Top Dog

“Fuck, do you think she heard?” Nate’s voice carried down the hall, and as I rounded the corner, Chance called after me.

“Carrie! Fuck!” he yelled behind me.

I didn’t stop. I hurried up the stairs leaving them to tend to business or plan his next fucking tryst. I had to sit tight for another few days, and then I would be free with a $100,000 and a tough lesson learned. I didn’t even want to see him. If it hadn’t been for the airfare, I would have left immediately, but I’d be damned if I let him cost me a dime.

I decided to call Rick and arrange another call home.

Twenty minutes later I was on with Lindy, unsure if what we were saying was being recorded. I decided I didn’t care. I needed to tell her what was going on. If Nate could know things, then so could my best friend.

“Are you okay?” Lindy’s voice made me feel even further from home.

“No, I should’ve listened to you.”

The sound of her breath hit the phone as she sighed. “I know it’s bad when you think listening to me was a better option, and I wo

n’t make it worse by saying I told you so.”

“You just did.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“His friend showed up today because of some business situation, and I overheard them talking. The dickhead actually said Chance was “swimming in pussy.” I feel sick, Lindy. I was actually starting to think I was special. Oh my God, I’m so stupid,” I said, a tear slipping down my cheek.

“Oh honey,” was all she could say, her voice full of sympathy.

“Once I’m home, the money will be in my account. I think I’ll go somewhere else. Maybe sell the house as is and move Dad and I somewhere else. I feel like I need a fresh start.”

“Sure, I get it. I’ll meet you at the airport when you get back.”

“Thanks, Lindy. I knew I could count on you.” The tears ran down my cheeks, and I wiped them away angrily. No, I would not cry over him. I would lay back, spread my legs, and earn my money—like all the others. I tried not to vomit as I thought about it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - CHANCE

I wasn’t sure how much she’d heard or where her mind was at, but as soon as I was about to go after her, the phone rang. I threw it to Nate on my way out, but he stopped me at the door.

“You’ve got to take this.” I turned to see his narrowed eyes and pinched brows.

I took the phone and saw who was calling. It was no joke. It was our largest investor. “You don’t think that they’ve found out about the environmental claims too?” Now the top three of our investors had taken issue. This problem wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

“You better answer that and find out.”

I was the only one who ever handled this particular company, so I swiped at my phone’s screen and walked to the corner of the room to take the call.

“Hey, Peter.” Peter Proctor was not an easy-going guy. The old man was so uptight that I expected him to stroke out at any given time. He had a reputation as a hard hitter and someone who dropped clients quicker than a Tyson left hook. When he said jump, you either asked how high or looked for a cliff.

“I want to see you, and I want to discuss this new location. I’ll have my environmental group inspect it and depending on my findings, I’m either in or out,” he barked into the phone. So far for making small talk.

“I can arrange something next week—”

“Next week? Are you shitting me, boy?” Peter’s voice was so loud I could hold the phone away and hear every word. The fact that we were two seconds into the call and he had already called me boy, was a good sign that I was in trouble. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning.”

“I’m in Ireland.” I left him to do the math.

“Then I’ll see you the day after!” The phone went dead, and I walked back to the desk where I’d sat with Nate and plopped down in my chair.

“So, that didn’t go well.”

“Did he say he’d meet us in New York?” He had overheard the loud man’s voice across the room.