I shook my head. “You had opportunity, so you took it.”

It was subtle, but I noticed the way his jaw clenched. Just for a second. Fuck.

“Let me guess. The plan was to fuck me so I’d be distracted and miss some deal for a crony? Get me to fall in love with you, and then what? That’s a little extreme, but I’ve seen my father in action.”

He frowned but stayed quiet.

I paced back and forth and considered all the options. It gave me a minute to pull myself together, to try not to let him see how much of a fool I felt. I’d thought of him for two days. How he’d touched me. How he hadn’t gotten his male pride dented because I couldn’t come without doing it myself. For a short time there, I’d thought he was different.

“Or is it because the deal with your dad fell through when I was seventeen and Macon’s been trying again?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked.

I ignored him. All these ideas had me on a path to the truth. I stilled, realizing what it was. “It wasn’t him. It was you. You came to the wake because you want payback for what I did to your brother.”

“You done?” He took off his hat, tossed it onto a chair, but didn’t look away from me. “There’s a lot to unpack here. You think your daddy sent me to fuck you?”

I crossed my arms, leaned against my desk.

He studied me, narrowed his eyes, seemingly figuring out what he wanted from my lack of response. Moving close, he crowded me, setting his hands on the wooden surface on either side of my hips. It brought his face right in front of mine. I could see the red in his beard, the depth of his gaze.

I swallowed. Refused to look away. I would not show weakness.

I didn’t see anger there precisely. It was something, but it didn’t seem directed at me.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes. The fact that you even suggested it means he’s done it before. I remember my parents had a deal for their land that fell through, but I was in DC at the time. I never heard more about it before they died. There is no deal now with your father, princess. The land’s mine. I’d know.”

“Then why are you here?” I asked.

He didn’t step back, didn’t give me room. I wasn’t afraid of him, but he made me uneasy. Uncomfortable, because he was actually looking at me. Seeing me. Hell, hearing my words.

“I work for Marshall Industries. Your daddy did have a deal going. With them. I’m here to see it done.”