Chapter 8
Eight
HE HAS A WIFE!!!!!
Fresh out of the shower, all my tears cried out, I’m sitting cross legged on my bed and texting Kaia. It’s only seconds before she replies.
Who? she responds.
I fire back. Keir! He has a fucking wife, Kaia! Why the fuck would you set me up with him?
Silence for a moment.
I know nothing about this. I’ve been to his house. Keir introduced himself as a single dad. Like… if he has a wife, she’s not in the picture.
I grit my teeth and text back. THAT DOESN’T MATTER!
Three dots announce that Kaia is writing me back. Then they disappear for almost a full minute before the message finally arrives.
I had no idea. Ella, I’m so sorry. Can I come over?
I think about it for three seconds, then swiftly shake my head.
No. I’d like some space.
I think that our brief conversation is over, but Kaia sends one more message.
I’m going to call you tonight to check in. I love you and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.
I’m so furious that I hurl the phone onto the floor and leave the bedroom. Kaia may have been well-intentioned, but I ended up getting royally screwed by her pushing Keir and I together.
Gathering up a pile of laundry, I put it in a hamper and then slam the front door open. My father stands there, his fist raised, about to knock on the door. He takes one look at me and purses his lips.
“Well? What happened between you and Grayrose?”
It takes everything inside me to maintain a blank expression. Stepping aside, I wave him in. “Come inside, Daddy. And nothing really happened.”
It’s a lie, such a big obvious one that my cheeks threaten to give me away just from blushing. But I just set my laundry hamper down and fuss with my clothes, hoping that I look unworried.
The opposite of the turmoil that I feel inside. I pray that I never have to lay eyes on Keiran Grayrose ever again.
My dad starts pacing, his hand on his chin. “Did you close the deal with him?”
I look up, my eyes going wide. “What?”
“To be his au pair! You must have talked about it!” He fidgets, seeming on edge.
“We… talked about it. I really don’t think it’s a good fit, Daddy.”
He stops pacing, his gaze fixing me on the spot. He sneers.
“And why not? What have you got going on that’s better than taking his money?”
I swallow. “Well, nothing. But I’ve seen the way he gets sometimes. He lashes out at people, who almost always happen to be people less powerful than himself. I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I’m his subordinate. Besides, I think he knows that you… umm… used to work for him.”
I conveniently leave out what the journalist said, which was that Keir personally fired my father for embezzlement. If that’s true, it’s the first time I heard about it.
In the pit of my stomach though, a little worm of acid crawls around. And that little worm is not terribly surprised.
My dad looks at me, pacing and shaking his head. “I hope you didn’t mess this up already. You need to take this job.”
The way my dad is acting is making me uncomfortable.
“Why? I can find a job here in New York. Or maybe back home, even. Keir is angry and controlling and honestly there is too much of an age difference for him to listen to a word I say.” I pause, bringing my logic back around. “I can work for somebody that doesn’t have Keir’s anger issues.”
“No! That won’t do! Can’t you see?”
“See what?”
“You would be in the perfect place to find out whatever Grayrose is hiding. You can live with him, spy on him, and report that back to me.”
I cock my head, totally puzzled.
“Why would you need to know that stuff? By the way, that sounds like a terrible way to live for a month.”
My father steps across the living room, grabbing my arm and squeezing. He looks deranged, the same look as I associate with his late nights playing poker, losing thousands upon thousands of dollars. There is a mad glint in his eye, a sign that he’s gambling again.
But I don’t understand the stakes.
“Why would you ask me to do that, Daddy?”
He releases me with a little push and walks over to the window, peering out.
“I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this. But I have no choice.”
My breath freezes in my chest. In my head, the one very specific scenario that I’ve been afraid of for my whole adult life takes shape.
My dad finally gambled away all the family’s money for the last time and now the family will be put out on the street.
“What?” I force myself to ask. Numbness washes over me, the feeling that this was always going to happen. “Did you lose everything?”
“What?” His head snaps as he looks over to me. “Why would you say that?”
My cheeks instantly redden. “I don’t know…” I mumble.
“It’s much more serious than that. It’s your sister.”
An image of Joy blossoms in my head. “Is she okay?”
“No, Ella. She’s not okay. Your sister has stage three acute myeloid leukemia. That’s cancer.”
My mouth opens in an O. I drop the towel I’m holding and stumble backward, horrified.
My little sister, a cancer patient?
I immediately start bawling, just blubbering, trying to say things and not making much sense.
“She has cancer?? How? How long? She didn’t tell me about any of it…”
My father has never really been the comforting sort. He’s always relied on my mom for that. He gives me a vaguely sympathetic look before reminding me.
“You need to be focused on what Joy needs right now. And besides, she doesn’t know.
Your mother and I have talked to her doctors and together we decided that it would be better if your sister wasn’t burdened by the information.
” He pauses, then sees that I’m about to protest. He holds up his hand to stop my words.
“It’s just temporary, until the end of the school year.
We just want her to enjoy her time for the next two months.
After all, it may be all she gets before she has to worry about her hair falling out and being sick and… stuff.”
I stuff my knuckles against my lips, holding back my disagreement. After all, what do I know about cancer?
Just that my grandmother died of breast cancer before I was born.
My daddy sees that I’m still processing, so he says the next slowly, almost kindly.
“Our health insurance will not cover about ninety percent of the treatments Joy is going to need. Only cold, hard cash will do that. And that’s why I need a better job.”
I wipe away my tears, not quite understanding. “What now?”
“See, Grayrose made a decision that he liked another news anchor more than me. Probably because she was a white woman. Allegedly, there was an affair between them. So you see, I just want what would technically be mine if Grayrose wasn’t such a toxic, cheating asshole.”
I squint. “Wait… are you saying…”
He smiles grimly. “I want you to gather dirt on him. Something big and juicy. And then when you tell me, I will approach him with the greatest discretion and ask for my job back. Plus enough backpay to fund your sister’s chemo and radiation treatments.
” He looks woeful for a second, casting his eyes to the ground.
“I am just trying to make sure that your sister will be well taken care of. That’s my truest desire. ”
I inhale a shaky breath. “I don’t think that Lord Grayrose will even want me to work for him. Honestly, we didn’t get on very well.”
My father folds his arms across his chest, a grave expression on his face.
“Your mother and I checked into treatments for your sister’s cancer.
Unless I can get my old job back and all the back pay I am owed, we won’t be able to afford top of the line treatments.
Your little sister’s life could be at risk.
” He pauses, inhaling. “If there is any way that you can make it work, Ella. Please do it.”
My breath leaves me in a rush.
“What if Lord Grayrose lives a good and moral life?”
Daddy laughs at my suggestion.
“Let me tell you right now. That man is too wealthy and too connected to politics to live anything but a morally bankrupt, corrupt existence. I promise you, there is undoubtedly something juicy.”
Something like… sleeping with the much younger daughter of a former employee while he was a married man? My cheeks color.
My father is right. Keir probably has piles and piles of dirt.
I look up at my dad. “Is there really no other way? What about suing NewsCorp for employee discrimination?”
My father’s mouth twitches with displeasure.
“That will take time. And Joy doesn’t have that time to give.”
Biting my lower lip, I take a slow breath in.
“Hey!” my dad says, his tone sharp.
I glance up, my eyes widening.
“Grayrose? He’s not a good guy. You are not doing any harm to anyone by agreeing to help your sister. Okay?”
“I don’t think it will turn out to be that simple, Daddy. Your plans… they are often slightly… light on the details.”
He grimaces, pointing a finger down. “Are you saying that I don’t want what’s best for sweet little Joy?”
My eyes fill with tears again. “Of course not.”
“Then get on the phone and make things right with Grayrose. He’s still in town, so figure it out while there is still time.”
Glancing behind me, I look at the old clock in the kitchen. It’s twelve noon. If I hurry, I can talk to Keir again before he makes the blackmail drop in the lobby of his hotel.
Blowing out a breath, I nod. “I’ll do it.”
My father grins for a second, then remembers himself. His smile dies and he looks somber.
“Thank you. You know that you are doing the right thing. Joy will get the treatment she needs. And Grayrose will get what’s coming to him, too.”
Scrunching my face up, I sigh. “Fine, Daddy. I think I should change and get ready to leave. I want to try to catch Lord Grayrose before he leaves the country.”
My father comes over, wrapping me in an awkward hug. “That's great to hear, baby girl.”
I let him hug me, but I make no effort to hug him back. There is no love lost between my father, the gambler, and me, his prodigal daughter.
He turns me loose as suddenly as he hugged me, clearing his throat. Dad turns to the front door, opening it.
“Text me when you’ve talked to him. Be sweet, the way I know you can be. Just keep your sister in your thoughts. Okay?”
Narrowing my eyes on his face, I give him a long look. Dad is laying it on real thick right now, trying to make sure that I comply with his instructions.
There is a moment where I start to second guess our arrangement. What if he’s not telling me the whole truth?
But then my dad is out the door. And I’m left trying to decide whether or not I should believe him.