Page 18 of Scandalous Secrets

“Hello?” I answered.

“Troy.” His usual cool greeting.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“Well, I just got off the phone with Kathy…”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he did.

“Yeah? And?”

“Well, she gave me a bit of interesting news…”

I sighed quietly as I let whatever he was trying to say drag out like a movie that didn’t need to be three hours long.

“Oh? What’s that?” I sat on the bed, still wrapped in a towel. The scent of sweet jasmine still lingered, and I tried my best to ignore it and memorize it at the same time. I needed to wash these immediately. Or get rid of them all together. There was no way I could sleep in them knowing they were wrapped around her naked body at one point.

I got up and walked back into my closet, taking a seat on the plush loveseat that sat in the center of the room next to my drawers of watches and ties. I fiddled with my newest Rolex that sat on the glass surface of the small dresser as I waited for my father to get his point across.

“She told me you hired a new personal assistant.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What happened to the old one again?” he asked, even though he already knew.

“Serena moved back to Seattle to be closer to family,” I said.

It was the truth, with a little bit of complicated history left out.

“Mmm. Right. That’s right.”

I could tell he was unconvinced, even though he nor Kathy had any proof of Serena and my late-night rendezvous. Despite having the opportunity of possibly destroying my life when I couldn’t give her the relationship she wanted, Serena admitted she was in love with me. She didn’t want to hurt me, which was why she left quietly.

“And your new assistant?”

“Monica,” I said, her name reverberating through me.

“Where did you find her?”

“She was highly recommended by Daniel Jacobs.”

That shut my father up for a few moments.

“Wow,” he finally said with surprise.

I knew he had admiration for Daniel. He made sure to say so any time his name came up.

“I admire that boy,” said my dad. “Building his business from the ground up from his very dorm room. All on his own, too.”

I looked up at the ceiling and tried to keep my annoyance at bay.

“Smart guy,” I said in a curt agreement.

“Yes. I heard that you didn’t even interview this girl, though. Kathy didn’t get so much as a résuméor any notice before she started this morning.”

“Well, Dad. Itismy firm and my personal assistant works very closely to me, and only me. I felt like I should have the decision to choose who that was.”

“All of the personal assistants Kathy has chosen seemed to be to your liking,” said my dad somewhat pointedly.

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