Staying On Top(10)

My phone beeped with an e-mail notification, something from Nike about my signing a new endorsement contract, which improved my mood a tad further. Then the masseuse arrived. I stripped in the bathroom, donned a towel, and spent the next hour letting her try to rub away my troubles.





Chapter 4


Blair





“Dad, you’re not listening. He and I know each other—it’s not going to work.”

The phone crackled and popped, letting my father’s gravelly, urging voice through in spurts. “I hear what you’re saying, Pear, but it’s a simple problem. Solve it. Your already having a relationship with Sam Bradford means we can’t run it the usual way, true, but it puts you in a position to run something of your own. Something unique. Use your charms.”

“I don’t want to use any kind of charm on that guy. Trust me, it’s not a good idea.”

“Because he’s already gotten you into bed or because he wants to but you don’t?”

“How many times have I told you that you and I don’t discuss sex?”

My dad sighed. “My prickly Pear. I’m not old-fashioned. I use all of the assets at my disposal to close the deal, and I’ve never shamed you for doing the same. I want the boy’s private accounts. You can get them for me.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” His request frustrated me more than usual because it meant reneging on my decision to not have anything to do with the overconfident, devastatingly handsome, ridiculously charming number two tennis player in the world. “I don’t even like him.”

“You don’t have to like him. You have to get him to trust you.”

The edge in his voice said this discussion had ended. I’d never been clear on what would happen if I refused to hold up my end of this twisted bargain. Would he stop paying for school? Cut me off altogether? Turn me in to Interpol or the FBI?

I’d already made up my mind to leave the lifestyle behind after graduation—I wouldn’t need Dad’s money anymore and I had enough aliases and contacts around the world to hide if he tried to throw me under the bus. I didn’t think he wouldn’t do that, for two reasons. The first being that my dad didn’t get emotionally involved enough to get angry. The second being that I had just as much dirt on him, and he had no way of knowing if I’d flip to save my own hide.

He’d used me all these years because I was there and I was free, except for school and general living expenses—and maybe because I’d been cute, and then pretty—but if I disappeared he’d find someone else. Part of the reason I’d recognized Sam’s con-man charm was that I’d grown up with it. It was a pretty smoke screen, an artificial heart-patter, and it didn’t appeal to me.

Even if the connection I’d felt—the heart-patter—had been more than simple charm, a relationship like that was the last thing I needed. Sam was used to getting what he wanted, but I was not keen to be used and then ignored. That had been my entire life.

It still was my life, I reminded myself. For a few more years. “Fine, Neil. I’ll figure it out.”

There had never been any hope of convincing him otherwise, which was why I’d sent Sam a note at his hotel in Paris a few weeks ago. The fact that my attempt to break the ice had gone unanswered felt problematic, but I doubted that a guy like him would pass on the opportunity to close a deal he’d been denied. His ego was his sweet spot, for me. Weak spot for him.

“That’s my girl. Send me a message when it’s done.”

“What are we doing for the holidays? Anything?”

Sometimes he liked to play the part of the loving father—usually to work an angle—but my plans would depend on his, and Audra had invited me to Elgin for the winter holiday.

“I don’t know. It’s going to depend on a few things, probably last minute.”

“Where are you?” I asked the question knowing there wouldn’t be an answer. Whether he wanted to protect me or himself had never been 100 percent clear, but if and when I saw my father, it would be in the form of a chartered jet with a flight plan filed by one of his many shadow companies, not by me.

“On the water, baby. You know that.”

He signed off with that, leaving me with an impossible problem, a marketing exam to study for, and a report for the night’s sorority meeting that needed to be prepped.

Audra hadn’t been home all day. She was gone more often than not, and when she was here she spent most of the time glued to her phone. The meeting was mandatory, though, and I thought maybe the two of us could hang out afterward.

First things first, though. Sam had ignored the message I’d left—his number had never been added to my phone on purpose, and when I’d gotten a new one it had been lost altogether—so I needed a way to get in touch with him. Which meant biting a rather bitter bullet.