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His smile makes my gut twist.
“Your sister Ruth is at a crossroads, Holly.” My boss spreads one palm over the file and its contents, the receipts crinkling. “She’s rather backed herself into a corner.”
Well, it takes two to make a baby, I think furiously, but I swallow the words down and simmer in silence.
I can’t make an enemy of this man. He’s too powerful, holding all our futures in his gnarled grasp.
He starts tapping one finger on the file, drumming out a slow, agonizing rhythm. I can’t look away from his manicured fingertip, not until he says, “Shall I tell you what lies down each fork in the road for your sister?”
I nod stiffly, shaking off wild daydreams of pushing him in front of a speeding car. “Yes, sir.”
He clears his throat, settling in like he’s telling a bedtime story.Tap… tap… tap…
“Down one road, Ruth is welcomed into the Edwards family. My son won’t marry her of course—a simple dalliance can’t ruin his life—but both child and mother receive full financial support and all the protection of the Edwards name. Things like college tuition and healthcare costs are not concerns that cross your sister’s mind. She’s free to pursue her own interests and raise her child as she sees fit—within reason, of course.”
Within reason.
Right.
“And down the second path?”
Because there are worse things than struggling for money. Don’t get me wrong, it sucks like hell, but it might still be a better trade than living under Governor Edwards’ thumb forevermore.
Tap… tap… tap…
“Down the second path, Ruth is fired without references, her name dragged through the mud. Charges are brought against her for stealing from the Edwards property. For attempted blackmail, too.”
I inhale sharply. “Ruth wouldnever—”
“You would also be fired, without references, and left to support both mother and child. With all the extra shifts you’d have to work, I wonder if you would even find the time to visit her in prison?”
I grip the edge of the desk, dizzy with rage.
There’s a paperweight in the corner of the table. It looks heavy. Like with enough force, it could dent an old politician’s skull.
Ihavebeen scrubbing a lot lately. Bet I could do it.
“Which fork in the road will Ruth go down? The choice is yours, Holly.”
I tear my eyes away from the paperweight and meet the Governor’s cold gaze. His eyes are brown, but there’s not a speck of warmth to them. It’s like peering into a wintry pond. “Mine?”
“This could all end happily for Ruth. Her future depends on your cooperation.”
I already scrub this man’s toilets. What more can he want from me?
“I’m a maid,” I say flatly. “All I do is clean.”
“And listen.”Tap… tap… tap…“I expect you hear things, too. Staff always do. The uniform makes you invisible, you see.”
Straightening my back, I force the words between stiff lips. “I am discreet, Governor Edwards. If that is your concern, you needn’t have threatened my sister. Whatever I hear or see under this roof is none of my business.”
“I agree, of course,” the Governor says, frowning slightly at the ultrasound, “but it’s not me that I want you to clean for. And I don’t want your discretion in this, Holly. I want to hear every sordid detail.”
Ugh.
Spying.
He’s talking about spying.
