His words stop my heart cold and were so cleverly planned. Before I can get over being tongue-tied from shock, he’s already stepped up to the line to take another turn.
“What!?” I bark, but I know he can barely hear me over the echoing crash of pins.
He calmly strolls back to the table as if he didn’t just drop a huge bomb. “Your turn,” he states.
“What is wrong with you? Do you think I’m stupid?” I seethe, not moving from my seat. “You just casually announce that you talked to Theo and then act as if it’s not a big deal? You think we just talk about other things now?” He recoils from my ranting, leaning across his knees to stare at the floor. “Talked to him how!?” I continue. “Phone? In person?”
“Phone,” he replies. “For now.”
I’m too afraid and enraged to keep doing this dance with him. As my anger boils, I fly up from the table towards the door. I can’t just sit there and try to coax the details out of him. I’m not sure I want to hear them at all, much less beg to know what it was all about. I just wish they hadn’t spoken at all, especially not behind my back. The last secret meeting they had resulted in me being taken hostage before Theo shot Emmett’s father to death.
“Ophelia! Wait!” I faintly hear Emmett calling after me as I storm out of the building. I’m halfway across the parking lot by the time he catches up to me, pulling my arm to stop me.
“I’m not playing around, Emmett,” I snap as I whip around to face him. “Either you tell me what you two talked about right now or I’m running home.”
“I’m sorry,” he answers quickly. “I did a horrible job at bringing that up, I know.”
“There is no right way to bring it up! Because you shouldn’t be talking to him at all!” I scream. “Spit it out. What did he want?”
His mouth opens, but nothing comes out at first. “Well…he…actually…he,” he stammers slowly, making me impatient. I spin on my heels to get away from him again. “Okay, okay,” he darts after me, gripping my arm. “He offered me a job.”
My brain freezes with confusion. A job? What kind of job does Theo have to offer anyone, much less my boyfriend who hasn’t even graduated high school yet?
“What?” my face scrunches up. “What the hell do you mean!? A job?”
“I don’t know much about it yet,” he explains. “That’s why he called. To set up a meeting about it.”
My nostrils flare as I glare back in silent anger. I try to speak, but my jaw is locked up. “Yet?” I growl finally through clenched teeth.
“Huh?”
“Yet,” I hiss. “You said you don’t know much about it yet.” He blinks at me with a blank expression. “Implying you actually plan on meeting with him to find out more!?” I let out a shrill groan of exasperation, turning away again. I can’t stand to look at him right now. I’m so angry I’m starting to shake.
“Hey, I didn’t say that,” he defends. “Look, I couldn’t keep it a secret from you. But talking about it makes me nervous, so everything’s coming out wrong.”
I stand in the cold night air with my arms crossed, shaking my head as I stare off at nothing in the distance. I came to know Emmett as a master manipulator. It’s not even his fault. It’s just how he was raised to be. Even after everything that’s happened, I can’t imagine that trait just disappearing overnight. It’s hard not to feel like every word he says and action he takes isn’t carefully calculated with every possible outcome considered.
“All I know is that he wants to start his own company,” he continues. “A new car manufacturing company, but with more energy-efficient models to compete with Jameson. Obviously, I have the qualifications since my entire upbringing was devoted to preparing me for running Jameson Automobiles.”
“Ha, of course,” I scoff, as my throat tightens. “How convenient. He weasels his way back into Jameson and our lives and suddenly he has a passion for cars and the environment?” He shrugs cluelessly as I glare at him. “Get fucking real, Emmett. All Theo cares about is competing with the Hendersons and the new Elites. I knew getting rid of Thomas wouldn’t be enough for him. He’s the greediest person I’ve ever met. He’s not going to stop.”
“I don’t know,” he answers nonchalantly. “Does it really matter what his motives are? All I have going for me is what my dad taught me about running the company. But with none of the actual work experience for it to matter to another car manufacturer. Whatever Theo wants out of it, it’d be the start of a career for me…”
His defense knocks out what little bit of wind I have left in my chest. “Wait…so you are actually considering this!? What the fuck…” I let out a shaky exhale and start to pace in the dark parking lot.
“I don’t know! I didn’t say that! I…I just don’t know.”
“What about everything we planned!?” I cry out. “All we’ve talked about the past month is getting the hell out of Jameson. Now not only are you actually considering getting a job here, but you also want to work for my father!? What was the point of everything we’ve been through!? You scheming to have your monster of a father taken out of the picture…hoping you could run a legitimate company with some sense of ethics and morals. I know everything changed when your mom took everything and cut you off, but it was supposed to be a fresh start! Now you’re just going right back to...to...”
“Taking my father out wasn’t just about gaining control over Jameson Automobiles,” he defends with that familiar haunted and wounded look in his eyes. “It was much more than that and you know it.”
A streak of guilt cuts through my rage. I firmly believe there’s little to no difference between Theo and Thomas, but I didn’t have to grow up with Theo. A fact that has probably left me better off. Emmett has suffered horrible abuse at the hands of his father. Killing him wasn’t about money or power. It was about survival and getting rid of a sick and twisted man who did nothing but cause harm to others.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I offer. “But that’s just it. Why put yourself into Theo’s hands? And right back in the same situation you had to go through so much to get out of?”
“Hey, come here,” he demands, intercepting my manic pace to wrap his arms around me. “It’s okay. I’m not really considering working for him, okay? Like I said…I had to tell you, and it felt like there was just no good way to go about it.”
I give into his embrace, still reeling with fear no matter what he says. My chest and arms tremble against him, and I can’t tell if it’s from the cold or lingering anger.