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If I believed in signs, this would be a blue-and-yellow neon one telling me I’d better grab what I’d lost eighteen months ago.
Losing my chance at making partner dulled in comparison to losing my wife.
Why did it have to be a goddamn choice? Why couldn’t I have both?
In the end, the question was whether five more days in Coal Haven would make a difference.
A payday of millions of dollars would make a hell of a difference. I had a nicely padded savings account, but this amount of money was life changing. Not just for me, but for my wife.
Leaving felt wrong, but staying didn’t feel quite right. This deal might be the answer. “I can drive back in two days.”
“Mr. Hollywood could move on it in two days. You need to get back faster. Ditch the car. You’ll be able to buy a new one. Get a red-eye or something.”
“I don’t think they have red-eyes here.”
“Well, fucking hitchhike. How bad do you want this?”
“I want it,” I said without inflection as my mind raced. If I stalled too much, Mr. Truitt would threaten to turn it over to Wilson. Not a good look for the company, since the prospective buyer had approached Wilson first. “Look, I need time to gather all the information and make a list of what I want to talk to Sheridan Nine’s agent about. Why don’t I give Malik a call? What’s his last name?”
“That’s my man.” Is he being smug? “Malik is his last name. His first name is Rogers.”
I could get started on the reports, since I’d clearly made my decision. I got off the phone with Wilson and stared at the front door of my room for a minute before I called Delaney.
When she answered, I didn’t hesitate. “Wilson called. I have to leave in the morning.” I used her silence to fill her in on the details and ended with, “So yeah. It’s a shitload of money for us.”
“Us?” she asked with more hesitancy than I cared for.
“Don’t give up on us, okay?”
“You think Norville is going to let you do a deal this big and then somehow split your time between Dallas and Coal Haven?”
“Delaney—”
“No, Archer. Do you think this is a huge coincidence? ‘Some Hollywood guy sniffing around’? How long has Sheridan Nine been for sale?”
I clamped down on the defensiveness her question coaxed out. “Five-hundred-million-dollar properties don’t move in months.”
“Bullshit. The Truitts want the deal; that’s no surprise. But they suddenly found a buyer right before they feared you wouldn’t return?”
I sighed. “It’s not a conspiracy.”
“Maybe it’s a coincidence. But they’re dangling partner again. They’re not going to want to share you with anyone. They’re getting you back into the office, where you can make them a lot of money.”
“Norville’s not an evil mastermind. He’s just a guy trying to run a successful company.”
“Whatever, Archer.” Delaney suddenly sounded as tired as I felt. “Have a good trip.”
“Is that goodbye?” Acid chewed through my stomach. Was this it?
Wasn’t this where we were heading? She’d had the balls to call it.
“Goodbye,” she said and hung up.
“Fuck!” I hit the steering wheel. Hit it again. “Fuck.”
I wiped a hand over my face and got out. I shut off the Delaney part of my mind. If I thought about her, I would tank this deal, and it wasn’t a sure thing in the first place. Because the only thing I could do was prove her wrong. Show her that somehow, I could have it all. The Truitts didn’t have the power over me she thought they did.
* * *
