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“Maybe,” I say slowly. “But I think it’s more like revenge for reporting on him. Selling photos of his sister was the final straw, I think. He knew the exact amount of our debt. And he approached us, not the other way around. But the worst part is that he wants me to work for him.”
“He what?” Adriana’s mouth drops open.
I take a hearty gulp of red before continuing. “This is how I know he wants revenge. He told me if I work for him for six months, without quitting or getting fired, I can have the paper back at the end.”
“Well, that seems reasonable,” Luz cuts in. “Right? Adriana don’t you think?”
Adriana narrows her eyes while she thinks. “What does the contract look like?”
“Fairly standard, I think. I’m at his beck and call for six months. And if I last, I get a million dollars.” I shrug. “I think he’ll keep his word. He doesn’t care about the paper. He hates me. You should have seen his eyes. Like looking into a pool of darkness. He likes the idea of having me at his beck and call.”
“Wait,” Luz interjects. “Does this mean you know—” she waves a hand in the air. “Stuff?”
“Sex,” Adriana says flatly. “Does he want sex?”
I think back to the flatness of his eyes, the insulting expression on his face when he looked at me. “He said he would never ask that of me. He made it pretty clear that he thinks I’m not his type.”
“Dick,” Adriana says, tipping her wine back angrily.
Luz snorts. “Look on the bright side. If he thinks you’re gross, at least he won’t be making advances.”
I laugh. “That is a bright side. Thanks.”
“Okay, so all you have to do is lie low for six months and you’ll get the paper back.” Adriana nods decisively.
“How does your dad feel about all this?” Luz asks. She knows what disappointing your parents feels like. Her mother’s eternal shame is that Luz is a nurse, not a doctor.
“Well, he doesn’t really know.” I fiddle with my napkin before meeting the knowing eyes of my friends. “He was the one who took the meeting. He agrees we can’t pay the loan off.”
“Here we go.” Adriana rolls her eyes. “You never should have taken it to begin with.”
“Believe me. I know.” I sigh. “But during the meeting, Jonah asked to speak to me alone. So my dad doesn’t know about the whole secretary thing. He knows I’ll be working for him.” Luz is giving me a knowing look. “Come on, guys. He would freak out if he knew what Jonah was planning. I mean, I don’t really know either, I just know it will be bad. Dad can’t handle the stress.”
“She’s doing it again,” Adriana says.
“Yup.” Luz sips her wine. “Classic Callie.”
“You can’t do everything on your own.” Luz’s eyes are sympathetic. My friends are convinced I have some sort of hero complex.
“You guys are crazy. All I have to do is survive, and then I get my paper back.”
“And then what?” Adriana flings her hand out. “You do all of this and then your dad takes back over and runs it into the ground?”
I wince. “Way to call me out.”
Luz leans forward. “We just hate seeing you do so much when he’s so resistant to change.”
“Determined to fail, more like,” Adriana grumbles into her glass.
“I just need to prove to him that I can take over. He’s already doing less and less. The paper is his baby. I need to show him that I can do it in a way that he supports.”
Adriana rolls her eyes, but Luz looks thoughtful. “Okay. So, what would it take?” she asks.
I lean forward. “A really big article. An exposé. My dad loves those. We’ve never had the time or the staff to do anything investigative, but now I’ll be getting the inside scoop every day.”
Adriana’s mouth drops open. “You’re going to write about Kings Lane. You’re going to spend every day gathering information. And then, what? Air his dirty laundry?”
I smile. “Depends on what I find. But Jonah Crown is too much of an asshole to not have some bodies buried.”
