“Always wanted him, ever since you were little. Following him around everywhere. Does he know about the other guy you’re seeing?”
Rhett nodded at someone. “Lester. Good to see you.”
A man that looked like Santa Claus joined our circle. “Rhett.” He nodded at me. “And this is Emmerson, I presume?” He held out his hand for me to shake. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”
I shook his hand, too confused to form words. Who was he and what was he doing here? And why did he know who I was?
“This is Anna McAllister,” Rhett said and pointed at my mom.
“I see,” Lester said.
“Anna. This is Emmerson’s lawyer, Lester Dermot. All communication will go through him. It would be best if you could let your lawyer know, so they can sort it out. No need for personal visits,” Rhett said. His expression was hard, making sure Anna knew that this was not a suggestion.
“I will talk to my daughter whenever I want to,” she said, ignoring common sense.
I had to hold back the tears. Not only was she making a scene in front of the whole office, she was wrecking everything she could.
“Your daddy thought he could pay me off,” she spat at Rhett. “But he’s not around anymore.” The last was delivered with a happy snark.
Rhett stepped next to me, his arm on my back, his body strung tight. He was about to explode. “Funny how we thought with all the money we paid you, the matter was closed and a non-disclosure wouldn’t be the issue.”
I tried to step out of his reach, unsure of what was going on, but his arm was holding tight.
“Get out before I get security to remove you.” He pointed to the side where four big security guards waited to jump in should they need to.
“You little shit, think you can tell me what to do just like your daddy? I’m not going to let you get away with it this time.”
Rhett nodded to the security guards, and they came up, flanking mom on both sides. “We’ll see you in court,” he said.
The guards each took one side when she refused to move. Anna wasn’t about to go quietly and she screamed the whole way to the elevator. “You’re going to regret this. I hope your little whore knows what you’ve been up to. Because I’ll make sure she does.”
With that parting shot, the doors to the elevator closed, leaving us behind in stunned silence.
“The show’s over. Back to work everyone,” Rhett said and pulled me into his office and closed the door, leaving everyone including Lester and Gunner behind.
I was a jumbled mess, my mind going a hundred miles a minute. Did his dad pay my mom money? For what? And what was Rhett’s involvement?
“What was she talking about?”
He started pacing ignoring my question, looking less like the cold-hearted businessman than ever. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he looked worried. Before I could say more to press him, he went on, “Stop making up crazy scenarios in your head. It’s bad, but not as bad as what you’re probably thinking right now.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking. Maybe I’m just trying to decide what to have for lunch.”
My joke was as misplaced as it was untrue, because the money was all I could think about. Rhett still hadn’t explained his sudden disappearance to me. Was it connected to the money?
“I’m going to tell you something that I hoped would never get out.” He shot a look at Josie who was oblivious to what was going on, still enthralled by her new toys. “But I don’t want to lose you again. And I feel like if I don’t come clean, you are going to run away so fast I won’t be able to stop you.”
Honesty. Good idea. But did I trust that what he was going to tell me was actually true? And would it stop me from still running? Okay. Focus. I could do this. I was gonna let him talk first. Because there was no point freaking out yet. Except that there was definitely a lot of money. And Anna was involved. A match made in hell.
“It doesn’t exactly inspire trust if you have to come clean about something. It sounds like you’ve done something wrong,” I said, putting distance between us. I couldn’t think when he was close.
Josie waved a Lego block in front of me. “Mimi, look.”
I bent down and admired the toy. “Looks amazing. What are you going to build with it?”
She kneeled in front of the pile she had emptied on the floor and pulled another bit out. “House. You help.”
“I will,Spatz, just give me a minute.” She was good at playing by herself, but she was still little so her attention span was short and she got bored after a while.
