Page 100 of All That Glitters
“I’m not letting you go, Clay. You’re the best engineer I have.”
“And Ashton is the best driver you have.”
I smiled. I should’ve known. I loved Clay, Karl, all my guys, and though they were familiar and knew me, I had other thoughts going into this next phase of my career. I wanted to move forward with a new chief, a new engineer, a whole new crew.
All new people.
Except for Helen. I wanted her around. I needed her.
“Not anymore.”
“Respectfully, Leo, that’s bullshit.”
“He’s not wrong, Clay,” I said as I stepped into the office. “I’m not the best driver. I’m not a driver at all right now. And it wasn’t personal, was it? It was just business, right?
“Ashton.”
I turned my gaze to Clay. “Thank you, but it’s okay. It’s for the best.”
“How can you say that? This is your family. Your legacy.”
“Family has many different definitions and this is still my legacy.” I flicked my gaze to the patriarch of the Glitterati family, then back to Clay. “Can you excuse us? Please. I need to talk to him alone.”
“It’s still bullshit,” Clay groused as he stalked from the room. I grinned for a moment longer, then faced my father without expression.
“Just business, right?” I repeated. “Selling my contract? My talent? The current burden on your payroll. Just business. You couldn’t let it look only as strong as its weakest link, which happens to be me. You were able to use that, what did you call it, for cause clause?”
“Ashton, that’s not —”
“You should’ve told me yourself. I should’ve been part of the damn conversation. How do you know I wouldn’t have agreed?”
“Would you?”
The look on his face told me he wouldn’t believe me if I said yes, so I simply took a seat without being offered one.
It was funny… This was once my home, but I no longer felt that way about it. It was one of the reasons I’d moved out to the cottage. I’d needed space, but deep down, it was more than that. “Maybe not at first, but after thinking about it, probably. You didn’t have to go behind my back and sell me out.”
He flushed but held my gaze.
“I needed to make room and I needed to stop all the questions, the uncertainty. I needed to make a decision because you wouldn’t. You quit everything that was meant to help you.”
I recoiled at the verbal blows. He could’ve physically hit me and I’m not sure it would’ve hurt or struck as deep or as true.
He didn’t say one word that was a lie. And it pissed me off. He was more in tune and in touch with how I was progressing, or rather not progressing than I gave him credit for.
“What about the company?”
“Ash… I’d never cut you out of the will. And I’d never leave the keys to Glitterati Racing to anyone other than you. But for now, you need to find out who you are after the wreck. You need to find out if you even want to race again. The longer you stay out of the seat, the harder it’ll be to get back in it.”
Every word he spoke had me spoiling for a fight and he was the closest target. I hated that he was right.
“Still doesn’t answer why you didn’t talk to me before selling my contact to Darien Cross.”
“I was planning to talk to you the next time I saw you.”
“You couldn’t pick up the phone?”
“What are you accusing me of?”
