Page 24 of Savannah Sweethearts

He cradled my head in his hands. “I love you, too.”

Tyrell

The phone in my office rang a lot. I wasn’t usually in there to answer it because I generally ran around like a chicken without a head. While I could have attached the number to a cell, I preferred the office line to stay in my office. The people who knew me had my cell number. Those office voicemails would be dealt with later.

So when the phone rang and I was there to pick it up, I was not expecting to hear Jonathan Gloss on the other end of the phone.

“Tyrell Harris. You managed to find my daughter again.” It sounded like he had me on speaker phone, and I wondered who else was listening in on the call.

I did not have the time or the patience to deal with him. We had a new reporter coming in, and her producer, AO, was already up in arms about it. “Mr. Gloss, I’m afraid I don’t have the time to play your power games right now. I’m trying to run a news floor.”

He snorted in response. “Well, then allow me to cut to the chase. Do you intend to keep seeing Ashley?”

“Yes, I do.” I stood up straight and planted my free hand on my hip as if he could see me in a power stance.

“And my wife is correct in telling me that you have two children running around the city?”

My girls were not any of his concern, and as a fellow parent, I would think he’d understand that. “My daughters are four. They do not run around the city. What are you getting at?”

“I’m a father, so I understand how much you must love your children.” He took a deep breath. “I would like to set up a college fund for your two daughters. Fifty thousand each.”

He was offering me one hundred thousand dollars for the girls to go to college? There had to be a catch. “And what do you get out of it, Mr. Gloss?”

“You always were a bright boy.” I could hear the shuffling of papers. “Fifty thousand for each of your daughters will go into an interest-bearing college account if you will stop this nonsense with Ashley right now and never see her again.”

The new hire would have to wait.

I sank into my chair. “You hate me that much that you would pay me off, using my children, to keep me away from Ashley?”

He laughed. “You’re a father. I hoped you would see that I love her that much.”

The rage that rose in my throat caused a metallic taste. No, I had bit into my lip so hard, it was bleeding. I could not believe what he was saying. “That’s not love, Mr. Gloss. That’s control.”

“Just wait until your daughters are teenagers, Mr. Harris. You’ll understand.” He hummed for a few seconds. “I tell you what. I’ll throw in an extra fifty grand to help your mother fix up her house. The three women in your life will be taken care of. You don’t need another one.”

Thinking I could get the better of him, I tried a different approach. “I assume there would be a contract of sorts if I entertained this idea?”

“Of course, there would be. But don’t think you could show it to Ashley to make her turn on me. It would be cleverly worded. I have people for that.”

“I figured you would. How about we meet in person to discuss this?” That would give me time to figure out something.

“Come by in the morning. I think you’ll find you suddenly have a few hours off work.” He laughed softly. Sure enough, when I checked my calendar, it said I was off in the morning.

He was beyond belief. My entire body shook with fury. “Do you own the station?”

“No, I don’t. But Mr. Andrews owes me a favor, so I called in this one. Be glad you still have a job, Mr. Harris. I will see you in the morning.” With that, he hung up, and I was left dumbfounded, staring at my phone.

My first thought was to call Ashley; but she was working, and I was late. Before I left my office, though, I slammed my fist into my desk. It’s a good thing it’s made of solid wood. Then I took a cleansing breath, cracked my neck, and walked out the door. There was a reason I didn’t stay in my office where the phone was.

As I showed our new hire around, I thought about what I could do. How could I beat Mr. Gloss at his own game? Then it hit me. I knew exactly what to do, and I was in just the right place to do it.

The next morning, I walked up to Gloss Enterprises ready to battle. I didn’t want to turn Ashley on her father, but I also wanted to reveal just how low he was willing to stoop to get his way. Before going through the large double doors, I looked around the parking lot. A mix of SUVs, luxury cars, and compact cars filled the spots. It was perfect.

Once inside, I was led right to Mr. Gloss’s office, where I stuffed my hands in my pockets out of nerves. I could only hope this turned out all right, and Ashley wouldn’t hate me forever for not telling her ahead of time.

An older secretary told me to go on into the office, and I swung the door open to see Mr. Gloss sitting confidently behind his massive desk.

“Mr. Harris, so nice of you to come see me this morning.” Mr. Gloss was tall and trim, but the air of authority around him made him a force to be reckoned with.

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