and it isn’t going to crash tomorrow, so there’s no f*cking risk to worry about.” Grabbing the edge of the folder, I opened it. “Stop delaying and read the damn thing.”

Tess flat-out ignored me. Planting a hand over the writing on the page, she asked Roux, “Tell me. Did you mean that or something else? I think I have a right to know.”

Goddammit, why was everything so hard with her when it came to money?

I leaned back, seething in the chair. My arms crossed; I wished I’d gone with my other idea of forging her signature and never showing her the damn will. I’d been so close to doing it, but Frederick talked me out of it. Bastard.

Roux placed his hands on his thighs, thinking through his answer carefully. As he should. Because he was a bastard.

“Q’s right about the debt. But I’m not worried about Moineau Holdings going under. That won’t happen. It just can’t—not with the strength of the company. What I am—not so much concerned about but definitely interested in seeing future projections—is a new side of the company that is brand new last week.”

I rolled my eyes. This was the part where Roux made me sound like some Mother f*cking Theresa and for Tess to fawn all over me. I didn’t mind the fawning, but it wasn’t like the newspapers portrayed. It wasn’t at all like they said.

I got my hands dirty. I put motherf*ckers in the ground where they belonged not turned them into a law enforcement that was almost as corrupt as they were.

“What new part?”

Frederick grinned. “Well, ever since Q tore off his mask and flew out of his birdcage—get it?” He waved his hand, chuckling at his own joke. “People know what hobbies Mercer is into. They’re aware of some, not all, of the details of what he did to get you back.” His eyes flickered to mine. I wanted to clamp a hand over his mouth, but I looked away, effectively giving him permission to continue. “Q’s contact at the local police force spoke to the press.”

I growled at that. I’d sworn him to secrecy for over ten years, and now he’d fed me to the paparazzi.

Frederick pointed a finger in my direction. “You know he had no choice. He stood up for you when people were painting false accusations.” Looking to Tess, he finished, “Anyway, the company has undergone some changes, and we’re still not sure where those changes will lead us.”

Tess breathed hard, tucking a riot of curls behind her ears with a rapid twitch. “What changes?”

Roux met my eyes. “Care to jump in and explain, Mercer? After all, it’s your fledging.”

I scowled. I didn’t want to hear what I already knew, and I had no desire to talk about it either—even though I was secretly pleased and rather honoured how the news had gone down with the world.

You want her to inherit everything. It’s only fair she knows exactly what she’s accepting.

I sighed, unlocking my arms to sit forward. “You’re doing such a good job. Finish it.”

Frederick nodded. “Fine. Well, the bad news is, the company lost its backing from over forty-eight percent of its regular investors. Overnight they cut association with all subsidiaries of Moineau when they heard the news Q accepted sex slaves as bribes to finalize developments. There was an uproar when they heard he not only accepted them as bribes, but kept them in his home.”

Tess gasped, a hand flying to cover her mouth. “Oh, my God.”

Frederick sighed, enjoying the theatrics of telling a sordid tale. “I know. Terrible. Death threats were sent, a few properties were defaced, and we prepared for the end of Mercer’s empire.”

I rolled my eyes. He made it sound like the apocalypse. None of that mattered. It was superficial at worst. Even disgusting rumours couldn’t hurt us in the long run.

Tess wrapped her arms around her waist, leaning forward. “This is awful. Can’t someone explain?”

Roux held up his hand, his blue eyes grave and bleak. “Then the rumours started flying that Mercer used them for his pleasure. That he killed them once he’d finished—seeing as no one ever saw a harem of women running around his estate. And believe me. They searched.

“Local villagers spread filthy lies about Q inheriting more than just Moineau Holdings but also his father’s side business as well.”

At that my stomach knotted into a trillion pains. Fucking people saying I was like him. It didn’t matter they were lies. It still tarred me with the same brush. Still made me seem like the monster I never wanted to be.

“But that’s not true!” Tess cried.

Frederick pursed his lips. “International law enforcement got involved; they seized most of our files—not that they’ll find any wrongdoings there. We’re pristine in every area of the business.”