Page 39 of Trust Me

“Don’t try to change the subject. Is she pretty?”

Too damn pretty for my own good.

Thankfully, I keep the words from spilling out. Though, my mom cocks her head to the side as if I did answer out loud.

“Is Stasi enjoying her cooking classes?” My sixteen-year-old sister, Anastasia, is the baby of the family. She’s taking some special class in Paris for the next few months. Initially, she and my mother were supposed to go, but there was no way in hell my father would be separated from my mother for that long, hence why he opted to oversee the annual European trip himself this year. Last year, I was the one who went on said work trip.

My mother frowns. “You’re so damn tightlipped. You get that from him.” She waves her head in my father’s direction.

My father mumbles something in her ear. She swats his hand and turns back to me. These two’s intimacy would disgust me if I weren’t used to it by now.

“Just tell me, is she pretty?” She smiles conspiratorially.

“Yes, very,” I admit.

My mother’s smile widens. “That’s nice. Maybe you should ask her out. I can’t remember the last time you brought a woman home.”

I snort. “Never.”

“That’s right. You’ve never brought a woman home. Are you a virgin?”

I choke on my spit. “Mom?”

A wrinkle appears on her forehead. “What? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Are you waiting for marriage?”

“Definitely not. Because I’m not getting fuc— married,” I insist. “And now since the board went behind my back to hire Riley, there’s definitely nothing happening between the two of us. Lest I expose myself to a possible sexual harassment lawsuit.” I grind my teeth together in anger but I don’t know what it stems from.

“How is Stasi doing?” I ask, attempting to divert my mother’s attention again.

“I’m right here!” my youngest sister’s voice chirps. A second later, she appears on the screen, taking up the space beside my father. “Hi, Kyle,” she gushes animatedly. “Ralph says hi, too!” she says of the bulldog she’s had since she was a kid.

In her usual way, Stasi takes over the conversation. It takes me close to fifteen minutes, and many promises to call her over the weekend, to get Stasi to let me hang up. Though, I am happy her interruption ceased the weird questioning from my mother.

My mother’s constantly hinting that she wants me to date more and have more of a life outside of work.

Whatever.

I don’t have time for that. Not when the legacy of our family rests on my shoulders. And especially not when the last person outside of our family circle I trusted almost led to the destruction of our family’s company.

I refuse to let that ever happen again.

All I have to do is what I know how to do. Steer this acquisition the way it needs to go and earn my title as the official COO. I can do that and ignore Riley Martin in the process.

CHAPTER11

Riley

A week after that almost disastrous board meeting, I’ve barely seen Kyle. The man spends hours at the office, arriving before everyone and leaving hours after the official workday ends. However, most of that time, he’s either locked away in his office or in a series of closed-door meetings that I’m not invited to sit in on.

That all changes today. Which is why I’m carrying two bags of takeout from the Japanese restaurant across the street from Townsend. Mike, Kyle’s assistant, let it slip that Kyle frequents said restaurant when he has to remain close to the office for lunch.

“Whatever’s in the bag smells delicious,” Barry, one of the marketing directors, says as I step off the elevator.

“Are you a fan of sushi?” I hold up one of the bags.

Though Barry is relatively skinny, he does have a bit of a pot belly. One he pats in response to my inquiry. “There’s not much I don’t like.”

I laugh and offer him one of the extra California rolls I picked up. Barry ends up mentioning the Waterson acquisition from a marketing angle. That leads to a conversation with three other colleagues as I discuss a few ways to approach the topic.

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