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I’d almost reached the door. I couldn’t stand the sight of him, so I kept my back to him.
“She wanted this. Don’t disappoint her more than you already have.”
I spun. Fire lit up my veins as I struggled to remain in place instead of throttling him. His satisfied smirk told me I’d played right into his hands. I was too angry to care.
“Why do you want me here?” It was the question I’d never been able to answer.
“This is a family business. What kind of father would I be not to desire all my children to be part of it?”
That was a canned interview answer. The words of the man who charmed the outside world to manipulate them.
I wasn’t one of his sheep.
I saw right through him.
“I can’t make this any clearer. I’m. Not. Working. For. You.” His threats had gotten me into this office, but I had to stand firm.
I loved my career. Maybe I loved twisting the knife in my father just as much. Because when he couldn’t control me, he didn’t get his way. That was my only leverage against him.
He relaxed on his plush throne. “Don’t be so hasty,Son.”
I welcomedthe cold air when I exited the office onto Madison Avenue.
We’d had this conversation more times than I could count. Sometimes it seemed as if he enjoyed provoking and sparring. He’d assure me that one day I would work for him.
So far, that hadn’t happened.
But today, there was something I couldn’t put my finger on. A different air about him. He was a confident man. Always.
I usually left any encounter with him beyond angry. Blindingly mad.
Now . . . I was unsettled.
Was I just a puppet in his game? Had I been all along?
I didn’t know the rules. Had he given me the illusion of free will, allowing me to believe I had the power over my own life?
That seemed crazy. Ultimately, the only way he could control me was by threatening the people and things I cared about.
Which was how he won today.
He’d held my career over my head all these years, but there was an end game, even if I didn’t know what it was.
What he’d done to Pepper, Miss Adeline, and the dogs was unacceptable. But I firmly believed he’d make good on his promises to shut them down. What I wasn’t sure of was if that held beyond getting me to his office earlier.
Could I go back?
As I climbed into my truck, all I wanted was to see her. Apologize . . . for everything.
I couldn’t risk it. I wouldn’t be responsible for the destruction of her world.
Because my father would do it just to make me suffer.
How he knew about her, how he seemed to know more about my feelings for her than I did, was incomprehensible.
I rested my forehead on the steering wheel.
I needed to crash at my brother’s place. If I went home, I’d be too tempted to see Pepper.
