Tycoon's Delicious Debt. Susanna Carr
answer? This socialite might be used to getting everything she asked for but he wasn’t going to indulge her. “I’ve worked in the family business for over ten years.”
Serena set down the menu and rested her arms on the smooth white tablecloth. “That’s not what I asked. I know of four instances when your father willfully broke the law to crush another company.”
A chill swept through him and he struggled not to react. Serena was correct. How had she found out? No one but him and his father knew the details. Cooper was privy to three of those deals because he had been working for his father during that time.
Those were the rare circumstances when Aaron Brock had almost lost a fortune but managed to snap the power from the jaws of destruction. He knew his father wasn’t proud of those moments or of his actions. Not that Cooper would admit that to Serena. Nor would his father’s conflicted emotions matter to her.
But it meant something to him. Cooper knew his father was driven and goal-oriented. Strong-willed and decisive. Those were the traits they shared, the qualities Aaron Brock developed in him as he taught his only son everything he knew.
Cooper still remembered the sickening feeling that permeated through him when his father had shared those secret details with him as a cautionary tale. He had been appalled by his father’s choices. Disturbed that his flesh and blood would be that merciless. And he wondered if time and circumstances would prove that he had inherited those traits.
Cooper didn’t agree with his father’s methods and refused to follow his lead. It had been a point of contention between them for years. He wasn’t close with his parents, yet he was a dutiful son. But would he break the law to save them? He didn’t know the answer and that concerned him. How far would he go to protect the family?
Or was it to protect the family business? Cooper gritted his teeth as he realized where his train of thought was turning. The Brock family and the Brock business were so entwined that he couldn’t separate the two.
All he knew was that it was his responsibility to protect his family. Even when his father’s sins had come back to haunt them. Cooper needed to take any threat seriously. If that meant protecting the Brock name and the business, he would do it.
“Tell me about one of these instances,” he encouraged Serena. “This should be entertaining.”
“Which one should I mention?” Serena glanced out of the window that overlooked the beach and tapped her finger against her lips. “I know. The deal that happened in Hong Kong. In fact, you were there,” she said with nonchalance. He knew she couldn’t determine just how much he had been involved with the outcome of that deal. “It had been your first time in charge of negotiations for your family’s company and you weren’t even out of university.”
Cooper remembered. He had believed the people he had been negotiating with were honest. He had almost lost the deal that could have weakened the family’s business. It was the first time he had seen just how hard and ruthless his father could be. It was also the last time he had disappointed his father.
“Did you know that Aaron saved the deal by using extortion and intimidation?”
He had found that out later. The guilt and responsibility had weighed on him. He had been so far out of his depth that it required his father to do whatever was necessary to protect him and the business.
That moment of realization was also when he knew he would not make the same choices as his father. He would build the Brock empire to be invincible but he would do it his way. He would prove to his father that he was just as powerful. That he was smarter, stronger and better. That he would never get into that kind of trouble where he had to make those choices.
“I guess that is how your parents protected you,” she said.
Cooper’s mouth twisted. He used to think that. That Aaron Brock would do anything to protect him. But his father stamped out that naive thought very quickly. Aaron had to demonstrate power and so did his son.
“I remember Hong Kong very differently,” he finally said. “I’m interested in seeing this proof of yours.”
“Do you think I walk around with it on my laptop? Or keep it in the hotel safe? No, I have all of the physical proof far away from here.”
Physical? Did that mean she had found original documents and firsthand accounts? Dread pulled at him in all directions. This was worse than he imagined. “How long have you been gathering these stories?”
“They are not stories,” she insisted. “They are facts.”
“How long?” he repeated.
“Years.” She shrugged as if her answer didn’t matter. “It has been a hobby of mine since I was a teenager.”
Hobby? An obsession, more like it. Most debutantes filled their days with shopping and parties, not systematically gathering condemning evidence on a powerful company. Why would she spend so much time on something when she couldn’t change the outcome? What kind of socialite was she?
When Serena thrust her chin out with defiance he wondered if she saw the questions in his eyes. “However,” she said, “I’m willing to keep quiet about what I have found in exchange for the Harrington shares.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That I have proof?” she said with a scowl. “Or that I won’t use it?”
All of it, Cooper decided. It wasn’t adding up. Why would someone spend years gathering information on the person she accused of ruining her life and then promise she wouldn’t use it? The Harrington shares were worth a lot, but were they enough to abandon her lifelong pursuit for revenge?
He could not give up the shares. He needed them for his own protection. Cooper might have a stellar reputation in the business world but no one knew about his first solo business deal with John Harrington, Jr.
Cooper was still ashamed of how he had obtained his first deal. He had been desperate to prove himself and show that he didn’t need his father’s name or influence to be a success. John Jr. knew how hungry Cooper was for negotiating a deal and had dangled insider knowledge in front of him. Cooper grabbed at it like a starving man. His first deal was huge and he made a stunning debut in the financial world. It helped him create a legendary image but only John Jr. knew the truth.
It was only a matter of time before John Harrington, Jr., used that information and the truth could destroy Cooper. When he had won the shares Harrington couldn’t afford to gamble away, Cooper knew he could keep John quiet. The Harrington shares were Cooper’s insurance for now.
“I want to see this so-called proof before I even consider giving up the shares,” he told Serena.
She glared at him. “I just gave it to you. I didn’t make it up. How would I have known the places and people unless I had the facts?”
“You repeated hearsay and rumors,” Cooper declared. “I won’t allow myself to be blackmailed for something that doesn’t exist.”
Her fingers bunched into a fist. She was obviously offended that he questioned her word and the work she had put so much effort into. “As I told you,” she bit out, “I don’t have the papers with me.”
Cooper nodded as if he was placating a child about to have a temper tantrum. “Of course you don’t.”
“And it would take too long to have them sent here,” she almost growled.
Cooper tilted his head. Too long? “Are we on a deadline?”
“Yes.” She pressed her lips together. He could see how she gathered her courage before she made her ultimatum. “If you don’t agree with this deal by the end of the week, then I will release the information about your father to the press.”
Hell. He could not let that happen. He needed to get her to see reason and gain her sympathy before she made a move. That required him to change tactics.
“Serena,