Mason shook his head. “Don’t do that, and don’t say bamboozle again.”
“Why not?” Logan followed us down the hallway. “I like it. It reminds me of boobies. Who doesn’t like boobies?”
“Don’t.” Mason shot him a look as we reached our room.
Logan had stopped at his door and shrugged, grinning. “You’re the boss. But wait. Do you know what you’re the boss of?”
“Don’t—” Mason started.
“Of boobies!” Logan laughed, heading inside his room.
We laughed, too. For once, I was thankful for the long run I’d taken, for seeing my mom, and for knowing the plan against James Kade. Because once I hit that pillow, I fell asleep immediately, my worries about marriage forgotten—at least for now.
A few days later, James Kade sat behind his desk, squared off against Mason, Logan, and myself. Logan and I sat in the chairs, and Mason stood to the side. At the moment, however, James Kade only had eyes for his eldest son.
He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tented. “Let’s hear it. What’s the reason you brought an audience to this meeting, Mason?”
Mason dropped a file on the desk.
“And what’s this?” James leaned forward, bringing it in front of him.
“That’s a file on one of your employees.”
“Jared Caldron?” James skimmed through the papers. “He’s a laborer for my landscaping company.” His eyes lifted back to Mason. “Why am I reading about him?”
“Because he was best friends with Budd Broudou in high school, and what you don’t know is that we had a hand in getting Broudou sent to prison.”
James didn’t seem to react. His face remained passive for a full fifteen seconds before he shot to his feet, sending his chair flying into the bookshelves behind him. “What did you do?”
I stood up. “They didn’t do anything. I mean, not really.”
Mason said over me, “She’s lying for me. I did do something.”
Logan stood up, too. Everyone paused and looked at him, and he held up his hands. “I wanted to fit in. Everyone’s standing.”
Mason cursed, rolling his eyes.
James’ attention went right back to Mason. “You’re going to explain everything to me.”
“Budd Broudou and his brother were our rivals in high school. They did shitty things to us. We retaliated—“
“Of course you did. Why would my sons ever not get revenge?”
Mason kept going, ignoring his father’s sarcasm. “Brett turned to our side—or kind of on our side.”
I felt Mason’s eyes linger on me.
“And Budd got pissed. He said he’d been waiting for me to get a girlfriend so he could destroy something I cared about.”
“Oh, God.” James swung his gaze to me. “Samantha…”
“So I pretended to be dating someone else.”
“What?”
“For a weekend, I was with someone else.”
“You cheated on Sam?”
I’d been staring at the desk, reliving the past, but looked back up now. “No,” I said fiercely. “He did not cheat on me.”
Logan slid his hands into his pockets. “He set up his ex to take the fall for Sam.”
“I didn’t enjoy touching someone else, but I had to, and I had to do it where Budd Broudou would see me. I only touched her when he could see. He had to buy the lie.”
“And let me guess.” James’ disapproval was thick. “He tried to hurt this girl?”
I cleared my throat. It was my turn now. “He was going to rape her, but I came running by. I poured gasoline on his truck and set it on fire to distract him. Someone called the cops, and he was arrested. The girl testified against him.”
“That’s what put him away, and this guy wants payback now that you guys are back in Fallen Crest.”
Logan gave him a half-grin. “Look at Pops here. All smart and catching on quick.”
James shot him a look as he sat back down. “Not now, Logan Nathan.”
Logan’s eyes widened, but he shut his mouth and sat down, as did I.
Mason leaned against the wall beside us, crossing his arms over his chest. “Now you know the details. We need your help dealing with him.”
“What’s he doing?”
All three of us shared a look.
“I can’t discipline him if I don’t have a reason to,” James said. “I need a reason.”
“I don’t want you to discipline him. I want you to promote him,” Mason explained.
James fell quiet, staring for a beat. “You want him to have incentive not to do something. Give him something to lose, and he’ll work even harder to keep it. Something like that?”