Page 61 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
“Here’s your employee badge.” Tolyan hands her a laminated ID with the foundation’s logo underneath.
She takes it and clips it at her waist. “Thanks.”
He grunts. “You have hair.”
“How very observant.”
“In a fight, I’d grab that hair and smash your face against a wall,” he says pleasantly.
She smiles. “I’m sure you’d try.”
Uncomfortable with their interaction, I grab a legal pad and pen off my desk and jump to my feet. “I’m going to see if Elizabeth needs anything,” I announce to remind Tolyan that his boss is right here in the same office.
“As well you should,” he says coldly.
Ignoring him, I spin around to face Bobbi. “Why don’t you wait for me over there?” I point at the two long couches in the vestibule. “You can read magazines or browse recipe sites or whatever you want to do.”
“Sure.” She gives Tolyan a last look and then parks herself in the vestibule. It’s far enough that Tolyan and she can’t speak to each other without raising their voices. Hopefully both are well mannered enough to not talk trash across the distance.
Although the door to Elizabeth’s office is open, I knock anyway. She lifts her head from the documents she’s been reviewing and smiles. “Welcome back, Iris. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” I say with extra exuberance so she doesn’t decide I need another week off. “Thank you.” I take a seat opposite her.
“Excellent. I heard from Tony about the bodyguard. Hope she’s comfortable?”
I cringe inwardly. It’s one thing for someone like Elizabeth to have a bodyguard, but something else for a lowly assistant to have one tagging along everywhere. Hopefully my boss doesn’t think it’s weird or presumptuous. It’s impossible to tell how she really feels from her smooth voice and perpetually warm expression. “Yeah. She’ll entertain herself until I’m done.”
“It’s a smart move. I’m glad you have somebody watching over you. After what Sam Peacher pulled, I’d consider it negligent if Tony didn’t do more to keep you safe. If we don’t take care of the people we love, nobody will.” She grows serious. “I had no clue what he was planning to do, and I apologize. I should’ve suspected something when he specifically insisted on handing the check to you.”
“No, no.” I shake my head, horrified she harbors such guilt about what happened. “He was using the work we do for children to trick you. Please don’t feel bad. I’m sorry my personal drama messed things up.”
“It didn’t mess anything up. Tony’s been very generous to the cause, far more so than Sam intended. I presume that has something to do with you, so thank you.”
I flush, chagrined about Sam and happy that Tony’s already kept his promise to make the donation. “I don’t think Sam will actually donate the money he promised.”
Elizabeth’s gray eyes are wintry now. “Even if he offered me every penny of his fortune, I wouldn’t take it. What he did was unforgivable.”
Wow. When Tony said she wouldn’t take Sam’s donation, I thought he was just saying it to console me. I understand Elizabeth’s rich, but it strikes me again just how rich to see her easy dismissal of Sam’s millions. Sam always told me he was special—somebody important because of his money. “As long as I’m wealthy, nobody can ever look down on me or turn me away.”
For a second, I wonder what he’d do if he knew how much Elizabeth disdains him. A petty, vindictive part of me wishes I’d recorded what she just said so I could send it to him.
“But enough about that,” Elizabeth is saying. “There’s a new project I want you to be part of. I’ve been wanting to do art and music programs for underprivileged children. I never got around to it because giving children access to art and music can be incredibly cost-inefficient. You can’t mass-deliver self-expression.”
I perk up at the mention of music. “I understand.”
“But we have a partner who wants to do a pilot program with us. It’s going to focus on teaching children music. Given your background, I think you’ll be perfect for overseeing it with his people.”
“Oh my.” I bite my lower lip. She doesn’t want me assisting someone, but actually overseeing a project. I haven’t been with the foundation for long, and this is a huge responsibility. Others who have spearheaded projects, like Rhonda, have been with the foundation for years. I wonder if I can pull it off. I’ve been mainly supporting other people and doing memos and spreadsheets. Leading a project feels like being told to sight-read a Liszt piano concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic.
Elizabeth senses my nervousness. “I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think you’d be great at it. If you need any help, you can always reach out to me or Rhonda. She’s great at logistics and budgeting. And I’m sure Byron’s going to have competent people on his side to help you.”
I inhale, trying to calm my nerves. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. Elizabeth doesn’t want me to fail, and she wouldn’t have asked me to do this if she didn’t think I’d be good enough. I’ll put in overtime if necessary.
Then it finally registers. “Byron?”
“Byron Pearce is the partner,” she says. “I think you know him. He said he decided to try it with us because of you.”
“Oh.” That was sweet of Byron, although Tony might be annoyed. He doesn’t even pretend to hide how much he dislikes Byron. Ideally, I’d like to avoid a situation that will upset Tony…especially in social settings. But the interaction I’m going to have with Byron on this project is strictly professional. And while Tony insists that Byron wants to sleep with me, he’s never done anything inappropriate in the two years I’ve known him. Unlike Audrey, he hasn’t thrown anything at Tony in a jealous fit. He’s not going to decide all of a sudden that he wants to change the nature of our relationship, no matter what Tony thinks. “Thank you, Elizabeth. I’ll do my best.”
