Page 33 of Trust Me
“How did your meeting with him go in Miami?” Charlotte asks. “You haven’t mentioned it since you’ve been back.”
My reply is cut off when the main office door opens. Dean Walsh enters with the broadest, phoniest smile on his face. My heart plummets.
“Can I help you?” Charlotte asks.
“I believe Riley is expecting me,” he says, staring at me.
“Charlotte, hold my calls,” I tell her. “Please follow me.” I pivot on my heels and make a beeline to my office. A small sigh of relief escapes me when Dean doesn’t say anything as he trails me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand after shutting the door behind him.
He snarls in my direction. “Since you’re ignoring my calls, you needed a reminder of whom you work for.”
“Fuck you,” I whisper-yell. “Idon’twork for you. Blackmail doesn't count as work.”
“You would know. Maybe I should call Brendan to see how he feels about it. You know he was in Miami this past weekend, right?”
Panic briefly overcomes me as I wrack my mind, trying to recall seeing Brendan. But that’s ridiculous. I would’ve remembered running into him.
“Don’t worry. He didn’t see you. He was too busy with his friends to go to most exhibits.”
“That doesn’t answer why you’re in my office.”
“This.” He turns his phone screen to face me. It’s the same article Charlotte and I were reading about the Townsend and Waterson acquisition.
“They fucking acquired yet another multi-million-dollar company, and I had to learn about it from a fucking article!” Dean seethes, a small amount of spit flying out of his mouth. “I should’ve been informed the minute the dotted line was signed. I could’ve used it to—”
“To what?” I ask, having enough of his bullshit. “We both know you don’t have the resources or power to make a real dent in the Townsend armor. And you damn sure don’t have the clout you seem to think you do to avenge your father.”
Dean’s eyes widen as if surprised. His face turns beet red with anger. “What the hell did you say?”
“Yeah, you didn’t think you were the only one who could do research, did you? Your father was sentenced to ten years in jail for corporate espionage. The fines alone crippled your family financially.”
“Shut up!” he seethes, his eyes bulging to the point that he looks crazed. “They set my father up.”
I did background research on Dean Walsh and his family ever since the moment he approached me. His father’s healthcare company went under after he was exposed for corporate espionage. It occurred while the senior Walsh attempted to garner a merger with Townsend Industries. He didn’t play his cards right and ended up in jail instead of on the winning side of that deal.
I let out a derisive laugh. “The evidence was pretty evident. Your father pled guilty and gave a heavily detailed confession to his crimes.”
“He was bullied into that confession!” Dean insists. “And they still killed him.”
I remain silent because Dean seems to believe what he’s saying. The reports I came across attribute Dean’s father’s death to heart failure.
“And you’re going to prove it.” Dean sticks his finger in my face. “I want some evidence and fucking soon!”
“You gave me six months. These things take time.”
“And you’ve wasted a month on bullshit. Get me the evidence to prove they’re engaging in illegal business practices and they’re murderers.” He gets in my face, but I don’t back down. “I don’t give a shit what you have to do. I don’t care if you need to suck off Kyle in his office. You fucking do it.”
“Fuck you.”
An ugly snarl breaks out on his face. “I won’t wait forever, Riley. Your freedom and your niece depend on your next move.”
My fists tighten at my sides at the mention of my niece. I hate Dean Walsh more than anyone in this world.
“Get out.”
He steps back and glares at me before exiting my office. I don’t realize my hand is shaking until I swipe my palm across my forehead.