Page 9 of The Acquisition

"It was supposed to be a job to get some experience and then move on to something else after that. I guess I just got comfortable."

"Yeah, it's easy to get comfortable and settle for a life you didn't envision. On the outside I'm sure it looked like I had everything, but that wasn't really the case. It was just a very pretty cage. Still, kinda jarring to be kicked out of it without warning though."

Sabrina tapped her nails on the table bringing me out of the loop of images flitting through my mind of the life I had lived up until twelve hours ago. "Is that a good segue to ask you how you ended up wandering around in the rain on a Friday morning?"

I wrapped my hands around the paper cup of coffee sitting in front of me and brought it to my mouth. I was still a little cold, and my thoughts were beyond scattered.

"You know about the launch for the vodka my dad's company was set to market, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was at Malcolm's club, right? He mentioned that your cousin was a self-righteous douche."

"That's being kind, actually. Anyway, Chad totally botched the entire thing. He spent the entire ad budget on one party, and now there is nothing available to run print and television advertising."

Her brow creased. "Why was your cousin running this anyway? I thought you were the head of the advertising department at Easton."

One humorless chuckle burst free. "Well, apparently my father is a bigger misogynist than I realized. He decided his nephew was a better fit to run a department. I never realized the presence of a penis was a requirement to advance in my family company."

"Malcolm said the turnout of people on the guest list was pathetic, so what exactly was the plan for this party?"

I tried not to cringe when she brought up Malcolm, but I wasn't completely successful.

Before I answered her question, she stopped me. "I take it you and Mal have a past? I only ask because you've made a face every time I've mentioned his name, and the night we went to his club I noticed you wandered off every time he came around. Just so you know, he and I are just friends. He's too much of a manwhore for us to be anything else, so if you tell me he's the king of assholes, you won't offend me."

I fidgeted in my seat. "When I was sixteen and a sophomore in high school he was a senior and pretty much the most popular boy in school. I'd heard rumors about him, even back then, but he was so attentive." I rolled my eyes because his game was so clear to me as an adult woman.

"To make a very long and painful story short, we dated, it ended badly, and I haven't seen him since until the night the three of us went out. I was so consumed with avoiding him I didn't see Evie rush out with a panic attack. I still blame myself for her getting lost and ending up in the hospital with hypothermia."

Sabrina bit her lip. "I'm so sorry. I know there's another side to him, but maybe only because we grew up together. Our dads were in the same fraternity in college and stayed best friends to this day. I knew Mal when he ate paste and had a bug collection. If I met him today, I don't think I'd like him very much."

I found myself nodding as she spoke. I didn't want to dwell on Malcolm though. He was still a threat looming in the shadows since he told me we needed to speak. If he was determined, he would wear me down eventually. That didn't mean I'd make it easy on him.

Not wanting to focus on him a second longer, I changed the subject. "Let's save any discussion about Malcolm Graham for when I've had a few drinks. You wanted to know what my cousin's plan for that party was? I don't know if I understand it myself. He kept going on and on about making a viral campaign."

"What did your father say?" she asked.

I exhaled. "He was livid. He demanded I fix it, even though he still planned to replace me with Chad. He insisted I could train him and everything would work out fine."

"And what did he expect you to do after you trained your replacement?"

I leveled her with a gaze and she flopped back in her seat. "No shit? He expected you to be an assistant, didn't he?"

I nodded. "He didn't take my refusal well. I sort of dropped my keys at his feet, but it felt like a mic drop moment."

"Since I found you walking around in the rain, I'm guessing that he lost his shit?"

"You could say that," I confirmed. "Beckett and Evie dropped me off after the disastrous launch party. They left when I went inside, but there was no way for them to know that my father had me locked out of my apartment."

Sabrina gasped. "No!"

I lifted one shoulder. "I underestimated his pettiness. I also forgot he was the trustee on my trust fund, which had his name listed on the deed to my apartment as co-owner. He used his power of attorney to manage my accounts to freeze my bank accounts, investment accounts, and credit cards."

"He did all that in the time it took you to leave the club?" she asked.

I tossed up my hands. "Honestly, it doesn't seem possible to me either. I can't fathom why, but I think he had it set up to seize all my assets already."

Sabrina reached across the table and grabbed my hands. "How can I help?"

Squeezing both of her hands, I offered her a weak smile. "This is helping."

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