Page 104 of Can't Win 'Em All
“Ruby is fine,” I assured her as I stepped in. I motioned toward the door. “I need to talk to you. Is it okay if I close this?”
“This sounds serious.”
“I want to be involved in the thing with Haskins.” There was no reason to beat around the bush. Cora wasn’t an idiot. I couldn’t manipulate her. It was best to be straightforward. “It’s important to me.”
“Sit.” She motioned toward the chair across from her desk once the door was shut. “Tell me what this is about.”
“It’s about keeping my family safe.” I rested my hands on my knees as I got comfortable. “Haskins has a bad reputation. We need to go at him as a unit, and as head of security—and the man who loves your daughter—I need to be involved.”
Her lips quirked. “You love my daughter, do you?”
“You’re not actually surprised by that news.”
“I’m not.” Her smile spread. “I’ve known it for quite some time.”
“How long?”
“Oh, months.” She sighed. “I kind of wanted to push you together—we all did—but Zach insisted we let you find your way without input. I didn’t think it was going to work—you were really dragging your feet—but eventually you came around.”
“I wasn’t dragging my feet. I was playing the game how it needed to be played for Ruby’s benefit.”
She nodded. “Ruby has always been a tough nut to crack. She’s different from her sisters. In a weird way, she’s more like Zach.”
I frowned. “Please don’t say stuff like that. Now I’m picturing myself dating Zach.”
She laughed, a full-throttle belly laugh. “You’re very funny.”
“I am.”
“You’re good for Ruby. You don’t let her spend too much time in her head and when she does get lost, you’re the one who manages to drag her back out of that dark cave.”
“I want to be good for her. I’m going to ask her to marry me. I want your permission to do that when I think it’s time.”
“Before the baby gets here?” Cora looked hopeful.
“She made me promise I wouldn’t propose until after the baby is born. I have to respect her wishes.”
“You don’thaveto, but you will. You get Ruby better than anybody else could … because you get Zach.”
I scowled.
“You have my permission. I think the three of you are going to make a beautiful family.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” She sighed. “What do you think we should do about Haskins?”
“I think we need to approach him a specific way. He likes to screw with people. If we explain that he’ll be able to screw Ryder if he partners with us, he’ll agree to our terms. We can’t go in there and try to strong-arm him, though. He’ll fight us on principle if we go that route.”
She pursed her lips, considering, then nodded. “Do you want to do this now?”
“Is that an option?”
“Yes. I’m going to be involved in the conversation too. If he wants to screw Ryder, who better to help him screw my ex-husband?”
“He’ll like that. He’ll probably hit on you, but I’m sure you can handle him.”
“I’m not worried about that,” she agreed. “I can get the others I want with me—Lionel Marks is the attorney who will be handling the paperwork, Carl Dobkins will handle the accounting on this one instead of your sister—within the hour.”
