Page 17 of In Charge

“Can you believe it? Me, Robbie Pennington, spoiled-rich-brat, never-worked-a day-in-his-life Robbie Pennington.” I sighed. “Like I could be CEO of a multiple million-dollar company.”

“Give yourself some credit, man. You could if you tried. Plus, you work. You just refuse to tell your dad about it. Don’t undervalue the work you’ve done.”

“Yeah, I know. I love what I do. Maybe one day I’ll tell Dad.” I pulled the jump drive out of my pocket and twirled it around my fingers.

“Is that it?” Jake twitched at the sight of the jump drive.

“Yep. Everything you need to destroy my dad is right here.” I waved the jump drive around. “It’s enough to take him down, but not the entire company.”

“How so?” Jake asked, and from the questioning look on his face, he didn’t understand what I was up to. I hadn’t told Jake everything I planned to do—only that I was going to collect dirt on some of Dad’s elite clients. At first, I planned to destroy the entire company, but that was before Maya. Now I just wanted to do enough damage to force my dad out.

“This is dirt on his clients, but only his. No one else.” There was a chance Maya would still hate me after this, but at least her clients would be safe. I had to hold out hope that it would be enough to not lose her. “Take it and do what you do.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jake sat back in his stool, increasing the distance between him and the jump drive. “I hate that your dad helps scum get away with some messed up shit, but if you give me that, you can kiss the only woman who’s ever gotten to you good-bye.”

“Let me worry about her. You just keep my name out of it, and do whatever you have to do to destroy my dad. No one has to know I had anything to do with it anyway.”

“The truth always has a way of coming out, man.” Jake shook his head. He reached for the jump drive, but pulled back. “No regrets?”

“No regrets.” I sat the jump drive on the bar, taking the decision away from me. There was no way Jake would leave it behind. Jake didn’t need the money, but he knew what kind of people my dad represented. Jake wasn’t in it to take my dad down or make a buck. He had his own wealth. To him, exposing this shit was a duty. I tossed a fifty on the bar and left before Jake could talk me out of it.

Dad deserved every bit of what he had coming. All I had to do was protect Maya from the backlash and ensure she was made CEO as soon as the board insisted Dad stepped down.

I checked the time—six thirty. There was a chance Maya was still in the office. I considered heading back so we could pick up where we left off earlier, but I thought better of it. I was close to being drunk, and I wanted to go home and drink more. Maya would have to wait until tomorrow.

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