Dad let out a derisive laugh. “With what money?”
“How about with your Marlette money?” I snapped. “Or the money from the sale of the house I got back for you?”
His eyes narrowed at me, revealing a familiar cunning that made the hair rise on my skin. “What’s in it for me?”
“Your family business. Your legacy. Generations of history.”
Instead of sentimentality, all I saw on my father’s face was disgust. “What’s the point of a family business when there’s no family to take it over from me?”
His words hit me like a boulder to the gut. I hadn’t thought of that. Why hadn’t I thought of something so damned obvious?
“No,” he continued, tapping his chin. “I might as well let it die now and focus on Marlette. And, as a bonus, Grey Blackwood can suffer the consequences of his own actions.” He sighed happily. “I really love to see a liar and a thief get what’s coming to him.”
He reached for another piece of toast like the conversation was over, but it couldn’t be over. Grey and I had made a deal. I wanted him to have this building, to be able to pursue his lofty goals with the project. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if my father’s ego and spite screwed Grey over yet again.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“What would change your mind?” I asked, hating to take the first hit in a negotiation that I’d come in here thinking I had in the bag.
“Hmm. I’d reconsider it if I had my son by my side at York the way it was meant to be.”
My fingertips went numb, and the fuzzy, tingly feeling began moving its way slowly up my arms. “Me? At York?”
He nodded with smug satisfaction. “Under contract again. Give me another ten years. You love the city. Why move out to the country when you can stay in your own apartment and use your connections at York to keep fundraising for your little pet project? Hell, I’ll even agree to bump up the foundation’s contributions as long as we get York Capital in the black again.”
I couldn’t give him ten more years at a job I hated. I couldn’t.
I shook my head. “No. It’s too much.”
He misunderstood me. I’d meant it was too much sacrifice to ask of me, but he’d thought I’d meant ten years was too much.
“If you’re willing to give up the extra foundation money, I’ll accept a five-year commitment. Give me five more years to change your mind. Hell, Ellison. When you take over York, just think of the money you could steer toward your charity projects. You’d do a hell of a lot more good for those scholarship kids at York than working on-site at the school for peanuts.”
In theory, he was right. As long as I worked for York, I could direct corporate giving to the programs. But I couldn’t develop alternative funding sources to replace York’s contributions as long as I was working nights and weekends at my job.
I’d be dependent on my father. Under his thumb. Again.
My father watched me carefully. I shook my head again, feeling like the most selfish asshole on earth. If I truly cared about Grey, I’d do this. Five years and plenty of money for the academy? Why wouldn’t I agree?
Because I hate it there. I hate the law. I hate working with my father. I hate working to make rich people richer.
Five years and Grey’s project could launch incredible new ventures. Five years and my father might retire and put me in charge of the foundation.
It was only five years.
“I’ll start an internship at York Capital you can offer to one of your students each year,” he said, sweetening the pot. “Hell, I’ll offer one at Marlette too.”
I considered it. It was a small price to pay to get the approval Grey needed for the building. Besides, it would give me five years in the same city as Grey. It would give us a chance at developing a real relationship without the challenge of long distance.
But the real deciding factor was the memory of his face last night when he told me how he felt about the project.
“This is it. Everything I’ve been working so hard toward, and I’m this close. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make this work.”
I hadn’t been able to make things right for Grey back then, but I could sure as hell do it now.
“Okay,” I said, exhaling a big breath. “You’ll agree to sign off on Ian’s building sale if I come back to York for five years.”
“And agree to stop seeing Grey Blackwood socially,” he added casually.
I let out a harsh laugh. That was one thing I was definitely not willing to sacrifice. “No fucking way. Try again.”
Dad shrugged and stood up. “That’s a condition of my offer. Take it or leave it.”
I stood up and moved toward the door. “Easy enough. I leave it.”
Dad made a sound of disgust. “Fine. Jesus, fine. But he’s not going to stay with you once he learns you’ve gone back to work for his enemy,” he called as I walked out. “You’ll see.”
My dad sounded so sure of himself, even I wondered. It was true that Grey was going to be royally pissed at me.
When I reached the end of the hallway and began descending the back staircase, I dropped all pretense of control. I wanted to scream and cry, bang my fists on a wall and throw things. My father was a selfish ass. It wasn’t a surprise but a continued, devastating reality that seemed to rear its ugly head up more and more often the older I got.
Or maybe I just saw it more clearly now.
I made my way into the first empty room I came to on the main floor. It was Ian’s office. I slumped down in a chair in front of the empty fireplace again. I hated my father.
A few minutes later, Cate came rushing into the room, looking frenzied. “Oh! I was looking for Uncle Ian or Aunt Binnie. Have you seen them?”
I shook my head. “Want me to help look for them? Is everything okay?”
She nodded, then shook her head. “I don’t really know. My aunt down in Florida just had a bad fall and was rushed into surgery. My parents want to get there as fast as they can since my dad has her medical power of attorney. I was hoping to find us a ride to the airport.”
I stood up, thinking Ian and Binnie were most likely preparing to host the rest of their guests on the croquet lawn. If I had to sit here and wait until Grey’s call finished, I’d drive myself crazy. Might as well run them to the airport and help kill time in the process. “I’ll drive you. The housekeeper has keys to Binnie’s SUV.”
We rushed to get everyone and their luggage loaded in the SUV. I tried finding Grey to tell him where I was going, but when I found the small office Binnie had put him in, he was in full business mode, explaining something technical I didn’t dare interrupt. Instead, I asked the housekeeper to tell Grey where I’d gone as soon as she saw him leave the study.
The drive to the airport was frustrating as hell. I’d forgotten to grab my phone off the charger in the rush to get out the door, so I didn’t have a navigation app to warn me about a traffic jam on Main Street. I apologized to the McArthurs, who were clearly stressed about the delay. When I finally got them there, I wished them well and headed back.
On the long, silent drive back to the house, I tried to remind myself of what I’d be gaining rather than what I was giving up. This project meant everything to Grey, and that meant a lot to me. I would think about all of the kids his project would help, all of the opportunities that were going to be created by his generosity. I was privileged to be a part of it in some small way.