Page 66 of Crossing the Line
“I wanted to get us on the same page then, but you left with Hercules Lord,” Clive adds.
I want to wring Clive’s neck which probably shows in the way I’m glaring at him.
“And about Hercules Lord,” Heartly purrs. “You shouldn’t take walks with him, especially when your attention should be on your job.”
My mouth is caught open. I’m speechless.Oh no. So they do know about Hercules and me. Damn it.
“However,” Clive says loud enough to claim all parties’ attention. His eyebrows flash up when I look at him. He appears to know that I’m experiencing some sort of distress and is seeking to take the edge off. “Max is no longer able to appear in this particular licensing case since you have admitted to having knowledge of the development of TRANSPOT.”
Clive explains that the position Max and Leo have always taken is that TRANSPOT is merely an over-funded theory.
“And that’s why you’ll appear in a special hearing next month,” Xander says. “And you’ll admit that as far as you know, TRANSPOT is nonviable.”
Wow, talk about being blindsided.“I can’t believe you’re actually asking me to lie, Dad.”
“It’s not a lie, Paisley,” my mom says.
I shake my head. “But it is.”
A conspiratorial look passes between my parents.
“Paisley, as far as we know, you’re the only one who has the knowledge to make TRANSPOT operate the way Charles envisioned it,” my mom says.
I go from distressed to confused.
“That is why we insist that you stay clear of the Lord boy.”
“Boy?” Referring to Hercules as a boy and not a man seems so malicious. “Believe me, he’s not a boy.”
Shit.I close my eyes and shake my head with regret. I can’t believe I said that. I basically insinuated that I knew Hercules Lord in the biblical way, not as a boy but as a man.
Suddenly, there’s a loud slap against the table, and my dad roars, “Paisley!”
My eyes pop open, but I don’t jump or even flinch because I know better than to do that.
“This is not a joke. Keep your distance from Hercules Lord.”
The wordnosits on my tongue, but I hold it in as my heart pounds like a bass drum. As long as I’ve been alive, I’ve never heard my father take that tone with anyone and certainly not with me. Maybe that’s why, even as I show him bravery through my posture, I can’t stop the water from rushing to my eyes. Soon I’m wiping tears off my cheeks.
“Xander,” my mom says, chastising him.
My dad sighs hard and motions as if he’s going to get up and hug me but then glues his rear back to his chair. “Sorry, sweetheart. Upsetting you was not my intention. But you’ve put us in a problematic position.” I’m still clearing tears from my eyes when my dad points at Clive. “You were instructed on what to say, and you chose to not follow the counsel’s directives. That was careless of you. You moved out of this apartment and spent eight million dollars on a new one without telling us. And you’ve been captured fraternizing with the Lord boy. What the hell is going on with you?”
I fight the urge to hang my head and apologize. I can accept that I messed up in the hearing. But the other infractions that my father is leveling against me—absolutely not.
I set my jaw. “It was my money, Dad.”
“We understand that, but still, you should let us know,” my mom says.
I can’t stop shaking my head. There’s no way I’m not going to stand my ground. “No. I can spend my money however I like. I earned it.”
My parents pass frowns of frustration between them. But there’s no argument to be had about where and how I spend my money, period.
“You moved into an unsecured building, Paisley!” Xander shouts. His face is red, and his expression pinched. He’s very angry.
What’s interesting is that Hercules doesn’t like that I moved into an unsecured building either. I want to tell my dad that, just so he knows he has something in common with the man I’m falling for.
My mom’s arms are folded, and she seems annoyed, but she does manage to sweetly say, “That’s dangerous, darling.”
