Page 41 of The Enemy

His eyes seemed brighter than they had earlier. On his lips was the hint of a smile.

“Don’t worry, sis, no need to be threatened. I’m not here after your position.”

He was baiting me, and instead of engaging him, I turned toward my father.

Since Pricilla’s comment had the effect, she wanted everyone waiting patiently for my father to explain what she had meant by that.

Feeling all eyes on him, my father cleared his throat.

“We wanted to iron out all the details before bringing this to the table.” He cast a reproachful look at Pricilla before he carried on. “For some time, we wanted to expand into technology, but we had never done so because we didn’t have a steady foot in the door.”

Pricilla cut my father off and took over.

“I’m sure you all know my son’s friendship with Tatum Park.”

I had prepared for seeing Neo again, but I had not prepared for this. I froze and waited for someone to say they were joking.

“Of Park Technologies?”

I was grateful to whoever had asked that because I needed the confirmation myself.

“Yes,” Neo spoke in a low tone. “Please, Mother, have some decorum and let the men speak,” he said lightly, and a few people laughed, but the side-eye he gave her was a warning.

If it were any other time, I would have laughed at her embarrassment, but I was still trying to recover from that shock.

“A few years ago, I came to Richard with a proposition. An untapped market for us, and we have been working on a few things. With Gerald’s blessing, we are looking forward to a launch in the near future.”

My whole family was in on this.

Oh, no wonder the asshole looked so fucking smug whenever he saw me. Tatum Park felt untouchable because he taught my whole family was on his side.

Neo went on, and I just looked at my screen, feeling betrayed, foolish, and hurt. I didn’t hear the logistics of what we were doing or the plan-from-hell. I didn’t even know what his new role would be. I kept replaying his words over and over again.

“Hate that he took from you. I hate that I wasn’t there to stop it sooner, but most of all, I hate that he touched something I’ve always considered mine.”

Bravo, Neo, you took me for a fool.

I was so lost that laughter took me out of my intrusive thoughts.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with my relator in twenty minutes,” Neo told everyone. I refused to look at him but heard his chair move.

“Where are you looking to buy?” someone asked. “My son’s friend is selling his condo.”

“I have a place in Westtown that I’m looking to get rid of,” he replied smoothly.

This time, he had the reaction he wanted, and I looked at him, and Neo smirked at me.

Three years ago, I took his card, and little by little, I kept testing the limits on it, hoping he had someone else handle the payments. It was, on a whim, a lonely night when I decided he could pay for my apartment. No one was more surprised than me when I never got a call back that the payment was declined. So, with the month paid and the furniture bought, I assumed about twenty thousand was the limit. I had yet to test more than that.

He paid for vacations, when it was my turn to host girls’ nights, and my account at La Perla was also covered.

Let’s say that he has been extremely generous for the last three years.

One thing I didn’t account for was the fact that it would put me at his mercy.

Mierda.

Shit.How could I have overseen that little detail?

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