Done Deal by Max Henry

Author:Max Henry [Henry, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Max Henry
Published: 2020-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

GREER

I’m a goddamn ball of nerves. When I was six, my parents took me to a restaurant that had one of those static electricity balls at the concierge desk for curious kids like me. I set my hands against the glass, mesmerised by how the charges would snap and bend to meet my touch.

That’s how I feel now, as though my emotions snap and bend with every word spoken around me.

Ingrid hasn’t messaged.

As much as I want to believe it’s because she’s tied up with Libby watching her every move, that fearful part of me worries that she’s had a change of heart, and she’s busy divulging where we all are.

The defectors.

The rebels.

We want no more part in these manipulative games, and we’ve accepted the consequences that come with such freedom. Consequences like losing our security and sense of belonging while we rebuild who we are.

“Your father phoned.”

It takes me a moment to process that Derek’s quiet words were directed toward me. “Oh?”

“He told me why you left.”

“They want to ship me off for daring to make my own choices,” I state.

He nods, his piercing eyes dissecting my soul. “I can give you a lift home if you like. You do realise it’ll be easier to reason with them if you show you’re willing to compromise.”

I turn my head and frown. “What are you saying?” He truly is a handsome devil. Christian may have got his mother’s fair complexion and hair, but he has his father’s hard edge.

“I can help negotiate if you feel your concerns aren’t being heard.”

“Why would you do that?” Derek Mayberry never does a thing without personal gain.

His attention shifts to his only son, deep in conversation on the far side of the room. “You remind me of my wife when she was younger. Christian may not remember, but Marion had a certain spunk that I admired.”

“She doesn’t now?”

He sighs. “The years change people. As does servitude.” A mask falls before he turns to regard me once more. “I’d like to help, Greer. You don’t have to stay with your parents if the relationship needs mending, but there’s no need to run away.”

“And where would I go?” I challenge. “You think they’d let me leave the family home and bring disrepute amongst their peers once their friends find out they couldn’t control me?”

“You could stay with us.” He lifts his brow. “As far as anyone needs to know, you’re interning for a career in law.”

“With all due respect, people would see through that lie, wouldn’t they?”

“Not if I gave you work.”

I can’t figure him out. My whole upbringing, I’ve known Derek as a man you didn’t cross. My father spoke highly of him at the dinner table, recalling his exploits in the courtroom as though they were the efforts of my dad’s favourite sports team.

More than one mother in the school ground blushed and adjusted her neckline on the rare occasions he’d arrive to pick Christian up from Riverbourne Prep.

Derek is a man of power, and he earned that title through ruthless dealings and heartless compromise.

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