Page 33 of Fifth Avenue Devil

A man clears his throat, which makes me jump. I turn to find Don Young standing near the opened drapes. He waves a hand at me uncertainly.

"Hi, Annalise."

My mouth thins. "Don. I didn't realize that you were here." I pause, thinking. "What are you doing here, exactly?"

"Just checking on your father," he says. He looks at my mother, who smiles enigmatically.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. I can feel it in my bones.

"That's nice of you. Would you give me a minute alone with Dad?" I ask, keeping my tone light.

"Actually, Annalise," my mom cuts in. "I thought that you and I could sit down and talk about Gellar Industries. Your dad will still be here when we're through."

I shrug. "We can talk about it right here."

I stroke Dad's hand, looking between Mom and Don. What are they up to now? Hard to say, but it's not exactly unexpected that my mother might be up to something.

She has a history of betraying me whenever she can.

"Anna, darling," Mom coos. She comes to stand close to me. "Look at you. You're a basketcase. Stressed about Dad. Lonely because you go home to an empty house?—"

"I'm not a basket case," I reply, tartly. Looking over at Don, I jerk my head toward my mother. "Have you decided to team up with her?"

Don spreads his hands. "We're just thinking of the company, Annalise."

Mom smiles sweetly in his direction. Which is strange, on its face. My mom doesn't do saccharine. She only does bitter poison.

Are Mom and Don somehow involved?

"I think you need to focus on your marriage prospects, sweetheart." My mom pats my shoulder. "You should sign the CEO position over to Don temporarily. You would still be on the board, of course. But this would?—"

"Not interested," I cut her off. "And I think Don should leave now."

My phone chimes with an incoming text notification, ringing in the tense silence. I check it, finding a text from Lori. As I’m reading it, my mom tsks.

“Don’t be rude. We are having a conversation,” she rebukes me.

"Annalise, I really think you need to listen to your mom," Don says. "She has your future in mind."

I grit my teeth and glare at them both. "What's the game here? Huh? Mom, what do you gain by pushing Don to take the CEO spot from me?"

Mom flushes. "Nothing!"

My gaze slides between them. They're acting awfully shady for two people who haven't agreed to some underhanded deal.

My phone chimes again. I hurriedly silence it as a knock sounds on the door. Nate's face appears in the doorway. "Ah. There you are."

If my mom were a cat, her ears would flatten. She is instantly on edge.

"Mr. Fordham," she says. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I invited him here," I announce, waving Nate through the door. "I didn't realize that you would try to corner me and make me give up the CEO position to Don. But your intentions are irrelevant, really. Nate is here to discuss the merger."

Don's face gets red. "What?? What merger?"

"I signed the contract yesterday. Dad would have signed the contract himself, but he had a stroke before he could execute anything."

My mom is speechless. "Archer would never agree to a merger with Mr. Fordham."

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