The Fearless King (The Kings #2)(70)
“Yes, though I didn’t come from there just now.” She hugged him tighter. “I may have handled the Elliott issue, but we have bigger problems.”
No misunderstanding that. “Esther.”
“Yeah.” Journey leaned back enough to meet his gaze. “How’d you know?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say lucky guess the way he would to Beck or anyone else who asked. Frank smoothed the hair back from her face, letting his touch linger on her cheekbones. “Mateo dug deep enough to get the name of the person Elliott owed money to. We had a short but enlightening conversation.”
A line appeared between her strong brows. “That sounds very vague and sinister.”
“I told him about the merger.” More honesty, pouring from his mouth as easily as his next exhale. He wouldn’t apologize for monetizing that information, but he also wouldn’t lie to her about it. “If he’s as smart as his reputation says he is, he’ll use it to his advantage, and the only thing either of us is guilty of is insider trading.”
Her lips quirked the slightest bit. “Plenty of people have gone to jail for insider trading, Frank. It wasn’t worth the risk. I got the information we needed without having to do anything illegal.” She sighed. “Did you even think to ask what I knew before you made that call?”
He hadn’t. He’d only thought of protecting her, not of asking her insight. Frank opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to say. “I take care of people, Duchess. It’s what I do.”
She didn’t move back, but he could almost see the distance between them growing vaster, a sinking hole deep enough to swallow the unwary. Journey gave him a sad smile. “There’s no shame in leaning on other people occasionally.” She shook her head and stepped out of his arms. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
There was no one in the hallway but them, but he nodded to Mateo’s office. Once they were closed inside it, Frank leaned against the door and watched Journey pace. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“Is that what you think the problem is?” She gave a mirthless laugh. “Even if it was, that’s a half-assed apology if I’ve ever heard one. ‘I’m sorry I upset you’ means that you’re sorry I’m upset but you’d do it again in a heartbeat.” She held up a hand before he could speak. “It’s a moot point. I just came from meeting with my grandmother.”
It took him precious seconds to make the jump with her. Frank was still focused on her dismissal of his apology and then…“Your grandmother. Esther Bancroft is in Houston?”
“Yes.” She perched on the edge of the desk and met his gaze. “She has control of Kingdom Corp’s board. We knew that—Elliott wouldn’t have been able to come in like he did without board support—but she explicitly stated it. She’ll call off my father if Anderson and I do her bidding when it comes to the company.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t see a way out of this. I know there has to be one, but I don’t see it. This is exactly what that crafty bitch wanted. She sends in Elliott to terrorize us, and then we trip all over ourselves to give her control just to get him out of our lives.” Journey’s hazel eyes shone a little and she shook her head. “I hate that it’s working. I hate that she played us like this.”
“Esther Bancroft has been doing this sort of thing a long time.” Really, it was a brilliant play. With the shares Elliott owned in the company, Esther could have made her move at any time, but she must have put these pieces into place and just waited for the timing to be right. Frank couldn’t have handled it better if he’d tried. “Elliott crossed a line with what happened to your sister. For a man who’s usually so subtle about his torment, he seems to be losing control.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Journey seemed to realize she was clutching herself and dropped her arms. “As long as my brothers and I can keep our current positions within the company, we have a chance to oust the Bancrofts.”
She was so focused on the company, she wasn’t looking at the other potential outcome if Elliott was once again banished from Houston. “He’ll come after you. After all of you, but after you specifically.”
“It’s entirely possible.” She lifted her chin. “But I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.”
He released her hand and shoved to his feet, agitation driving his movements. “He’s got you over a barrel, Duchess. This isn’t a fight you can win on your own.” Regret hit him the instant he gave the words voice. The one constant Journey held was that she wanted—needed—to fight her own battles.
And he’d just told her that she couldn’t.
Frank turned to face her. “I’m sorry.”
“There are those words again.” She leveraged herself off the desk and straightened her shoulders. “I know I’m a mess, Frank. I’ve been pretty honest about that from the start. It’s nothing new, and throwing it in my face because you’re scared is a really shitty move. I might be broken, but I’m not a glass figurine you can bundle up and stick on a high shelf to protect. I’m a person, and I’m muddling through things as best I can. I won’t be stupid, and I definitely won’t put myself within striking distance of him, but I will not cower and hide with so much at stake.”