Love Me Now (28 page)

Trey and Kenya stared at each other, neither saying a word. Joshua and Regina smiled at one another. “Joshua, why don't we finish this up in my office?”

“Good idea,” he said. They made a quick exit. When the
door closed Kenya walked over to Trey, who was still standing at his desk.

“Hello, Trey.”

“Hello, Kenya,” he said coolly. “What can I do for you?”

“Actually, it's what I can do for you,” she said.

He smiled. “And what might that be? No, let me guess.”

“Don't judge me before you know the facts. I think you told me that once,” she said.

“Did I? Well, in this case I believe I already know the facts.”

“I don't think so,” she said.

“Kenya, what are you doing here? You have what you wanted.” He walked around his desk and pressed a button. The glass wall and door instantly tinted. Their privacy was assured.

“You once told me that you'd never lie to me. But you lied.”

He looked up at her, feeling the sting. “I didn't lie to you, Kenya, I think you have that turned around. You lied to me.”

“Yes, I did. I lied and cheated and even stole. And you have no reason to believe anything I say now, but you lied, too.”

“About what?” he asked.

“You were working with my mother to help my father. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Two reasons. One, it was confidential, between a client and myself. And two, you didn't ask. You asked about your father. Either way, it wasn't up to me to tell you.”

“Mom told me last night. That's what I came to talk to you about before the cell-phone thing. I understand what happened now. I'm sorry. But the folder showed—”

“I presume you've already sent in your complaint to the SEC and you want to give me one last chance to reconsider.”

“No,” she said, reaching into her large purse and pulling out a large manila envelope. She placed it on his desk.

“What is that?” he asked.

She smiled. “You found my cell phone. You know exactly
what this is.” He nodded. “Although it's not what you think. I'm not sending anything anywhere. I need you to know that. Not that it really matters, but I'd like to know what happened with my father and his company.”

He smiled. “I thought you knew everything.”

“I know what he told me and what my mom told me, but—”

“It's irrelevant now. You know what, all in all, I really liked your dad. He was the lottery winner who constantly drove me crazy with his moneymaking ideas and schemes. To his credit I was impressed. Your father accomplished something few do. To tell you the truth I still can't believe he had the nerve to make a play like that. He didn't even tell his partner.”

“Cal knew.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dad may not be a brilliant businessman, but he keeps great records. And when he does research, he leaves no stone untouched. Cal, Dad's partner—he knew everything.”

“How do you know that?”

“In his papers, Dad notes that he found a vulnerable spot in your company. He called it your sweet spot. A while later he realized that it was possible to access and exploit it. There are e-mails between my dad and Cal. One even details how to get your stock legally using this sweet spot. Cal wanted to know what it was, but Dad didn't tell him.”

“Really.”

“Cal suggested in an e-mail that Dad should take advantage of it. Apparently Dad was still angry about your giving him an allowance with his own money. Cal gave him whatever information he needed and coached him on what to do. So, if anything, Cal knew and even shares equal blame. My dad may have found your sweet spot, but it was Cal who wanted to rip it open.”

“Interesting, and you say your father has papers documenting this information?”

“Yes, why?” she asked.

“I'd like to see them.”

“They're in the envelope.”

“Thank you,” he said.

A long silence opened between them. She wanted to say more but she didn't know what. “Trey, why are you being like this?” she asked.

“Like what?”

“Cold and unfeeling,” she said. “This isn't you.”

“Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do.”

She smiled. “Actually I do. I could never fall in love with you otherwise.” He looked at her, his eyes burning into her, seeming to search for some inkling of deceit. “I guess that's it. I see the Iceman is back.”

“He never left.”

“No, you're wrong about that,” she said. He didn't respond. “Goodbye, Trey.” She hurried out of his office, hoping to get as far away as possible. She stood at the bank of elevators waiting. Damn, the elevator was taking too long. How do you make a clean getaway when the elevator takes forever? “Forget this,” she muttered. She turned to take the stairs. Walking twenty-some floors down ought to calm her nerves a bit. As soon as she got to the door to the stairs she heard the elevator bell ring. It didn't matter.

“K
enya?”

Kenya stopped then turned to see her sister holding the elevator doors open. “Sidney,” she said, surprised to see her sister standing there. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Sidney smiled happily. “I work here. This is my job. I'm a temp, remember?”

“Here—you work here?” Kenya questioned. Sidney nodded. “Okay, you need to get yourself another job,” she ordered.

Sidney looked at her sister. The expression on her face was telling. She should know, it was directed at her often enough. Kenya was pissed. “No way,” Sidney said.

“Sidney, I'm not playing.”

“Neither am I. I'm keeping it. It has great perks.”

“Forget the perks, you need to quit, Sidney,” Kenya insisted.

“Why should I? This job is perfect. I get paid, I get college credit and I get back at the man who ripped Dad off.”

“What?”

Sidney smirked. “You know Asia can't keep a secret.”

“She told you about Dad?” Kenya asked.

“Duh, yeah, she told me the highlights. She assumed I didn't already know.”

“Wait a minute, you knew about Dad already?”

Sidney smiled. “You know, I am constantly amazed by the lack of faith this family has in me. I've known about it for the last five, almost six months. That's when I got this job.”

“Sidney,” Kenya said, stunned by the news.

“I overheard Dad and Mom talking. Figuring out the rest wasn't that hard. Dad's records are perfect. So when this position came up, I took it. Now we'll see who gets the last laugh.” The elevator began beeping.

“Exactly what are you doing?” Kenya asked as she grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her away from the elevator. The doors closed.

“Nothing much,” she said, smiling. “Just a bit of inside information sharing.”

“Sidney, if you're talking about insider trading—”

Sidney laughed. “No, I wouldn't do something so corny. I'm simply playing chess, just like you taught me.”

“What do you mean, playing chess?”

“I'm just making moves, putting players in place, a bit of advanced strategy.”

“What does all that mean?” Kenya asked, getting more agitated by the minute.

Sidney looked around as a couple of employees walked by talking. They spoke to Sidney and she smiled and greeted them. Sidney walked over to the stairs; Kenya followed. “Dad has been after Trey Evans for months. He's never been able to get at him. So I found a way.”

“What way?”

“There's a deal on the table. TE Acquisitions is merging with a company called Caine Enterprises. The announcement will be made next month. They're in final negotiations. Now here's the funny part. You know how I've had, like, a million temp jobs over the years?” she said. Kenya nodded. “Well, before getting a job here I had a job at Caine. You'd be surprised how much information you pick up when you're a temp. They act like you're invisible.”

“What did you find out?”

“Caine has a silent partner who's not on the books. Actually Caine is more like a front man.”

“So who's the silent partner?”

Sidney smiled and chuckled. “Phillip Garfield.”

“Who?”

“Phillip Garfield, Trey's father.”

Kenya went stone-cold. “What?”

“I overheard him talking about TE Acquisitions and how he wanted to get Trey back for taking his company. Just like he took Dad's company. So I started putting things in place.”

“You're working for Caine Enterprises, too…both companies?”

“No, of course not,” she said. “At least not anymore. I couldn't keep it up with my class schedule. It got too tricky after a while.”

“So you worked at both companies, planting information at both.”

“And neither one knew. I carefully placed pertinent information in their paths. They actually think the whole thing was their idea.”

“Wait a minute, you can't just plant information without suspicion. I know Trey, he's too smart just to pick up information and use it.”

“That's why I'm using a middleman,” she said, then chuckled. “And he doesn't even know it.”

“A middleman—who?” she asked.

“So by next month Trey's father will own a nice chunk of this company. I'll tell Dad about it just before the news is released. Dad will have his money back. Payback. Nice, huh?”

“Sidney, you can't do this,” Kenya said.

“Why not?”

“Because it's wrong,” Kenya said.

“How can it be wrong when you're doing the exact same thing?” Sidney said. Kenya opened her mouth to protest. “Actually your distracting him worked out well for me.”

“I am not and besides, you don't know the whole story.”

“And you do?”

“I didn't say that. It's just that there's more to this than I first thought. You need to let Mom take care of this.”

“So why are you here now?” Sidney asked.

“I came to stop all this,” Kenya said.

“Don't worry, sis, I got this.” The elevator beeped. “He'll never know what hit him. Listen, I gotta go, busy working. Hold the elevator,” she called out. She smiled mischievously and waved as the doors began to close.

Kenya shuddered. She stood like stone because she knew that smile. It meant that her little sister was about to get herself into major trouble. But this time she might not be able to get herself out. “Sidney, Sidney,” she called out, but the elevator doors closed.

Now what? Trey was good, too good. He played this game for a living. He had to know that there was more going on. So why would he continue with this unless he didn't know? And if that was the case, he was just about to hand over his company to his father.

Kenya turned and went back to his office. His receptionist told her that he was in a meeting. Kenya asked about Regina.
She was in a meeting, too. Kenya nodded and left. She waited for an elevator in hopes of seeing her sister again, but didn't.

She called Sidney on her cell. It rang several times then went to voice mail. She left a message, then an urgent text message. She called Trey next. His answering system picked up. She left him a message that she needed to see him as soon as possible. By the time the elevator arrived to the main lobby she was panicked.

 

“Everything all settled?” Regina asked as she went back into her brother's office. “When's the wedding?”

“Wedding?” Trey frowned. “What are you talking about—what wedding?”

“Yours and Kenya's. See, I knew I was right about the two of you. The moment I saw her I could see it in her eyes. Then when you came down, I saw the exact same thing in your eyes. I knew you guys were meant to be together.”

“Then you were wrong. There's no wedding.”

“What?”

“You heard me, no wedding, and no relationship.”

“Trey—”

“I don't want to talk about this, Regina.”

“Good, 'cause all you need to do is shut up and listen. This is so ridiculous. It's always business with you, never any time for anything or anyone else. Does that sound familiar?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he said, refusing to see the implied comparison between him and his father.

“Of course not. Ever since that court case with you and Dad when they called you the Iceman, you've turned into exactly what you hated.”

“If you're referring to me being anything like Dad, then—”

“I'm not finished. You used to be the coolest big brother. I could come to you with anything, for anything.”

“You still can,” he said, feeling the sting of her words hitting him hard.

“No, it's all business with you. All you care about is this company. Trey, you never let anyone into your life anymore. You became just what they said, an Iceman. But then Kenya showed up and you actually let down your guard. Now you're gonna back off.”

“There's more to this, Regina.”

“What, that she's James Whitaker's daughter? So what.”

“Joshua told you?” he asked.

“He didn't need to. I read the file months ago. The connection was obvious. So what if she wanted revenge and that brought you together.”

“And that was okay with you? The fact that she wanted me in jail for something I was accused of doing?” he asked.

“Is that what she wants from you now?” she asked.

“No.”

“Then what's the problem? Stop being so stubborn and let it go. You obviously can't focus on business or anything else until you do. Two weeks ago you were all gung-ho about the Caine deal. Now, you're vacillating.”

“I'm not vacillating, I'm being careful.”

“Trey, don't you see, that's why this Caine deal is all over the place. You can't lock it down because a part of you knows there's something wrong, but you're too pigheaded to really see the problem. I've watched you for years going from romance to romance. You never seemed to find the woman for you. Cool, I get that, you want to be sure. In Kenya, I think you found her. You just can't admit it. Don't mess this up, Trey. Listen to your younger sister for once. I don't want you regretting what could have been in another fifty years.”

Trey didn't speak for a while. He just looked at the manila folder Kenya had laid on his desk. But instead of thinking
about Kenya or about what Regina had just said, he was thinking about Colonel Wheeler.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said. Mrs. Thatcher opened the door and the twins ran in. They saw Regina and ran right to her.

“Hey, you guys.” She knelt down and hugged them.

“I thought it best for the twins to be here when their parents came for them this afternoon.”

“Good idea,” Trey said, giving Jonathan a high five.

A few moments later Joshua came in and a rousing game of toss the ball began. The twins reached as Trey and Joshua tossed the ball around the room. The room was so noisy that they barely heard the knock. Tony and Madison walked in.

“Hey,” Madison said, falling to her knees. The twins rushed to her. She was in tears. Tony knelt beside her and hugged each child. After nearly ten minutes of embracing her children and catching up, Madison hugged Regina and Trey and Joshua. Joshua and Tony shook hands and Tony and Trey hugged. Madison hugged Mrs. Thatcher.

“Thank you, Mrs. Thatcher, I don't know what we would have done without you. You're a lifesaver.”

“Hey, what about me?” Trey exclaimed, feeling left out.

“Oh, please,” Madison said to her cousin.

“Come on, I was a huge help,” he protested.

“Indeed he was,” Mrs. Thatcher said.

“See,” Trey said.

They all laughed as Trey described his first few hours with the twins. He confessed to losing them while on the phone because he'd fallen asleep. Madison was totally upset. “You did what?”

“I know, I know, I got yelled at enough by Kenya about that. Don't worry, it'll never happen again.”

“It better not,” she said, playfully hitting him on the arm.
“So who's Kenya?” she asked. Trey looked at Regina. “What?” Madison looked to Tony, who looked at Trey and Joshua. “Okay, somebody needs to say something.”

“She's a friend,” Trey said.

“Oh,” Madison said. “A friend-friend or a
friend-friend?”

“What does that even mean?” Tony asked, chuckling.

“He knows what I mean,” Madison said.

“A friend, just a friend,” Trey assured her.

She nodded but wasn't at all convinced. There was something different about him. She couldn't put her finger on it but in a week's time something had changed.

They discussed Kennedy, Juwan and Taylor, then went on to talk about the museum opening. Tony gave Trey a message from J.T., who went directly home to his pregnant wife. They all decided to get together that weekend, allowing Madison and Tony time to get resettled. As they prepared to leave, Madison talked Mrs. Thatcher into staying on with them for a few more days. She readily agreed.