by Coralee June
My uncomfortable Gucci shoes clicked along the pavement as I walked, briefcase in hand. It cost a lot of money to look like I had a lot of money. I had a part to play, after all. Crazy how quickly I acclimated to my new role in the company. I fucking hated it. I fucking hated everything about it.
“Your first few days on the job seem to be going well. Have you learned anything?”
“I learned that you waste a fuck ton of money on pointless things,” I replied.
Jack laughed. “Like what?”
“You just purchased an office space with an arcade for your employees,” I huffed with a scoff.
“Employee satisfaction is good for business, Hamilton.”
“Want to make your employees happy, Jack? Use that money to extend maternity and paternity leave and offer better health insurance.” Despite benefiting from it my entire life, I hated capitalism. “You have incredible wealth, and some of your employees are living just above the poverty line, Jack. You’re a politician, sworn to serve the public, and yet you cash in on crazy profits without redistributing the wealth to your loyal workers.”
I marched up the steps, waiting for him to respond. “You seem to have put a lot of thought into this,” he noted.
“I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. Joseph got me an office and told me to sit there and just research the different corporations you own. It’s boring as fuck. He doesn’t want me doing anything. I’ve learned a lot though. You have a tech company in San Francisco that’s data mining and selling pretty fucking intrusive information to advertising agencies. A logging company in Arkansas that’s ruining the ecosystem and barely complying with sustainability laws. An oil subsidiary off the gulf—one that I used to work for—that is cutting corners on a few health and safety standards. It’s a massive oil spill just waiting to happen, by the way.”
“I thought you were working to figure out what Joseph was up to,” Jack replied calmly.
“You wanted me to audit Beauregard Industries, and I am.”
“Just don’t lose sight of your purpose. You aren’t there to make massive changes to our operations, Hamilton. My team is plenty capable of making sure we comply with federal and state laws. I want you researching Joseph and finding the laundered money.”
“It feels like you dropped me off at a burning building, Jack. You have more ethical problems than just your psychotic son. It’s pretty shitty that you’re barely following laws that you helped sign off on.”
“If you want to discuss your concerns, I’m all ears. But you’ve only been on the job a handful of days. Let’s chat when you realize how many people rely on our companies to survive. Let’s chat when you have a better grasp of the laws.” I was ten steps ahead of him. I’d already sent all the information to Saint to research. “I was thinking,” Jack added.
“Happy to know you’re capable of producing thoughts, Jack,” I growled into the phone before nodding at the pilot and making my way to one of the plush leather chairs.
“Maybe we should invite Vera to Thanksgiving? Her mother is staying with me, still. I know Lilah would love to see her daughter—”
“Absolutely not. The whole point of this is to keep her away. Why on earth would I invite her to an awkward Thanksgiving with her mother, Joseph, and me?”
Jack clicked his tongue. “I’m trying to keep Lilah happy so she feels comfortable opening up to me. Inviting Vera would do just that. Not to mention, I figured you’d like to see her instead of getting all your information secondhand. And besides, I thought you knew. Joseph isn’t coming. He had some business in San Francisco to attend to.”
I was fuming. “Don’t you think that’s important information for me to know? What kind of business in San Francisco, Jack?”
“I don’t know. You’re the one that should be following his schedule, Hamilton.”
“We’re supposed to be a team, Jack. I need to know when Joseph has random business trips!”
Jack let out a huff of air. I rolled my eyes. “Perhaps you’re distracted by Vera? Maybe if you didn’t spend all your time calling me to ask what she’s up to, you’d be able to focus on your job—your real job, not just this research you’re conducting on things unrelated to the task at hand.”
It took everything I had not to hang up on my father. “Vera isn’t a distraction, Jack,” I gritted. “She’s the only reason I’m even helping you right now. Make that suggestion again and I’ll quit on the spot. Keep your fucking opinions about her to yourself, or we’ll have a problem, got it?”
Jack chuckled. “You’re obsessed with the girl.”
“That sounds an awful lot like an opinion I didn’t ask for. It’s nothing you don’t already know. My obsession is partly why I agreed to help you in the first place, Jack. Drop the conversation. And I better not see her at Thanksgiving. Pretty soon, Vera won’t need me anymore, and I won’t have to keep tabs on her.”
“Too bad love doesn’t work like that,” Jack mused in a soft voice.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re always going to find things she needs, Hamilton.”
“You’re the last person to offer advice on love and needs.”
Jack liked to pretend that his marriage was unspoiled, and not sensuous panic. One of my favorite things to do was remind him that he was a failure. It was almost blasphemous to compare his sham of a marriage to what I shared with Vera. He wouldn’t know what was real if it died in front of him in a bathroom. Jack continued, “—and the faster we figure out what Joseph is up to, the sooner you can be done stalking her.”
“I’m not stalking her,” I gritted.
“Whatever you say.”
I had a million things I wanted to say to my father. I still didn’t understand why it was so important I bring down Joseph. I wanted to ask him if he lived his whole life feeling this way. Privileged. Powerful. No wonder my brother became a nut case. Just having a private jet at my disposal gave my ego a complex.
“How is her mother?” I asked. “Has she revealed anything incriminating about Joseph?”
Jack cleared his throat. “She’s fine. Still staying here, as you know. Missing Vera very much. I guess we both expected her to apologize by now. Lilah and I both decided that it was probably better that she wait to move out after the divorce is finalized.”
“Right,” I drawled. “Are you fucking her?” It had only been a week, but I put nothing past my father or Lilah.
Jack audibly gasped over the phone. “Of course not. Don’t be so crude.” Yeah. Dad was totally fucking her. But I didn’t care. Vera was out of her toxic mother’s life, and Jack was close to getting useful information from Lilah. I didn’t give two fucks how he acquired it, as long as he did. That woman had to know something about Joseph.
“Tell me about San Francisco?” I demanded. The door to the jet had been shut, and we were about to take off.
“Our tech company is out there—the one that most definitely does not data mine, as you so eloquently put it,” Jack argued, his voice low. “We also work with a small manufacturing company out there. We buy goods from them regularly.”
“Does Joseph normally go there?” I pressed while pulling out my laptop and sending Saint an email with this news. We had made plans to meet up while I was in town. Thank fuck these jets had Wi-Fi. A guy could get used to traveling like this.
“Lilah did mention he traveled a lot. She claims it was an affair,” Jack droned on as I pulled up the flight logs for the family fleet of jets. My brother had been traveling quite a bit lately. Joseph wasn’t in the habit of going out of his way for pussy. Flying across the country on the regular to get laid wasn’t exactly his MO.
But for money? Power? My brother would do anything for that.
“I’ll let you know if I find anything,” I grunted. Joseph was still suspicious of Jack and me, which made navigating this entire situation more perilous. I thought Joseph would make my life hell and enjoy slapping me across the face with his massive ego
every chance he got. But no, he just tucked me into a quiet corner and pretended I didn’t exist. It wasn’t his usual play.
“Is he still giving you trouble?” Jack asked.
“He’s pretending I don’t exist. I think you need to encourage him to actually include me. Maybe he didn’t think I’d actually stay?”
“Or maybe he’s suspicious,” Jack replied.
“Just keep learning, keep acting interested. If Joseph puts you in the corner, get up and insert yourself into meetings and what not. It’s still new. I’m…I’m proud of you for actually trying, Hamilton.”
My heart constricted, and I wanted to break the phone currently in my hand. I hated the way I preened at his compliment. I was ashamed to be happy and was disgusted with myself. I was a Beauregard, and I was good at it.
Jack Beauregard was proud of me. Me. His bastard son and ultimate disappointment.
“I’ve got to go. I’ve got some reports to comb through. I finally got those profit and loss statements you sent over, and it takes me twice as long to understand the numbers as anyone else. Bye.” I had to remind him that I was shit and he was supposed to be displeased that I didn’t go to college or all the other things he expected of me. We had a game to play, after all.
I didn’t wait for Jack to respond and hung up the phone. How did we go from barely talking to having multiple calls a day? I felt like I’d sold my soul.
“We’re departing, Mr. Beauregard,” the flight attendant said with a smile before serving me a glass of champagne.
“Thanks,” I replied rather gruffly as she bent over, giving me a healthy view of her tits.
Nothing, it did nothing for me. The flight attendant was cute. She had blonde hair, plush lips. An ass I could eat for dinner. Her sultry smile should have gone straight to my cock, but I felt zilch at the idea of fucking her a mile in the air. I didn’t want her. I didn’t want anyone but Vera Garner.
“I’m busy,” I said when she lingered. Our family shared this plane, so maybe she was used to getting dicked by my brother and was hoping to fuck the hotter Beauregard.
“Of course,” she said with a smile before disappearing.
Once in the sky, I ignored my briefcase—yeah, a fucking briefcase—and started scrolling through the photos on my phone. Vera filled my screen.
She was a warrior. She didn’t need my help, not really. She got her philosophy professor to write a bomb ass letter of recommendation for her job and applied for aid at the state school she mostly qualified for with grades and merit alone. Vera moved out of the apartment Joseph and Jack got her the day after Lilah announced the divorce. She found a place to live—I’d originally thought she’d moved in with Jared, but was pleased to find out that she was staying with her philosophy professor.
Maybe I was a fucking stalker. I didn’t care. Vera deserved better than what she got, and I respected her need for independence. I didn’t want her tied to the Beauregards any more than I was.
I was staring at another photo of Vera when my phone started ringing. Jess. Fuck, I missed my best friend. I felt like shit for blocking her from my life. She didn’t understand what I was doing, but it was necessary to keep her safe. The facts were starting to add up, and it wasn’t looking good. If Joseph was involved in what I thought he was, then the retaliation would be brutal. He wouldn’t let go of his empire without a fight, and I wasn’t going down until he had a knife in his back and an empty wallet.
I let the phone ring and go to voicemail. Jess was probably cussing me out right about now.
Too bad. I was in this for the long haul. Save Vera. Protect Jess. End Joseph’s nasty reign over our family.
Easy enough.
Jess: Are you coming home for Thanksgiving? We need to talk.
I stared at the message. Yeah. For the first time in my fucking life, I’d be sitting at my father’s table for Thanksgiving.
Hamilton: No.
9
Vera
When Jack Beauregard invited me to Thanksgiving dinner on my mother’s behalf, my first instinct was to laugh uncontrollably and tell Jack to get fucked.
But I couldn’t do that. Because I wanted to see how my mother was doing. And because I had a feeling Hamilton would be there. The red dress,” Anika said. She was sitting on the end of my bed, flipping through the papers we turned in before Thanksgiving break. I’d gotten an eighty-six on mine, proof that she was going extra hard on me now that I was living with her.
“It’s a little sensual, no?” I asked before pinching my bottom lip with my teeth.
“That’s the point,” Anika replied with a sigh.
I looked at my reflection and frowned. The tight dress hit just above my knee and exposed all of my back. The heart-shaped neckline accentuated my breasts, and my long hair covered my exposed shoulders. I felt beautiful in the dress—one of the few things I took from my previous apartment. I’d fallen in love with it the moment Jack had his personal stylist deliver a completely new wardrobe.
“I feel exposed.”
“Sometimes, that’s the best way to feel,” Anika said, “But come on, I’ve got a black leather jacket that will make you look badass.”
I grinned as she got off the bed and disappeared for a moment. I slipped on some kitten heels and reapplied my lip gloss. By the time she returned, I was almost ready to face them.
“Here,” she offered before tossing it at me.
I ran my hand along the rough leather. It was beautiful.
“Thank you. I love it.”
Anika looked proud as I put it on. “So, let’s discuss healthy boundaries before you go. Tell me your mantra again.”
“I am not responsible for how other people act,” I recited. Anika was on board for me going—if anything, just to ease my plaguing mind about Hamilton and what he was up to.
“Now, tell me you’re safe.”
“I’m safe,” I repeated while grabbing my purse.
“Tell me you can leave at any time you wish.”
“I can leave anytime I wish.”
Anika was researching a study about the effects of vocalizing your intentions, and somehow, I’d become her guinea pig. I didn’t mind though; it was nice to have someone care. She was so healthy, so mature and fun. We had a good relationship. I was worried about awkwardness because she’s my professor, but I still felt that same level of respect in the classroom. She wasn’t my friend, per se. She was more like a close mentor who cared about my mental health.
“I’ll be attending Friendsgiving with some of my colleagues, but I’m just a phone call away, okay? I’m really proud of you for doing this. I think it speaks volumes about your maturity to be able to confront her again. Sometimes people don’t realize that you have to put in the work. It’s not just enough to tell someone off, then cut them out of your life. Sometimes you have to fight that daily fight, you know? You have to work on yourself still.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“And you always have a place here, so fuck them if you don’t like how they treat you. There’s nothing hanging over your head anymore. You’re in charge of your own destiny, Vera Garner.”
Being at Jack Beauregard’s home felt wrong. I had a store-bought pie in my hand and my purse slung over my shoulder. There wasn’t a bone in my body that wanted to go inside. Every step toward the front door felt like giving up.
“I can leave any time that I want to,” I whispered to myself before balancing my pie in one hand and knocking on the door.
I cleared my throat and tried to paste a smile on my face. I was here for answers and closure, nothing more.
The door swung open, and my mother flashed me a brief, fake, extraordinary smile before twisting her expression into confused disappointment. “What are you doing here?” she asked in a snippy hiss.
“Jack invited me to Thanksgiving. He said this was your idea?”
“It most certainly was not,” Mom replied. “Jack and I were going to have an intimate dinner together. Alone. Hamilton sa
id he wasn’t feeling well this morning and...”
I looked my mother up and down. Short dress. Cleavage for days. Fake eyelashes with a longer wingspan than most birds. Bright red lipstick the color of my dress.
“Intimate dinner, huh?” I asked. Seriously? She hadn’t talked to me in a couple of weeks, probably didn’t even know where I was living, and the first words out of her mouth were to leave? Typical. So fucking typical.
“Please tell me you aren’t hooking up with your soon to be ex-husband’s father, Mom. Please. You’re so much better than that.”
“Considering you fucked your uncle, I don’t think you have much room to talk. Hell, pretty soon he’ll be your stepbrother, if I have any say in things.”
“Jack will never marry you. He cares way too much about his image for that. You thought that hooking up with Hamilton was bad? Just wait until the press gets ahold of this.”
Mom looked around and curled her lip before pushing me further outside and joining me on the patio. Quietly, she shut the front door and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m working on something. I really don’t need you fucking this up for me. I know how much of a scandal this could be if this got out, which is why I’m making a point to keep our new relationship under wraps. I can’t do that if you’re here crashing our Thanksgiving dinner, Vera.”
“You’re going to blackmail him,” I replied in shock. “You’re going to threaten to go to the press if he doesn’t pay you off, aren’t you?” I asked. The realization hit me almost instantly. She was going to seduce and use Jack. Part of me didn’t really care, perhaps my former grandfather deserved the injustice after everything he’d done.
It wasn’t the victim who had me concerned, it was my mother. Who had she become? Why was she using her body like a weapon? “You’re unbelievable,” I scoffed. “Seriously, Mom. Why? Why would you do this? Why not walk away?”
Mom looked around once more before lowering her voice. “Joseph owes me, Vera. And thanks to the ironclad prenup they had me sign, I’m not going to get a dime unless I do this.”
