Page 85 of In Love and War
Okay. Yeah. This is happening.
“No… it’s not. He’s lying, but for good reason.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “I blackmailed him.”
Here’s the thing with my dad. He was averydifficult man to surprise when it came to human actions or decisions. He was so incredibly in tune with people that he was usually three steps ahead and knew what was coming. There were very few secrets I’d been able to keep from him growing up.
But, for the first time in as far as I could ever remember, I caught him off guard. His eyebrows shot up, and he sat back in his chair, fingers intertwined in front of him. Whatever he’d been expecting me to say, this wasn’t it.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
“Pardon me, Amelia?” He used my full name. He really was shocked.
I wiped my hands on the front of my skirt.Too late to back out now.“Zac didn’t break any policies.Iwent up to his hotel room while we were in New York, and I’m the one that made the first move. He… stopped it pretty quickly. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
My father didn’t say anything, only listened, but I could see him already catching on to what I was doing before I was even halfway there. The initial shock fell from his face, and his brows relaxed and his eyes softened in understanding.
Like I said, three steps ahead.
“I was angry that he rejected me. I was angry at him for a lot of reasons. I have been for a really long time. So, in the heat of the moment last week, I told him I would blow the whistle, go to HR and tell them that we hooked up, if he didn’t leave the company. It would be my word against his, plus the security camera footage of me going into his room. So his choices were to either quit and leave on good terms, or potentially be fired and have to explain it to his future employer.”
He was tapping two fingers on the leather of his armrest now, his pursed lips disappearing under the thickness of his salt-and-pepper moustache in contemplation.
“And that’s what happened. I would officially like the record to show that Zac didn’t break any policies. But I broke multiple. I blackmailed him. It explains both the notice and his confession. He only did it because he felt like he didn’t have a choice. Because I didn’t give him one. So it only makes sense that he should be free to come back and retain his position without any repercussions. And, obviously, I won’t be here, nor will I ever be rehired after this. So he won’t have to worry about seeing me ever again either.”
There was a long pause, the unspoken truth hanging in the air between us.
“You’re really willing to do this for him, sweetheart?” He looked a little sad.
“Like I said. I’m taking responsibility.” I nodded, sniffing. The fucking tears were back. They were welling up, getting ready to spill. I dabbed at my eyes with a fallen sleeve before pulling it back up my forearm.
“Have you talked to him? At all?” His voice was soft, comforting. It made me want to ball up on the floor and sob.
I shook my head, looking down. “He’s not picking up my calls.” I swallowed when my voice broke. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“So, he doesn’t know?” he asked, breaking the last bit of restraint I had left on my emotions.
I let out a laughing sob as the tears started streaming down. “That I’m stupid in love with him? No, Dad. And it’s staying that way.”
“Why?”
“There’s no point. I really don’t think he feels the same way… he doesn’t even trust me. All of this could have been avoided if he just… picked up the phone. Five minutes. That’s all I needed. But I literally can’t even get a text back.” I huffed a small laugh. “Plus, what I said about the Yuval offer was true—I’m going to New York. For good, this time.”
“Milly, I really think…”
I shook my head again. “No. It’s done.”
He opened his mouth to argue, so I blurted out the first question that came to my mind, one that I was genuinely curious about.
“How long have you known?”
A look of understated excitement flashed across his features, as if he had been waiting for me to ask. “With you, I knew the moment you set your eyes on him in my office however many years ago that was. Quite the comical event, to be honest. I didn’t think a person’s eyes could get so round.” He chuckled.
“And my goodness did the boy get you riled up once you started to work together. I’d never seen you as worked up as you were with him. You were so shy for seventeen years… I really didn’t know you had it in you, until he showed up. It was such a delight for me to see, Milly. He ignited a spark in you that’s still there, and much more prominent now… but he’s the one that lit it. You were, of course, a few years too young for him back then.”
He paused for a few seconds and smiled fondly before continuing. “With him… I saw the way he looked at you during the charity event at our garden. I don’t think you noticed, but his eyes gravitated to wherever you stood like a magnet. Monica was doing everything she could to get his attention, but you were the sun to his moon, my darling; not once did the boy turn his back to you. Though, I don’t think he, himself, realized it was happening.”
My heart skipped a beat at my father’s observation. He was right. I hadn’t noticed.
“There were other clues here and there, of course. You were quite jealous of your cousin’s interest in him when we had lunch, even though you did your best to hide it. And he… had begun to speak differently about you in recent months. It was quite a sweet thing to witness, really, the glimpses I had of the two of you developing these feelings. But, I have to admit, I didn’t think anything had happened… my suspicions on that only started when Zac called in sick for the second day in a row.”
