“No. I mentioned the NDA, and she filled in the blanks.”
Liv studied her fingernails. “It’s not that hard. NDA, beautiful woman, quick departure from a lucrative position.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s dead in the water until I can dig up something concrete on him.”
“Then what?”
Liv looked up from her nails, excitement shimmering in her eyes. “Well then, my brother strikes like the coiled viper he is.”
Chapter 34
Tori
My eyes moved between Liv and Gabe. Two siblings raised to compete, to hunt, to defeat. They had spent half their lives plotting revenge and enacting it in a methodical takedown that even the most talented thief would have struggled with. And they’d done it all legally, albeit through questionable means.
I had stepped into a life with Gabe unaware of this side of him, but I could no longer claim innocence. I knew exactly who he was and what he’d done. But did that mean I wanted to be part of it? To bring Carl Bradman down after what he’d done to me, and let Gabe manipulate a master manipulator while I stood by his side?
Resting my palm on my temple, I said, “Call your father back.”
“I’m not letting him near Reid,” Gabe said. I looked up to see the clench in his jaw. His feelings for his father were still raw, and I didn’t blame him. I had already seen what a better father that would make him.
“Neither am I, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a bargain.”
He squinted at me, trying to figure out what I had planned. I honestly didn’t know. I was still struggling to make sense of what was happening between the two of us, and now this.
“Oh, I like her more every day. I’m so glad we hired her,” Liv said, sitting further on the edge of her seat.
Gabe took his phone out and called his father, placing him on speakerphone.
“That didn’t take long,” his father said. “And I’m on speakerphone.”
“Hi Dad,” Liv said, with no emotion in her voice.
“Victoria’s with us,” Gabe added.
“Ah, Victoria Abigail Hent, daughter of Thomas and Amy Hent and future heir of The Haven Resort. Graduated summa cum laude with a finance degree from the University of Connecticut, earned your master’s from Boston University while raising my grandson, and climbed to a senior position at the same financial firm where you tempted my son. Left the coveted position as CFO at Bradman Holdings after three years at a particularly suspicious time to leave.”
“You’ve done your homework,” I said, hating how he knew so much about me and the stab at my relationship with Gabe.
“I needed to know who was distracting my son.”
My eyes lifted to Gabe. “Did you go to this extreme with every woman he dated?”
Liv snickered, and Gabe frowned.
“Only you. The others never lasted, but you were persistent and impressive enough to know I needed to vet you.”
I tried to stop my jaw from gaping. Gabe took a step back as if his father had reached out and slapped him. Even Liv looked flustered.
“What do you want with my son?” I asked, needing time to process that admission.
“To see him. He is my grandson, after all.”
A grinding sound came from Gabe, and I saw the tension in his jaw. He didn’t like the idea of his father near Reid as much as I didn’t. Protective, just like he’d been with me.
“No. You can’t think I’d be foolish enough to let you walk into his life after what you did to Gabe. You need to earn that trust, and nothing you’ve done tells me you deserve it.”
“Then this conversation is over.”
