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Raleigh snorts. “Like there was a better way to do it?”
“I mean, I never should have left. At all.” I run a hand through my hair, thinking that of all the speeches I’d given this week, maybe I should have practiced this one more. I meet her eyes. “You were right. I had one foot out the door the whole time. I should have stood my ground.”
“Why did you leave?”
The million dollar question. They deserve to know.
“My father knew about us from the start. He was having me followed; his investigator got photos of us together at the beach. He threatened to go to the press.” I can tell Callie understands where this is going, but Raleigh is clueless. “My family is very concerned about their public image,” I explain. “Being bisexual was bad enough; my being in a relationship with two people flies in the face of everything the Thorpes stand for.”
“He blackmailed you?” Raleigh asks.
“Yes. But that’s not why I left.” I wait until Callie meets my eyes. “He’s the one who filed the complaint against Hale House.”
Her mouth drops open.
“And he threatened to disclose our relationship to the school district,” I say. Raleigh frowns. “He made some pretty nasty insinuations about whether it would be considered appropriate for ‘someone like you’ to work with youth.”
“You’re joking.”
I shake my head. “Not even a little.”
Callahan mulls that over for a moment. “And what about Finn?”
The name causes physical pain, but I owe her an answer. “It’s done. He knows we’re—that is, we were—involved. All of us. I’m not going to try to cover it up or lie. The best I can do is explain, if he decides to hear me out.”
“You haven’t talked to him?” I shake my head. “Oh, West.” Callahan comes to me, kissing me on the cheek and hugging me hard. Hope flares hard in my chest and my lungs constrict.
“Does this mean—?”
“I forgive you,” she whispers.
“Just like that?” says Raleigh. “Callie—”
Callahan holds up a hand, stepping away from me again. It’s all I can do not to reach for her with both hands.
“Please.” It comes out in a hoarse whisper. Callie shakes her head.
“I suppose I should thank you,” she says, her voice stronger now. “This year has been hard, but your leaving was harder. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.”
Eviscerated, I look down, half expecting to see my heart lying on the floor at their feet.
“I’m sorry.”
“What happens the next time?” Raleigh asks, his voice less angry but somehow harder. “What happens when somebody finds out we’re together and threatens to make it public? It’s bound to happen, West. We can’t hide forever. And frankly, I don’t want to live like that anyway. You going to break things off every time somebody threatens to out you?”
I shake my head again, shame rising, sending blood to my cheeks.
“Never again.” I say, digging my phone out of my pocket. Grandmother’s assistant had emailed me the video clip of the meeting, as promised. “I can’t send this to you—company security policy and all—but I wanted to you to see this for yourselves.”
The clip is only thirty seconds or so of security footage of the meeting. Eileen had put the audio recording with the video, a handy bit of editing for which I’d have to send her a gift basket later, considering how quickly she got it done.
On screen, my grandmother has calmed and congratulated the newly promoted managers and is covering the ground rules for the next few weeks. I hit the volume, turning it up as loud as I can.
“Furthermore,” says Grandmother, her commanding voice quieting the murmurs. My stomach goes wild with butterflies, just like it had during the meeting, even though I’d known even then what was about to happen next. “You will each report directly to Weston,” she points to me as though I didn’t already know every one of the twelve men and women in the room. “I know there have been rumors lately about the nature of Weston’s involvement with Thorpe Industries. Weston?”
“Thank you,” I say onscreen. I don’t look nervous at all. If anything, I look every bit like the robot Callahan had accused me of being the day I broke things off between the three of us. “You will each have, by now, no doubt heard the rumors that I have been involved in an unconventional relationship. I’d like to take this opportunity to clear the air. The rumors are true.”
Raleigh sucks in a breath. Neither of them look away from the screen.
