“What’s your point?” Kade demanded. He knew this was going somewhere, as did I, but neither of us was sure where. That was the trouble with Zeke. You never knew what was coming until he wanted you to.

“We should employ her.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you crazy? No, it’s not happening. Even if, for some insane reason, we wanted her here, she’d never agree to it.”

Zeke held up a hand. “Slow down for a moment and just think it through.” He rubbed his knuckles along his scruffy jaw. “How much would it kill Tom to know his sister worked for you?”

Kade groaned. “He’s finally lost his last fucking marble.”

Zeke had a point though. I wanted Tom to regret everything he’d ever done or said to me, and for someone with a lot of pride, knowing his own blood had defected to the other side would be a bitter pill to swallow.

Kade’s eyes widened as I considered the idea. “You can’t be taking this seriously. You’d use the poor girl to settle a score?”

Put like that, I didn’t like the sound of it, but I had to admit, the idea appealed more than it should have. It was ruthless. Manipulative. And Tom Lennox wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.

“It’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had,” I said to Zeke. “But why would she agree to work for us? She’s completely loyal to Lennox Securities.”

Zeke raised a brow. “So use that against her. Tell her you’ll consider stopping the takeover if she works for you for, say, a month.”

There was just one problem with that. “I have no intention of stopping the takeover. I don’t want to see Tom run Frank’s company into the ground, and that’s exactly what will happen if he keeps on the way he is now.”

“So don’t,” Zeke countered. “Just tell her you’ll think about it and take the chance to torment him a bit.”

The possibility tempted me. Not only because of what it would do to Tom but because I liked Willow. She intrigued me, and I wanted to see more of her. I admired her spirit and respected her loyalty to her family legacy. But if Frank Lennox had taught me anything, it was the importance of honor in business. I couldn’t lie to her.

“No,” I decided. “If I do this, and at the end of a month she can’t see how much better off her family’s company would be in my hands, then I’ll go after Tom another way. He’s up to his neck in something shady, I’m sure of it. We just need to find evidence.”

Kade looked at the ceiling and muttered something under his breath. My old friend had never been good at subterfuge. He preferred a full-frontal assault with none of the sneaky stuff that Zeke excelled at. “I don’t want any innocent bystanders to be hurt,” he said. “That includes the sister. I’ll stand with you, but the moment that girl gets caught in the crossfire, I’m out.”