“Did you see the news tonight?”
Jia’s smoky voice carried through the phone, muffled by the sounds of traffic around her. She was young, but she was married to Wall Street. When she wasn’t hustling in the world of the almighty dollar, she was a stellar fuck and a friendly ally to have on my arm when Bill dragged me out to one of his business functions.
“No, why?” I walked around the room, collecting things that had been strewn about. My day had run long, and I hadn’t had much time to get the place presentable for Olivia. God knew she’d find every flaw.
“They’re starting to cover the Youth Arts investigation. The SEC is involved now and looking into more deals at the firm that might have run through Reilly and Dermott. As Reilly’s business partner, Bill’s name is right there with all of it.”
I chucked my work boots into the closet with a loud thud. “Fuck.”
“What are you going to do, Will? You need to get a handle on this before the investors bail. He’ll lose everything.”
“It’s his business, not mine. Let him clean up his own messes.”
“I know you’re angry, but you need to be logical. Millions of dollars are at stake, not to mention the life he comes back to if all this goes sideways. You can’t stick your head in the sand and pretend like this isn’t happening.”
“Like hell I can’t,” I muttered, biting down on a slew of curses because I could hear my father’s voice in her words.
She sighed after a moment. “I’m just trying to help, Will. It’s hard for me to watch this too.”
The front door closed, and I heard Ian’s and Olivia’s voices. “I have to go, Jia. I’ll talk to you later.”
I ended the call and muttered a string of curses to myself. I scanned the room, deeming it all satisfactory until I saw myself in the mirror. I ran a nervous hand through my hair. One minute I ruled my world—the one I’d built on my own dreams and ambition. The next I was the son of a fraud who’d helped con millions out of an unsuspecting few. It was like a second skin, and I couldn’t fucking get away from it.
But I had to. At least for tonight. I shoved Jia’s news and my father’s failures from my mind and found Olivia in the kitchen. Ian was leaning against the counter staring at her like he wanted to eat her alive. Fucker.
“You staying?” I shot him a look only he’d understand.
He frowned. “No, I’m going to the pub down the street with some guys from work.”
“All right. I’ll see you later.”
“See you later, Liv.” He held Olivia’s gaze a second longer than he needed to before leaving.
When she shifted her focus back to me, concern filled her gaze. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said tightly. I moved to the built-in bar and knelt down to the wine fridge. “Wine?”
I pulled bottles out and returned them, searching for something to fit this mood. Except there wasn’t a bouquet that would take me out of this haze of hatred fast enough.
Her heels clicked beside me. Her tight-fitted black dress revealed the toned expanse of her leg just below her thigh. She reached high on the shelf and brought down a single malt scotch. “How about something stronger?”
I stood and leaned my hip on the counter. “You like that stuff?”
She smiled, uncorked the bottle, and poured two fingers of Lagavulin into two cut-glass lowballs. “Reminds me of my dad. I used to hate it, honestly, but over the years, I’ve taught myself to like it.”
I took a glass, threw back a healthy gulp, and swallowed with a wince. “Seems very unlike you.”
She refilled my glass and smirked. “Okay, I admit it. My roommates would always drink up the vodka and tequila. They wouldn’t touch this stuff, so I acquired the taste.”
I laughed, and for the first time in the history of me fucking women, I actually wished we had some time to kill over dinner. A little friendly conversation to quiet some of this noise in my head. Didn’t ease the physical ache that had been plaguing me for the past few days, but I was beginning to legitimately like Olivia Bridge.
She leaned on the counter, facing me, and held the glass between her delicate palms. I resented how I felt in this moment. She’d agreed to being with me, something I didn’t imagine was an easy decision for her. Now I was too wrapped up in Jia’s news about my father to fully embrace it.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I’m sorry. I just got some shitty news, and it’s making me a little edgy.”
She sipped from her glass and licked her lips. “It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head and stared to the floor. “Would you want to talk about your father going to prison?”