No. This is my company. I’m not selling it or bringing anyone else on board. I need a safety net in case everything with my dad goes to shit. Besides, Sean would have my ass, and I already know Cora’s answer. She’s not budging. She’s probably already made a voodoo doll in my image and is sitting at her desk shoving a stick pin into its back which is why it feels like I have an ice pick stabbed between my shoulder blades.
The door of my office bursts open. “You bring him in on this, and I’m kicking your ass.” Sean’s eyes bulge as he steps into the room. He sucks the energy out of the space with his large presence.
Of course, she did. I press my lips together and cock my head sideways. “It’s good to see you, but Cora didn’t need to worry. I’m not letting my father in on the company or telling him about it. We’ll continue operating outside ofTaylor Corporationas we always have.”
“It’s about time you got your head out of your ass,” Cora pipes up from her desk.
“Bite me.”
“You wish.” She spins in her chair and types on the keyboard as if she’s ready to dismiss me and the entire conversation.
“Thank you.” Sean’s jaw flexes as if he’s not ready to give up on his lecture. “Cora called and said you were prepping to kiss his ass and drink the Kool-Aid.”
I raise from my seat and brace my hands on my hips. “I’m not giving up my interest inThe Taylor Corporation. But I’m also not cutting him into the business. If my father expands the company, it won’t be with anything we’ve already designed.”
“Good.” He lowers his shoulders. “Because you have other designs in the marketplace, and he doesn’t deserve a cut of them.”
“Those aren’t going to amount to much. They’ve been out for months. But it doesn’t matter. If my father needs something specific, I’ll design it for him.”
Sean tips his head backward. “Why don’t you option it to him?”
“I’m not greedy.”
“This is not about greed. This is about your father.” He lowers onto a chair across from my desk and braces on the ankle on the opposite knee. “Cora tells me you’re getting married to keep the business. Have you lost your mind?”
“No.” My jaw tightens as I settle across from him. “But if it’s what I must do, I will. I’m not giving up this company.” I shrug. “It’s twelve months. I’ll figure something out.”
“Walk away. You have money. And I can guarantee that the love of a good woman surpasses any business you could ever have. Make your own legacy. One you can be proud of and not one you’re riding the coattails of.”
“Amen,” Cora says without glancing in our direction.
I’m not riding on anyone’s coattails. I’ve worked hard for this.
Chapter Nineteen
Daisy
When I see my sister across the room, I weave through the early evening crowd at Callahan’s Bar.
She lifts her arm and glances at her wrist. The diamonds on her watch shine under the overhead light. “You’re late.”
“I got off work late.” I slide onto the seat opposite her.
She clasps her hands together on the tabletop. “How’s school going?”
“It’s fine. So far, I’m keeping up. I understand calculus this time, and organic chemistry is going fine. It’s a lot of work, but it helps that those are the only two courses I’m taking this semester.”
She studies her fingernails. “You know you can stop going to that shelter if you need more time to study.”
My back stiffens and sweat beads on my forehead. How did she find out? I told my parents I had stopped going there years ago. When I had a momentary lapse in judgment and told my dad I was considering a degree in social work, he snapped and forbade me from returning to the shelter. He accused the shelter of brainwashing me and said he would disown me if I shifted from our plan of attending medical school and joining him at his practice.
Okay, it was his plan, but I’d always gone along with it. He added that earning a degree in social work would be selling myself short and living below my potential. I listened. Sort of. I’ve earned my degree in social work and kept going to the shelter behind his back, but I’m finishing the remaining prerequisites for medical school and will continue with our plan.
She pins me with a look of disapproval. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Fine. I’m still volunteering at the shelter, but it’s not interfering, and I’m continuing with the plan to go to medical school. Dad is right. I can help more people as a doctor.”
“If you pass calculus.” She waves at the waitress standing at the end of the next table, taking the order of a group of guys.