Masquerade (Swept Away #2.5)(10)

*

I watched as Larry Renee approached me and I could feel my blood boiling as I stared at his tight smile and beady eyes. Larry Renee was at the top of my hit list, being the man that had made my mother feel like a whore for having slept with Jeremiah Bradley. I could still remember her pain as she’d told me the story of what Larry had made her do. She’d only told me the story once, maybe because she’d been too embarrassed to mention it again. I didn’t blame her though. I understood what it was like to have your actions twisted. She’d told me when I was in ninth grade and not studying much. In fact, I’d come home with a D on a math test and she’d scolded me harshly, the upset evident in her voice.

“It’s just one test, Mom.” I’d shrugged, annoyed that she was making a big deal of it. I didn’t care about school and particularly not that school. The other students didn’t like smart kids and I didn’t want to draw more attention to myself. I was already the kid who everyone whispered about. I didn’t want to be the class nerd as well.

“You can do better than this,” she’d said, her eyes wide with a pain I hadn’t understood at the time.

“Yeah,” I’d said, and looked away, feeling annoyed.

“Jakob, listen to me.” She’d grabbed my hands and pulled me to the couch. “You go to an expensive school. A very good school, but it’s expensive. And I want you to go to a good college.” Her voice broke and I looked up at her in confusion. “I can’t afford either of these tuitions by myself. And I can’t afford this apartment either.” She sighed. “I need you to try harder, Jakob. I need you to soak this all up, so you can have the opportunities that I can’t give you.”

“How can you even afford this place or the school?” I’d asked angrily. I didn’t understand how we were able to live in such a nice apartment yet I couldn’t even get some nice shoes.

“Jakob, your dad . . .” Her voice trailed off and she looked at me consideringly before taking a deep breath. My heart thudded as I noticed there were tears in her eyes. “Jakob, your father had me sign a nondisclosure agreement that stated I would never talk to the media about our relationship. In return he gave me a chunk of money. I used the money to buy us a home and for your education.”

“Oh.” I just looked at her, not knowing what to say.

“It made me feel cheap, Jakob, my darling. It made me feel like I was some sort of prostitute being paid to keep my mouth shut, but I didn’t care. I still signed those damn papers that Larry Renee shoved in my face.” She shook her head angrily. “He made me feel like a cheap whore that had sold her soul, but I still did it, Jakob. I signed those papers for you. I signed them for your future. Don’t waste this opportunity. You need to study, you need to do well.” She grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “One of these days, I want you to run your own company. One of these days, I want you to be the one in charge. You might think David has it all now, but one of these days you’re going to be the one on top.” She’d kissed my forehead then and stood up abruptly. I’d sat there, with my head spinning and hatred in my heart that my father and his lawyer had made my mother sign an agreement that had made her feel cheap. I’d vowed to myself then that I wouldn’t let it be in vain. I would work my ass off so that one day I would be successful and make my mother proud.

“Jakob, young man, how are you doing?” Larry walked up to me as I stood at the bar waiting to place my order, an out-of-place Steve following behind him.

“I’m fine. How are you?” I shook his hand, faking warmth toward the man who had my mother sign papers that said she would never tell of her affair with Jeremiah Bradley in exchange for a chunk of money. She’d never showed me the agreement, but I’d found the papers in her drawer after she’d died and I hated him for making my mother feel like some sort of whore. She worked as a maid all her life and I knew that she’d been too proud to take the money, but had done so for me; even when the language of the agreement had been so degrading.

“Good.” He nodded and lowered his voice. “David told me he talked to you about Bianca London.”

“Yes, yes, he did.” I was annoyed at the mention of her name.

“She’s going to be at the shareholders’ meeting next week.” He made a face. “She asked me to get her shares, so she’s using a proxy from me.”

“Okay.”

“She wants to meet Mattias Bradley.” He looked at me and then at Steve. “She wants to ask him some questions about her father, his inventions, and why he left the company.” He looked around quickly and then spoke again. “She wants to know what happened to her mother.”

“Her mother?” I asked him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“She wants to investigate her mother’s death.”

“Her mother’s death?”

“Her mother died in a car crash.”

Steve’s eyes bore into mine with no expression as he spoke up: “Bianca doesn’t think it was an accident.”

“Okay. So what does she think happened?”

“She thinks your dad had her killed,” Larry answered, but it was Steve’s face I looked at. There was an emotion that flickered in his eyes for a brief second, and I felt myself stiffening. This was important.