“They know you owe twelve million dollars to the contractors on the Preston Hollow development.”

He flinched.

“I can pay them back,” he muttered.

“If you give me a loan.”

“Just five million.”

“That is all I need to clear the immediate defaults.”

“No,” I said.

The word was quiet, but it filled the room.

“Jocelyn, I am begging you,” he said.

He sank onto the arm of a leather sofa.

He buried his face in his hands.

His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts.

“I have nothing left,” he whispered.

“They are going to take my car.”

“They are going to foreclose on the office building on Oak Lawn.”

“They already have,” I said.

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot.

“What?”

“My holding company bought the note on the Oak Lawn building yesterday,” I said.

“Your tenants will be paying their rent to my property management firm starting tomorrow.”

Graham stared at me as if looking at a stranger.

“You planned this,” he said.

“I protected myself,” I said.

“For seven years, I watched your mother treat me like a servant.”