“Like that makes it all better,” Liv griped.
“Get to the point before I end this call.” Gabe’s voice came out almost like a growl, and my eyes jumped to his. He hated his father, and now I questioned the proposal I’d made.
“The NDAs have been a recurrence in his rise to the head of the company, but his parents handled his early misadventures with payoffs, including the girl he raped at a frat party and got pregnant. Not even his current wife, or any of the prior ones, knows about it.”
“But you do?” I asked, uncertain what to do with the information.
“The girl was friends with my girlfriend at the time, William and Olivia’s mother.”
Gabe and Liv exchanged looks. “What aren’t you telling us?” Gabe asked, and I didn’t know what else he was looking for.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with."
Gabe slammed his hands on the desk and hovered over the phone. “Why do you want revenge on Bradman, Dad? Why give me this information?”
“So you can avenge what he did to cause him to slap an NDA on the mother of your child.”
“I don’t think so. There’s more to it. You’re not that altruistic.” His muscles were tense, the vein in his neck prominent.
“All you need to know is that Carl Bradman and I have not been friends since that year. He knows not to step into my world, and I make it damn clear he’s not welcome in it.”
“Well, he stepped into mine,” Gabe said, wrenching his hand through his hair.
Silence. Again with the silence, and I took the time to think about Bradman’s company and the Icinda’s. The holdings were similar. Mostly real estate, hotel chains, resorts. Bradman inherited his company; Icinda built his from the ground up. Beginning in his twenties. He took calculated risks that paid off and made a name for himself that far outshined and outperformed Bradman’s. All while keeping his company private. His investments were sound and legitimate, just like Gabe’s were.
“Do what you do best, son. Bring him to his knees like you did me.”
The phone disconnected, but my mind was still racing.
“Well, that was as helpful as a pair of suede boots on a snowy day.” Liv grumbled, standing with a stretch. “I hate to say it, but I agree with Tori. Bradman is too big, his network too extensive and too public. We eat up small companies, Gabe. It’s a risk hitting at Bradman, and what Dad gave us isn’t enough to make him flinch.”
She sashayed from the office, mumbling about needing coffee, and shut the door behind her.
“Were you really planning to keep me in the dark on this?” I asked Gabe.
Hands still resting on the desk, he rolled his neck toward me. “Yes, but I know now it was the wrong move. I didn’t think. This stuff has always been mine and Liv’s.”
“You promised to let me in, Gabe.”
“I know, and I will.”
I moved over to the desk, sitting next to where he was still leaning. “What’s your next move?”
“I really don’t know. You and Liv are right, but he has a weakness. It’s women, and his track record shows it. My father’s story confirms it, but he didn’t tell us everything.”
“Your parents went to school together?”
“Yes. They were college sweethearts. My mother adored him until…”
“When did the depression start?” I had a theory I wasn’t certain I wanted to present. Not wanting to bring any more pain to Gabe.
He straightened and rubbed his eye. “College, I think. I remember her saying something about it once, how her parents almost made her drop out, but my father helped her through it.”
“Sounds like he wasn’t always a bad guy.”
His eyes grew shadowed. “He’s always been the bad guy.”
I glanced down at my hands. “What if the girl your father mentioned wasn’t Bradman’s only victim?” The words came out as a mere whisper, my fear of voicing them too high to give power to them.
