Page 161 of Undercover Billionaire

Adam

When I reached the restaurant,Dad was already there. He checked his watch.

The gesture bugged me, but I ignored it. “Hi, Dad.”

I’d checked the time before reaching the door. I wasn’t late.

It was just one of his annoying quirks, a constant reminder that I’d been late to meet him once or twice when I was younger.

He led the way to the hostess table. “You’re looking good.”

His greeting was another thing that never changed.

The hostess showed us to a window table.

Dad busied himself with the wine list and ended up picking the most expensive bottle, same as the last three times. Nothing but the best for a Cartwright, he’d told me more than once.

Growing up, I’d been proud that Dad thought we were worth the best. Our family name was an out-of-proportion source of pride for him. But knowing what Uncle Jack had done, I wasn’t so thrilled with our name anymore.

By the time our wine arrived and Dad had gone through the show of taste-testing the bottle, I’d learned that Mom had tagged along on this trip just to interrogate me about my dating life.

“Surprise her and answer the questions for a change,” Dad said.

I sipped some of the dark wine, anddamnif it wasn’t smooth. “The ones I can,” I told him. Last year I hadn’t had anything to hide, and Mom still hadn’t believed me.

“I’m still working on that Benson transaction,” Dad said, changing the subject. “Pretty soon I’ll have him right where I want him. And you’ll have your revenge.”

“What do you mean?” I had no illusions that Dad was doing this on my behalf. He attacked anything and everything Benson for his own benefit.

“Benson’s oldest won’t just lose his company, I’ll have him in prison with any luck, thanks to that package you forwarded to the SEC.”

“You mean it’s criminal?”

“Sure. Didn’t you read it?”

“No. I didn’t have time.” I hadn’t even opened the files he’d sent me. I’d passed them along, assuming they were run-of-the-mill financial discrepancies Dad was exploiting to gain leverage as they had been the last time.

I put down my glass. The wine didn’t taste as good anymore.

“Was it all true?”

His look turned quizzical. “Who cares? He’ll be getting what he deserves. That’s all that matters.”

I didn’t recognize the man across from me anymore.

He’d so much as admitted to using me to pass along false information to frame Dennis Benson for something.

The motto that went with my badge wasFidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. He’d asked me to sully that without so much as batting an eye. Tonight, the brotherly resemblance to Uncle Jack became too clear to ignore. Right and wrong mattered not a whit when it came to dealing with anything or anyone Benson.

I disliked Dennis Benson, all right, but Kelly had taught me that a family’s last name didn’t preordain them all to be either bad or good.

“You’re wrong about DNA being destiny,” I told him.

He put down his glass and huffed. “Bullshit. What’s gotten into you?”

“My girlfriend is Kelly Benson.”There, I said it. “She’s a Benson, and she’s a good person.” Good was only the beginning; Kelly was much more than that.

Anger clouded his face. “There’s no such thing as a good Benson. Now that you’ve fucked her, you can dump her.” He poured himself another glass of wine.

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