Page 24 of He Had It Coming

Maeve rolled on. “You thought you could stage this big comeback. Waltz back into the business and the family like nothing happened. You counted on people forgetting, Dad forgetting, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“This is about making sure I remembered my place below you in the peeking order?”

Maeve shook her head. “It’s a telling of what happened without the gloss and shine of legal experts who bent reality until it snapped in your favor.”

Sounded to me like they were both right. Since Jerek being discredited benefitted me and my plans, I didn’t care about the why behind how we landed here from Maeve’s perspective.

“Listen to yourself.” The subtle shifting started again. He twisted his wrist. Pulled against the rope on his ankle.

The longer I watched, the more convinced I became. He actually thought he could escape.

“Dad admitted to being your confessor. He said he insisted on you telling him in exchange for him saving you,” Maeve said.

He shook his head. “No. The truth saved me.”

“Oh, please.” Maeve didn’t hide her disdain. She let it wash over her, guiding every word. “Why do you think he hated you? After loving you so much, acting like you were the Hayes family savior since birth, he couldn’t stand to sit and eat a meal with you.”

I’d finally discovered one redeemable thing about Conrad Hayes. Seeing his curt dismissal of his son would have been worth an invitation to dinner.

“He packed you off. Kept you hidden. None of that was for your sake, Jerek. It was to preserve Dad’s sanity . . .” Maeve threw her hands in the air. “And look how that turned out.”

“You can’t even see that this is about your jealousy.” Jerek’s attention shifted to me. “And you. How fucking dumb are you? My dear sister clearly is using you. She wants to remove me from the family, has for forever. She’s depending on your unrelenting need for closure to get what she wants.”

He acted like he’d handed down some big revelation. Like, I didn’t recognize the potential for everything I wanted unraveling just before the finish line.

He continued. “You still don’t get it. I’m the heir. I can’t just disappear. You two may hate me but I have friends and a job. People in San Diego and back home who know me. Willa will notice if I don’t come into the office.”

Maeve sighed. “Willa. Compliant little Willa. My assistant and the target of your latest bit of inappropriate office behavior.”

“That makes me sad for Willa.” I stopped there. These two didn’t need my help in destroying each other.

His smug expression, that satisfied smile he lobbed in my direction, suggested he still didn’t understand how close he was to peril. That the web closed tighter around him every second.

“Those Anonymous postings? We have investigators looking into the origin. I’ve been vocal about blaming you, Sabrina. Maeve knows that. Everyone in the office and at corporate headquarters knows that,” he said. “By now, the police probably know it.”

Nope. He wasn’t one ounce wiser despite the hours spent on this boat.

“Maeve is counting on people looking at you if something happens to me. She probably celebrated when you sought her out to help with this mess.”

Wrong again. “I didn’t go looking for an ally. Your sister came to me.”

That stopped him but only for a second or two. “Makes sense. She’s a businesswoman. She helps to run a multimillion-dollar company. She’s planned for every contingency.”

“Suddenly I’m brilliant?” Maeve’s question came wrapped in a blanket of sarcasm.

His harsh laughter rang out, filling the cabin. “Do you think the Anonymous site will link back to my sister? No, of course not. She’s made sure it will link to you, Sabrina. You can bet on that. You made it easy on Maeve. You and your perpetual revenge machine. Maeve will wrap this whole catastrophe around your head and sink you with it. She will turn on you.”

No shit. I was very familiar with how this family operated. Going in without a safe way back out again hadn’t been an option. “Yes, genius. I know.”

His amusement faded as his mouth snapped shut. “What?”

Maeve looked equally lost. “Sabrina?”

They missed their calling. The Hayes siblings should have been actors. They only stumbled over the truth by accident. Most times, they were too busy scheming while pretending to be lost.

I didn’t play that way. “Do you think you’re the only ones with a contingency plan?”

Chapter Twenty-Four