was frank about what I wanted. I’ve been more honest with you than any other man has. That’s the problem. You’re just not used to hearing men talk that way but, believe me, a lot of men look at you and want to take you to bed. They just don’t say it in so many words.” He pointed a finger at his chest, and added, “I did.”
“Yes, you were up-front about it but that doesn’t make it all right. I don’t want to live with you just to have your kids and live off your wealth. I don’t want to be there for as long as it suits you. That’s not good enough.”
He looked down at his hands. “You’re right. It’s not. But one mistake doesn’t make me a complete bastard.”
She ignored him. “Maybe you were honest about our relationship, but you were cruel. That’s just one small part of your life. I know a bit about your professional life as well. Business and private – you can’t separate the two. They spill over into each other.”
A furrow formed in his brow. “What’s Webb Corp got to do with any of this?”
“I know about the way you run your company, about your past, and I know you don’t run your business with integrity. You tread on the little people. You don’t care what you have to do to win.”
“What on earth makes you say that? Where is this coming from?”
“There’s the Mills building purchase for one. There was another firm bidding for it and you got rid of them. You gave the real estate agent a kick-back so he’d make sure the client to gave preference to your offer.”
Daniel rested his forearms on his thighs. “So what if I gave the real estate agent a little bit extra? That other firm was going to demolish the Mills Building. They didn’t even bother to hide their intentions. They said they didn’t care about the heritage laws. Said they’d knock it down and wear the fine and still make a bucket load of money.”
She hadn’t known about that. Mark hadn’t mentioned it, not that it changed anything.
“Does that make it all right for you to steal the deal from under their nose by bribing the agent?” she asked.
“Yeah, in this case, it does. I had to do something a little bit questionable in order to do something very good. And the means justified the ends. I wanted to save that building, restore it, bring it back to its former glory. There’s no crime in that. I didn’t want to sit back and watch it get knocked down. So what if I got my hands a bit dirty doing it?” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you think I’m dishonest because of that.”
“There’s something much bigger than that. I can’t be with you, Daniel. It’s never going to work. It doesn’t matter if you say you’re going to marry me or not. It’s been doomed from the beginning.”
“You’ve made a pretty big accusation. Don’t skirt around it. What was so much bigger? What did I do that was so bad?”
Kate sucked in a deep breath. “Irwin Webb. I know all about it.”
“That was ten years ago.”
She locked eyes with him and wondered how it was possible this was the same man who’d ruined her family.
“My parents had shares,” she said. “They put everything they had into it. It nearly killed them. It might have been ten years ago to you but they’re still getting over it financially. You’ve recovered. Built up your fortune. They haven’t. They can’t even retire.”
Daniel cupped his chin in one hand. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you say anything about this before?”
“I didn’t want to face it. Didn’t want to think about it.”
He shook his head. “So, instead you thought the worst of me. You think you know everything about me. Aren’t you even going to ask what happened with Irwin Webb, where the money went?”
“I know what happened. You got taken to court for illegal business dealings and very narrowly avoided conviction. Meanwhile, you’d conned lots of little people into investing their money and those funds disappeared. Most of it, anyway.”
Daniel took to his feet. “No, Irwin got charged and taken to court. Not me. I testified against him but he was let off. I made a big mistake. That much is true. I trusted Rex Irwin when he was shonky from the start. I didn’t do my research on Irwin and I paid for it.