Even Jamie jumped up at that news. “Excuse me?” he sputtered.
“I’m not backing out of the deal.”
Tessa felt sweat br
eak out all over her body.
“They’re criminals and psychos!” Jamie yelled.
Eric stared him down. “They’re a tool for expanding our business. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Tessa shook her head frantically. “We don’t want to expand.”
“Since when?”
“Since Jamie and I talked about it and agreed we don’t want to expand. You’re supposed to involve us, Eric.”
“You’ve both been involved from the start. I haven’t kept one damn thing secret, unlike the two of you.”
She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I just didn’t want you and Jamie to fight. I thought if I got the deal back on track, it wouldn’t matter.”
He bowed his head and stuck both hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“I’m honestly disturbed by the magnitude of this. You betrayed me. And embarrassed me. What else are you lying about?”
“Nothing!” she said quickly. “Nothing. And Jamie didn’t want to lie at all. He wanted to tell you what happened, but I was afraid.”
“And there’s nothing else you need to tell me?”
“No. Nothing. Please don’t be mad, Eric. And please don’t call Roland Kendall about the deal. If nothing else, we need to wait and see what Luke finds out. We can’t trust these people.”
“It seems we can’t trust anyone,” he said quietly.
“I’m sorry. I swear I won’t—”
“I already called Roland Kendall.”
His simple, quiet words hit her with the force of a train.
Eric cocked his head. “Is there something you want to tell me? Something you left out of your confession?”
The walls were moving again, sliding closer to her, pushing the air from the room. Tessa pressed a hand to her chest. Jamie looked from Eric to her and back again. “What is it?”
“Tessa? Do you want to tell him or should I?”
She shook her head, shame rolling over her for lying to his face.
“Tessa made a new deal with Kendall. She told him that if he signed the contract, there’d be no charge for the first six months of supply.”
“What?” Jamie gasped.
She tried to back up a step, but the table was in the way. She ended up sitting down on it, hard. “I just wanted to help.”
“Help, how?” Jamie asked. “Where the hell was that money going to come from?”
“From me.” Both her brothers stared at her like she’d grown another head. “I was going to pay for it.”