Then, she says, “What’s the catch?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “You’re welcome.” I slide a glance in her direction. “Now, get the fuck out of my office.”
She quietly gets up from the chair and heads for the door, which is not like her. Maybe she’s finally learned to keep her mouth shut when she’s got a good thing.
When she reaches it, I say to her back, “And, Ava, I don’t want to see you for a long time. A really long time.”
Turning, she smiles. It’s a twisted kind of smile with just her lips tilting up, no expression on her face at all. “That’ll be no problem. Not having to see you has always been the easiest thing for me to do.”
She pulls open the door, and my Uncle Richard is standing on the other side of it.
Uncle Richard is my father’s younger brother. He’s CFO, and he’s actually a nice guy. It’s so strange that two brothers could be so very different.
“Richard.” Her tone screams cool.
It’s no secret that they intensely dislike each other.
“Ava. Good to see you leaving, as always.”
She sniffs at him like he’s dirt on her shoes as she brushes past, heading for the elevator.
I exhale in the knowledge that she’s gone.
There have only ever been two women in my life that could fuck with my head.
One is the devil who just left. The other is Evie.
Thank God I don’t have to see Evie today. I might end up offing myself if I did.
“Sorry to intrude. Mark wasn’t at his desk.”
“It’s no problem.” I gesture for him to sit down.
He takes the seat Ava just vacated.
“So, what did the devil want?” He jerks his head in the direction where Ava just left.
I laugh. It’s my first real laugh in a while.
Sometimes, I think Richard should run this company. Well, I think it all the time.
He actually likes this industry and loves this company.
I often have this dream of signing over the company to him, and then I just run away. Far away.
But, I always wake up.
Even though this place makes me miserable ninety percent of the time, if I didn’t do this, I don’t know what I would do.
I guess I could surf every day and lead a quiet reclusive life, which is sounding quite appealing right now.
“She wanted to play Morgan le Fay.”
His eyes widen. “I hope you told her that she’s a fair amount of decades too late for that part.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Knowing Ava, she didn’t take it well?” he checks.
“Nope.” I drum my fingers on my desk, my eyes averted. “I’ve given her the part of Viviane.”
“Adam, you could always just tell her no and mean it. You owe her nothing.”
“Yeah, I know. But what’s the point? I figure it’s just easier to give in now than later. Saves me a lot of hassle.”
He nods in understanding. “Anyway, I just came up to bring you last year’s numbers that you were looking for. They were on my desk after all.” He hands the folder containing the papers to me.
“Thanks.”
He gets to his feet, about to leave, and then he seems to change his mind. He turns back, his hand holding the back of the chair. “You always were a good kid, Adam. You just got the shit end of the stick when it came to your parents. And I know you probably think you just caved, and Ava won again, but she didn’t.”
“No?” I give him a disbelieving look.
“Ava wanted to play Morgan. You didn’t give her the part. You’ve never done that before. In the past, you’ve always caved completely and given her what she wants.”
That’s not exactly true.
There was one time, a long time ago, when I told Ava no, and I stuck to it. But that was when Evie was still mine, and I had something to fight for.
“Well, there’s always time for me to cave.” I give a dry laugh.
He stares at me with a serious look on his face. “Even still, I’d call this one a win. I’m proud of you, son.”