really isnât about you, Allie.â
She was glad sheâd missed the first half of her sisterâs sentence, since she suspected it might have tipped her over the edge. Not about her? She would stake what little she had left that this was about her somehow. Derek didnât so much as put on his pants in the morning without an ulterior motive.
âYou know what, Susannah? Since you clearly know him better than I do, do whatever you like. But when it all goes bad, you canât claim that you had no idea what kind of snake you and Grant were climbing into bed with.â
Her sisterâs outraged gasp was the last thing Allie heard before she pitched her phone across the room, where it struck the wall with a satisfying crack.
* * *
J ackson looked up as a loud snap resounded just above hishead. Either the person in the room next door had hurled something at the wall or the building was about to come down. If it was the first, he could sympathize. If the second, it was probably too late to save himself, so no point in moving now.
Stretching his legs out along his bed, he pushed his laptop off his knees and onto the comforter beside him. He didnât know why he did it to himself. Between the business pages lauding Evansâs company reaching a new share price high and the society pages featuring him and Nicole at some glitzy charity gala presenting a big check to the cause du jour, it was enough to give a guy an ulcer.
Especially when the check was only good because of money that should be his.
He picked up one of the cheatâs guides and attempted to read a few pages on Tolkienâs villains but threw the book aside after a few minutes when orcs, trolls, bolgs, goblins, and a myriad of other types of badness all merged together into one large puddle of evil. The guyâd clearly had too much time on his hands.
Folding his hands behind his head, Jackson stared at the ceiling and pondered the following day. He had to come up with a plan to keep Allison off his back. Or, at the very least, buy him more time.
It would have to be something close to reality too, since even this middle-of-nowhere country had access to Google so heâd almost inevitably get busted if he tried to manipulate the truth too much.
Rolling over onto his stomach, he typed his name into the search engine to see what the current top results were. Even after six months, he couldnât help but wince as the familiar headlines appeared on the screen. SILICON VALLEY DARLING TUMBLES FROM FAVOR. INVESTORS LOSE BIG ON XAVIER FAILURE.
It wasnât the ones with plenty of money to throw around who haunted him. It was the people who had trusted him with their childrenâs college funds or their retirement savings. They were the ones he would do everything in his power to repay. He never would have taken their money if heâd thought for one second they wouldnât get it back tenfold. But no, heâd been too busy dining out on his own PR to recognize betrayal when it lived under his own roof.
He was clearly going to have to tell her heâd experienced some âbusiness difficultiesâ in case she Googled him, but how much was going to be required beyond that? Letting her in on the fact that Louis was his uncle? That the old man was Jacksonâs only chance at getting back on his feet again? That he would spend now until Christmas dressed up in as many stupid costumes she could send his way for a chance to try and right the many wrongs heâd left half a world away?
As if triggered by something divine, Skype started trilling at him. He checked his significantly reduced list of contacts and hit the button to take the call. After a few seconds, his nieceâs gap-toothed smile appeared on the screen.
âHi, Uncle Jackson!â Her blond corkscrew curls bounced as half her face appeared on and then went off the screen. The girl hadnât been able to stay still since the day she was born. He
She was glad sheâd missed the first half of her sisterâs sentence, since she suspected it might have tipped her over the edge. Not about her? She would stake what little she had left that this was about her somehow. Derek didnât so much as put on his pants in the morning without an ulterior motive.
âYou know what, Susannah? Since you clearly know him better than I do, do whatever you like. But when it all goes bad, you canât claim that you had no idea what kind of snake you and Grant were climbing into bed with.â
Her sisterâs outraged gasp was the last thing Allie heard before she pitched her phone across the room, where it struck the wall with a satisfying crack.
* * *
J ackson looked up as a loud snap resounded just above hishead. Either the person in the room next door had hurled something at the wall or the building was about to come down. If it was the first, he could sympathize. If the second, it was probably too late to save himself, so no point in moving now.
Stretching his legs out along his bed, he pushed his laptop off his knees and onto the comforter beside him. He didnât know why he did it to himself. Between the business pages lauding Evansâs company reaching a new share price high and the society pages featuring him and Nicole at some glitzy charity gala presenting a big check to the cause du jour, it was enough to give a guy an ulcer.
Especially when the check was only good because of money that should be his.
He picked up one of the cheatâs guides and attempted to read a few pages on Tolkienâs villains but threw the book aside after a few minutes when orcs, trolls, bolgs, goblins, and a myriad of other types of badness all merged together into one large puddle of evil. The guyâd clearly had too much time on his hands.
Folding his hands behind his head, Jackson stared at the ceiling and pondered the following day. He had to come up with a plan to keep Allison off his back. Or, at the very least, buy him more time.
It would have to be something close to reality too, since even this middle-of-nowhere country had access to Google so heâd almost inevitably get busted if he tried to manipulate the truth too much.
Rolling over onto his stomach, he typed his name into the search engine to see what the current top results were. Even after six months, he couldnât help but wince as the familiar headlines appeared on the screen. SILICON VALLEY DARLING TUMBLES FROM FAVOR. INVESTORS LOSE BIG ON XAVIER FAILURE.
It wasnât the ones with plenty of money to throw around who haunted him. It was the people who had trusted him with their childrenâs college funds or their retirement savings. They were the ones he would do everything in his power to repay. He never would have taken their money if heâd thought for one second they wouldnât get it back tenfold. But no, heâd been too busy dining out on his own PR to recognize betrayal when it lived under his own roof.
He was clearly going to have to tell her heâd experienced some âbusiness difficultiesâ in case she Googled him, but how much was going to be required beyond that? Letting her in on the fact that Louis was his uncle? That the old man was Jacksonâs only chance at getting back on his feet again? That he would spend now until Christmas dressed up in as many stupid costumes she could send his way for a chance to try and right the many wrongs heâd left half a world away?
As if triggered by something divine, Skype started trilling at him. He checked his significantly reduced list of contacts and hit the button to take the call. After a few seconds, his nieceâs gap-toothed smile appeared on the screen.
âHi, Uncle Jackson!â Her blond corkscrew curls bounced as half her face appeared on and then went off the screen. The girl hadnât been able to stay still since the day she was born. He
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