Ryker stared at her in astonishment. Who spoke about their own daughter like that? No wonder Daisy had fled her hometown and her pack.
“Excuse the hell out of you. Daisy is the prettiest woman that I’ve ever seen,” he snapped.
“Riiight.” She drew the word out in a mocking drawl. “You could not possibly make her happy. She is a refined woman used to the finer things in life. You are coarse and vulgar and will bore her and offend her.”
She’d struck a nerve there. Was Daisy miserable being with him? She didn’t seem like the type to put on that kind of act, but…anyway, it didn’t matter. Her mother got no say in what happened between him and Daisy.
“Daisy’s having the time of her life,” he said hotly.
She shrugged one bony shoulder. “All right, if that’s the way that you want to play it. You are wasting your time with my daughter, because she has no money. We cut Daisy off when she left home and insulted Frasier Sheffield, and she will not receive one red cent until she comes to her senses. If she were to be your mate, she would get nothing. So the smart thing to do is accept my offer. Your pack is in financial straits. My pack is prepared to invest in your company – if you tell Daisy to leave.”
“Oh, really.”
Her eyes lit up with malice. “So you’re interested. Good. The more viciously you break it off with her, the more we’ll pay. We want her to understand that she doesn’t have any other options besides Frasier.”
He looked at her with disgust. “Lady, I’ve never bit a woman before, but you’re tempting me. I just don’t want to have to gargle with soap for the next hour, so I’ll give it a pass. But you better hit the road before I change my mind, you high-falutin’ sack of horse manure.”
“You’re making a very big mistake,” she spat at him. “Frasier will press charges against you for assault.”
“Tell him to go right ahead. Daisy can press charges for attempted kidnapping. We’ve got plenty of witnesses.”
“Yes, but in the meantime, the bad publicity will destroy your company.”
She turned and stalked off, returning to Mr. Trenton’s office.
Ryker stormed out of the building; he had to get out of there before he lost control, or he might end up literally biting her face off.
As he was driving back to his office, his uncle called him. Ryker answered the phone with a twist of uneasiness.
“Let me guess,” he said. “The investors are pulling out?”
“Not yet,” Walt said. “Apparently, company stock has been climbing higher ever since you started dating Daisy. The public likes her. Also, Mrs. Bennett may have money and influence, but so does Mr. Trenton. She just marched in there and tried to order Mr. Trenton around, and he found her offensive.”
“She offended him? Imagine that,” Ryker snorted.
“But we’re skating on thin ice here,” Walt said. “One wrong move, and we lose everything.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I survived your family! Hey, where are you?” Daisy called as she walked in the front door, holding a basket of banana muffins. His mother had insisted that Daisy come over so she could apologize to her for dumping the paint on her head, give her some more family recipes and, of course, interrogate her about how many cubs she planned on having.
“In here!” Ryker called out.
Daisy set the basket of muffins down in the kitchen, walked into the living room, and was shocked to see Ryker sitting there watching Love, Actually with a look of bafflement on his face.
She looked at him suspiciously. Then she leaned down put her hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling okay? And where did you even get this movie from?”
“I got it from your room. I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “Hey, are you in the mood to go clothes shopping?”
She looked at him skeptically. “Are you saying that you are?”
“Yep. And after that, we can bake.”
“I just spent two hours baking. Who are you, and what have you done with Ryker Harrison?”
“What? You don’t like doing those things?”
“Of course I do, but you don’t. What made you think of doing them?” she said as she grabbed the remote control and turned the movie off.
He told her about her mother’s visit.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe she did that.” Daisy paced the floor, her forehead furrowing in anger. “Wait, of course I can believe it. This is my mother we’re talking about here. When it comes to pack prestige, she’s like a piranha crossed with a Tasmanian devil. But what does this have to do with you watching rom-coms?”