Page 63 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
Nash looks confused for a second, but then realization hits him like a bucket of cold water. He knows exactly what he did.
“Nellie, let me explain.” He takes his hands off of my shoulders, holding them up. Of course, he goes immediately on the defensive. Like he can even justify his actions to me.
“Explainwhat?” I scream. “The deal was that Brian would have a job as long as I was your plaything. Right?” He doesn’t answer me, so I get closer, holding up my finger to his face. “Right? Or do I mean so little to you that our deal doesn’t matter?”
Nash looks pained.
“It’s more complicated than that.”
I shoot daggers at him again.
“No, it’s not! I kept my end of the bargain. Why couldn’t you keep yours? Huh? You’re the one who set this whole thing up. Was this a game to you? Do youenjoyplaying with people’s lives?”
“Nellie, I didn’t have a choice, okay? Ihadto fire Brian.” Why is Nash so damn calm? He shouldn’t be calm when he’s fucking me over like this. He needs to feel bad and show some god damn emotion!
“What are you talking about?” I demand. “You don’t have to do anything. You’re the boss at Jaybird, or have you forgotten?” I add sarcastically.
He sighs, rubbing his hand along his chin. It’s like he wants to keep this to himself. What he should have done was come to me if he didn’t want my brother there anymore. I’m the one who can get through to Brian if he’s having trouble at work.
But, no. Nash went behind my back and is now asking for forgiveness. I wonder if he ever planned on telling me, or is the truth a mere inconvenience for him?
“Listen, it’s more complicated than you think. It wasn’t about Brian being late, or not completing his projects. He was stealing from the till, okay? I mean, not literally taking money from the cash register, but he hacked into our accounting system, and he’s been skimming off the top.”
“No,” I shake my head. “You’re lying.” What is Nash saying? Brian wouldn’t steal. That’s preposterous. It’sbeyondpreposterous. It’s must be false.
He shakes his head.
“That’s part of the reason why I wanted you at the house and not at Jaybird. We started suspecting Brian of financial misdeeds a long time ago, and began an investigation before he was fired the first time. If you started looking through our numbers, it wouldn’t take you long to learn the ugly truth about your brother. Brian may have been able to do some slick hacking, but he was still sloppy. He left his fingerprints all over.”
No, no, no, no. He’s just saying all of this, so I won’t be mad at him. This is his way of keeping me from helping my brother because, for whatever reason, Nash hates my brother. Whenever I brought him up, Nash would make a face and want to change the subject.
Brian’s right that Nash and Colt have some kind of beef with him. I don’t know what it is, but therehasto be something else going on.
“That’s not true,” I retort, shaking my head. “I know Brian. I’ve known him his whole life. He might not be the smartest guy out there, but he wouldn’t be dumb enough to steal. Or mean enough. He’s not malicious like that.”
I think back to seeing him at my apartment just now. All those nice things he said to me show that he’s a good person. My brother could never be a thief. That’s just not the person he is.
“Why would he steal? Tell me that,” I demand. “I already got him his job back. Maybe his family wasn’t rolling in dough, but they were fine.”
Nash shrugs, which means he has nothing to back up his claims.
“I don’t know, Nellie. I mean, why does anyone steal?” he says, evading my question.
I spit at him.
“We’re not talking about anyone, we’re talking about my brother.”
Nash looks really pained and rubs his chin. But then he speaks again.
“Nells, I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I think your brother is stealing to support a drug habit.” I stare at him, my brain short circuiting.
“A drug habit?”
What the hell is he talking about? There’s no way my brother is doing drugs. Brian’s not that kind of person, and he’s never been that kind of person. All of this bullshit is coming completely out of the blue. Brian definitely doesn’t act like an addict or anything.
Nash nods.
“I think he might be using crystal, though I can’t be sure. Just from the way he acts, with the jittery movements and agitation. There have been some shady visitors coming by the garage asking for Brian too. It’s what makes the most sense.”
