Behind me, I heard Kade grumble.

“I’m sorry.” Tom’s tone had gentled. “I fucked up. I never meant for you or Sage to get caught in the crossfire. Please believe that. I owe money and now they’re coming to collect but I’m broke.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped.”

“I’m hoping you still will.”

I tried to swallow but couldn’t. His tone scared me. “How?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve found a way out. You’re not going to like it, but it will allow us to keep a twenty percent share of the company and have all of our debt wiped clean. It’s the best I’ve come up with.”

“Keep twenty percent of the company? So we’d be selling thirty-one percent of the company shares that are in your name to someone else?”

“No, we’d be selling twenty-five percent to Adrian Petrov. He’s already purchased the six percent of the shares from me and bought out several smaller shareholders.”

“You’ve already… What?” My mind spun. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He’d sold off part of the company and not told me? No wonder Ronan had thought a takeover was possible. By selling anything to Petrov, Tom had made us vulnerable. We no longer held more than fifty percent of the company within the Lennox family.

He sighed. “How do you think I’ve been able to keep us afloat for so long?”

I felt sick. How could he do this to me? Especially when he knew how strongly I felt about Dad’s legacy and how hard I’d been working to stop Ronan from taking it over. Betrayal burned hot in my veins, and tears prickled my eyes.

“Willow, say something,” Tom prompted.

I clutched at my chest. A comforting hand landed on my shoulder, and I shrugged it off. Kade was trying to help, but he needed to leave me alone so I could digest this. “You absolute asshole.”

“He’ll let us buy them back in the future.”

As if that made it any better.

I shook my head. “Men like him want to be in control. They don’t do things out of the kindness of their hearts.”

He huffed. “Adrian has been good to us, Willow. He’s richer than a king and he’s willing to bail us out for a majority share of the company and your hand in marriage.”

What. The. Fuck.

“My hand in marriage?” I demanded. “Are we living in the Dark Ages?

Marry Adrian Petrov? Not only no, but hell no.

“It wouldn’t have to be forever. Just for a while. You’d have plenty of good years left after he either divorces you or passes away.”

My mouth opened and shut. Tears spilled silently down my cheeks. What the fuck sort of screwed-up reality had I landed in?

“It’s for Dad,” he said. “To protect his legacy.”

No, it wasn’t.

I realized in that moment it had never been about Dad.

Not any of it.

The predicament we found ourselves in was entirely Tom’s fault. He’d lost the company money—whether through bad management or something else, I didn’t know—and he was trying to save himself. Perhaps he felt bad for making it my problem too, but not bad enough to find a solution that would work for me. He was selfish. I’d always known that, but I’d let him use my loyalty to Dad against me.