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“Plus, you know, it takes two to tango. Aileen wasn’t the most innocent of characters when it really comes down to it.”
I hate that he’s right. Aileen really was the wolf in sheep’s clothing in all of this. Malcolm had been a womanizer from day one. Aileen had the perfect cover. A loving mother and wife. I don’t blame her more than him, but she isn’t without fault, that’s for damn sure. “How is she?”
“You’ll be happy to know she’s doing very well enjoying the LA sunshine.”
The LA sunshine…?
“In fact, we both are. We just got into town last night. We have people we need to see,”
“You’re telling me she’s gone to see Kent?”
“And the girls, of course.”
Dear god. Harley.I can’t imagine that this is at all welcome. In fact, from everything I’ve learned just over the past week, I know she still nurses the hurt of her mother’s abandonment every day. “And you?”
“Oh, Grant. I thought it was obvious.”
I raise an eyebrow. How could any of this be obvious when he calls me from an unknown phone number out of the blue and drops all this information on me? How could I possibly connect the dots?
“I’m here to see you.”
The muscles in my neck tense up. I have no way of responding to him.
“Because we have quite a bit of unfinished business.”
“Do we, now?”
I can practically hear his evil grin through the phone.Bastard.“I gave you seed money,” he says.
“Seed money? For what” I reply and begin pacing back and forth.
“Don’t play dumb, Grant.”
I’m not. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“I gave you the startup money for Infinium.”
I snort, thinking he might be joking. “Emphasis on the wordgave, Malcolm.”
“Grant, we’re businessmen. Nothing is ever free.”
He can’t be serious.
“Your company exists almost solely because of me. I’ve never seen any return on my investment.”
I can’t believe my ears. “It was a gift.”
“Seed moneyis an investment, Grant.”
“Malcolm–” I try to rewind time, back to the moment he offered. The kindness in his eyes. The light. Kent and I both know now what a good liar he was. But he couldn’t have possibly planned a con as long as this, could he? Tell his friend he was giving him money as a gesture of good faith only to turn the tables and claim ownership of my empire? “It was a gift. Don’t you remember? We were sitting by the pool at Kent’s house. We were drinking–” I started laughing at how ridiculous it all was. “We were drinking Mike’s Hard Lemonade. And the girls were all swimming in the pool with Kent while Aileen was tending toward a skinned knee. Andyoubrought it up.”
“So what ifIbrought it up?”
“I didn’taskyou for investment money. You offered it. In good faith.” Not that Malcolm would know what those words mean. After all, he was fucking his best friend’s wife for years and then stole her away, never to be heard from again. He’s selfish. And doesn’t have a faithful bone in his body.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t say anything other than ‘Let me make it easier for you,’” I reply quickly. I can remember the whole interaction word for word.
