“You tricked me, didn’t you?” Dane demanded.

Allyson let her husband help her out of their luxury car. A car they still owned but might have to sell if today didn’t go as planned. She shoved that thought aside, forcing herself to focus on the task she had to accomplish this morning before their evening meeting with the Handel siblings. “What on earth do you mean?”

“For some reason I’m letting you get mixed up in all this,” he replied. “I wonder if you got me into bed yesterday afternoon just so you could get your way.”

Lifting her hand to smooth his tie, she said, “I got you into bed because I have a massive crush on you.”

He laughed. “Well, aren’t I lucky?”

“I’m glad you know it.” She smiled, realizing that their lovemaking the day before had thawed some of the ice between them. Dane seemed to be on board with her plan to recruit John Handel.

As they headed into the out-of-the-way Manhattan coffee shop Allyson glanced over her shoulder, a little paranoid about being spotted by a tabloid reporter. While it wasn’t exactly wrong to meet with John Handel, she didn’t want news of their meeting getting out if she wasn’t sure how things were going to go with him.

They spotted John Handel in a corner booth and sat down when he waved them over.

John set aside his laptop. “Well, what’s all this then?”

She shot a glance at Dane, unsure of how to proceed. Clandestine meetings like this were totally foreign to her. And though she had hinted to John on the phone that she wanted to discuss a delicate matter involving his children, she hadn’t shared many details with him.

Dane reached for her hand to give it a gentle squeeze. “This was your idea. You can explain it much better than I can.”

His confidence in her was reassuring. Especially now.

Taking a deep breath, she started to quietly explain the issue to John. She talked about their dire financial situation. The hurt that the underhandedness of Katherine’s takeover had caused. Allyson also made sure to hammer home the fact that Nicholas had knifed them in the back by taking the Prescott family’s wealth, especially now that Dane’s father was recovering from a heart attack.

Finally, when she was finished, she reached for her coffee which they had ordered while she had explained everything to John.

John blinked. “So, let me see if I have this right…you want me to help you bring down my own children?”

“Well, it sounds terrible when you put it like that,” she said.

John squinted at her, a disapproving look on his face. Pushing his gray hair out of his face, he leaped to his feet. “Come along.”

Her mouth fell open. “What?”

“This way,” he said in his crisp British accent. In a rush, he grabbed his coffee cup in one hand, his laptop bag in the other, and toddled out of the coffee shop.

Surprised, Allyson and Dane rushed after him, making sure to leave some crumpled dollar bills on their table before heading out.

“What’s going on?” Allyson asked as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“We’re going to the park,” John said. “I think better when there’s fresh air.”

Allyson frowned. “But—”

“It’s not far!” John called over his shoulder.

Dane took her hand and together they followed John. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the small park. John motioned for them to sit on a bench under a huge oak tree. They were surrounded by green hedges, with huge trees overhead. There was a lovely little fountain not far from where they sat.

“This is nice,” Allyson said.

“Oh, yes. I come here to think sometimes,” John said. “Or to feed the pigeons.”

She smiled at John. He seemed so different from Katherine and Nicholas. How on earth had he managed to raise such backstabbing children?

John took a sip of his coffee. “There’s a little wrinkle in your plan.”

“Oh?” Allyson did her best to hide the excitement at the prospect of John helping them, in case that would offend him.

“You want me to help and I will,” John said. “But what exactly do you want me to help you do?”

“You’ll help me ruin your children?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll help you teach them a valuable lesson about loyalty,” John said. “It’s a lesson they’ve needed to learn for some time now. Still, your plan needs work.”

She considered his words. “What would get your son to hand over his control of the shares?”

John pursed his lips. “He’d have to think he was getting something better. Handing over his shares to make an even bigger profit.”

“Makes sense,” Dane said. “Let them think they’re getting a bigger and better prize than Prescott Global.”

“In other words, make Katherine quit Prescott. And make Nicky hand over the shares,” she said. “Does anyone know of a bigger prize than Prescott Global?”

“It has to be something personal,” John said. “It’s not a secret that my children are… how should I say this? Attached to the two of you. I think they rather resent that you two got married.”

“Maybe it’s a company that only I’m investing in,” she suggested. “I can imagine Nicholas wanting to be a part of something like that. Especially if he thinks he’ll have a chance to punish Dane a second time.”

“There’s a sporting goods company up in Canada that I partially own,” John said. “You could invest your money there. I can vouch for the company so my children will be a lot more likely to trust it. Then, when they see your money, they’ll think it’s worth twice what it’s actually worth. They’ll put the shares into the Canadian company, and since you’ll be an investor you’ll have your money back.”

“I don’t think Allyson should be putting her money into anything,” Dane said dryly.

She narrowed her eyes. Her husband was doing it again. Doubting her. Trying to prevent her from helping him. “It’s my money. I’ll do what I like with it.”

John chuckled. “This sounds like a husband and wife quarrel, so I really must dash.” He rose to his feet. “You say you have a meeting with my kids later today?”

She nodded. “I’m not sure what it’s about but, yes, the meeting is this evening.”

“Oh, it’s probably nothing serious,” John said. “Knowing my children, they’ve invited you over so that they can rub their triumph in your face. And maybe make you grovel your way into getting a very small portion of your money back.”

“I see,” Allyson said with a frown.

“Still, if we’re going to go ahead with this investment plan it’s best to do it quickly,” John said. “They’ll be seeing you today, and the longer they’re around you the more suspicious they’re likely to get.”

“So, I have just a few hours to pull this off,” she murmured.

“Yes, if you want the best chance of this working,” John said. “But we still have a bit of a problem.”

“You mean besides how dangerous and insane this plan is?” Dane muttered.

John sighed. “Why would Dane just allow you to invest that much money into a company? Especially after you’ve lost the family fortune? Wouldn’t you want to hold on to your money after everything that’s happened? You have to give my children a reason to believe you’d do something like this. Me talking up the sporting goods company will make them believe it’s worth more than it is. Yet I can’t convince them to completely trust you. Right now, without a good reason it just looks like you’re baiting them with your money.”

“Dane and I need to discuss this before we make any major decisions,” she said. Dane glared at her but she ignored him. Reaching out her hand to shake John’s, she continued, “We’ll give you a call around lunch time with our decision.”

Taking her hand, John Handel nodded. “Very well. I’ll await further instructions.” With that he headed out of the park, leaving Allyson sitting on the bench beside Dane.

Dane was still glaring. She struggled to find the words that would diffuse the tension building between them. Struggled to come up with the missing part of their plan. The part that would get the Handel siblings to believe whatever their father told them.

She knew that the plan they had just formulated was risky. But she also knew that it was their best chance to save the company and the family fortune. Now all she had to do was convince her husband to go along with it.

 

*  *  *

 

“Absolutely not. I forbid it.” Dane crossed his arms and scowled at his wife. The idea of her handing her trust fund money over to John Handel was setting him on edge.

“You forbid it?” With a dismissive wave of her hand, Allyson said, “This isn’t the dark ages. You can’t forbid me. It’s my money.”

They were other people walking around the park, so he forced himself to lower his voice. “I’m not going along with this insanity.”

“That’s your right,” she said. “I’ve tried to be patient, but now I realize when it comes to your money you never ask anyone permission. You just do what you like.”

His shoulders tightened. “So, you’re giving me a taste of my own medicine? Is that it?”

Allyson crossed her legs. Those long, shapely legs that always distracted him. And today, his wife was especially distracting. She was dressed in black: a black blouse that showed off a hint of cleavage and a tight pencil skirt. The only color was the bright red stiletto heels she was wearing. There was something about the way she looked today. Like she had dressed to conquer the world. “When you first gave me that money before we got married I tried to refuse it,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be happy that I’ve now accepted it?”

He sighed. “If you hand that money over to John Handel and he betrays you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“What did you give me that money for?” she asked.

“To make sure you were secure,” he murmured. “It was a way to protect you.”

“Now I want to protect you,” she said. “Why is it okay for you to help me, but I can’t help you?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he replied. “It was bad enough when the risk was the tabloids, or you tainting your soul. Now, you might end up broke on top of all that.”

“Which is what I’ve been my whole life,” she said with a shrug. “You think me losing that money will hurt me the way it hurts you. It won’t.”

“Hell, I must sound like such a spoiled, pompous ass to you,” he muttered. “The money I lost means a lot because it represents something bigger than me. It represents where my family started. It represents the fact that you can start off with nothing, and end up with everything.”

She gazed at him. “Your great-great-grandfather started working in a steel mill, and then ended up owning that mill. Dane, I believe that, like him, you can do anything.”

“So, let me handle this on my own.”

“I also believe that I can do anything.”

He reached for her hands. “Of course you can. Have I made you feel like you can’t?”

Swallowing hard, she nodded. “A little. But I know that’s not what you were trying to do.” She sighed heavily. “I’ve seen how you treat the women around you. Katherine. Your mother. You don’t treat them like they’re fragile pieces of glass that need to be protected. You treat them like the formidable women that they are.”

“I’ve never wanted to make you feel like you were less than,” he said earnestly. “All I want is for you to be safe and protected. You’re my wife. Surely, I have the right to spoil you. To protect you in a way I can’t with anyone else.”

She bit her lip. “I know I’ve wilted under pressure before. But these past few days have shown me how resilient I can be. Dane, maybe there’s a difference between being protective and being overprotective. One gives someone the space to grow, while the other is…”

“The other is stifling,” he finished for her. Regret clawed at him. Allyson felt like a piece of glass. Something fragile that was locked away or put up in a cabinet out of reach. That was the last thing he wanted his wife to feel.

“It can be,” she admitted. “When we got married, we were supposed to become a team. You did tell me that I was a part of your family. Except, ever since I decided to do my part for the family and stand up to its enemies, I’ve felt more like a house guest than a family member.”

He blew out a long breath. “The truth is, I was worried that if I let this financial mess become your problem, circumstances would force you to change into something you’re not. I’ve seen how a high-stakes world like this can twist people. Everyone around me makes relationships with people simply based on what they can get out of it. You’re not like that. But if something as dire and unpredictable as financial ruin can happen to me, then it’s possible that you can change into someone I don’t recognize.”

Confessing the feelings he had been bottling up was like lifting a huge weight off his shoulders. Before Allyson had confessed her own feelings, he hadn’t even recognized some of the issues he had been having. Somehow, her courage gave him the guts to reveal a part of him that he had kept hidden even from himself.

“The unknown is scary,” she conceded. “But what I do know is that I love you. And I believe in you. Which is why I’ll stand by you forever. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer…remember?”

“I remember,” he said. “I still don’t like the idea of you giving John Handel your money.”

“That money means a lot to you because it’s part of your inheritance,” she said. “I think I understand that now.”

He nodded. “The family wealth is part of the family legacy. As strange as it sounds, our fortune is like a priceless heirloom that other families pass down.”

She gave him a shaky smile. “It doesn’t sound that strange when you put it that way. It actually makes a little sense. So, if it means that much to you, how can I sit by and do nothing to help?”

Dane released her hands and got to his feet. “Well, this crazy idea was yours in the first place. I have a feeling that since you want to help so much, you’ll figure out a way to get the Handel siblings to trust us this evening.”

Her eyes lit up. “You’re going to let me help.”

“On one condition,” he said.

She groaned. “I knew I wasn’t going to get away with helping that easily. What’s the condition?”

“Don’t give John Handel all of your money,” he said. “Keep ten million dollars. It’s not much, but—”

The sound of Allyson’s choking laughter cut him off. “Okay, Dane, ten million dollars is a lot of money where I come from.”

He cringed, but then chuckled. “I guess you haven’t changed that much.”

“Nope.” She smiled. “I have figured out how to get the Handels to trust us, though.”

Shoving his hands into his pockets he stared down at his wife, all business. “Let’s hear it.”

When her smile faded, he realized just how serious her idea must have been. “Okay, but you have to listen until the very end before you ask questions.” She sucked in a breath and gave him a sidelong glance. “Because I have a feeling you won’t like it.”