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“A loss of a hundred grand? Won’t it show?”
John snorted. “It’s easy to hide that money. This way if it comes out later, we told the truth. Honesty is the best policy.”
Starting now. “Okay, what about Dad? Are we going to tell him?”
“No, why?”
“I’d like him to know I didn’t relapse. We can tell him we left dinner because you thought you killed Lemaire.”
John’s lips parted. “Are you serious?”
“Totally. You just said, honesty is the best policy. He told Gabby, too. I want them both to know the truth.”
John rose, frowning. “That’s not the same thing. Your relapsing is personal, what happened at the quarry is business.”
“So? What’s the difference?”
“Business matters, this doesn’t.”
Huh?“My sobriety matters. How did you not get that message?”
“Oh, believe me, I got that message.” John chuckled without mirth. “Your sobriety, your sobriety. The whole damn family has to talk about your sobriety twenty-four seven, the same way we used to talk about your drinking twenty-four seven. We don’t drink on a single holiday because of you. Whether you’re a good boy or a bad boy, somehow it’s always about you. You have to be the center of attention, since the day you were born.”
I felt taken aback. “You jealous that Mommy and Daddy brought home a new baby?”
John laughed. “How could I be jealous of you?”
Thanks. “Then why can’t we tell them I didn’t relapse? Why does the truth matter when it comes to you, but not when it comes to me?”
“I don’t want to tell Dad because it will make things worse.”
“How?”
“Game it out, TJ. You and me, we go into his office and tell him that we lied. What’s his reaction?”
“Anger.”
“And what would that make him do?”
“Yell. What else is new?”
“Ask yourself, if this whole thing blows up, do you think Dad retires next year? I don’t.” John’s eyes burned, his intensity plain. “Dad and me, we’re in a power struggle, and if I slip, he takes the advantage. Nobody exploits weakness like Dad. I don’t want to be under his thumb anymore.”
Yikes. “Still, that affects you more than me. You want to run the firm. You want him to hand it over to you.”
“Handit to me? He’s selling it to me.”
“Whatever, the argument’s the same.”
John shook his head. “It affects you, too. What if Dad finds out we lied to him? He’ll never trust you again.”
“He doesn’t trust me now.”
“He’s going to fire you if you relapse again. What do you think he’ll do when he finds out you lied to him about his own client? He’ll fire you for sure, TJ. He can’t fire me. I have my own clients, and it would destroy the firm.”
I knew it was true.
“When I run the firm, your job is safe. I wouldn’t fire you, TJ. I’d never fire you.”
