Sleeping With The Enemy

by Parker, Ali

  “I didn’t ask him for money,” he said.

  “Please don’t tell me he is offering money out of pity?” I groaned. “How embarrassing is that? I’m not taking his money. I will take out a loan and max out my cards before I take pity money.”

  “It isn’t pity money.”

  I waited. Obviously, there was more to the story. He looked like he was chewing glass. “Patrick, what’s on your mind?”

  “He’s buying the company,” he said in a voice so low, I had to lean forward to hear him.

  “He’s buying what company?” I asked. There was no way he would have sold the company. Our family business.

  “I sold him the business, Mae. It’s a good move. He paid more than what it’s worth. We don’t have to worry about money anymore.”

  I got up and turned my back to him. I couldn’t look at him. I was shaking with anger. And hurt. “Please tell me you’re joking,” I whispered without looking at him.

  “I’m not. This is a good move. We need money to fight Mom and Dad. We can use the money to make sure Hayden has everything she needs. We can take time to enjoy life. You and I won’t have to work all the time.”

  I spun around. “How could you do that? How could you sell our family business?”

  “Because it’s more of a burden than anything else.”

  “It’s our family business,” I reiterated. “My whole life is in that business. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t talk to me about this first. I could have found a way to buy it from you. I don’t think it was really yours to sell.”

  “It was mine to sell,” he said angrily.

  “No! It wasn’t! I have poured just as much time and energy into it as you have. I love it. I love my work. I was just getting ready to take it up a notch and you rip it out from underneath me?”

  He came toward me. I stepped back and held out my hand, warning him to stop.

  “Mae, this is for the best.”

  “Don’t tell me that,” I said. “Don’t try to tell me what is best for me. You’ve been trying to do this since I was five. You don’t get to make all my decisions. I’m old enough to know what I want. And who I want, for that matter.”

  “You’re angry,” he said. “I expected that. Take a few days to calm down.”

  I stared at him. “Are you seriously telling me to calm the fuck down? What am I supposed to do? Do I go to work tomorrow? Do I call the people I was arranging a deal with? I don’t know where this leaves me. I’m lost. You just pulled the rug out from underneath me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have talked to you. It’s done now. I’ll come by in a few days to give you some money.”

  “I don’t want your fucking money,” I seethed. “Do me a favor and pick up Hayden from school. There is something I need to do.”

  “Mae, don’t do anything rash,” he said.

  “Oh, you mean like sell the family business without consulting anyone? Is that rash? No, because you did that and only you get to make those kinds of wild decisions.”

  “You are freaking out over nothing,” he said with a scowl.

  “It’s something to me, Patrick. You can’t see that, but you’ve cut me pretty deep.”

  He dropped his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be.”

  “I’ll pick up Hayden.”

  “Bring her back around seven,” I ordered. “I’ll be done by then.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “None of your damn business. Nothing I do is your business anymore.”

  “I’ll bring Hayden by later and I’ll transfer the money to your account as soon as I get it,” he said.

  “Keep your fucking money!” I shouted. “Now get the fuck out of my apartment!”

  He turned and walked out. I ran my hands through my hair. I wanted to cry and rage at the same time. I couldn’t believe my own brother, my champion, had gone behind my back and done something so horrible. As if Patrick’s role in the situation wasn’t bad enough, Tyson was involved. Tyson had sat there and listened to me talk about how much I loved my family business. He listened to me talk about what it meant to me and my relationship with my father.

  I felt betrayed. The man I had fallen for all over again had screwed me over. He’d used me to get information about the company and I had been so fucking stupid to give it to him. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. I wanted to look him in the eyes when he told me what he did.

  I wanted him to know exactly what I thought about his sneaky behavior. I was going to let him know in no uncertain terms that we would never fuck again. I never wanted to see the man again. After I told him to fuck off.

  I wiped the tears I felt clinging to my face. I wouldn’t let him see me cry. I wouldn’t let him know how badly he hurt me. I grabbed my keys and walked out of the apartment. I was still in shock. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I never realized how my life revolved around the business. With it gone, I was feeling more than a little lost.

  Lost and betrayed and so alone.

  Chapter 24

  Tyson

  I checked the time. I was running a few minutes late for my meeting. Alec was already gone. Things had happened fast and he flew out yesterday for an emergency meeting with his new employer. I felt like I had been tossed in the deep end of the pool and was struggling to get myself to a position where I could just tread water.

  The morning had been filled with phone calls and a meeting with my lawyer and accountant. It was all on me now. I was trying to juggle the financial side of the business as well as secure first dibs on a couple of digs that looked very promising. I was struggling to be everywhere at once and failing miserably.

  “Janet?” I said the name of the woman I was supposed to be meeting at the museum.

  A woman with short black hair cut in a sleek bob and wearing far too much makeup smiled at me from her spot on the couch in the seating area. She was wearing a chic business suit with a skirt that was tight and short. I had a feeling she was the kind of woman who used her looks to get people, men more like it, to spill their guts.

  “That’s me,” she said as she got to her feet. Her lips were slicked with bright red lipstick that matched the manicure on her hand that was now extended toward me.

  I shook it. “I’m sorry I’m late. I got held up at the office.”

  “It’s no problem. I’ve been enjoying the museum. It’s so relaxing in here. The music is different.”

  I smiled. “It’s what historians believe would have been the music of the time in the ancient Egyptian world.”

  “You’re setting the mood,” she said.

  I shrugged. “I want visitors to feel like they are in those days. I want the experience to be immersive.”

  She smiled. “Is that why I smell what I think is myrrh?”

  The woman knew her stuff. “It’s a combination of frankincense and myrrh. When we get to the kitchen portion of the museum, you will pick up on notes of cinnamon, onion, and garlic.”

  “And I bet the baths are rose and lavender?” she asked with a coy smile.

  I nodded. “Yes. We even have a display of ancient medicines that included herbs and remedies.”

  “You’ve created your own little Egyptian world in here,” she commented.

  “That was the goal,” I answered. I tried to remember she was a reporter. Everything I said was fodder for the article she was writing about the museum.

  “I’d love a personal tour.”

  The woman was openly flirting to the point I was more than a little uncomfortable. This was the kind of thing Alec normally handled. This was not my thing at all.

  “We’ll start here,” I said as I led the way to the free brochures we provided our visitors. “This includes a map of the various exhibits and gives a little more background about what a visitor can expect to see.”

  I began the tour, stopping and explaining various displays. “Why do you think your museum is better than the others in the co
untry?” she asked.

  I raised my eyebrows, looking at her with suspicion. “I don’t believe I said that.”

  “But you imply it in the wording of this brochure,” she said, waving it for me.

  “We offer our visitors a unique experience with an immersive approach to learning about the time periods we focus on. Every single piece in my museum is authenticated by myself or a trusted partner. I am always adding new displays to keep the museum fresh and exciting. You could come in April, and by August, there will be new things to capture your attention. I love to stay on top of current digs happening all around the world. I have developed good relationships with many of the people who fund archeological digs and often get first pick. I visit the sites to ensure what I am buying is the real thing.”

  She jotted something down on her notepad. I quickly reviewed what I said and didn’t see anything wrong with it being quoted. “Are you implying other museums are displaying fake artifacts?”

  My mouth dropped open. “What? No? Why the hell would you say that?”

  Her dark, sculpted brows quirked upward, and I knew I said the exact wrong thing. “It sounded like you were suggesting your stuff is real and the other museums presented fakes. Are you saying you are more qualified than the other curators? Has there been issues in the past? Are the other museums passing off replicas as the real thing?”

  I frowned at her. “Miss—” I couldn’t remember her name.

  “Janet,” she said with that sneaky smile. “Please, call me Janet.”

  “Janet, I’m very sorry your skills as a journalist have burdened you with what is very much a fluff piece that will be stuffed into the back of your publication. This story is not going to win you fame, fortune, or a Pulitzer. It’s about letting people know we are here and to give them something to do with the kids this weekend. That’s it. Nothing exciting. Trying to instigate drama where there is none to be found is not going to make the piece any more interesting. Museums and history are not the place to find your front-page gossip.”

  Her eyes flashed anger, and while I knew I was going to regret insulting the woman, I didn’t care. I didn’t have time to deal with nonsense and fluff. Alec was the one who agreed to do the fucking interview, not me. I should have canceled. I wasn’t interested in smiling and saying all the right things to earn me a good review.

  As if my day wasn’t already going to hell in a handbasket, the sound of heels clopping across the floor in a direct beeline for me told me it was about to get a lot worse. I watched, much like watching a speeding train heading for a washed-out bridge. I couldn’t move. I knew it was going to be bad, and I knew the smart thing to do was take cover, but Mae was the equivalent of a heat-seeking missile. I had managed to avoid her for two days, but not anymore.

  “Mae,” I said, looking at the reporter who I had just thoroughly pissed off, and Mae, the woman I had pissed off two days earlier. To say I was between a rock and a hard place was an understatement.

  “Don’t Mae me,” she snapped, coming to a halt in front of me with Janet hanging on every word.

  “It’s your name,” I shot back against my better judgment. “Why don’t we go into my office?” I suggested in a much calmer tone.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she seethed.

  I leaned back as if I could put some distance between her harsh words and myself. “Please, my office.”

  “Oh no,” she said, wagging her finger at me. “We do this right here. Everyone should know what kind of man you are. I am not going to sit down and be quiet while you destroy everything me and my family have worked for just because you have a bigger bank account.”

  I glanced over at Janet, who was eating it up. Her pen was poised over her notepad, ready to write it all down. “I think this would be better discussed in my office,” I said again and reached to grab her arm.

  She made a big show of yanking her arm away. “Don’t touch me!”

  I looked around and noticed people watching. “Mae, please. Can we talk about this in my office? I would be happy to explain the situation.”

  “I don’t need you to explain how you swooped in and took what you wanted because you could. I don’t need you to explain the fact you use your wealth as a weapon.”

  I had a feeling defending myself would only make matters worse. I would say the wrong thing and dig myself into a deeper hole. She was furious. The voicemails and angry text messages that had been coming at me for the last couple of days were evidence of that fact. I cleared my throat and tried to remain calm. “Why don’t we go outside? I would like to talk to you about this and address all your concerns.”

  Her eyes narrowed to small slits and there was a real concern there would be some kind of lasers shooting out and slicing me in two. “You are a real class act, Tyson Helms,” she seethed. “You took the only thing that mattered to me. You took it away because you could, because you have more money than God and you think that gives you the right to take whatever you want.”

  “That is not what happened,” I said in a low voice. I could hear Janet’s pen scratching across the paper.

  “It was the only thing that was truly mine and you took it away. You are an asshole. You are a selfish prick who is all about the money and making himself richer without thinking twice about how it might affect anyone else. You see something you want and you throw money at it. Fuck anyone that gets in your way—literally.”

  I sucked in a breath. Things were very quickly spiraling out of control. “I would be happy to talk about this later or in private.” I kept my voice calm. I refused to feed into the story I knew Janet was already concocting in her head.

  “Oh, I’m sure you would like to talk in private,” she snapped. “You don’t want anyone to know what kind of snake you really are. You pretend to be this nice guy, gentle and kind, but I know what you are really like. I know what you are willing to do to get what you want. I’m not going to let you get away with this. You better believe I’m going to make sure you never forget the woman you robbed blind.”

  “Why don’t you call me and we will set up a time to discuss this?” I asked, refusing to argue with her about something so personal and so completely inaccurate.

  Mae smiled and it reminded me of a pit viper preparing to strike. Janet stepped back but never let go of her pen.

  “Oh, I’m sure you will be seeing me again,” Mae said, actually hissing, really playing up the viper reference.

  I watched as she turned on her heel and strolled out of the museum without looking back even once. I stared after her. I wanted to go to her and ask her to let me explain.

  “And she was?” Janet asked in a saccharine-sweet voice.

  I turned to look at the woman who was definitely very pleased with her fluff piece. She was bouncing the pen on the pad, eagerly waiting for more juicy information.

  “I’ll show you the kitchen exhibit,” I said and led the way.

  She trailed after me. “Would you like to make an official statement about what that woman just accused you of?”

  “I would like to show you the new pot we recently acquired. We estimate it to be more than two thousand years old.”

  Janet laughed. The sound sent a chill of dread down my spine. I was doing my best to keep Janet focused but it was too late. I was fucked. I could only imagine the story she was going to put together. If only Alec were still around.

  I was going to blame him for all the bullshit. It was his fault I fucked myself. Yes, I knew how ridiculous it sounded. I glanced over my shoulder, checking to see if there was any chance Mae had come back for round two. With the way Janet was leering, I almost expected to see a mob come after me when I rounded the corner.

  Chapter 25

  Mae

  I only felt a little guilty about my performance yesterday. I wasn’t one to make a spectacle of myself but the man had provoked me. He made me crazy. He pissed me off and hurt me at the same time. I was a wounded animal lashing out.

  It had
taken me two days just to get my head around what happened, and when I finally let it all sink in, my hurt turned into red-hot anger. I knew what I was doing when I unleashed my wrath on him in public. I knew it would cut him like he had cut me. The man was a closed book and led a life of mystery. No one knew him. Few people even knew he was the owner. I wanted to shine a bright light on who he was. I wanted the world to see the quiet, reserved man was really a snake in the grass.

  In hindsight, my behavior might have been a teensy-weensy bit over the top. I wasn’t going to regret it. I had plenty of other regrets to worry about. A moment of anger in a public setting was really the least of my regrets. My regrets extended far deeper.

  Like falling for a man that only had his own interests at heart. His hesitations all made so much more sense now. I supposed I should have been happy he at least tried to keep his hands off. I hoped that meant there was a tiny bit of regret in him as well. I hoped he felt like shit for using me.

  I shut off my car, lifted my sunglasses to give myself a quick check in the rearview mirror, and frowned when I saw the heavy dark circles under my eyes. I blamed him. I didn’t think I had slept much since Patrick had dropped his little bombshell. My world had been flipped upside down and inside out. I never realized just how much my world revolved around what I did. Now, I was jobless. I didn’t feel like I had purpose. Patrick seemed thrilled to be retired at the ripe age of thirty-three. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to do something—anything.

  Patrick kept promising me he would give me half the money from the sale. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want a penny of the money. He insisted it was mine. He was only trying to assuage his own guilt. I wasn’t going to be bought off. He tried to give me some song and dance that the company was always half mine and I helped to grow the business and deserved half. Bullshit. It was all bullshit. And I told him that every single time he texted me or tried to talk to me about it.