Part 8 (1/2)
She laughed. ”Yeah. That's it.”
”And you don't see how ridiculous that is? My word against his? So, maybe I do have papers, but how hard would it be for him to counter what I have with what he has and make me look like some gold-digging fool from the sticks? You don't see anything wrong with this picture?”
”Oh, I've seen it. And I know how it'll play out. You'll go to him for money, and he'll laugh in your face.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. ”So you know I won't get anything out of this?”
”I don't know any such thing, Frank,” she said seriously. ”He may pay you to go away, just like he's paying Joel. But if he doesn't...”
”If he doesn't, and I go public, then I'll end up looking like a fool.”
”Or you could end up with more money than you ever dreamed of.”
This didn't make sense. What did she really want? And then it dawned on him.
”You need a distraction,” he said, finally figuring it out. ”If he's busy with me, then he's not going to be paying attention to something else.” The look on her face told him that he was right. ”What is it?” This time, he was the one looking for her to give away her secrets. ”That oil company,” he eventually said. ”That's it. Isn't it? I start a scandal now, and old boy's too busy trying to clean up one mess while you start another one.”
Lonnie looked out into the crowd walking past the two of them. ”When was the last time you spoke to your father, Frank?”
He didn't answer.
She looked at him. ”Did he tell you that Jordan was your brother?”
He thought back to his visit with Joel, the first one in nearly twenty years.
”You came all the way out here to ask me that?” the old man asked, looking disappointed, and looking something else too. ”Who told you about him? Who you been talking to?”
”Is it true?” Frank didn't want to hear that it was. He'd hoped his father would laugh at him and ask him what kind of joke this was he was trying to play on him.
Joel squinted at him. ”What you askin' for?”
”Because I'm your son too. Like it or not, I am.”
Joel rolled his eyes and groaned. ”I never said you wasn't,” he growled.
Frank had a long-a.s.s argument that he could've come back with about how he barely ever saw Joel, and how it was easier for his a.s.s to send a check than it was to pick up the phone and call. But now wasn't the time.
”Is that man my brother?”
The old man's face turned to stone. ”He ain't your brother any more than he's my son,” he said gravely. ”And it's best you leave that alone, boy. He ain't the kinda man you wanna know.”
”How do you know?” Frank asked bluntly.
The muscle in Joel's jaw ticced as he clenched his teeth.
”Because he is your son,” Frank concluded.
The man s.h.i.+fted his focus toward the window, trying to hide the pain in his eyes. ”Not anymore.” His voice was ragged. ”Not in a long, long time.”
”What if he does pay up, Frank? What if he thinks it's easier to pay you then deal with the scandal, publicly? Like you said, a public scandal would be a distraction, one he doesn't need right now. Or, if you like, you can put your faith in Colette and Reggie, and take your chances with them. It's up to you.”
Lonnie pulled her purse onto her shoulder, stood up, and walked away, and left Frank with one h.e.l.l of a dilemma.
Right On for the Darkness ”What the f.u.c.k do you mean they held the meeting?” Jordan marched through the long corridors of Gatewood Industries headquarters, leaving his office and heading toward June's. He was talking to the chief financial officer on his cell phone. ”I canceled the G.o.dd.a.m.ned meeting before I left for Houston!”
”June rescheduled it, Jordan,” the man said apologetically. ”I reminded her that you had canceled the meeting, but her a.s.sistant had sent out the meeting notice before she'd ended the call.”
Jordan cut the man off and stormed into June's office at the end of the hall. She was perched on the edge of her desk, talking to that sidekick administrative a.s.sistant of hers. June had handpicked the woman for the job.
”Jordan,” she said, startled, hopping off of her desk. ”I thought you weren't due back until tomorrow.”
Jordan glared at Vickie or Nickie or whatever the f.u.c.k her name was. ”Leave,” he said simply.
She paused, looking at June for permission.
”We'll finish up later, Lisa.”
He waited for Lisa to leave, closing the door behind her.
”How was your flight?” she asked casually, taking refuge behind her desk.
”Who told you to convene the acquisition team meeting, June?”
With everything else going on in his world right now, the last thing Jordan needed was to babysit his little sister. June had been a mild annoyance since she'd moved back to Dallas and insisted on coming to work for the company. He'd entertained it, only because she was his sister.
”I didn't see a reason not to, Jordan,” she said, calmly crossing one leg over another.
She looked like Julian. June was lighter-skinned, with green eyes. People always marveled over how much more she looked like their father and how he looked so much like Olivia, their mother.
”It was a simple enough agenda,” she continued. ”And I figured that we could handle it while you were gone. One less thing for you to have to worry about.” She smiled.
Now she was just trying to push some b.u.t.tons. Jordan found himself uncharacteristically amused.
”I've been running this business a long time, June,” he said with a smirk. ”You'd be surprised by all the things I'm capable of worrying about.”
”You're worried that I'm stepping on your toes?” June smiled. ”Don't, big brother. I'm here to help, and if I can take some of the heat off of you, then why shouldn't I?”
June stood up, walked over to him, and pressed her hand against his chest.
”Baby sister has a great big MBA with an emphasis in finance. She's mere inches from getting her PhD, big brother.” June smiled up at him. ”I know what I'm doing.”
He looked down at her, and forced away the image of his twelve-year-old sister. ”So do I, June-bug,” he eventually said.
He'd allow her some room to push, but only to a point. Jordan would entertain her muscle-flexing as long as it didn't get in his way. But the moment she pushed too hard, or those muscles of hers got too big, Jordan would have to do some flexing of his own.
”I'll have Lisa send you the meeting minutes right away,” she said a.s.suredly. ”And you'll see. The meeting went great, and you'll be signing the deal on Anton before you know it.”
As promised, Jordan had the meeting minutes in his inbox by the time he made it back to his office, and the notes did look promising. As he read through them, Jordan's cell phone vibrated. He had a new e-mail from Edgar with an attachment.