Page 4 of The Wrong One

“I do,” he said with a firm nod.

“I haven’t seen Izzy in a while, but from what I remember, she was kind of stubborn,” I said. “How is she going to like taking orders from you?”

He shrugged. “It’s not like I spend a lot of time in the lab now. It’s not like I give orders. She’ll have a project and run with it. She’s not one of these college kids we work with. She’s going to be a solid employee. Isn’t that what we want? Isn’t that what we’ve been looking for?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I’m just worried you might be getting into something you’ll regret. She’s your sister. Families working together can be tricky.”

He scoffed. “It’s not like that with us. We need her, but more importantly, she needs us.”

“What do you mean?”

I knew she was back in town and there was some drama, but I didn’t ask a lot of questions. Again, I had to walk a fine line. If I showed too much interest, Ramsey would find it odd. But she was kind of like family to me, so I had to show some interest.

“She’s having a hard time,” Ramsey said. “She needs work. She’s more than qualified but there aren’t a lot of jobs in her field right now.”

“What do you mean she’s having a hard time?” I asked.

He shook his head. “You can’t tell her I told you.”

“Told me what?”

“She’s really having a hard time with the breakup,” he said. “She’s feeling down on herself. That asshole fucked with her head. I’d love to get my hands on him. She needs to get on solid footing again, stay busy. A good job will help. A good job where I can make sure she’s not being taken advantage of. We can pay her well. She’s not going to be dicked around.”

I nodded as he talked. I agreed—to a point. “Are you sure you’re really helping her if you swoop in and save her?” I asked. “Maybe she needs to stand on her own two feet.”

“She is.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m going to do her job or anything. We’re giving her a leg up. A helping hand. She’s family.”

“Have you proposed this job to her?” I asked.

“No, I wanted to make sure you were okay with it,” he said.

“I think you should let her apply for the jobs she wants. Don’t push her into something.”

“I’m not pushing,” he argued. “She’s been looking for a job. We have an opening. She’s basically in the same field of work.”

I snorted. “Not exactly. Engineering is a big-ass umbrella. Engineering covers a lot of different ideas. I’m not building bridges or skyscrapers. I’m an engineer, but not a structural engineer.”

“She’s been working in micro-medical engineering for the last five years,” Ramsey said. “It’s not a huge jump to our biomedical work.”

I wasn’t going to win. “Aren’t you setting her up for failure?” I asked. “You want to give her a job in a field she doesn’t know. We have people from MIT right now who want to work for us.”

“And they want to make a billion dollars,” he shot back. “They want to work two days a week. We know Izzy. She’s going to bust her ass to help you with the research. You can count on her.”

“What do you think the learning curve is?” I asked.

He smiled proudly. “With Izzy, I would say a couple of weeks. She’s going to throw her heart and soul into it.”

I threw up my hands. “I’m not sure why we’re even having this conversation. You’re going to do what you want.”

“We’re partners,” he said. “Of course, I’m going to want to make sure you’re okay with it. I’m not trying to make all the decisions.”

“It’s cool.” I shrugged. “Hire her. I’m sure she’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. I don’t want you to have regrets. I don’t want your relationship with your sister to sour because you guys butt heads at work. There might be a time when you or I have to correct her. I don’t want to piss you off if I need to do that.”

“I’m not saying you baby her,” he said. “You don’t need to treat her any differently than you would treat any other employee. She’ll be pissed if you do. I’m going to offer her the job, but there’s a good chance she’ll shut me down. I just want to make sure she knows she has an option. She won’t take any money from me. But I know she’ll earn it. We’ll pay her a more than fair wage.”

“Of course.” I nodded. “Whatever you want to do. I’m good with it.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I know she’s going to be a huge help to you. And the company in general.”

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