Her Tycoon to Tame Read Free

father is having a momentary bout of senility and—”
    Jacobs rose to tower above her, his face like granite. “I didn’t steal Sutherland Farm, doc. I paid more than fair market value.”
    He calmly lifted the cookie and took another bite. His insolence stung like a slap in the face. Then as she focused on the cookie she realized she wasn’t the only one who would be blindsided by today’s disastrous news. She swung to her father who had followed her onto the patio.
    â€œWhat about Nellie? She’s lived with us since Mom died. She has no other home, no other family. Just us. You can’t turn her out to pasture. She’s too young to retire, and jobs are hard to find right now.”
    â€œWyatt has promised to continue employing Nellie.”
    Wyatt has promised. Right. And she trusted him about as far as she could throw all six feet plus and two hundred whatever rock-solid pounds of him. She glared at him. “What about the other employees, the clients’ horses and the stables? Are you going to do a clean sweep?”
    Most new owners brought in their own teams, and shehated to think of the people she’d known and loved like an extended family being scattered across the globe—that was if they were able to find jobs with so many farms downsizing.
    â€œI’ll maintain the status quo while I assess the property and the business.”
    â€œAnd then what?”
    â€œMy decisions will depend on what I discover about the operation.”
    â€œWhat’s to discover? You bought a world-class stable—”
    â€œHannah,” her father interrupted, “Brink will go over the particulars of the agreement with you. All you need to know is that Wyatt has agreed to keep the current staff for a full year unless obvious incompetence leads him to decide otherwise.”
    Her shoulders snapped straight at the insult. “Sutherland Farm doesn’t employ any incompetents.”
    â€œThen no one need be concerned,” Jacobs said.
    Desperation clawed at her throat. “Daddy, please don’t do this. I’m sure there’s a way you can undo the paperwork. Give me a chance to prove to you that I can run the farm and—”
    â€œHannah, we closed the deal a week ago. Today was merely the first time Wyatt and I could meet personally to discuss the transition.”
    â€œA week ago,” she parroted. Her world had crashed and she’d been oblivious. Head reeling and legs shaking, she tried to make sense of the upheaval to come.
    â€œI’ve already purchased a townhome and the movers have been scheduled,” her father added, sending another shockwave rippling through her.
    Jacobs stiffened. “A townhome? What about the cottage?”
    My cottage! Ohmigod. Where will I live?
    Her father’s expression turned cagey. “Hannah lives in the cottage.”
    Jacobs’s hands fisted by his sides and anger lit his eyes.
    Confused by the exchange, Hannah looked from the interloper to her father. “My home and my job are part ofSutherland Farm. Where will I go? Where will I live and work?”
    Her father sighed and turned toward the bar cart. “I’ll let Wyatt explain.”
    â€œLuthor excluded the cottage and two acres inside the stone fence surrounding it from the deal. You’ll get to keep your house. And, as your father has already explained, like any other employee you’ll be kept on staff as long as the quality of your work meets my standards.” Jacobs’s voice carried about as much warmth as liquid nitrogen.
    The man would be her boss.
    â€œYour standards?” From his tone she gathered his standards would be impossible to meet.
    Her cottage, the original Sutherland homestead, sat smack in the middle of Sutherland Farm. She’d be surrounded by enemy territory. But at least she’d have a roof over her head.
    She swallowed her panic and fought to clear her head. “When is all