“Okay.” Jack looked up and then shook his head. “I guess I don't see how it all ties together.”
“It was sort of organic. One minute I was fumbling through my pitch, the next he was offering money. He judged her from the second he saw her. It perfectly highlighted those inherent biases that I was talking about. If I can prove to Buffount and his friends that she is an academic based on changing a few things typically associated with class and intelligence, then he will believe me that the odds are stacked against some people. He’ll pay for my research so I can be eligible for tenure.”
“Where does that leave Suzie after all this?”
“What do you mean?” That itching sensation crept up the back of my neck again.
“You’re going to dress her up and take her to fancy parties and rub elbows with the elite in society and academia and then what? She goes back to dancing for money and getting tossed around by bikers?”
The image of Occum threatening her flashed through my head. Would he hurt her? What if she held up her end of the bargain and he still refused to make the changes? She seemed to think he’d never actually hurt her.
I shook my head. “She’d be given an opportunity to change her life. Make something of herself.”
Jack frowned deeper. “What if she doesn’t want that? What if she wants something completely different?”
I scoffed. “I highly doubt that.”
“I don’t know. Something about this doesn’t sit well with me. You don’t love it either.”
I couldn’t meet his gaze. “He offered me a million dollars, Jack. A million dollars and I could make a real impact on people’s lives. I could give whole towns a chance. I could keep people like Suzie from ever having to be on the path she’s on. I could help kids like us who grew up with absolutely nothing and nobody believing in them.”
He made a sound that we both made when we thought about our past—a combination of a grunt and a growl. Jack and I were the only people who knew the ugliest parts of our childhoods. He had his own trauma he’d recovered from. All of this was so much bigger than Suzie, or Jack, or even me.
“I know. Your work is important. I like her, is all.”
If liking her made me lose sight of my goal it was a risk I couldn’t take. I had to keep a professional distance. Everything I’ve felt for her thus far was attraction. A voice deep down tried to point out that I’d not felt this level of attraction before. I ignored that voice. The future was too important. I pushed back the empty plate.
“This will be good for her, too. She could actually make something of herself.”
Jack frowned. “Just be careful. She seems like she’s been dicked around too many times.”
I nodded. The pasta sat heavy in my gut. I hadn’t meant to sound like such a prick.
“This will be good for everyone,” I said, and I meant it. The ends justified the means. Suzie would be fine at the end of all this and I could change the world. Or, at least a small corner of it.
Chapter 11
Suzie
Ieavesdropped on Jack and Ford from the hall, gripping the wall behind me as I fought the urge to throw up my dinner.
Make something of herself.
He thought I was trash. He thought that I was nothing. This wasn’t a surprise to me. That’s what everyone thought of me. He was no different. That’s what I got for eavesdropping.
I’d show him who was trash. I thought of where I could hurt him the most, but something stopped me. A little voice inside wanted to prove I wasn’t Short Fuse Suze. I was here to clear my debt and get my VIP stage. Nothing more. He could change my clothes all he wanted but everybody would always treat me the same, so who cared. I would just get through this and get what I wanted. I’d read his little books and play his little games, but this was all a waste of time.
I crept silently back a few feet before I stomped down the last few stairs and into the kitchen giving them plenty of time to hear me coming.
“This house is frickin’ amaze-balls,” I said perkily.
Jack smiled at me but Ford only examined the table with focus.
“Isn’t it?” Jack got up and collected the plates. “I had a professor who was moving out just as I achieved tenure. Clifford and I were foster brothers and had been rooming most of our lives at that point. I couldn’t afford it alone and we had a good thing going, so here we are. Ford is a clean-freak, like me.”
“Cleanliness is godliness,” Ford grumbled.
“Germs are the enemy,” Jack said with mock seriousness.
