Page 28 of Before You Go
“I have a spare room in my place with blackout blinds. You can crash there any time,” I tell her, and she rubs her lips together. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she has the same look on her face that she had earlier when I gave her the ginger ale.
“I might take you up on that.” She turns to her dad when people start to clap.
“Billy, you’re up!” Barrett calls out, and I look over at my boss, who is standing near the golf cart and typing away on his phone, with obvious worry showing through each and every one of his features.
“Sorry.” He stalks forward with his club.
“Is everything all right?” Barrett asks him quietly, probably noticing like I have that he’s been distracted by his phone for most of the day.
“Yeah, but when we finish up here, I need to take off.”
“Do you need to go now?” Barrett questions.
“No, we only have one more hole.” He takes his shot, and when he’s done, he motions for me to come over. “Walk with me. I need to speak with you.”
“Sure.” I pass Franny my club. “We’ll meet up with you guys.”
“Okay,” she says quietly, glancing at Billy with concern before getting into the golf cart with her dad.
“What’s going on?” I ask Billy as the last golf cart passes us on the way to the next hole.
“Last night, an anonymous source sent a blind item to News 8, claiming that my mistress is working at the district attorney’s office with me,” he starts, and I press my lips together in order to keep my mouth shut. “I spoke to my lawyer, and there’s nothing he can do to prevent them from running with the story, so it will be going out tonight.” He slows to a stop. “I need a favor from you.”
“Billy.” There’s no missing the warning in my tone.
“I need you to pretend that you and Jamie are dating until this blows over.”
Anger and a feeling of powerlessness cause my hands to ball into fists. “I’m not comfortable doing that.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I don’t want anything from you, Billy, and I don’t want to be involved.” I start to walk off.
“Jamie told me she overheard a conversation between you and a woman named Francisca yesterday,” he calls to my back, and my steps slow.
I don’t know what’s worse—that he’s playing this game or that he’s bringing Franny into it.
“Does Barrett know Franny is pregnant?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I snap, turning to face him, and he takes a step back, registering the threat in my voice.
“A story about Barrett’s recently divorced, unwed daughter having a child with a man she just met would be big news.”
“So your plan is to fuck over your friend in order to save your own ass?”
“I need to protect my family.”
“You don’t give a fuck about your family, Billy. If you did, you wouldn’t be having an affair with a woman who isn’t much older than your son. And you sure as fuck wouldn’t have her working in the office with you so that you can live out some twisted fantasy,” I spit out, and I watch him turn red.
“Watch how you’re talking to me, Dayton. I’m still your boss.”
“Did you forget that you’re trying to blackmail me into covering for you?”
“It would be temporary.”
“No.”
“Then I’m going to give News 8 the story about Francisca,” he says, and dread fills the pit of my stomach. I’m not worried about me. I don’t give a fuck about my reputation, but I know Franny would be devastated if her father found out that she’s pregnant from some two-minute news clip before she was ready to tell him. Right now, she’s under enough stress with this situation without adding public scrutiny to the mix.
