Page 111 of For Wrath and Redemption
I grit my teeth and take the phone out of my pocket. I should just block his number, but that will just make it worse. At least this way, I can fend him off. Make excuses. Tell him Claire is, in fact, still doing the job she was assigned, even if she’s technically no longer employed by my father.
I hit accept and bring the phone to my ear.
“Father.”
“Jonah. I need to speak with Claire.”
I don’t bother hiding my smirk. He’s past frustrated. He’s irate. “She’s busy. She’s finalizing my events for Amsterdam.”
“She needs to get her ass back here and work on this campaign. We are going to lo?—”
I hang up. He calls right back.
“Father.”
“Jonah! Stop fucking around!”
I flinch at the volume, and so does Claire. He’s so loud, even she heard it. And the concern, the borderline fear that shows in her eyes, has me turning to walk out of the suite. She doesn’t need to hear this, but she jumps up and grabs my arm. She shakes her head, so despite my instincts, I stay put.
“Claire is working here, and she isn’t going back to Innovation.”
“If we lose this campaign, it will ruin her career. She needs to finish what she started. She needs to?—”
Claire snatches the phone out of my hand, her face flushed red with anger. “You gave the MixMosaic campaign to Brandt Macy, Conrad. It’s not my responsibility. If you lose this campaign, that’s on him, not me.”
Whatever he says next, I can’t hear it. His volume is lowered, and for a moment, I’m shocked at the immediate change. The furious version of my father is gone. With Claire, he’s become soft. Intimate.
I want to stab him.
Claire clamps her eyes closed. Her brows slant harshly.
“It’s Brandt’s campaign. It has been from the beginning. If it needed me, you’d have let me have the lead position.”
Another pause. Her jaw pops. Her nostrils flare. And then her shoulders drop.
“I don’t have the energy for this, Conrad. I made a commitment to help your son, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Your son, she called me. Not Jonah.Your son. I understand why, but it still makes my stomach churn. It makes my hands shake as I ball them into fists.
I’ve had Claire Davis in my bed every night. I’ve tasted every inch of her body. There’s not an inch of her skin I haven’t touched. She’s the last person I see when I close my eyes. She’s the person who stars in every dream. She’s the first person I see when I wake up.
But I’m stillConrad’s son.
“My resignation still stands. I’m not leaving until this job is done. I’m not coming back to Innovation.”
She flinches. I don’t know what he said, but I can tell it’s bad. A threat, probably. It makes me hate him even more, and I didn’t think that was possible.
“You do what you feel you need to do, Conrad.”
She hangs up and hands me back my phone. “Well?”
She huffs a laugh, then mimics my father. “This isn’t over, Claire. This isn’t over.”
Mother fuck, I hate him. I pull her into a hug.
“Are you worried?”
She shrugs, then steps away from me. “I don’t know what I am, honestly. But I’m not going back to work for him. I don’t care how much money he offers me or how many threats he makes. This is about my dignity. It’s about my integrity. I’m not going to compromise either of those things.”
