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“No,” I said. “But he didn’t stop them coming, either. He was everyone’s friend. And all he asked was that no one talk business there.”
“So, he did,” Hunter said. “He invited the criminal element into his bar. And now here you sit after his death. You lied to me about who you were, about where you came from, and now you are here.”
“What exactly are you accusing me of?” I shot back with bitterness in my voice. “Are you saying I’m working for you to get something out of it?”
“Not working,” he said. “Not in the traditional sense.”
I felt like he had gutted me. I knew exactly what he was saying with that smart little remark. He was accusing me of sleeping with him for some other purpose.
“Is that it?” I asked. “You think I’ve been fucking you for the mob? Is that what you think?”
His jaw seemed to tighten but he didn’t say anything. Nostrils flared as the anger seemed to course through him, but he wasn’t going to say it outright. He wanted me to admit to it, without him having to directly accuse me. It was another one of his CEO tactics. Every stupid person in an authority position tried using them, always looking for power over the other person. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
I had done enough of that.
“Julia, I need you to explain…” he began.
“Explain shit,” I said. “Either accuse me of sleeping with you for some criminal purpose and get it over with, or drop it. I’ve already told you. It’s a hit job on my father. It’s bullshit in a community newspaper that you should be able to see through with a blind man’s eye. The fact that you would call me in here and show me this and make it seem like I was hiding this from you, that I was, what, a mole? For the mob? Without even knowingwhichmob you thought I was working for?”
“Well?”
“Well, what?” I thundered. “Is it the Irish? Is that it? You think because my last name is McGrath that I work for the Irish mob? Or do you think I sold them out to work with the Italians? What is it you think of me? How little do you think of me, Hunter?
“Jesus, I can’t believe you. I cannot believe that you would think that little of me. After everything we’ve been to each other the last few weeks, for you to come to me with this is bullshit.”
“I just want to know,” he said, “if you are leaking things to the media. That’s it. I don’t even care if you were doing it accidentally. If you were just talking to people. Stuff has come out recently about some of these deals that shouldn’t have and have sunk some very lucrative contracts for us. I want to know if you have something to do with them, because those things would likely benefit criminal elements if so.”
I stood in disbelieving silence for a moment, shaking my head.
“You can’t possibly think that’s okay, do you?” I asked. I was on the verge of tears now. I needed to get out of there. There was an overwhelming need for me to leave, to run as far and as fast as I could. “You’re an asshole, Hunter. I quit.”
With that, I stormed into my little office, gathered what things I could think to grab, and stomped out, not bothering to go back into his office and instead slamming the door of my little office and walking down the hall.
I could hear him call after me as the elevator door opened, but I wasn’t going to stop now. I shut the elevator door behind me and hit the button for the lobby, just barely keeping my tears from streaming down my face. Heads turned to watch me as I walked through the lobby, but I didn’t care. Let them talk. I’d never see any of them again.
I arrived at the bus stop seemingly much faster than I thought, probably because my mind was occupied with trying to keep myself from breaking down, so I practically ran there. A bus was there just a few moments after I arrived, and I threw myself into a seat in the back. As soon as I sat, my head resting against the glass, I let myself cry silently.
ChapterTwenty-Six
Hunter
Iwas brokenhearted.
Not only did she not really deny any of it other than saying it was ‘ridiculous,’ but she had stormed out of the building, and presumably, out of my life.
It wasn’t until she was gone that I truly felt the weight of the loss. All day I had been stewing, anger coursing through me at the hurt she had caused me. I hadn’t let myself feel the sadness that was waiting behind that anger. Now it was hitting me like a hammer, and it was hard to move.
Eventually, Bobby was going to come in and we were going to have to talk about it, but I dreaded it. I didn’t want the smug look on his face. I didn’t want the way he would dance around telling me he told me so. I didn’t want to come face to face with the idea that in my heart, I believed her. In spite of what Bobby said, I believed her.
But she was gone now. Nothing was going to change that. She stormed out of the office calling me an asshole and heading home. Or somewhere. Just not sitting here, in her office, where I could see her.
I honestly didn’t think she would leave. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t think she would just leave like that. I thought she would fight, sure. She would be angry, and vehemently defend herself. I thought she would put up an argument that would probably make me feel bad for questioning her. But then, in spite of all that, I thought she would settle down, we would talk, and she would stay. I’d forgive her for deceiving me or for being an unwitting part of something bigger than her, and then we would figure out where to go from there.
It would be easy.
But clearly, I didn’t think it through all the way. Nor did I expect just how impactful the accusation would be to her. Looking back, I was kind of an idiot about it.
I drove her away. There was no other explanation for what just happened than that. I acted like a jerk one too many times, questioned her motives too often, and drove her to leave. I had to reconcile the fact that my unhappiness was of my own doing. No one else was at fault here, especially since I had no ability to verify the claims that I had once been so sure of.
