“Well, technically it’s mine now,” he corrects me. “But my father was the founder, yes.”
As I listen to his words, I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach, and all the air has been driven from my lungs. I stare at him for a minute, wide eyed and open mouthed as the shock surging through me gives way to a potent anger.
“Are you even fucking kidding me right now, Sawyer?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not, and I know I should have said something sooner –”
“You’re goddamn right you should have,” I hiss. “Like the night of the board meeting.”
“I know, I just –”
“You what? Thought it would be fun to screw with me?” I snap. “Oh, I know – you thought you could take another run at getting me into bed, right? Try to complete that old college conquest? Is that it?”
He chuckles. “You and Rider, you’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Shut up. Just shut up,” I sneer. “Nothing about this is funny.”
He sits back in his seat as the smile falls from his face. He looks back at me, his expression smug, arrogant, and without the least bit of contrition. I know I should stand up and walk away, but there’s part of me that wants answers. Wants to know what he thought he was going to get out of playing this stupid game with me. I mean, I figure I already know what his ultimate endgame was, but for some reason, the masochistic side of me wants to hear him say it.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and try to gather my wits about me. It’s a process I have to repeat a few times.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask. “What was your ultimate goal here, Sawyer?”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d be pissed. I knew this is how you’d react.”
“Damn right I am,” I spit. “And I have every right to be.”
“Maybe,” he replies.
“Maybe? Are you joking?” I growl. “You lied to me, Sawyer.”
He shakes his head. “I never lied. Never once,” he claims. “I just didn’t answer certain questions because I didn’t want to lie to you. I think as a lawyer, you can appreciate the difference.”
“Don’t get cute with me,” I fire back. “Lying by omission is still a lie, and you know that.”
“I wasn’t aware I was under oath.”
I grit my teeth so hard; I’m half-afraid I’m going to crack them. My blood is boiling. There is a big part of me that wants to punch him square in the nose. That he can be so flippant and dismissive about all of this is well beyond infuriating.
“You son of a bitch,” I whisper. “You are a son of a bitch.”
“I know you’re upset –”
“You’re goddamn right I am.”
He sighs. “Look, I knew this was how you were going to react,” he says gently. “I was going to tell you the first night we went to dinner, but honestly, I was enjoying your company so much, I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“You mean, you thought you had a chance to get me into bed and didn’t want to ruin it,” I snap.
He shakes his head. “That’s not it, Berlin,” he snaps, his voice sizzling with heat. “Believe it or not, sleeping with you is pretty low on my list of priorities. In fact, this whole thing with me and you has absolutely zero to do with that.”
I sit back in my seat, feeling like I just got slapped across the face. The stupid thing is, I don’t know why I feel like that. I mean, sleeping with Sawyer has always been a non-starter for me. But to hear him say he’s not even interested in sleeping with me hits me right in the ego. It’s silly and makes absolutely no sense, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting my pride just a bit.
It would be simple for me to write it off as a case of him lying just to make himself look better. But I don’t necessarily think it would be true. When I look into his eyes, I see the heat of his anger. I see his earnestness – and his sincerity. It’s pretty shocking to me, but when he said he wasn’t interested in me for the sex – my bruised ego aside – it looks and sounds to me like he’s actually being honest.
But still, that doesn’t mean he gets a pass for lying to me – by omission or otherwise.
“Fine, whatever,” I stammer, trying to get my feet back under me. “That doesn’t change the fact that you had a chance to tell me that you’re the one trying to destroy the lives of the people at the Atwell, and you didn’t.”
“I’m not trying to destroy anybody’s life, Berlin,” he says, dialing back some of the anger that had colored his voice before. “This is my business. My livelihood. If I didn’t take this project on, somebody else was going to –”
“Oh, so it’s better to be screwed over by somebody you know than somebody you don’t,” I spit. “Thanks for that lesson.”
He lets out a long breath, and I can see the frustration darkening his features. Sawyer is genuinely frustrated with me. Good. He can be as pissed as he wants to be – he doesn’t have the moral high ground here.
“Berlin, you’re not being fair here,” he protests.
“Fair? I’m not being fair?” I gasp, astounded by his cluelessness. “Sawyer, people like you are hurting people in this city. You’re destroying lives and everything that makes this city great.”
He slams his open palm down on the table so hard, the crack of it echoes around the promenade. I can feel all the eyes turning our way – people do so love watching a good dumpster fire drama unfold. But the scrutiny is off-putting and uncomfortable, to say the least.
Sawyer sits across from me, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched tight, and his face
