“Meaning?”
“You’re putting your heart on the line. That’s good.”
“Not for me or my heart.” Dana licked her fingers. “Want to go work out?”
“Ick. No. But I’ll go rock climbing with you.”
“Anything that works up a sweat and keeps me from thinking is fine.”
Izzy grinned. “Have you ever been rock climbing before?”
“No.”
“You are so going to love it.”
GARTH WALKED INTO ONE of the smaller conference rooms after lunch to find his three sisters waiting for him.
“Thanks for coming,” he said.
“We were summoned,” Izzy said. “I, for one, keep a very busy schedule, so this had better be important.”
“What she said,” Lexi told him.
“Ditto,” Skye said.
Garth winced. “I shouldn’t have my assistant call and ask you to stop by?”
“Probably not,” Izzy told him. “Although if you had snacks, that would help.”
“I’ll remember that.” He took a seat.
Women were complicated at the best of times. The Titan sisters were more complicated than most. But they were also smart and funny and he liked spending time with them. Guilt flashed through him. Guilt for what he’d done, how he’d upset their lives. But there was more. A sense of loss. How different his life would have been if he’d gotten to know them earlier. If he’d grown up with them as his family.
Enough with the emotion, he told himself. They had a bully to ruin.
“I want to talk about Jed,” he said.
“We figured that,” Izzy told him. “It’s not like you want to ask about our plans for the holidays.”
“Which are quickly approaching,” Lexi said. “I’m guessing we won’t be at Glory’s Gate this year. So where are we celebrating?”
“Your place,” Izzy told her.
“Why me?” Lexi sounded faintly panicked. “I’m seriously pregnant. I can’t be expected to cook.”
“Skye’s talking about a Christmas Eve wedding at Mitch’s house. Nick and I live too far away. That leaves you. But don’t worry. I’ll help with the cooking.”
Lexi winced. “You know less than me.”
“That’s true, but I have a secret weapon. Nick’s cook, Norma, has said she’ll help, too. So we’re fine.”
Lexi didn’t look convinced. “Are you coming?” she asked Skye. “Or will you be off on your honeymoon?”
“We’ll be there. We’re not leaving Erin on Christmas. We’ll head out a few days later. So expect a crowd.”
“You were in on this!” Lexi sounded annoyed. “Ganging up on me. That is just so typical.” She rubbed her belly. “You have very mean aunts. You’ll have to watch them carefully.”
Garth held up his hands in the shape of a
“Which is?” Izzy frowned, then relaxed. “Right. Jed. How did we get on Christmas?”
“That would be your doing,” Lexi told her.
He ignored that and reached for the stack of folders in the center of the table, then passed one to each of the women. “I need you to look these papers over and sign them. I’ll be buying shares in Titan World in each of your names. The amounts of the shares will require disclosure. Jed will see your names. He already knows we’re working together but he may consider this a different level of betrayal.”
They all stared at him with identical expressions of outrage.
“Excuse me?” Lexi asked.
Garth felt trapped. Had he misunderstood? Didn’t they want to take down Jed?
“We, ah, talked about this,” he reminded her, then glanced at Izzy and Skye. Neither of them looked especially friendly, either. “Working together. Letting Jed know we’re a united front.”
“You’re giving us money,” Skye said mildly. “That’s why we’re upset. No one is upset about taking on Jed.”
“Okay.” Relief swept through him. They
“You’re giving us money,” Izzy repeated. “We don’t want your money.”
Once again the female mind baffled him. “Why not? I have more than all of you.”
“That warm, delicate nature,” Lexi said, shaking her head. “He gets it from Jed.” She leaned toward him. “We can buy our own shares.”
“No, you can’t. I’m talking hundreds of thousands of dollars here. Several million in total. None of you have it. You’ll be filing forms with the SEC showing ownership.”
“Isn’t that technically illegal?” Skye asked. “You giving us money to buy shares?”
“I have a very expensive lawyer making sure we’re doing everything the right way.”
“Which isn’t the point,” Lexi told him. “We don’t want your money. This isn’t about getting anything from you.”
Izzy shook her head at Lexi, then turned to him. “We love that you’re including us, but we can’t do this. It feels funny.”
“I don’t care how it feels,” he told her. “It’s about getting Jed.”
“It’s too much,” Skye told him. “Garth, you mean well, but there has to be another way.”
They were hung up on the amount? “If it was twenty bucks you wouldn’t care. Is that it?”
“Sort of,” Izzy said, giving him a sympathetic smile.
“This is part of the plan.” He did his best not to give in to frustration. The last thing he needed was them digging in their heels. “We talked about this.”
“You didn’t say anything about giving us nearly a million dollars’ worth of shares.”
“I’m not doing it to give you anything,” he said, trying not to clench his teeth. “I’m doing it to get Jed.”
“No,” Skye said, pushing the folder toward him. The other two did the same.
Women, he thought, leaning back in his chair.
He could tell them that they could sell the shares when all this was over and give the money to charity, but he wasn’t sure that would actually help. Which left him with a pounding sensation over his left eye.
Buying the shares was important. But how to convince them?
He straightened. There was one card left to play.
“Jed went after Dana.”
Three pairs of eyes locked on him. Lexi and Skye both went pale while Izzy looked ready to take on her father and beat him into submission.
“How?” Lexi asked.
“First he had someone run her off the road, then he had a guy shoot at her. That’s when she moved in with me.”
Skye’s green eyes filled with tears. “She’s all right, isn’t she? We just saw her and she’s fine.”
Lexi nodded. “She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want us to know. She didn’t want us to worry.”
Garth held in a groan. He just remembered he’d promised Dana he wouldn’t say anything to her friends. “Look, you can’t tell her I told you.”
Lexi and Skye glanced at each other. Izzy gave him a pitying look. “You poor, poor man.”
“Seriously, she doesn’t want you to worry.”
“Too late,” Skye whispered.
She was so going to kill him, he thought grimly. But before that happened, he might as well get it all out. “I spoke with Jed at the fund-raiser. Told him to lay off.” He’d done more than talk, but he was in enough trouble already.
“You think that’s going to work?” Lexi asked.
“I don’t know. But the quicker we get Jed in jail, the safer everyone will be. We all want to take him down.” He pointed at the folders. “It’s the best way.”
His sisters looked at each other, exchanging information in that silent way women did.
“We’ll sign,” Skye said. “But we’re not keeping the money.”
