Page 74 of The Arrangement

Still, I flipped through the file, and my eyes narrowed as I trained my gaze on the nestled L.L.C. listings in its group of operations and under the various names of board members and investors. A lot of times, these groups had various L.L.C.’s and D.B.A’s, but it was one in particular that caught my eye.

Chase and Harper Trust L.L.C.

I let my mouse hover over the name as cold realization washed over me.

Chase and Harper were the names of my grandfather’s childhood dogs. Erkharst Earnings wasn’t just some business that was willing to invest in some old buildings. It was a company that he was on the board of, and a founding member by the looks of it.

I logged out, saved the file of the recording to my computer, pulled out an empty thumb drive that I used for my more…illicit work, and dragged the video file onto it.

Standing up, I paced the room for a moment, the thumb drive clenched in my sweaty hand as I breathed deeply. It took me only a moment, that back and forth of right or wrong—the swell of misplaced loyalty to my family's patriarch.

The phone only rang once before Fletcher picked up.

“Seb?”

“I’m still fucking pissed at you.”

“I know.”

“We’ve been friends since ninth grade.”

It was quiet on the other side, then he shamefully replied, “I know, Seb.”

“Tell me how it happened,” I demanded, the papers clenched in my hands.

A deep sigh, the sound of a car door shutting and heavy footfalls as Fletcher apparently made it to his apartment. Was it his apartment? Was the government paying for it? Did I even know him?

“I was recruited over the summer of last semester of college. Youknow my father’s in the military, Seb. I didn’t say anything because I was told not to. I got swept up pretty quickly, but I swear to you I haven’t lied to you about anything else.”

“Why didn’t you come to me right away?” I snapped, my anger and frustration a living thing in my chest.

“Because I wasn’t allowed. I needed the evidence, I needed proof.” He paused, “And if there wasn’t anything concrete I wasn’t going to let you get caught in the cross hairs.”

There was silence on both ends of line because I let out a ragged breath.

“What do you need from me?”

Chapter 34

Georgia

Ihadn’t been this nervous since we started filming. Sebastian and I haven’t spoken for the past five days, not since we had slept together, in both the biblical sense and literal sense. So unless he was transferring money from our profits into my account, I hadn’t heard from him. Sometimes I would listen to the front door opening from the foyer and I would stand like I was going to run out into the cold entryway and tell him how sorry I was. To throw my arms around him. But I didn’t. I stayed, my hand touching the cold metal of my door knob, and listened to the familiar sound of Unit 2 entering his home.

I felt…empty. Hollow. And so unimaginably angry at myself. I rotated between self-deprecation and remorse, and the sinking depression that it would’ve never worked out anyway.

So when my phone pinged Thursday evening, it took me a moment to actually look at the notification, because deep down I knew who it was.

Sebastian: Still want to film tomorrow?

Me: Sure, if you want to.

Sebastian: Never said I didn’t, Clark. I’m down if you are.

I swallowed hard around my rising guilt. I had hurt him. And it was killing me. But it was for the best, I knew it was.

Me: I’ll see you at nine tomorrow.

Sebastian: Cool.

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