Page 69 of A Sip of Sherry

“Ohh someone is in trouble,” Henry said under his breath, nudging Carlo beside him.

I handed him my clipboard.“Make sure you do it right.If I have to redo it, I won’t be happy.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Henry said, and pride filled my chest.I understood what Wyatt meant.It was a simple thing, but the feeling of knowing I was in charge of something big felt good.

That feel-good feeling only carried with me for so long.By the time I got to the door, my feet had grown heavy, dread landing like an angry pit in my gut.

Chardonnay wasn’t one to raise her voice or cause a scene, but that’s what made it worse.I had no idea what the hell I was walking into.I mentally prepared for everything.Sweat prickled my palms, and I wiped them on my jeans.

She was standing in her office, waiting for me, arms crossed, hip cocked, eyes blazing with something I couldn’t decipher, but it was pretty damn terrifying.

“Door,” she said.

I closed the door and stood there, unsure if I should take a seat.

“Well?”she said.

“Which part do you want first?The apology?The explanation?The part where I swear I’m not the enemy?”

“Let’s go with the truth, then we’ll go from there.”She moved to her desk and sat, crossing her legs and leaning back.

“I can do that.”I sat in the chair opposite her and started from the beginning.I needed Sherry to forgive me, but if I was going to take my dad down, I needed Chardonnay on my side.

I laid it all out, the rise and fall of my private label, the debt to my father and his repayment plan which involved me to gather intel, the way I tried to hold him off, the vague threats that turned into subtle sabotage.Then I moved on to everything I discovered yesterday.The distributor who mysteriously pulled out, the missing shipments, the deals that fell apart with no good reason.I explained how I’d been so concerned with trying to save my label that I didn’t see the pattern, but looking at it with fresh eyes, I couldn’t miss it.My father destroyed any chance of success and now I would help her destroy him.

Her face didn’t change while I spoke, though her foot did stop bouncing, and she shifted closer, so I knew she was really listening.

When I finished, I sat back as if another weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

She put her foot flat on the floor and moved closer to her desk.“You’re either a really good liar or completely clueless.”

“More like a naïve idiot, but clueless works, too,” I said when she lifted her eyebrow.“But I’m done being controlled.”

“Why?You’re what, thirty-five?That’s a long time to be under Daddy’s thumb.What’s changed?”

“I fell in love with your sister, and in turn I opened my eyes.I don’t think I saw any of those things before because I didn’t want to.If I saw them then, I would’ve had to believe my father was actually evil and he didn’t want me to succeed.It was easier to be the failure he expected me to be.But then I came here.”I held my hands up.“Granted under not-so-great terms, but I saw what a real family was.I realized I could never live up to my father’s expectations, but mainly that he never should have had expectations on me.Part of me thinks he didn’t and doesn’t still.Because if I meet his expectations, then he is no longer in control, he can’t have that.”

“So what are you proposing?”

“I want to help you take my father down.He doesn’t deserve to be in this town, and I am willing to do anything I can to stop him.”

Chardonnay leaned back again.“That’s a hell of a proposition.”

“I know how it sounds, but I mean it.I’m not asking you to trust me.I’m asking for the chance to earn it.”

Silence spread between us, and I was ready to jump out of my skin when she finally spoke.“You’re right about one thing.He doesn’t belong in this town, but if we do this… Ben, there’s no half-assing it and absolutely no backing out.We play it smart, or we risk everything.”

“Whatever it takes, I’m in.”

“I need you to be sure.”

“I’m sure.”

She held her hand out to me.“Then welcome to Team Screw Gold Crest.”

I accepted her offered hand.“I’m thrilled to be here.”

She let go of my hand and looked around me toward the door.“You can come in now.”

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