Page 4 of Bad for Business
“We need to do damage control. I can start coming up with a plan of act?—”
“We already have a plan,” Troy speaks up, talking over his daughter.
My teeth grind at the way he talks to her. It isn’t the way a father should talk to his daughter, no matter if she works for him or not.
“Oh,” Camille remarks, plastering on a fake smile but I don’t miss how she straightens her spine at the harsh way he speaks to her. “And what is that plan?”
Troy looks in my dad’s direction and something about the look unsettles me. It’s as if they know that whatever the plan is, it isn’t going to be received well.
Dad nods, as if giving Troy the final approval he needs.
Troy looks back to his daughter.
“You’re going to take on Ryker as a client. It’ll be up to you to restore the board’s faith in him.”
Camille nods. “Okay, and how are we planning to do that??” she asks, but nothing about her expression gives up how she’s feeling and fuck I wish she were easier to read.
I know I should be worried about fixing this situation, but all I can think about is how indifferent she’s acting toward me. She’s met me before. We have history. Why is she pretending we don’t? And why am I worrying about that instead of worrying about my entire future being in jeopardy?
Troy nods. “You’ll be spending the summer at the Davenports’ Hamptons home with Ryker. We think it’s best if we have someone with him at all times, making sure he doesn’t slip and share any other sensitive information.”
Camille lets out a choking sound.
I sit up, my palms hitting the table. “That’s not necessary,” I manage to get out. I don’t need someone to watch me for the summer. What the fuck is this?
Dad’s the one to speak up. “It is. You’re going to spend the summer tucked away in the Hamptons. You’ll schmooze the board members who will be vacationing there for the summer, and you will be on yourbestbehavior. You will prove to them that you’re not a kid anymore and that you’re ready to take over this company.” He coughs, the timing perfect, as if to drive home his next point. “I’m not getting any younger. I need them to have full faith in you so you'll do as Troy says. Got it?”
I sigh, sitting back in my chair and pinching the bridge of my nose. I want to argue and tell them we need to find another solution. It’s embarrassing to be told you need a babysitter. It’s even worse to be told that a woman you had a very heated, passionate night with months ago is the one assigned to do it.
THREE
CAMILLE
“No,”I get out, shaking my head. “There’s got to be a better plan.”
I’m not the one to ever tell my dad “no” in the hope that I’ll stay on his good side, which is pretty much an impossible feat. It’s unfortunate because the thing that powers me the most is the intense need to make him proud of me, even though I don’t know if he ever will be. The only way that could ever happen is if I weren’t interested in going into public relations—or if I’d been a son. He even tried to convince me to take on any other career, but it didn’t work. Instead, I’m having to spend forever trying to make him respect me enough to trust me with Vaughn PR. It hurts to know he would probably rather leave the empire he built to someone who doesn’t even share his last name because he’s so against leaving it to me, his daughter.
“This is the plan, Camille,” Dad barks, his eyes turning into slits. “If you’d like to become a partner at the firm, you’ll do as you’re told.”
My mouth snaps shut as my cheeks heat. I hate that he’s speaking to me like this in front of everyone. But what I hate even more is that I’m letting him.
I glance over at Ryker and quickly look away, wondering how we’ve even ended up in this situation. When I met him at that New Year’s Eve party, it was obvious he came from money. Everything about him screamed wealth. I should’ve recognized him—he’s appeared on many of the same gossip sites that our clients have—but I was too busy being swept up in his charm.
And now, I’m paying the price.
“We’ve never done this before,” I manage to get out. “And we’ve dealt with situations far worse than this.”
Ryker’s dad scoffs. “This is a PR nightmare for reasons far bigger than some celebrity who has knocked up their mistress. These are high stakes. Ryker needs to lie low and impress the Davenport Media board members. Doing it in the Hamptons—under the watchful eye of his publicist—is exactly what needs to be done.”
My dad nods in agreement. I look over at Brennan, wondering why Dad didn’t give the job to his favorite employee.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Ryker speaks up, his gaze pinned on me.
I narrow my eyes at him, wishing I was being assigned any other person. I’d even take on Grayson Kincaid—our current problem child at the firm—over Ryker.
Dad’s eyes look from Ryker to me and then back again. The hard set of his jaw and the thin line of his pressed lips tell me everything I need to know. “This isn’t up for debate. We called the meeting to let you both know that you have a private plane flying out tomorrow at eight. You’ll both be on it.”
A million questions run through my head. I don’t ask a single one of them.
