Protecting the Enemy (The Protectors)

by Samantha Chase

  “But let’s just say—for the sake of argument—that someone succeeds in getting the word out there. And that they have irrefutable evidence of the crime. The kind of evidence that you cannot sweep away. The kind of evidence that could—quite possibly—result in significant legal difficulties. For you. For Ken. For several top executives. And your lawyers.”

  He slammed his drink down and stood. “What the hell are you talking about, Sebastian? Do you know something about this? Is this the threat that Ken was worried about? Because if it is, you’re on my payroll, and it’s your job to prevent things like this from happening.”

  “Actually, I’m not technically on your payroll, and even if I was, I’m not on your payroll in the capacity you seem to think I am. I’m a benchwarmer in the grand scheme of things at Maxwells. I don’t do anything there. I have an office, and I read financial reports. Sometimes. Other than that, my position there is pretty useless.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t be if you would take the initiative like I’ve been telling you to do since you got back from the damn service.”

  I looked up at him and almost wanted to smile. “That’s neither here nor there. The job that I’m doing for Ken was on a personal level—it has nothing to do with the company. And no. What I’m talking about has nothing to do with the threat that Ken was thinking he was in danger from. Actually, there is no danger to him other than himself. He’s a prick, and people hate him. He should work on that.”

  “You’re wearing on my patience here,” my father said darkly. I could see that vein beginning to throb at his temple. One day, it was actually going to burst.

  “Oh, am I? Do you not like having someone come before you and waste your time? Make you feel like you don’t have any say in what’s going on? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  He sat back down and raked a hand through his thinning hair. “All right, obviously you have an agenda here. Why don’t you tell me what it is that you want?”

  “For starters, I want out of the company. Permanently.”

  “What? We have been over this before, Sebastian. You have a responsibility...”

  “To myself.” I interrupted. “I don’t care if I have to hold some bullshit spot on the board for voting stake or whatever, but other than that, I’m out.”

  “You have a lot of nerve. Without this company, you would have nothing.”

  “No, thanks to this company, I’ve lost everything.” I started to continue but then reined myself in. I didn’t want to give him any leverage against me either. One way or another, I was going to get control of my life back. From everyone.

  “I want to be free to work with Levi, Cole, and Declan without your interference.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind my interference when you were looking for clients.”

  “My mistake. I realized that it came with too high a price.” I waited a minute for that to sink in. “My company is going to move forward without any negative interference from you. Is that understood?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “You must really think that you’ve got something big on me if you’re coming here and making these kinds of demands. I think it’s only fair to see what I’m bargaining with before we go any further.”

  I reached into my jacket and pulled out just a small sampling of the papers Ali had brought over earlier. I made sure that I chose the ones that would do the maximum damage. I tossed them over to my father and waited for his reaction.

  I didn’t have to wait long.

  “How...? Where...?” He looked up at me. “Where did you get these?”

  I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. What you need to know is that those papers there are just a small sampling—and copies, by the way—of what is out there. I’ve already sent copies to Levi, Cole, and Declan for safekeeping—along with a legal team. Who, by the way, will be working for me and not you.”

  He paled. For the first time in my life I watched and saw that my father was actually a human who had blood flowing in his veins—because it had all drained away. “I can’t believe you’d do this.”

  “And I can’t believe you did that,” I said, pointing to the papers. I sat back and crossed one ankle over my knee and got comfortable in my seat. It was a good feeling to finally have the upper hand in a situation.

  “Sebastian,” he began, “you have to understand. This is how things are done all the time in business. If you would have just paid attention all the times I tried...”

  “Oh, no,” I said, effectively cutting him off. “This is not about me. This is about you. And what you—and Ken—did to dozens of innocent people.”

  “People get laid off all the damn time,” he said, suddenly coming back to his former self. “Why is this such a big deal?”

  “You tell me. Judging by your reaction to just seeing those papers, it seems to me like you know that this was more than just a simple round of layoffs. You screwed all those people for no other reason than for greed.”

  “It’s not greed. It’s good business. You ask anyone...”

  “I’m not asking anyone. And I certainly wouldn’t ask anyone who was associated with you. I’m telling you now that this is about to hit the fan in a big way.”

  He swallowed hard, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was beginning to sweat. He reached out and finished his brandy and then fell back against the sofa. “Okay,” he said wearily. “What is it that you want to stop this?”

  Now I actually did smile. “How do you know I can stop this? How do you know I’m not all for letting this get out to the public?”

  “Because like it or not, you’re a Maxwell, and if that had been your intention, you would have put it out there without giving me a head’s up. Unfortunately, that’s what we do. You would have leaked it to the press and then stood back and laughed.”

  “Well, it’s good to hear you finally admit to what a complete bastard you really are.”

  He glared at me. “You like to think that you’re different, but you’re not. Someday this side of you will come out too. Like it or not.”

  “No, it won’t. I’ve spent my entire life trying to be different—to be anything other than like you. Just once I wanted you to see me for who I was and to tell me you were proud of me, but apparently that was too much to hope for.”

  “I never understood you. You always let it be known that you disapproved of everything we did. You were exhausting. You didn’t seem to mind living off the money the Maxwell name provided, and yet you snubbed your nose at us at the same time.” He ran a hand over his face. “Then you went off and joined the Marines, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why you would do such a thing. You didn’t need to.”

  “Yes, I did. I needed to get away. From you, from Mom, from... this noose of a company. You were stifling me. At least as a Marine I stood a chance. I could make a difference. If I stayed here, you would have just worn me down until I... turned into you.”

  We sat like that for more time than I even knew. It was the first honest conversation we had ever had. I was mentally exhausted and yet felt free for the first time I could remember. “I’m done playing this game with you, Dad. This isn’t going to go your way. Know that right now.” When he finally gave a slow nod, I continued, “This is what you’re going to do.”

  ***

  It was after four when I finally drove away. Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do—driving on nothing more than adrenaline. Again. But I didn’t want to spend the night under that roof. Not that the hotel was much better, but at least it was mine. Sort of.

  It didn’t hit me until I got back that everything was still set up from earlier when I had planned on the romantic evening with Ali. The night had done nothing but go downhill.

  And fast.

  I walked by all the food and burned-down candles. I ignored the light flashing on the phone. Stripping as I walked, I got to the bed and pretty much just crawled in. In a few hours I’d have to face the music for what I’d done. It was too much to think a
bout.

  I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

  Eleven

  Ali

  So the past week had pretty much been miserable.

  Anger can only take you so far. Once that evens out, all you’re left with is loss.

  I hadn’t expected to feel so bad about ending things with Sebastian. After all, I’d reconnected with him less than a month ago, and he’d made it pretty clear that he was just having fun with me. It had been nice to “get laid,” he’d said. Evidently, that was all we’d ever had.

  It shouldn’t seem like my entire world was different just because he was no longer in my life.

  It did though.

  I didn’t fall into depression or anything. I kept getting up in the morning, doing my job, and taking care of things around the house. But there was always a dark void at the back of my mind, reminding me that something should have been filling it. Sebastian should have been filling it.

  I saw him a few times—just around the Gentry house, when I went over there to take care of last-minute details for the gala on Saturday night. I tried to avoid him, but sometimes it was inevitable. I’d turn a corner, and there he’d be, looking handsome and tired and sober. He never avoided my gaze, but it was hard to look him in the eyes since there was something in his expression that hurt too much.

  We never talked.

  Soon the gala would be over though. Soon I’d never see him again.

  And soon I’d have no chance to do anything about what Maxwell and Gentry had done to my father and so many others. Sebastian had taken my evidence, but I still had one more week to find something else.

  I hadn’t done any searching all week though. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I’d just given up. Or maybe I’d changed my mind.

  “Ali,” Cheryl said sharply as we were wrapping up in her office at the end of another long day. “Ali, did you hear me?”

  I blinked and tried to focus again. “What? No, I’m sorry. What did you ask?”

  “I asked what you were going to wear to the gala. Are you okay? You’ve been kind of weird this week.”

  I wasn’t surprised that she’d noticed, although I’d tried to act as normal as possible. “Yeah. Just tired, I guess.”

  She peered at my face, and I wasn’t sure what she saw there. “You should take a few days off after we’re done with this gala. You’ve been working really hard.”

  “I might. Thank you.”

  “So what are you going to wear?”

  I had only one dress that was remotely appropriate for evening events. “The black one.”

  She shook her head. “That won’t do. You’ve worn it too much, and it’s starting to look it.”

  “I don’t have money to buy another dress.” I knew she was right about my simple black dress, so I wasn’t offended. It was just one more thing that simply wouldn’t fall into place. It felt like everything in my life was as worn and tired as that dress.

  She reached into a drawer of her desk and pulled out her purse. “I thought you might say that. Looking good at events is part of the job, so you need to buy something better.” She took out a sealed bank envelope. “Here. Buy yourself a nice dress.”

  I stared down at the envelope and didn’t take it. “I can’t take your money.”

  “It’s not my money. It’s a business expense. Take it. That’s an order.”

  I took the envelope and, gauche or not, immediately unsealed it to see how much was in it. My eyes widened when I counted the number of hundred-dollar bills. “I can’t take this much. Any dress I buy won’t cost nearly this much.”

  “It should. It needs to be expensive, so don’t go to some discount store. I’m serious. If you show me a cheap knockoff, I’ll tell you to go back and buy something better.”

  “But still—”

  “Still nothing. Buy the dress. If there’s any extra, then keep it as a bonus. Give your family a treat since you’ve been working so hard.” When I started to object again, she gave me a steely gaze. “Seriously, Ali. I’m the boss here. You’ve done a great job with this gala, and I want you to know I appreciate you. Buy yourself a really nice dress and use the extra however you want.”

  I swallowed, strangely touched. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I stared down at the money and wondered what store I should start in. Then wondered—sadly and rather stupidly—what Sebastian would think when he saw me in my new dress.

  ***

  When I got home that evening, I knew something was wrong.

  Something always felt wrong at home—it had for the past several years—but something felt more wrong than normal.

  The television was blaring as always, when I stepped into the kitchen entrance. The kitchen was a mess, with dirty dishes piled up from the day in the sink and on the counter and—for some reason—cereal spilled on the floor. I was used to the kitchen being a mess though.

  Something else felt wrong.

  I put down my bag and keys and instinctively grabbed the dustpan to brush up the spilled cereal so it wouldn’t get stepped on and turned into dust any more than it already had. When I threw the crumbs away, I went out to the living room, expecting to see my dad.

  Instead, I saw Tyler and my dad. They were watching a game on the television, and both of them had bottles of beer in their hands. There were several empty bottles already on the coffee table. There were chips littering the carpet, and the room smelled like body odor, and it suddenly hit me as absolutely repellant.

  Tyler was eighteen, by the way, and a senior in high school, if I haven’t mentioned it before. He was a good-looking boy who was good at sports and always made friends easily. I wasn’t sure when he’d turned into my dad.

  I stood there and stared at them, almost dizzy with the feeling of disgust and helplessness. This was my family. Turned into this. And my only attempt to right the wrong had ended up a brutal failure.

  Now I had to clean up this room and clean up the kitchen and fix something for dinner for all of us and go check on Rosie, who was probably hiding in her room.

  And I couldn’t stand it. I just couldn’t stand it.

  “Hey, girl,” my dad said. “Can you grab me another beer?”

  “Me too,” Tyler said.

  I suddenly heard Sebastian’s voice in my head, coming out of nowhere. I wasn’t a servant. They weren’t just my duty and my responsibility. They were my family. This was supposed to be a relationship.

  It wasn’t, and it was partly my fault.

  I simply snapped.

  Instead of replying, I strode to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, grabbed the remaining bottles, popped them open, and poured them out in the sink.

  My dad had an indirect view of the kitchen from his seat, and when he saw what I was doing, he burst out, “What the hell?”

  I came to the doorway and glared at both of them. “This is over. I’m not working my ass off so the two of you can sit around like selfish slugs. I can’t stop you if you want to throw your lives away, but I’m sure as hell not going to pay for it anymore. If you want to get it together, I’ll be happy to help you out.” I looked at my dad. “But you’ll have to go to AA or something and really start to look for a job.” Then I looked at Tyler. “And you’ll have to start working at school and do some things to help around the house. I’m not your servant. I’m part of this family. And you both have responsibilities to me because of it—something neither of you have bothered to acknowledge.”

  They were both staring at me in astonishment. I was speaking so loudly that Rosie must have heard from her room, because her door opened and she stood in the doorway, listening.

  I glanced over at her, and my heart almost broke at her expression. It was like she’d been waiting for me to do this.

  It encouraged me enough to continue. “I’m sorry you were treated unfairly,” I told my dad. “I know how much it hurt you, and I know how little it was deserved. But now you’re treating us unfairly—particul
arly Rosie, who needs you more than any of us. So if you both don’t get it together, then I’m just done. I’ll work for me and for Rosie, but not for both of you to just trash all my love and hard work.”

  I went over and grabbed the half-eaten bag of chips and the remote. I clicked off the television. “These are my chips. And that was my beer. And this is my TV. I paid for all of them. And you’re not getting any of them unless you get off the fucking couch.”

  I stomped with the remote and the chips back into the kitchen, and I started washing the dishes, mostly because I couldn’t stand the evidence of how I’d let things get so far out of control.

  Tyler and my dad were still sitting in the living room, evidently dumbfounded by my outburst. I didn’t know whether they believed I was serious or if they would put up a fight. Right now, evidently, they were too surprised to do anything.

  Rosie came into the kitchen and started to help by drying the dishes I washed. She didn’t say anything immediately, but I could see from her expression that she had something to say. I didn’t push her. Just waited until she said it.

  Finally when we were almost through with the dishes, she said, “That was awesome.”

  I almost laughed, feeling genuinely pleased with myself for the first time in a long time. “Let’s go shopping tomorrow. I got a bonus from my boss to buy me a dress for the gala, and I’ll have enough extra for a dress for your dance too. Sound good?”

  Her face broke into a smile, transforming it completely. “Sounds great.”

  ***

  The next day Rosie and I were trying on dresses at an upscale department store in a nearby mall. Despite Cheryl’s insistence, I was focusing on the designer dresses that were discounted at least a little since I couldn’t see myself spending a thousand dollars on one dress.

  We found Rosie’s dress almost immediately—a little blue number with thick straps and a kick in the skirt—but it took longer to find mine.