by Jagger Cole
I jump off of my bar stool and rush over to her in a daze. “Amanda?” I whisper quietly.
She gasps and whirls towards me. Her face turns white. She starts to back away from me. “You—” she chokes. “Keep back. Stay away from me!”
I frown. “Amanda, wait, please…”
“Your family ruined me!” She hisses. “You…your fucking family!”
Her pain is so raw, it makes me wince. But I shake my head and step closer. “Not my family anymore,” I whisper. “Not after what happened.”
She blinks and wipes a tear away. People are looking at us. The maître d is glaring like we’re causing a scene.
“Here, come with me,” I say gently. I take her arm. She resists, but then she lets me pull her back to my quiet end of the bar. She sits next to me. Instantly, she starts to cry. I wrap my arms around her and let her, stroking her back. All the years ago, Amanda and I were pretty close friends. But after what happened, especially with what happened with my dad basically paying her family off, that ended.
“You…” she takes a breath. “You and your family…”
“I stopped being a part of that family after everything that happened,” I say gently. I look at her sadly and shake my head. “Amanda, I’m so fucking sorry.”
She nods and looks down.
“Can I buy you a drink or anything? Lunch?”
“I’m fine,” she says weakly.
I smile. “Well, you look…” she looks broken, still. It makes me hate my fucking brother even more for what he did. And for what he got away with. I feel tears coming. Amanda start to cry too, and I throw my arms around her.
“I’m so, so sorry,” I gasp.
Her purse slips. Suddenly it drops to the floor with a weirdly heavy clunk.
“Shit, sorry. I got it.”
“No, wait!”
I jump off my bar stool and go to scoop it up. But when I touch it, something heavy, gleaming, and metal slips out onto the floor. My heart stops. My jaw drops. It’s a fucking gun. I look up at Amanda in shock.
“Amanda…why….”
She jumps down and grabs them both. She stuffs the gun into her purse and whirls to run off. But I grab her and yank her back. “Amanda!” I hiss. “What the fuck do you have a gun for!?”
“It’s nothing, okay?” She half sobs. “Delphine, it was nice to see you. But I have to run…”
“Amanda, please!” I plead with her. She looks like an emotional wreck, and she’s carrying a handgun in her purse. There’s no way I’m just letting her walk out of here.
“It’s nothing, Delphine! I just have to…I have to…”
Her face falls, and she starts to cry.
“I’m sorry!” She sobs. I gather her in my arms and hug her tightly. “I’m a fucking mess, Delphine.”
“Amanda, please,” I say gently. “We were friends, you can talk to me. Please?”
She sobs and looks up. “You really don’t talk to your family?”
“Not since I was eighteen and they cut me off,” I say flatly.
She looks down.
“Amanda, the gun…”
“It’s for your brother,” she suddenly hisses.
I blink in shock. “What, what?”
She looks up at me. This time, the tears are gone, and she just looks angry as hell.
“It’s for your fucking brother,” she hisses darkly. “Delphine, he destroyed me. He utterly fucking destroyed me that night.”
“Amanda, I’m so sorry…”
“It’s not your fault, Delphine.” She grits her teeth. “It’s his.”
“And the gun?” I whisper.
She purses her lips. “He comes here every Wednesday for business lunches. I’ve been following him, and I knew he was going to be here—”
“Wait, my brother is here?” I gasp. I look around wildly. “Like, now?”
She nods. “There’s a back room. A private dining room. He’s in there now, in a meeting with someone.”
I stare at her. “Were you seriously walking in here with that thing to shoot him?”
She looks away. “I don’t know. Yes. No. Probably not.” Amanda buries her face in her hands. “I’ve come here about a dozen times to do it before. Obviously, I never have.”
I nod. I feel numb. I haven’t seen or spoken to my half-bother in years. And suddenly I find out he’s twenty feet away in the same restaurant as me. I should flee. I want nothing to do with that fucking prick. And yet, curiosity gets the better of me.
“Hey, are you okay if I go use the bathroom?”
Amanda nods. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I look at her carefully, and she smiles. “I really am fine now, Delphine.”
“Mind if I take that anyways?” I nod at her purse. She smiles weakly and nods. I pull close to her and reach into her purse for the gun. It’s a lot heavier than I’d think it would be. I snatch it out and quickly stuff it into my own purse. I have no idea what to do with it, but I’m not leaving Amanda like this with a freaking handgun.
“I’ll be right back, I promise,” I smile.
“I’ll be here.” She looks at me and smiles again. “I’m glad you saw me, Delphine.”
“I am too.”
I hug her and then head to the back of the bar. But I walk past the bathrooms. There’s a door that says “Private” at the back of the room, with a larger man in a suit standing beside it with his arms folded over his chest.
I walk over, but he suddenly moves in front of me. “Sorry, miss. Private dining room only I’m afraid.”
“Oh, I’m here to see Mr. Simmons?”
He frowns. “Do you mind if I see some identification?”
I smile. “Of course.” I reach into my purse. My fingers brush the gun, and I tremble. But then I pull out my King Equities ID badge. The bouncer smiles cordially when he sees it.
“Oh, of course Ms. Laurent. Ms. Hammerschmitt is already here.”
I freeze. Wait, what? I look up at him in confusion. “I’m sorry, Ms. Hammerschmitt? Helen Hammerschmitt?”
He looks confused. “I just…your King Equities badge. I assumed you were here for one of Mr. Simmons’s and Ms. Hammerschmitt’s regular meetings?”
What. The. Fuck. Regular? Helen has regular meetings with my fucking brother? I’m frozen in shock. But I quickly smile to cover. “Oh, yep! That’s the one.”
The man steps aside. He opens the door to a long, elegant hallway and smiles at me. “They’re at the end in the private dining room. Enjoy your lunch, Ms. Laurent.”
“Um, thanks.”
I step into the hallway, and he closes the door behind me. I hear muffled voices from down the hall. Slowly, I walk down until I get closer to an open doorway.
“Well, cheers, Roland.”
My jaw drops. It’s clearly Helen’s voice. I hear glasses clinking together like a toast.
“Well done, Helen. Very well done.”
I clench my jaw. That’s my half-brother. Even just hearing his voice makes me furious.
“Any loose ends?”
Helen laughs. “None. It’s all been tied to your sister—”
“Half-sister,” Roland mutters.
“Of course. Well, it’s all tied to her. Fired, of course. If I can convince Barrett to press charges, it’ll be another whole thing that blows up in his face.”
Roland chuckles. “This is why I like you, Helen. You don’t pull any punches.”
My hand slips into my purse. I grab my phone, pull it out, and switch to the camera. I push record on the video. I’m not going to be able to get close enough to see anything, but I’m at least getting this audio down.
“None,” Helen laughs. I grit my teeth.
“Well, hiring Delphine was a smart damn move.”
“Thanks to you, Roland. You clued me in on her little crush on Barrett from when you were younger. I knew I could play off that and get her close to him.”
I feel like I want to throw up. I almost can’t believe what I’m hearing. But it’s clear
as day. Helen is working with Roland to fuck over Barrett. And I’ve been an instrument of it this whole time.
Roland’s laughing now. “He seriously has no idea it was you pulling those investors to us?”
Helen laughs right back. “None. He trusts me. And I used plenty of proxies anyways. A lot of these older investors are on hair triggers. All they needed was the whisper of a Ponzi scheme rumor in their ears, and they’re ready to jump. And with Barrett being so young, and with his…colorful background…”
Roland snickers. “You mean being trailer trash with a prison record? Guess he doesn’t open with that when he’s signing on new investors.”
Helen laughs again. “Hardly. See? It’s all about pushing the right buttons.”
“You’ve been great, Helen, thank you.”
“Well, you can thank me with that twenty-percent stock in Simmons Financial.”
He chuckles. “You’ve already got that in our contract.”
“Then I’ll take a fat Christmas bonus next year.”
Roland laughs. “Done.”
“Well, Roland, I should be getting back. We’re in the middle of a crisis over at King Equities, if you haven’t heard.”
He snickers. “Job well done, again.”
I hear a chair pushing back.
“We’ll speak soon, Roland.”
I hear the sound of high heels walking towards the door. In a panic, I shove the phone into my purse, turn and bolt back up the hallway. I basically slam the door to the bar back open and tumble out. I crash into the bouncer, and my purse falls to the ground.
Shit. I scramble to grab it before he can.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Laurent!” The man gushes. “Is everything okay?”
“Fine,” I sputter. “Just forgot my phone back at the office.”
I have no idea what to do, but I know Helen is going to come through that doorway any second. I turn to run off, but the bouncer suddenly stops me.
“Wait, Ms. Laurent!”
I turn again. “Yes?”
He’s smiling. He’s also holding my phone in his hand. “Must have slipped out of your purse!” He chuckles.
I lunge for it. “Great, thanks!” I turn away again. But he stops me one more.
“Wait, Ms. Laurent, your meeting?”
“Huh?”
He looks at me curiously. “Well, guess your phone isn’t back at the office. Aren’t you going to miss your meeting?”
“Oh, no, that’s fine, I’ll just—”
The door to the private hallway opens. Helen walks out, and stutters to a stop right in front of me. Her smile fades. Her eyes pierce into me.
“Delphine,” she says thinly. “What a surprise.”
I grit my teeth. “Yes, what a surprise,” I hiss.
Traitorous, backstabbing bitch, I mutter inside.
The bouncer seems to see the tension and slowly backs away to give us space.
“Drowning your problems at the bar, are we?” She smiles thinly. When I glare at her saying nothing, she shrugs. “Well, best of luck finding a new job. I’m sure other firms will be tripping over themselves to hire a lying, cheating, IP stealing—”
I snap.
“I heard everything, Helen,” I hiss. I glare at her. “Back there, with my fucking brother?” I smile thinly and step closer. “I heard all of it.”
Helen smiles. “Well, good luck with anyone believing you. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the office.”
“You hired me to take the fall, didn’t you?”
She rolls her eyes. “Goodbye, Delphine.”
She pushes past me and primly walks out of the restaurant. I’m seething. I’m so fucking angry I could scream. Part of me wants to call Barrett. Or even run back there and tell him everything face to face. But Helen’s right: who would believe me? She’s done too good a job at setting me up.
I grit my teeth. My eyes move across the room, and then freeze. Amanda is still sitting at the far end of the bar, quietly sipping a cup of coffee. I look down and smirk. My phone is still recording. I purse my lips and storm over to her. This fight isn’t over by a long shot.
“You still want to hurt my brother?”
Amanda looks up, startled. But then she frowns deeply and curls her lips. “More than anything,” she hisses.
“You okay if it doesn’t involve shooting him?”
She smiles weakly. “I could be?”
“Good, then come with me.”
I drop some money on the bar and grab her wrist. I pull her after me as we head for the door.
“Wait, where are we going?”
“To fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“Everything.”
18
Barrett
The mood is grim. I’m in my office, surrounded by my legal counsel. This is the secondary bullshit with the hack last night. The server contained a whole shitload of confidential financial information about my investors and clients. It being breached opens King Equities up to lawsuits, and they’ve been pouring in all afternoon.
Right now, we’re up to ten, to the tune of something close to eight billion dollars in damages. In short, I am capital F fucked.
Suddenly, there’s a commotion outside. I hear Alicia yelling at someone that they can’t just barge in. But then, they do. The door slams open, and my brows arch. My jaw tightens, and my eyes lock on the last person I imagined coming in here right now.
The last person I imagined, and yet I know without a second thought that it’s the first person I’d hope would walk in.
“Delphine,” I growl. I want her. Still, even with everything, just seeing her makes me ache to hold her. To kiss her. To hold on tight and never let her go. But pretending everything is fine would be a fairytale. I hiss and stand from the conference table.
“What in the fucking hell do you think you’re doing—”
“I know how to fix this,” she blurts. My lawyers all glance at each other nervously. I just look at her.
“No,” I say quietly. “I need you to turn around and walk the fuck out of here.”
It hurts deep to say it. Pushing her away from me instead of pulling her close to me feels like fighting gravity. But I can’t. I can’t fall into that same fucking trap again. The first time is going to ruin me. A second time might actually kill me.
“Barrett…”
“No, Delphine,” I hiss.
“I can fix this!” She screams.
The room is silent. I glance at my chief counsel and clear my throat. “Give us the room.”
He nods. He and his team collect their files and laptops and quickly scurry out the door. When it shuts, it’s just her and me standing across the conference table from each other.
Even a handful of hours ago, being alone with her in this office would have been heaven. I’d have her in my arms. I’d be kissing those lips. I’d probably be yanking her clothes off.
But now, it’s like there’s a stone wall between us. Or an ocean.
“I can fix this,” she whispers again.
“There’s nothing to fix,” I growl. “Delphine…”
“It wasn’t me, Barrett,” she hisses. “You know it wasn’t me.”
“The malware was uploaded from your goddamn office, Delphine! What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?! It’s black and fucking white!”
“A C-level executive would be able to override my password and—”
I laugh coldly. “Yeah, except I didn’t sell out my own company.”
“You’re right,” she snaps. Her lips purse. “Helen did.”
I stare at her. Christ do I want to believe her. I want to believe in this fairytale. But, I can’t. I know I can’t.
I roll my eyes and sigh. “Delphine, I’ve known Helen for years.”
“Oh, then I’m sure you know all about the regular lunch meetings she takes with Roland at Celine’s?”
I frown. My mouth tightens. “Excuse me?”
Delphine pulls her p
hone out. “May I?”
I nod. She clicks something then slides her phone across the table to me. “Just hit play.”
I do. I just see black though, then little glimpse of a wainscoted wall. “What exactly am I—”
“Just listen? Please?”
I glance back at the phone and turn the volume up.
“Well, hiring Delphine was a smart damn move,” Roland’s voice rattles out of the phone speakers. I snarl.
“Thanks to you, Roland.” Fucking hell. It’s Helen’s voice. “You clued me in on her little crush on Barrett from when you were younger. I knew I could play off that and get her close to him.”
“He seriously has no idea it was you pulling those investors to us?”
Helen laughs. She fucking laughs, in a meeting with my sworn enemy. “None. He trusts me. And I used plenty of proxies anyways. A lot of these older investors are on hair triggers. All they needed was the whisper of a Ponzi scheme rumor in their ears, and they’re ready to jump. And with Barrett being so young, and with his…colorful background…”
“You mean being trailer trash with a prison record? Guess he doesn’t open with that when he’s signing on new investors.”
“Hardly. See? It’s all about pushing the right buttons.”
“You’ve been great, Helen, thank you.”
“Well, you can thank me with that twenty-percent stock in Simmons Financial.”
I’m seeing red. My blood feels like it’s going to boil over like a fucking volcano.
“Then I’ll take a fat Christmas bonus next year!” Helen says gleefully.
“Done!” Roland laughs.
“Well, Roland, I should be getting back. We’re in the middle of a crisis over at King Equities, if you haven’t heard.”
They both start laughing again. I somehow manage to press stop instead of throwing the phone through the fucking window.
I’m trembling. I grip the back of the chair. I grind my teeth so hard it fucking hurts.
“Barrett?”
Her voice is soft, like a soothing touch. I slowly exhale. I look up at her.
“Delphine…”
“Ready for part two?”
I frown. “Part two for what?”
“For fixing this.” She takes a breath. “Do you want to take out my brother?”