There was silence then the other man cleared his throat. “Janice always thought you two were having an affair.” There was no anger in his tone, but then, there wouldn’t be, Josh thought. A man like Frank didn’t think adultery was that bad… Josh knew of two women he’d had affairs with, and highly doubted Janice didn’t know of them either.
“We weren’t. Not before Jamie died. After, we just grew close.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because of what happened with Erin the other week. I wanted a long engagement. Wanted to keep it between us while making sure Samantha knew my feelings were strong. I didn’t want to upset anyone, namely you and Janice, but then she threatened Erin’s custody and I can’t have that, Frank. You have to understand that.”
“I don’t like what Samantha’s been teaching Erin, Josh. I don’t like it one bit. Making out Jamie was some kind of—”
When he broke off, Josh murmured, “He was, Frank. He did beat her, and Janice knew.”
The silence was deafening now, and Frank whispered, “You’re lying.”
“No. I’m not. I’m not saying this to hurt you, I’d rather say nothing at all. But Janice has just set a preced
ent. According to her, she’s going to raise hell to take Erin away from Samantha and I won’t stand for that. Not after what she had to endure at Jamie’s hands…”
Frank let out a deep sigh. “I can imagine how badly that conversation went, and can imagine what she had to say.”
“Yeah. Well, imagining is worse than the reality. She spat at Samantha, Frank. Spat at her.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly. Look, the threats she made, I don’t like them. Not one bit. A woman scorned, and all that… I know she’s more likely to act foolishly on her feelings while I know you’re more likely to keep a calm head. If she intends to throw all your might at this, then I intend to do the same.”
And both of them knew just how much might Josh had over Frank.
Billions.
Rather than simply millions.
“I understand.”
The words were cool. And Josh knew Frank wasn’t happy but he was, unlike Janice, level-headed.
“I also wanted to talk about the Sanderson-Montecor deal.”
The off-topic olive branch had Frank stuttering, “The Sanderson deal? What about it?”
“I warned Janice about it. The SEC are closing in. Insider trading. If you act now, you should be able to pull out.”
For the first time, Frank sounded pissed off—go figure, Josh thought sadly. “Fuck! You’re shitting me?”
“No. I had word this morning, and I’ve also heard how heavily you invested in the deal. I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Thanks, Josh. I appreciate that. I sunk a lot of money into that deal too. Dammit.” Then, Frank seemed to realize what he’d said. “Shit. You just warned me, didn’t you?”
Josh’s smile was tight. “You could say that.”
“Gosh,” he said, heaving out a sigh. “Never thought I’d see the day when I was on the receiving end of a patented Joshua Lewis warning.”
“Well, I don’t want this to escalate. We’ve always been friendly, Frank, and through Jamie, we’ve known each other a long time. I have no desire to do you or Janice any harm.”
“But you will if it means protecting Samantha and Erin.” Frank’s tone was musing. “Maybe that’s exactly what Erin needs in his life.” He went quiet, then asked, “Josh, is it true? Really? No bullshit.”
“Yeah. It’s true. She’s like a wounded animal, Frank,” he said softly, and hated that Samantha flinched at his side. “And Erin’s flourishing now his dad isn’t around. I’ve been noticing the difference every day. It’s chalk and cheese. So silent around his father, to so chatty now Jamie’s not around. And I think that’s why he said something that last visit, because he’s finally talking and Janice, well, she didn’t like what Erin had to say.”
“You’re sure she’s not just saying it?”