Page 81 of Wild Card

He’d killed my article? He’d been the one behind that meeting?Thatwas what Decker had mentioned.

“You sabotaged my daughter’s internship?” My father’s voice was lethal.

There was a moment of silence before Elias replied.

“I had no choice. Let it be a lesson not to cut me out of deals. Taylor was supposed to show up that night, and instead someone who had no right to be there trespassed into my house—my bedroom—and wrote a fucking article exposing all of it. Do you have any idea what that would have done to me if it had come out?”

“Fuck your team and fuck you. Get out of my house, and don’t ever show up here again. We’re done. You want money so badly, fine—that’s a quarter of what we agreed on, and tell your father he can go fuck himself.” A loud thwack sounded somewhere in the room, followed by Elias mumbling something about being screwed over.

“This isn’t over. I’m not—”

“Stay away from my daughters, Matthews. This is the only warning you’ll receive.” My dad’s voice was closer to the door, and Taylor and I scrambled back, toward a large potted plant with massive leaves. We both ducked behind it while the office door opened and he walked out.

Storming down the hall, he shot off a quick comment to Gareth before jogging upstairs and out of sight.

We waited as Elias walked out. He held a briefcase in his left hand and toyed with his cell in his right. He was texting or calling someone. My phone buzzed in my pocket just seconds later.

Taylor and I both looked down, then back toward Elias as he walked past us. His steps faltered near the plant we’d ducked behind as the buzzing sound continued. I reached into my pocket to silence it, but his gaze flicked to the plant briefly before his eyebrows creased and he pulled his phone to his ear.

“What?” he asked in a sharp tone.

I kept my breathing to a minimum, just like Taylor. Elias was so close we could smell his cologne.

“He won’t be a problem…no, neither will she. I made sure of it, sir.”

I looked at Taylor, feeling my eyebrows arch. Who was he talking to? And who was he talkingabout?

“I just got out of the meeting…I can tell you when I get back…I know, but I really don’t think Duggar will be an issue anymore.” He practically whispered the tail end of that, which made sense since he was still in my father’s house…but what a fucking coward.

Elias walked off, still staring at his phone.

I pulled mine out to see why it had buzzed, wondering if he’d sent me something. Taylor crowded my shoulder as we opened my messaging app.

Elias: Hey, I’ve been thinking about you. Want to come over tonight?

I looked up right as Taylor let out a scoff.

Once we heard Gareth say, “Good evening, sir,” and the front door shut, we moved. Taylor grabbed my hand and headed upstairs toward her room but stopped and looked down at my wet clothes then veered toward mine instead.

“You need to change.” My stepsister pushed me toward the closet.

It was a massive walk-in with built-in shelving and outfits that were tailored specifically for me but I never wore. My stepmother Jackie liked to ensure that Taylor and I could stay comfortably at a moment’s notice. Taylor stayed more often than I did, but I had to admit—the things Jackie picked out were much nicer than what I usually wore.

Opening the drawers, I tugged a pair of sweats free along with a tank top. Peeling off my clothes, I got dressed and, just for fun, hauled a pair of soft slippers off the rack and stepped into them.

“Okay, I’m warm.” I walked toward my bed and settled in while she sat down on the window seat, her face toward the glass. Our rooms each had massive, cushioned seats our dad had built in and Jackie had added little decorative touches to. My seat was a cool grey, and Taylor’s was mint green, the wood a cream color to match the walls. It was nice, especially with the heavy curtains.

“I failed out of RFU.” She paused, kicking her leg out and spinning in my direction.

My stomach dropped out.

She lived with me; how did I not know she’d failed out? I was there with her, nearly every day.

“What? That’s not…” I started, but she shook her head, interrupting me.

“I stopped going to classes because I was so stressed.” She paused, her eyes tipping up to the ceiling, like she was trying to control her words. “Stressed about trying to prove to Dad that I could take over for him at one of his offices.” She swiped under her eyes. “Originally, we were going to wait to start all of this after graduation, so I’d have my business degree and then start the process of job shadowing his current CFO. There was no conversation about Elias, or a deal. It was just me stepping up to help him and give myself a purpose so I could do something other than sit around and spend money…but then he talked to the shareholders.”

My dad’s phone conversation came back to mind, but I stayed quiet.

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