Page 106 of Dirty Rival
My phone buzzes with another call that I ignore. “What’s in Montana?”
“Money. You know that.”
“My money,” I say. “I put so much of my money into your investments and I’m tired of not knowing what I’m really getting. Blinded, I trusted you. No more. I love you, but I clearly don’t know you. Are your morals why mom left?”
“That’s uncalled for. She left. She left you, Carrie.”
“Right. It was my fault.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I want details on the Maxwell war.”
“You’re not getting them.”
“They took over our company.”
“Walk away, Carrie.”
“This is my life.”
“I will take care of you.”
“I’ll take care of me. I need to go.”
“Not yet. Talk to me.”
“Now you want to talk? Are you sure about that? You avoid me.”
“What happened? Because obviously, something did.”
“I met Mike Maxwell. I’m waiting to meet you, too. The real you. When this is over, when I get the company back, I need that to happen.”
“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”
“We lost the company to a hostile takeover by your enemy. I’m not blowing this out of proportion. I need to go.”
“Carrie—”
“I’ve already said things I’ll regret later, even though you deserve to hear them. Don’t push me to say more. I’m not in a place to show my normal restraint right now. We’ll talk later if you actually take my calls.” I hang up.
My phone buzzes with a text from Reid: It’s not our war. I didn’t go after your company to destroy it. The stockholders were taking him down anyway.
I don’t answer. I now know that he is a part of the war. My father tried to hurt him and his family. I flashback to the party and the kitchen and squeeze my eyes shut as the tears start to flow.
Chapter fifty-two
Carrie
Idon’t know how long I lay on the couch, weeping away my emotions but when it’s over, it’s over. I have to pee. As crazy as it is, that’s what brings me back to the present, to me. The need to take care of myself on some level, I guess. I stand up and without any real decision to do so, go upstairs to the bathroom. I go pee only to discover that I’ve started my period, because of course it’s early. I'm a ball of stress, that must have been a trigger. And yes, this has to happen right now and of course, I don’t have enough of what I need to manage this new-found problem until morning.
I contemplate ordering online, but I don’t even have my computer. Reid does and he also has my bag with important items, most of which I can buy tomorrow but I need my MacBook. Actually, I have my old one that I kept for emergencies when I upgraded. So yes, I could order online, but tampons, aren’t exactly something I want the delivery boy delivering. Leaving, however, means potentially running into Reid. Is he still downstairs? No. Surely not. It’s been about forty-five minutes now.
I fix my face the best I can and decide that I’ll run to the corner store but to be safe, I dial the security desk. “Is the man that was waiting on me still there?”
“He left about fifteen minutes ago.”
He left. Of course he left. I knew he would. “Thanks.” I disconnect, slip on a hoodie and head for the door. The coast is clear. The man I thought might be falling in love with me while I fell in love with him, left.