Page 39 of Movers and Shakers

Which was what she had needed.

“He punched Dad in the face when he tried to follow you.”

“What?”

“Nice,” Knox remarked. I smiled at him.

“No, no,” Ruth snapped. “Not nice. Why?”

“He said he wanted to knock some sense into you,” I replied. “So, I decided to do it to him first.”

Knox reacted in the way I would have: pure anger. I didn’t know when he’d gotten so close to Ruth, but I was happy for her. She hadn’t been alone through this. While it would have beenmypreferred way to deal with my family drama, I didn’t think it suited her.

“It’s what he deserved,” I muttered.

“He could press charges,” Ruth said.

Tom shook his head. “He won’t. He’s going to be tied up with something else very soon.”

“I don’t think there is enough revenue in the world to make Dad not go after Barry,” she replied.

She was right. I was about to be in big trouble and no one was out there to save me.

Still, I didn’t regret it.

“It’s not revenue,” Tom replied. “It’s a lawsuit making him take a leave of absence as CEO. I left the papers HR drafted on his desk tonight.”

“Youwhat?” Ruth and I asked at the same time.

Tomleft it on his desk? Tom, the perfect child?

Knox said something, but I drowned it out as I processed what I’d just heard.

There was no way this was happening. I didn’t think Tom would ever do anything out of line. He was the favorite, so why would he?

“What did he do to get put on leave?” I asked.

“He sexually harassed multiple women. I found the emails when digging in our archive system.”

Jesus.I had always had low opinions of Dad, but this was low, even for him.

“Youfound this?” I asked. “You went looking for it?”

“I did. Ever since I stopped drinking and doing whatever he says, I’ve seen him do very illegal things. This is why I wanted us to wait a week. I needed to get everything together.”

“Oh my God. You played a double agent.” Ruth’s voice was quiet.

This couldn’t be real. I’d gotten him all wrong. I thought the boy who’d protected us from that storm was gone. That he only did the bare minimum out of duty.

Buthewould be the one to take Dad down.

“He’s not going to take this lying down,” Tom said. “He has access to the greatest lawyers. I have a feeling he will find a way around it.”

Knox chimed in, saying he had a few lawyers that might help. I didn’t listen. I was too busy coming to terms with what Tom had done. The world was tilting and everything I knew was wrong.

See? You’re glad you came, aren’t you?

And somehow, I really was.

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