Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
He’s hit ten nerves and I swallow hard. “Not hard enough, obviously.”
“Is that what you believe?”
Anger comes at me from a deep, overflowing pit that has nothing to do with Reid. “I pushed. He shut me out.”
“Because your brother convinced him he was right again and you were wrong.”
“My brother works for a tech giant in Japan. He’s been out of this for years. I don’t know why he’d be advising my father about anything.”
“But he is. He’s still at your father’s ear.”
“Maybe.”
“He is. And for the record, your distance from your brother was one of the only reasons I said yes to you staying on board. Keep that distance.”
“That won’t be a problem,” I say, my words acid on my tongue. “I told you—”
“You like me better than him. I heard you. I have to be in court at two. What time is our staff meeting?”
“Six.”
“I’ll be back by five. Go through the data with me between now and then.”
“How can you run this place and still manage a caseload?”
“I have me and you. We’re an army. Go through the data with me.”
“You’ve already been through it. That’s obvious.”
His eyes meet mine, his penetrating in a way that is wholly personal, and yet, his words are seemingly all business. “I’ve seen the reports, but they only tell me the end result, not how you got there. Tell me your story.”
This place is my story, it’s all I’ve ever let be my story, which means this man already owns all of me, he controls my future, my life, my everything, but I won’t say that to him. I don’t trust him not to use it against me. I cut my gaze and plan to start reading the data. His phone rings again and he glances at the number. His jaw sets hard and he answers. “A call from the district attorney himself,” he answers. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
The district attorney, I think. Of course. This man is all about power.
“Let me be clear,” he says, his tone harder than steel. “People not only died, but you let it happen. You went after an innocent man, and then let his conviction stand in the public eye. Not only was another woman killed while the real killer ran loose, the brother of one of the victims attacked one of my clients.”
My eyes go wide. My God.
“I’m aware that this is not my normal territory,” Reid says, “but I made an exception and we both know that’s not to your benefit.” He laughs. “You’re kidding, right? Try three times that much. And for the record, my fee is being donated to the families of the victims, right along with my client’s settlement. It would look pretty low for you to be cheap since you already look like scum.” He gives a brutal laugh this time. “You’d better make this worth my time.” He disconnects and looks at me. “We’ll continue later.” He stands up and shuts his computer. “I’ll be back in time for the meeting.”
With that, he walks to his desk and grabs his briefcase. I stand and pick up my things. Right when I would exit, his hand is back on the door, his big body behind mine. “Turn around.”
I do it. I don’t know why, but I just do it, and suddenly I’m suffocating in this man, in the scent of him, the size of him. The power of him. “I know your story better than you do and that’s a problem,” he says. “You weren’t wrong. The Japan deal wasn’t, and isn’t, something you want on your books. Figure out why and you might be ready to run this place.”
“What does that mean?”
“Open the door, go to your office, and figure it out, because you’re only as good as that answer.”
“Or the private eye you hired.”
“I hired,” he says. “I hired. Think about that. I got answers.”
“Then you want me to hire yet another private eye?”
“The answers you need aren’t hard to find. Find it. While I’m gone, what are you going to say to the staff?”
“Nothing until the meeting.”
“That won’t work. What are you going to say? What will you say if someone asks why I’m in your father’s office?”
“I’ll tell them we’ll explain in the meeting.” He stares at me, waiting for another answer. “My father retired,” I say. “You’re here to offer valuable counsel in his absence that will be discussed in the meeting tonight.”
“Good. What else?”
“You’re the new CEO.”
“Acting CEO and don’t say that until we talk to them together.”
“Why? Isn’t that what you want? Power?”
“I have it,” he says. “I don’t need to flaunt a title that will ultimately be yours.”
“They’ll know. You said that.”
“And we’ll handle that tonight, in the meeting, in an appropriate way. What else are you going to say when I’m gone?”