* * *
Butterflies danced in her stomach as she took the stairs up to the radio station the next day. She’d dressed with more care than usual, choosing a pair of dark jeans and a pale yellow T-shirt. Maybe she’d try something vibrant one day, but for now, the softer sides of the color wheel were growing on her. They had a staff meeting at ten thirty, which would give Stacey enough time to do a live segment before they transferred over to the computer until after the meeting. They needed to do a wrap-up segment for the show. Each of the men had signed nondisclosure agreements, but it was time for all of them to get on with their lives, which meant clueing the listening audience in to the final results.
She hesitated before pushing open the door to the lobby. Stop it. You’re going to work. You’ve done this every day for years. Nothing is different. Not about your job.
“Hey,” Stacey said from behind her.
Everly jumped, letting out a little yelp.
Stacey laughed. “You were so far in your own head you didn’t hear me behind you. You okay?”
Pressing her palm flat to her chest, she glared at Stacey, who continued to laugh.
“I didn’t make you pee, did I? I hear that happens after thirty,” she said, poking her in the shoulder.
“Pretty sure that’s after babies, not thirty.”
“Hmm. Can’t be too careful. Where were you last night? I texted.”
Right. She needed to tell her friend everything. “Can we talk about it later? I have a lot to catch you up on.”
Stacey’s brows drew together. “Did you sleep with Owen?”
“Why do you always think I slept with someone when I say we should talk?”
She shrugged. “Wishful thinking.”
Everly’s heart rate calmed, and she opened the door, let Stacey go ahead of her. “Speaking of such things, what’d you decide about Rob?”
They stopped in the lobby, and her friend blew out a breath. “I’m going to go for it. We’re going out tonight.”
Everly grinned. “That’s awesome. I’m proud of you.”
Stacey rolled her eyes. “Aw, shucks. Thanks, Mom.”
They were still laughing when they walked down the hall toward the booth. They put their lunches away in the break room, waving to Jane, who was chatting into a headset. It was so weird to know a different side of these people. In all the years she’d worked here, Everly had kept a small piece of herself closed off.
She let Stacey in and felt like she was amicable to her coworkers, but seeing everyone together outside of work was different. It made her realize she didn’t really know the people she worked with. Jane was much less reserved with her girlfriend around, Luke was far more affectionate with his wife than she would have expected of the gruff and tough janitor, and Mari was far less serious.
“Morning, ladies,” Mason said, coming into the room. “Any clue about the big announcement Chris is making?”
Everly’s butterflies returned, and they were sporting weighted wings, all but punching her rib cage in rapid succession. “At the staff meeting?” He wouldn’t announce … them, would he?
Mason filled his coffee, glanced over at Everly. “Mari thinks something is up. Said he was making some changes and wanted to talk about where the station is headed.”
Everly’s breath whooshed out quietly. Okay. Not them.
Stacey filled a mug after Mason and took a sip. “We’ll find out soon enough. Maybe his brother is moving here and joining the ranks.”
Jane walked over and joined them. Everly thought about how strange it was that they’d never huddled in the break room to converse before. At least, she hadn’t. Maybe all of them had and she’d just kept her walls up.
“Noah is in real estate. I don’t think he wants to be in broadcasting. I need to go buzz someone in. He’s here to see Chris, so that might delay your meeting.”
They chatted a bit more about a few on-location event requests that had been emailed in.
“I’m going to go set up,” Everly said. She should definitely make more of an effort to engage, but for now, baby steps would have to do.
Walking out of the room, she was too aware of her pulse. It was beating harder than normal. Faster. You’ve worked with him every day for a year. You can handle one more day of normal until you figure out what to do from here.
She was worried that when she saw him, little hearts would pop up over her head as if she were a cartoon character.
“You can’t just walk back here,” Jane said to a man who came barreling down the hallway.
“He won’t answer my calls, then I’ll speak to him face-to-face. He’s probably too much of a damn coward for that, but I’m not. Where is he?” The man was probably in his fifties, average height, his gray hair a little long on the top. Everly clocked the details like they’d be important later. Mason came up behind her with Stacey.
“What’s going on?” Mason pulled Everly back as the man kept stomping forward.
“Which way is Mr. Jansen’s office?” Blotchy red spots covered the man’s face.
“Sir, I’m calling security,” Jane said.
Chris came out of his office, worry etched into the lines of his face. “What’s going on?”
The man pointed at him. “Are you him? Are you Mr. N. Jansen of Quality Corporations Incorporated?”
Chris stopped, his expression one of surprise before he masked it with professionalism. His eyes met Everly’s for the briefest of seconds before he focused on the irate man.
“I’ve called security,” Jane said.
“I’m saying my piece, and then I’ll go. As much as I want to punch you, I won’t. You cost me my company, put my employees out of work. I won’t lose anything else to you. You’re not worth it.”
Everly felt Stacey step closer and take her hand. She hadn’t realized she was pressing her fingers into her palm, but now it stung.
“You must be Mr. Lee. Why don’t we speak in my office?” Chris said, gesturing to the door behind him. His tone was almost resigned. Defeated. What was that about? Who was this man?
“So, you do know who I am. Guess I should be flattered, huh? That if you were going to dissolve my company, through email, you at least knew my name. How magnanimous of you. Do you want to sit me down in your office and tell me doing that was just business?”
Chris’s jaw tightened, and Everly held her breath. She watched his chest rise and fall, realizing he was trying to maintain composure.
“What I’d like is to let my employees get back to work. This doesn’t concern them at the moment. I’d very much like to sit down with you to discuss what happened.”
The man reared back, threw his hands in the air. “What happened? You happened!”
Chris stepped closer. “That might be what it looks like, but if you’d just allow us some privacy, we can talk.”
Security came down the hall, assessed the situation. Chris put a hand up to hold them off.
Mr. Lee laced his hands in his graying hair. “We were struggling, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have made it. I sank everything I had into this ad company. We were turning things around. You didn’t even have the decency to seek out other solutions. You can’t just make decisions that impact dozens of people with the swipe of a freaking signature.”
Chris winced. “You’re missing valuable pieces of the puzzle. It’s not as black and white as you’re making it seem.” His eyes darted to his staff. To Everly. His mouth tightened.
Mr. Lee growled, taking a step forward. “My life savings were in this company. Now, it’s gone. No warning. Just gone. I looked up your company. You don’t care about anything other than profit and proving you can take someone’s legs out from under them.”
Chris’s eyes blazed fire. His back stiffened. “You know nothing about me, Mr. Lee. If you won’t take me up on my offer of a private discussion, I’m going to need you to leave.”
Mr. Lee pointed at Chris, the fight sagging out of his stance. “You’ll never know what
it’s like to build something from the ground up. You’ll never know what it’s like to lose everything.”
The security guard sidled up to the man. Mr. Lee’s breathing had gone ragged, and Everly was close enough to see sweat forming at his temples.
“Sir, I’m going to escort you out,” the security guard said. Everly didn’t know his name. He worked the whole building and a couple of others in the same area.
She blinked, trying to pull her breath in. Mr. Lee shook his head, pulled a piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He held it up, ripped it in half. “Gone. Just like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Chris said quietly, holding the man’s angry stare.
Everly could see in his face, his eyes, the way his body tightened that he was. He was truly sorry, but nothing made any sense. Mr. Lee shook off the security guard’s touch and turned around, stomped down the hall toward the exit.
The rest of them—Jane, Everly, Stacey, Mason, and Mari, who’d come out of the meeting room—stared at Chris. His gaze found Everly’s, and everything inside of her tumbled like rocks off a cliff.
“Staff meeting, now.” Chris pointed to the meeting room.
“I’m so sorry. He said he had an appointment,” Jane muttered.
Chris was still looking at Everly when he replied, “It’s not your fault, Jane.”
Stacey went ahead of Everly, releasing her hand. She couldn’t look away from Chris, her heart pounding, a feeling of dread making her stomach queasy. Even though he was standing right in front of her, she felt like he was disappearing.
They filed into the meeting room, sat around the table, the tension thicker than fog. Everly felt like she could choke on it. The muscles around her ribs tightened. She rubbed the pad of her thumb over her other fingers, counting to herself.
Chris ran a hand through his hair and paced at the front of the room. When he stopped, facing them, she got the distinct feeling that whatever happened next would change everything.
“I’m sorry about that scene. I should have maybe foreseen something like that,” Chris started.
Stacey leaned closer. “Breathe, sweetie.”
Everly nodded, gripping one hand with the other, pressing her thumb into her palm.
Chris rubbed a hand over his chin. She’d felt the slight stubble that grew there all over her neck and cheeks last night. She could still feel it. He leaned forward, putting his hands on the table, his shoulders dropping slightly.
“There are things I should have said before now. My father owns the radio station and its sister companies. There were five in total, but this one is the most profitable. My father off-loaded one recently without warning. Mr. Lee ran the ad agency. I’d been looking into ways to keep it alive when my father dissolved it without warning. Mr. Lee has every right to be mad, but that particular decision wasn’t mine.”
Everly’s brain went foggy.
“Wait, you own the station?” Mason sat forward.
Chris took a deep breath. “My father owns it. Nathaniel Jansen.”
“Just to be clear, you purposely kept who you were a secret from us?” Stacey’s words slashed through the tension. They weren’t harsh or judgmental, more curious. Like she was just clearing something up.
Everly bit her lip, focused on the pressure of her teeth against the delicate skin of her mouth.
“You have a right to be angry. It seems weak now, but when I first arrived, you were all on edge with having changed management and ownership several times.” He sighed, straightening, then shrugged. “My first day here, a few of you were taking bets on how soon the new owner would cast you guys aside. I’m nothing like my father. I work for him. I came to do a job here, and I didn’t want my role clouded by the connection. I’m sorry.” His gaze locked on Everly.
Everly sucked in a sharp breath. “You said he wanted to fire Stacey and me. It was your dad who wanted to get rid of us?”
Chris nodded slowly.
“He did, yes. But I fought to save your jobs. And this station because it matters.”
“So, is the station still in trouble? Do we need to find jobs?” Mari got up and walked to the whiteboard, erasing the doodles Mason had created at another time. Her movements were jerky, like her words. “From what Mr. Lee said, it sounds like your dad snapped his fingers and made the company disappear. Are we next?”
Chris shook his head. “No. You don’t need to find another job. The numbers are fantastic. You guys all did that. My father knows this station is worth the time, money, and effort. I’ll speak to Mr. Lee, but I don’t want you guys worrying that you’re going to be replaced or shoved to the side.” His words should have soothed, but Everly couldn’t help thinking about the few times he’d mentioned his father—the resentment in his tone. He’d married a woman, in part, to spite the man. He sounded, through Chris’s own descriptions, like a ruthless individual.
Mason leaned back in his chair, studying Chris. “Did you fight for the ad company?”
Chris turned his head, met his employee’s assessing gaze. “I was blindsided before I had a chance.”
Mason pursed his lips. “You can’t really guarantee what your father will do, can you?”
Taking a deep breath, Chris’s eyes darted away. “I can’t. I might not deserve it, but I’m going to need you guys to trust me.”
Stacey let out a sardonic laugh, then winced. “Sorry.” She glanced at Everly, who didn’t know where to look or what to think.
“Why do you work at a radio station as a manager if your father owns”—Jane asked, glancing up from her computer, then gesturing to the screen—“what looks like an empire?”
The others peered over. Not Everly. She didn’t move. She was scared that if she did, she’d come apart.
“Holy shit,” Stacey said, getting up to look over Jane’s shoulder. “You’re mega loaded.”
Everly’s eyes widened. She looked at Chris, seeing the irritation flash in his expression before he shook his head. “My father is rich. Can we please get back to the issues at hand rather than my father’s wealth?”
Mason crossed his arms over his chest. “The issues being you’re actually like those undercover boss guys, but nothing really changes, right? We go on as we have been. Our jobs are safe.”
Everyone focused on Chris. “I wasn’t doing anything undercover. For now, it’s business as usual.”
No one seemed to know what to say. Questions bombarded Everly. Was his life in New York? Why did he work here? Was this why he’d kept them at arm’s length until recently? How much sway did he have over his father if the man decided to cut his losses? Had Chris really stood up to his father on their behalf?
“There’s really nothing more to be said right now. I need you guys to get back to your day. Everly, could you stay a minute?”
They waited a beat and then started leaving the room. Stacey squeezed her arm, giving her a “You will tell me everything” look on her way by. Chris walked over, shut the door, then turned to her with a crestfallen expression.
Her lips quivered. “You lied,” she whispered.
“Everly,” he said.
She inhaled deeply, breathed out through her mouth. Standing because she couldn’t sit any longer, she paced the room as he had earlier.
“You can say you didn’t, but omitting the truth about who you really are, your purpose here, that’s the same as lying.”
He stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. She looked at him, her body trembling. “I lied. You’re right. It was by omission, but that doesn’t make it okay. You, of all people, though, should understand.”
Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure that out. “Why?”
Moving a touch closer, his look begged for understanding. “You don’t want to be judged by your parents, Everly. I didn’t want to be judged by my father. He’s not a man I want to emulate.”
She could understand that. Resisting the urge to touch him, hug him, she asked, “Then why do you work for him? W
hy would you come work for a station that you’ve had to fight every step of the way for? Why do you want to please him badly enough to have hidden that from all of us?”
He swallowed audibly. Everly’s heart stuttered. There was more. He said nothing for a moment, like he was gathering his words carefully.
She clasped her hands together as she waited.
“The deal has always been that if I wanted to run a company on my own, without interference, I had to jump through his hoops. It’s the same for both of my brothers. If anything, he’s harder on us than he is on anyone else in his employ. I’m not whining or playing the poor little rich boy card. I’m just telling you, I came here to prove myself. I didn’t want to have to defend myself at the same time, so I didn’t say I was related to the owner.”
She nodded, her fingers loosening until a thought occurred to her. “You haven’t been running this company without interference, though. He tried to get rid of Stacey and me. He did get rid of the publishing company and now the ad company. Did he break his word?”
Even mad at him for the dishonesty, she felt bad for him because he shouldn’t have to prove himself to his own father.
“No,” Chris said, the one word coming out harsh.
Everly stepped back. “Then what…”
Chris closed the distance between them, his hands cupping her shoulders. “I needed to prove I could turn the station around before getting my choice of companies to run. I’m supposed to take over as executive director of communications for his company.”
“Supposed to?”
“I’m not taking it.”
She shook her head. “Why?”
He dipped his head. “Everly.”
Ten Rules for Faking It Page 31