Page 82 of Camping with the Boss

“You’re right. There’s no way.”

“But that means…” He doesn’t continue. He can’t.

“It means this was all arranged before Tim was even hired. And there’s only one person capable of it. Only one person who knew that—” I can’t go there. “She knew the best way to blackmail you if the other stuff didn’t work.”

“I’ve heard enough.” The bald man stands. “I hope for your sake this isn’t true, Meredith. We trusted you after Frank died. You raised the boys. How could you do this?”

“Can you give us another minute, Silas?” Wade glances at Ander with a question in his eyes. Ander nods, and I grab Wade’s arm.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I think I do. But thank you.” He touches my cheek and then turns to face the board members. “There’s one more thing I want to add to theMore Evil than Maleficent Award—such a catchy title.” He takes a deep breath. “After our Uncle Frank died, Meredith took care of us. Her generosity lasted five…hours after our uncle was buried. She called us spoiled. And coddled.Even though we’d lost both our parents and our uncle within two years.”

Ander moves to stand next to Wade. “She expressed her disappointment in inventive ways.” He looks at Wade, and he nods. I want to wrap them both in my arms and protect them. But they don’t need me. Or anyone. “Wade was nine, almost ten at the time. She struck his hands with a metal ruler. At times, accidentally cutting him with the sharp corner. He still has…” He takes a shaky breath. “It will be easy to prove. He still has the scars.” The group is silent up to this point. Shocked gasps and mutters ripple through the crowd.

Wade holds out his hands for the board members to see. The younger woman covers her mouth with her hands.

“Wade,” the bald man, Silas, starts, but Wade shakes his head.

“There’s more. That was how she punished me. But Ander…she made him watch. I also think it was her way of trying to sow distrust between us. And it worked.”

“For a while,” Ander says. “Not anymore.”

“Wade, Ander, I’m so sorry we missed it. We believed her lies. Frank was a good man.” He glares at Meredith, who sits with a bored expression on her face. “Her intent in bringing us here today was to pressure you to step down…but now. We’d like you to stay on as CEO of Darian Enterprises.”

I clutch my hands to my heart, relieved by his words. Wade isn’t losing his company.

Meredith stands. “I’m still chairperson of this board.”

“You sure this is how you want to play it?” Silas asks. “Because I have no problem calling an emergency board meeting and releasing a statement to the press. I’d rather take care of this in-house, but if you push—the world will know what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” she asks, sounding almost hysterical as she gestures wildly to Wade and Ander. “I raised these boys on my own the same way the nuns raised me.” Her eyes flash with rage as they settle on Wade. “If you’d held your damn hands still like I asked, there wouldn’t be any scars.”

It takes everything in me not to tackle her. Or at least spit in her face. Silas hovers near Meredith as if ready to intervene.

So I focus on Wade instead.

“It’s over, Meredith. You’re no longer part of this company or this family. You’ll never hurt anyone I care about again.” He looks calm. Almost peaceful. “Thank you, Silas. I appreciate your support. More than you can ever know.” Wade turns to his employees. “I know I don’t always show it, but I appreciate all of you. Well, not Owen. He’s not only fired but will be brought up on formal charges.”

Owen jumps up, but the camp workers, including the cooks, are standing in front of the entrance. He swirls around. “What are you going to charge me with? George would lose his ass if it wasn’t attached. And you begging some guy to call you?—”

“Ask him about Flamingos,” Al yells from his seat.

Lydia laughs and covers her mouth with her hand.

Owen stomps over to him. I glance up at Wade in alarm. Are we going to have another fight? “Shut up, you fucking?—”

“Freddy’s Flamingos, to be exact.” Al stands and talks over him. “It’s a bowling alley chain, and Owen here has been helping them install a new digital security system. Only that company doesn’t exist. He’s been pouring this company’s money and resources into projects that only exist on paper. And pocketing the money.”

Holy shit.

When we talked to Al earlier, he told us he thought Owen was behind everything. But he failed to mention this.

The room is quiet for a moment, and then Owen laughs. “I’m not going down for this. I want to make a deal.”

Wade shakes his head. “That will be up to the prosecuting attorney?—”

“Come on, Wade.” He grins. “Aren’t you curious why Meredith wanted you out so bad?”

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