Page 131 of This is a Kissing Book

Jules continues, “But that’s not where it ends. These pieces have then been sold at auction.”

My father leads, “And you think⁠—?”

Unable to restrain myself as he holds it together as if not at all shaken by this information, I turn to Frank Andresen, the man who loved my mother, broke her heart, and wants me to become him. “Are you involved?”

The accusation hits like a slap as his head snaps in my direction. “What?”

“From the outside, it looks like⁠—”

“Like I’m part of the fraud,” he finishes with a derisive snort.

Jules and I have shifted closer together. My father’s eyes slide up and down, in between, as if trying to figure out how to play his hand … or as if he sees something he hasn’t in a long, long time. My lifetime, in fact.

I say, “I just want the truth.”

“That’s a serious accusation, son.”

“It’s not an accusation,” Jules says quickly.

I start, “I’m trying to understand⁠—”

“No, you’re right to question it.” Then I watch, as if in slow motion, my father turn the tables. “I have a question too. How do I know you two aren’t involved and brought this to me to deflect responsibility?”

The three of us are in a standoff, as silence as thick as ice fills the air.

“We both know quite well that I did not want to be here this summer,” I say like a gavel dropping.

I don’t let myself look to see if Jules flinched.

“Then you have a motive to get the most out of your time at Meridian.”

This time, I do look at the stunning woman with bright eyes and stop-traffic, forget-your-own-name beauty. “I already did.”

Jules looks at me briefly, storing my comment about her, us, for later. She stands strong. “Sir, I am not running a fraud scheme. I’m risking my job right now.”

“Fair point. As for me, I am most certainly not stealing from my own company.” He looks toward the door as it opens again. “Ah, Maxine, how timely.”

Jules seems to shrink as every muscle in my body coils with rage.

“Frank, you wanted to see me?” She stops when she spots Jules and me. “Oh. This is unexpected.”

“Maxine,” my father says with a density behind it I can’t place. “We were just discussing⁠—”

“Personnel matters? These two have been quite the pair of firecrackers this summer.”

A growl rises in my throat.

“Actually, it’s about an audit they ran,” Dad says.

My jaw slowly lowers. It’s then that I see that my years of learning at his side have paid off. His angle takes shape, suddenly makes sense. He’s known about the scheme all along and let Jules and me figure it out. But why? I wonder if he was aware of Drecken’s thugs. If so, he could’ve intervened before now.

The man deals in art, but is an artist himself in the way he crafts business ventures. He’s about to let Maxine hang herself.

I’m. In. Awe.

“Speaking of fire, your services are no longer needed, Maxine,” he says.

My mistake. He went straight for the jugular.