Hired To Love, 2

Chapter Twenty-One

Sighing, I pushed myself up from my desk, straightening out my blazer. "Right, right. Ugh. I'm tired."

"You know you don't have to attend the first-round interviews."

"I know, but I want to. This person will be directly working with me for the unforeseeable future. I want to get a good feeling right from the beginning."

Henry followed me to the door of my office, clutching the iPad to his chest, pausing before he opened the door for me. "...Have you ever considered someone who has done this before and knows the business?"

"Like who?" I asked, pushing past him. "There is no one like that. I wish there was, but there isn't."

"There is. One person," he said hesitatingly.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Your father."

His words caused a stillness to wash over me. At first, I thought he was joking, but after scanning his face again and seeing the seriousness in his eyes and the way he held on tightly to the iPad, I knew he was being earnest. "How could you suggest that?" I asked, feeling my pulse rise. "You know what he did to Lee."

Henry lowered his eyes. "But did he do that? Really? You heard it from himself, didn't you? That he felt no other choice."

"Yes, but—"

"And you did the same to Henley, Bennett."

I shut my mouth, my heart sinking in my chest. I knew it, I did, but being called out on it still sent anxiety through me.

Henry looked back up at me again, his expression not unkind. "You know what it's like to feel helpless like that. Fortunately for you, you had a support system, and someone who truly loved you. It wasn't like that for your father."

"How do you know that?"

Henry chewed on his lip for a moment. "Well... we've been meeting up with him."

"We?" I echoed.

"He is Lee's father," Henry said, as if it explained everything.

My hands curled into fists. "Why didn't Lee tell me this? Why didn't he? Were you trying to hide it from me?"

Henry stood a little taller. "Respectfully, Bennett, Lee does not need to tell you what he does or does not do. Meeting up with his father is his choice alone, and it's not something terrible enough for him to need to hide it from you. He just simply is doing this on his own terms."

I stared hard at Henry for a moment longer, trying to ignore the initial annoyance at his claim. Of course, Lee could make his own choices, but wasn't this something we would talk about together? Then again, Lee had talked to literally everyone else about leaving the company before me. It wasn't even about me needing to know. It was about communication. "So, what? Are they the perfect father and son now?"

"Bennett."

"Henry, how do you know this isn't some plan of his? Get close to Lee, convince him to leave the company, and then replace him?" I said the words without really thinking of them, but after they left my mouth, my chest tightened. Couldn't it be true? "Maybe that was his plan all along. Coming back and dropping a bombshell on Lee and making him question his whole life. Does he want the company?"

Henry didn't respond, taking a step closer to me. Once close enough, he put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "Bennett, take a breath."