Page 66 of Her Filthy Mistake

I must give my dad credit. He presents as top-of-the-line. Of course, when you undercut everyone and steal part of their money with shoddy contracts, you can splurge on window dressings.

We step away from each other and stride across the floor. The receptionist waves at me like always. But this is it. I won’t be back in this building.

I press the elevator button and wait for my heart to stop thudding.

“Everything will be fine.”

“Yeah.” My stomach rolls again. “As long as I don’t get sick.”

“Are you feeling okay?” Her eyes grow concerned as she slaps her palm on my forehead. “You don’t feel hot.”

“I’m fine. Really. I haven’t had anything to eat today.” Or yesterday.

“Okay. When we get out of here, we’ll get you something to eat. Do you want me to go to your office and pack while you talk to him?”

“I’d love that. Thank you. The quicker we get out of here, the better.”

She gets off on the level below my father’s floor, and as I wait for each click of the elevator car links to draw me closer to him and swallow over the dryness in my throat. This is harder than I anticipated. I’ve always prided myself on being an obedient child. Someone he’d respect and appreciate for doing well in school. For listening. For following in his footsteps. But I don’t want these to be my footsteps. I’m ashamed of how he treats people. Not just Jace.

When I look at everything with a jaded eye, I can see why his clients left as soon as they could to get away from him.

The door slides open, and my father’s assistant smiles but returns to the conversation she’s holding on the phone. Instead of waiting, I brush past her, knock on the door and step inside. If I wait, I might lose my nerve and leave without speaking to him.

He’s sitting behind his desk, scanning a file. The oversized desk nearly dwarfs the room. “Father.” I snap the door shut behind me. “We need to talk about Jace.”

“Do we?” He leans back, making the chair squeak under his weight. “I told you I didn’t want to hear his name spoken out of your mouth again.” His eyes, glittering like diamonds. “I’m not interested in him whether he has new shit out or not.” The vein at his temple bounces as his heart beats. “And you shouldn’t be either. Not after what he pulled in Saint Lucia.”

I lick my lips. “About that. I’m afraid I wasn’t privy to all the information about that night or about the past four years.”

He snaps up out of his chair, causing it to roll backward, skidding to a stop right before crashing into the plate-glass windows. “Whatever he said to you is a lie. He’s making up these songs to try and worm his way into your good graces again. It’s all manipulation.” He shakes his head. “When are you going to get your head out of the clouds over this joker?”

“I’m not. And he didn’t contact me.” I inhale and steady my breathing.

“I don’t hold an ounce of guilt over not signing him years ago. He was a liability for whoever signed him, and as you can tell, no one else did.”

“Because of you. Because you were mad and thought he was trying to use me to get to you.”

“You’re right.”

“Sadly, it wasn’t to protect me. It was because you thought he had the audacity to try and trick you.” I don’t believe any of it now. My father is irrational in his feelings about Jace.

“And?”

“And you were wrong. He cared about me all along.”

He throws back his head and laughs. “Because he sang some cheesy song about you? What a fucking naïve fool you are.”

“Thanks.” My hands ball into fists. “I appreciate the support. I’m sorry things didn’t end better between us.”

“He’s using you. He’s a fucking liar.” He stomps toward me until I back away from him. Finally, he stops and props his hands on his hips. “I can’t believe you’d entertain picking him over me.”

“I would’ve if he’d told me the truth from the beginning.” My hands shake from nerves and adrenaline. I’ve never feared him touching me, but I’m starting to grow worried as his agitation amplifies. “I watched the video. I heard every word you said to him. Every lie and manipulation you used to get him to end things with me. Your threats of getting him arrested. How you planted the drugs. And those lies about the woman you said he was with.” I fight back the rage as it surges through me. “It was disgusting. I’m sickened by you and….” I inhale. “I quit. I’ll no longer work for you, and I don’t want you to be a part of my life.”

“That’s crazy talk.”

“I’m done with this conversation.”

As I speedwalk to the elevator to go down to the floor where Daisy awaits, my head spins. The floor swoops up as if it’s going to knock my feet out from under me. The edges of the hallway turn black and swim. Just a little bit more.

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