LITMIR.BIZ

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your mine is supplying the mega jewellery chains selling lesser-quality pieces. Cheaper prices attract more customers despite the quality.’

      The corners of her mouth drooped. ‘You’re killing us.’

      He didn’t blink at her sob story. He’d given up on emotional appeals a long time ago.

      Deliberately taunting her, he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.

      Her lips compressed in a thin, unimpressed line. ‘That better not be what I think it is.’

      ‘What do you think it is?’

      ‘The world’s smallest violin.’

      He couldn’t help but chuckle at her mutinous expression. ‘Smart and spectacular.’

      She swore at him and he just laughed harder.

      ‘Don’t take this personally, but I came here tonight to see your sister to discuss a business proposition.’

      She shook her head, blonde waves tumbling over her shoulders in a tempting gold swath. ‘She’s not interested.’

      ‘She hasn’t heard what I have to say.’

      She squared her shoulders. ‘I’m in charge for the next few months so whatever you have to say, you’ll have to say it to me.’

      ‘You?’

      She bristled at his derisive tone and he couldn’t blame her. But did she honestly think he’d do business with a bohemian waif, albeit a creative genius by what he’d glimpsed tonight, when he knew for a fact Sapphire was the brains behind this outfit?

      ‘Sapphie is taking three months off, doctor’s orders, so I’m filling in.’

      Three months? He didn’t have ninety days to seal this deal. He had a few weeks max before Seaborn’s financials plummeted further and it wasn’t worth his company’s investment to acquire them.

      The seriousness of the situation suddenly hit him. He couldn’t lose out on this opportunity, not when acquiring the Seaborn mine would establish Maroney Mine’s complete domination along the entire western seaboard.

      And guarantee a strong foothold into the east—and the rest.

      He’d returned to Melbourne for one reason only. To take Maroney Mine all the way to the top. Global. Nothing and no one would stand in his way.

      He needed that mine. Needed it for vindication, needed it for safety, needed it to prove he was nothing whatsoever like his father.

      He steepled his fingers and rested them on his chest. ‘In that case, boss lady, name your price.’

      Surprise widened her eyes. ‘For?’

      ‘Seaborn Mine.’

      She laughed, a brittle sound devoid of amusement. ‘Dream on.’

      He sat forward and braced his elbows on his knees. ‘On the contrary, you’re the one who’s dreaming if you think for one second you have what it takes to achieve what your sister couldn’t.’

      Her hands clenched into fists. ‘What’s that?’

      ‘Make Seaborn’s a success.’

      He only just managed to duck an incoming book.

      * * *

      Ruby didn’t have a violent bone in her body.

      Well, maybe one, considering she’d grabbed the nearest thing handy, a brilliant dystopian thriller, and flung it at Jax Maroney’s insufferably big head.

      Pity she’d never been good at sports and her aim missed.

      ‘That’s quite a temper you’ve got.’ He picked up the book and scanned the back blurb with slow deliberation, giving her time to compose herself.

      It didn’t work. Fury flushed her cheeks and she pressed her palms against them in an attempt to cool herself down, dragging in calming breaths until she trusted herself to speak.

      ‘And that’s quite an imagination you have.’ She lowered her hands, clasped them tightly in her lap, and shook her head. ‘Buying out Seaborn’s? You’ve got to be kidding.’

      He stood so fast her head snapped back. ‘I don’t joke. Or have time for games.’

      He stepped around the scarred antique coffee table she’d picked up at a Brunswick Street second-hand dealer and towered over her.

      As if she’d stand for cheap intimidation tricks.

      She leapt to her feet and stood toe to toe. Pity his six-three trumped her five-eight as she momentarily wished she’d kept her heels on.

      ‘If you’re as smart as your sister, you’ll understand Seaborn’s has a month or two tops to survive before you go under.’

      His mouth curved into an infuriatingly sardonic grin, like a croc toying with a wingless chicken on the banks of a river. ‘I’m giving you a profitable way out. You get to keep making your precious jewellery, and all that changes is that I own you.’

      Her palm itched to wipe his smirk as he amended, ‘Well, I own your mine.’

      The pit of her stomach griped at her family business’s perilous position, but she’d be damned if she let him know how tempting his offer sounded.

      ‘I have one answer for you.’

      The triumphant glint in his eyes made her response all the sweeter.

      ‘When hell freezes over.’

      CHAPTER THREE

      IT TOOK a good ten minutes of pacing the showroom after Jax left for Ruby’s blood pressure to lower.

      She’d never been prone to rage or theatrics but in the last half-hour she’d almost succumbed to both.

      Who the hell did Jax Maroney think he was?

      She’d been so irate over his offer she’d forgotten to ask how he’d got onto the exclusive invite-only guest list. Probably greased someone’s palm, like his dear old dad.

      Unfair? Maybe, but she wasn’t in a forgiving mood. Livid, she snatched the evening’s inventory list from behind the chrome counter and scanned it again, hoping a few more gold foil sale stickers would’ve miraculously appeared since she’d checked it with Opal.

      Nope, still the same glaring truth: they’d barely made enough tonight to cover their gem costs.

      Her fingers convulsed, crumpling the paper, and she threw it back on the counter.

      Tears of helplessness burned as she stared at the inventory list, taking time to smooth it flat so Opal wouldn’t guess how bad things really were.

      Her cousin had stepped in to help when Sapphie had been ordered by the medicos to have time off, leaving behind her precious mine to become general dogsbody around here.

      She couldn’t have kept the place going without Opal’s help and had planned on giving her a generous gift—a matching opal ring and bracelet—when her stint finished.

      The way things were going, she wouldn’t be able to afford even the setting, let alone the rare black opals she had in mind.

      Her gut twisted as she slid open the top drawer behind the counter and extracted an envelope. She weighed it in her hand, tapping it against her palm, as reluctant to open it now as she had been earlier this afternoon when it had been delivered.

      She didn’t want to spoil the launch; that had been her excuse then. So what was her excuse now?

      Out of options, she slid her finger beneath the flap and ripped, wishing she could tear up the contents before she read it. But disposing of it wouldn’t change facts: Seaborn’s was mortgaged up to the hilt and needed a cash injection fast.

      The

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