“Isaac deleted the union messages when I walked in the door. Now the meeting between you and the union is cancelled. Kingston’s obviously in bed with at least a portion of the union. My presence and history with the union has everyone spooked. Add to that the fact that my father just called and demanded to see me at the office right now and I’d say our plan is working. The one where we leave and you end up in my bed.”
Unless I don’t, I think. Unless he decides he doesn’t want me there, because I can’t go to New York City without telling him what I don’t want to tell him. What I have to tell him.
CHAPTER FORTY
Harper
Eric pulls us into the Kingston parking lot in his Jaguar rental after we decided to ride to work together, which is the part I’m fine with. The choice of car is another story. “I can’t believe we’re in a Jaguar,” I say. “I work for Kingston.”
“You’re making a statement,” he says yet again since we had this debate at my house. “The Kingstons don’t own us. They don’t own you. And that’s an important message. It’s the one that puts pressure on them. It’s the one that makes them feel relief when I convince you to leave.”
“Right,” I say. “I know you’re right.” But the idea that his father will be here today, and get in my face, is not a good one. Isaac I can deal with. He’s an ass that makes you hate him. Jeff is another story. My stepfather has a way of crawling under your skin and cutting from the inside.
Eric turns me to face him. “You’ve been their ‘yes’ girl for six years.”
I scowl at him. “I’m the one who’s been in their faces about the recalls and funny money. I’m the reason you’re here.”
“But for six years, you played a role in the company, you played the good little employee. And you did it so well that no one thought twice about using your trust fund.”
“My mother allowed that,” I say. “I still can’t believe she allowed that to happen.”
“Here’s what you need to remember, sweetheart. Your father didn’t believe she’d let it happen. He believed he took care of you. Your mother has changed, she’s inside the Kingston web.”
“Yes, but—”
“I know you want to save her, but you don’t save someone by ignoring what you’re saving them from. She’s brainwashed and that means she will act to protect them and convince herself that’s in your best interest even if it’s not. She burned you. She will burn you again if you let her. Understand?”
I flash back to the night I found out she gave my stepfather my trust fund. We were at one of our mother-daughter Sunday brunches we do once a month, sipping coffee and eating waffles:
“I need to share something exciting,” my mother says, setting her coffee aside.
I sip from my cup and do the same. “Exciting is good. I’m all ears.”
“Jeff is going to invest your trust fund and he’s assured me you’ll get a twenty-percent return.”
I blanch. “What? What does that mean?”
“He says that seven million dollars shouldn’t just sit when it could be earning money for the company your father helped build and for you. I gave him the money a month ago, and he says it’s already earning you ten percent more than the way it was banked.”
“You did what?”
“This is great news, honey.”
“How did you do this? That money is in my name.”
“I’m the executor and—”
“I’ll never see that money back again.” I lean forward and all but growl. “What have you done? How could you do this to me?”
“Harper?”
I blink back to the present and into Eric’s blue eyes. “Where were you just now?”
“Remembering the day my mother told me she gave my trust fund to Jeff and how great it was going to be for me.”
“What did you say?”
“I was angry. I knew I’d never see the money again. I started looking for a job then. I wanted out, but unlike her with me, I put her first. I stayed when the fatalities happened to protect her. But you’re right. She’s brainwashed. I think she really believes I don’t appreciate what Jeff does for me.”