“Of course, I didn’t do that! Why would I do something that horrible?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me why you thought keeping things from me was a good idea?”
Finn sighs and lowers his hands.
“I didn’t mean to go into this seducing my tenants…”
“You mean this isn’t a regular thing?”
“What? No! I don’t sleep with people I rent property to. That’s not something I do.”
I don’t believe him. After what I’ve just discovered, I don’t know what to believe. I point at him as I advance on him.
“You lied to me, Finn. You knew about this the whole time and never once thought it appropriate to tell me you’re the bastard who will put me out of the house and home? Who’s going to make me lose my business?”
“Jade, please…”
“No, don’t start with that. Don’t you dare pacify me!” I’m breathing heavily, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. “Why would you do that? You know how much that store means to me. You know I’ll be evicted if you raise the rent. Why would you still have it that high after knowing I’m struggling?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It isn’t? What do you call what you’re doing to me, then? Doing business? Is that appropriate to ‘do business’ like this?” I prod him in the chest. “How could you? Why would you do that to me?”
“Hey, take it easy!” Finn grabs my shoulders. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jade. I promise.”
I can’t believe him. Actually, I don’t know what to think anymore. Not after what happened. I shake my head.
“You hurt me. You treated me like a sex doll.” Finn cringes at that. “I sorely regret thinking that you’re an amazing lay. When you hide something like that from me, you’re nothing.”
“Jade…”
“You’d better lower my rent, Finn. I’m not paying more than I agreed with when your father was alive. If you don’t like it, tough shit. Nobody will stop me because I’ve been doing the same thing for years. If you want to contact me about negotiating the rent, fine, but nothing else.”
“Can we please talk more about this?”
“Absolutely not.” I grab my bag from the floor, slinging it over my shoulder. I can feel the tears building, stinging as I glare at him. “I was going to ask for a proper negotiation and see if we could sort this out like adults, but now I realize it’s not going to happen. You get my decision about raising the rent, and you can shove it up your ass!”
Before he can respond, I storm out and over to the elevator. As I punch the button, wishing the doors would open, I feel the secretary’s eyes on my back. She will probably have a lot of fun explaining this to her coworkers.
At this point, I don’t really care. I just want to get the hell out of here.
***
Finn
“Are you kidding me?” Kenny stares at me in stunned amazement. “You actually slept with her knowing that she was your tenant?”
I wince and wish I could turn the glass walls into something more solid to hide away from everyone—especially my brother, who looks at me like I’ve gone mad.
“I didn’t intend to go to her place to sleep with her. That wasn’t the plan at all.”
“But it was the second time around. You went to her again!”
“I…I don’t have an answer for that.”
Kenny scoffs and shakes his head. He’s lying on the couch in my office while I slump behind my desk. Keeley has gone to lunch, and I’m glad about that; she has been giving me odd looks all morning. I’m sure she’s telling her friends about this.
So much for keeping things professional.