“Happiness for my son. Grandkids,” Penny said quickly.
“You sound like my mother.”
“From you, that is high praise indeed,” she said. “But let me think about this. From what Russ says about Edilean, I may want to retire there.”
“Not a bad idea. You see the jewelry he bought for you?”
Penny chuckled. “I did. Quite, quite beautiful! Your young Kim is very talented.”
“She is,” Travis said, smiling.
They exchanged good-byes and hung up. She texted him the address of where Borman was working before he got the kitchen cleaned up.
“I’m going to kill him,” he muttered and started for the door.
Ten
But Travis didn’t make it to the door. His male instinct was to find the man and tear him apart. He could almost feel his fists in his face. But then what? Do as he’d told Russell and threaten the man with prosecution? With prison time? Would Travis use the Maxwell name to intimidate the man?
And what would be the repercussions? A man like Borman who had no morals—or he wouldn’t have planned to marry for money—wouldn’t skulk away quietly. He’d go to Kim and . . . Travis didn’t want to think what damage the man could cause.
For a moment Travis stood there and tried to cool his temper enough that he could think clearly about what needed to be done. He had to become more calm and figure out how to solve this in a way that would guarantee that Kim wouldn’t be hurt.
Travis realized that this meeting could be the most important of his life. The last thing he should do was go in there with guns blazing, so to speak. Travis had dealt with men like Borman before, ones who thought that whatever they did to obtain what they wanted was permissible. If it took marrying a woman to get her business, then that was all right with them.
Travis had also learned that men who lost in a big way tended to retaliate in a like manner. If he threatened the man and forced him to get out of Kim’s life, Borman could contact Kim, and maybe he could turn it all against Travis.
No, it was better to get rid of the man in a way that made him believe that he had won, even that he’d put one over on someone. That way, he wouldn’t feel a need for revenge, wouldn’t want to get back at Kim, wouldn’t want to hurt her.
Travis called Penny again, and she picked up immediately.
“Rethinking the dueling pistols?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“I thought you might,” she said and seemed to be proud of him. “The Maxwell in you always keeps a cool head.”
Travis wasn’t sure he was pleased by her words. “I want you to set up a meeting between Borman and me for today. I need for it to be held somewhere impressive. Maybe a library. Big desk. Rich surroundings. All the grandeur you can find. Talk to him, tell him I want to buy his catering business, that I’m in awe of what he’s done with it. Flatter him.”
“I’m not sure I’m that good of a liar.”
“If you worked for my father, you can lie.”
“More than you know,” she said, sounding amused.
“I’ll need a contract saying he turns everything over to me, equipment, employees, all of it. Leave the price blank. I’m planning to give him a ridiculous amount of money to buy that dying business of his. Then I want you to tell him—in confidence—that you happen to know that I’m afraid of the competition from him so he has to leave the state. Today. Before nightfall. He can’t even take time to move out of his apartment.”
“What name do you want to use on the contract?”
Travis frowned. “If Maxwell is on there, he’ll come back to get more.”
“How about if it’s signed by Russell Pendergast? I can run the money through his account.”
“P
erfect,” Travis said.
“Want Borman to call Kim to say good-bye?”