Folding her arms across her chest, she narrowed her eyes. “And can I ask why not?”
My chest tightened as I considered my answer. The question was loaded. I could tell by the look in her eye. She already knew the answer. Freaking Cassidy.
“I just don’t want to.” I shrugged, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“I’m sure you know that’s an unacceptable answer. I could see if you had some kind of history with the owners or something.”
“That’s a mighty specific thing to say,” I countered.
Yes, I had history with the owners. I’d been so busy with life in general that when a resort and casino opened a few miles outside of Lulaville, I didn’t even bat an eye. I wasn’t a gambler, so I never even considered going.
When the story broke about high-level corruption and internal money laundering, I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get the scoop. My jealousy was short-lived when I saw the one and only Reed Fuller being interviewed about the scandal. Apparently, he was the personal relations director or something they were using as code for professional bullshitter. He should have been damn good at that job by now.
It had been seven years since I’d laid eyes on Reed, and I didn’t care if I never saw his ass again. Even seeing him on TV was triggering. Laying eyes on him after seven years still felt too soon. How the hell did I not know he was involved with that place? Better yet, since when did he live around here? When I left his place in college, we were two hours away from here and nowhere near either of our homes.
Why the hell did he choose to put down stakes so close to mine? I was sure he knew I came back home. As tempted as I’d been, I rarely tried to figure out what became of him. I was too busy building a life for myself in the aftermath of our fallout.
“I just find it strange that you wouldn’t mention that you dated one of the owners. You know how much material we missed out on?”
“I didn’t know they owned it until that scandal broke a few months ago. Besides, it didn’t matter who I used to know. It wasn’t an amicable breakup. One of them hates me, and the other one broke my heart. We’re not on speaking terms and haven’t been since college.”
“Hate is often the best ammunition.”
“When did Cassidy tell you?” I questioned.
“Who said it was Cassidy?” Barbara asked.
“I assume that’s why she’s conveniently sick or whatever lie you made up to excuse her not being here.”
“That’s not important. I have on good authority that there is still corruption going on behind the scenes.”
“So have someone check it out,” I said, lifting my shoulders.
“I can understand your apprehension to report on people you know, but this is huge.”
“Be that as it may?—”
“Wait, which one of them broke your heart?”
“Why does it matter?”
“It was that handsome spokesperson with the hypnotic eyes, wasn’t it? He’s charming as hell in those interviews. I can see why you fell for him.”
“It sounds like you have a crush on him. Maybe you should do it.”
That only made her cackle. “This is actually perfect.”
“How is this perfect? I literally said I wasn’t doing it.”
“You’re a wizard at decoding bullshit, and you know the owners. This is gold, Faith.”
“Correction, Iknewthe owner. I also said that they hate me, and the feeling is mutual, but you seem to keep overlooking that part.”
“The revenge angle just makes it better. How long have you been waiting to get those rich bastards back?”
“I’m not doing it, Barb.”
Opening the file, she landed on a picture and shoved it across the table. There he was. Reed Fuller, once the love of my life, now the bane of my existence. The last time I had the audacity to look him up, he was overseas doing family business, whatever that entailed.
