Page 82 of Dirty Rival

“Do you want to know what I think?” he asks.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Why does that feel like a trick question?” I ask because it does. And if it’s not a trick, it’s a test that I do not want to fail, and yet, I do want to know his answer. Perhaps too much.

Chapter thirty-nine

Carrie

Idon’t know why I want this man’s opinion of Reid. I don’t, actually. He momentarily drew me into the web he cast, and I know why. It’s not his charm, good looks, money or power. It’s not about him at all. It’s about Reid, all Reid. I’m falling hard for him. I feel vulnerable where he’s concerned, exposed, but that’s on me, that’s personal. This conversation is not, nor was my decision to stay on board at the company under Reid’s supervision, personal. And so I set the personal aside, and focus on what matters here and now.

“To suggest that Reid is scamming me is suggesting a lack of confidence in my skills and leadership,” I say. “Those things are not lacking. You have to decide if you’re willing to gamble on me, I understand, but ask me questions about those things, not about my agreement with Reid.”

“He needs you to get me. Did you know that?”

“I do,” I say. “He told me you don’t like his past history with Jean Claude.”

Surprise flickers in his eyes. “Did he now?”

“He did.”

“Are you comfortable with that association?”

“I am. He’s not. He told me about his past with Jean Claude and his shift from then to now.”

“You believe that shift is real?”

“I think my recent transition from following my father to becoming my own person makes me understand it well. So, yes. I believe that shift in Reid is real.” I think of his mother’s letter to his sister. “For reasons beyond what I’m willing to share with you. Why does Reid’s past with Jean Claude matter this much to you? Reid is good at what he does.”

“Agreed, but how he gets there matters to me because he takes me with him if I’m in business with him.”

“As he does me. If I felt he cheated my father, or anyone else, I wouldn’t be here.”

“There are many that feel differently about Reid.”

“Are you going to tell me that you’ve become this wealthy without pissing off one single person? Is there no one out there that would say you betrayed them to succeed?”

His eyes sharpen, darken. “Who have you betrayed?”

“Myself.”

He arches a brow again. “Meaning what?”

“I knew when my father was making bad decisions, but I let him convince me I was wrong and he was right. I didn’t stay true to my instincts.”

“And that should instill confidence in me why?” he asks.

“I’m honest. I don’t make excuses. My gut feelings are right.”

“And you consider Reid honest?”

I don’t like the way he keeps pushing against Reid. “What do you want to say to me?”

“The two of you are not alike.”

“If we were then you’d only need one of us, but you don’t know me.”

“I know enough,” he says.

“Enough to do business with me?” I ask, taking an opportunity where I find it.