Page 122 of Chandelier Enthralled
“That’s good.”
The silence lingered.
“What do you know about evil?” he asked.
That was not how I saw this going. “What doyouknow about evil?”
“Answer the question.”
I paused, surprised. “It’s destructive. Cruel and…”
Cameron nodded, and his eyes filled with sadness. “And so much more than that. Evil isn’t just about actions. It seeps into you if you expose yourself to it.”
“Who are we talking about?”
“I want to make sure you’re ready for what I’m about to share with you. If you ever face it again.”
“Greyson told you about Pendulum?”
“We’re not even discussing Pendulum yet.”
I swallowed hard. “Oh?”
“You went into work to quit. And didn’t.”
“Not going in this morning will get me fired.”
“Good.”
“This is what this is about?” I pointed towards the horse. “You’re trying to placate me by buying me a horse?”
I cringed at how spoiled I sounded. But him treating me like this was frustrating.
“You’ve always been like this,” I said. “You and Henry have always underestimated me. I’ve seen you live your lives to the fullest. You make your own choices, your own decisions. Why don’t I get the same opportunity? Because I’m a woman?”
“That’s what you think?”
“Yes, that’s what this is. You are trying to bully me into leaving a job I want to keep. Even if my boss is a kinky bitch, she’s a woman in a man’s world.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“What has she done? Run with a story that hurt someone’s career? I understand that’s wrong, but I hardly ever see her.” I didn’t want to admit to him that I knew Hadley was dangerous.
“You’ll see her more if you write a story about her.”
I snapped my jaw shut, frustrated that he had guessed what I was working on—or more likely, Greyson had told him.
He looked off in the distance. “We could buy you a news station.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you even listening to me?”
“I am.”
“You always do this,” I whispered angrily. “You try to change people’s lives for the better, but what if you’re wrong? What if this time you trying to protect me ends up destroying me?”
“How dramatic.”
“Cameron, how about asking me what I need, what I want? Ask me what kind of life I want.”
