Page 94 of Going Deep
Michael barked out a laugh. “Thanks.”
“Not sleeping well?” Simon asked mildly.
“I sleep fine,” he muttered.
“Sure you do.” Simon nodded his thanks when Skip set a beer in front of him.
Simon sipped his beer and shot Michael a look of disappointed pity. “You ass.”
Michael glowered. “Are we really going to do this?”
Simon just shook his head. “I can’t believe you fucked this up so badly.”
Michael signaled for another drink. “She lied to me, Simon.”
“And you lied to her. There, you’re even. You say you’re sorry, she’ll say she’s sorry, and you can start fresh.”
Michael accepted the fresh drink and knocked it back. “It’s not that simple.”
“It’s exactly that simple,” Simon corrected him.
Michael’s hand clenched on the empty glass. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you’re miserable without her,” Simon countered. “Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong.”
Since he couldn’t, Michael said nothing.
Simon shook his head. “I never took you for a shit coward. She lied about getting a job offer, Michael, not about killing someone. Get some fucking perspective. And lest you forget, not all the lies here are hers.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Did you tell her, when she said she was interested in working at the Center, that you own it?”
“I don’t own it,” Michael began.
“Yeah, yeah, the family foundation owns it.” Simon waved a hand. “Blah fucking blah. Did you tell her or not?”
Michael gritted his teeth. He wanted another drink, but he was already having trouble following the conversation. “No.”
“Why?”
“You know I don’t talk about that,” Michael evaded.
“And why is that, Michael?”
“Because people get weird when they know you have that kind of money.”
“You don’t have it, the foundation has it,” Simon reminded him.
“You know what I mean.” Michael stared into his empty glass. “People get weird.”
“They probably do.” Simon waited a beat. “Did Ginger?”
Michael blinked. “What?”
“Did she get weird?” Simon repeated. “Lola said she spilled the beans weeks ago, so Ginger’s known for a while, right?”
Michael frowned. “I guess.”
