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going to have to actually show him.
    “No. You belong here.” I turned to walk out of the office but turned back when he called out my name.
    “You have this commitment to Gentry, and I’ll let you have it. But if you walk out that door now without apologizing and committing to a schedule here at the company, you’ll never get another referral from me for your business. If anything, I’ll make sure that no one in this city ever uses your services.”
    He stood there, looking smug, and I wanted to run over and choke him until he saw things my way for once. He thought he won. He thought he had me over a barrel. I took a step toward him. And then another.
    “If all of your referrals are going to be for babysitting services, then I don’t want your help.” His eyes widened for the merest of seconds—I almost thought I’d imagined it—and then they were merely slits.
    Oh, shit.
    “I can see that you’re not ready to be reasonable on this just yet. So I guess it’s up to me—yet again.” He walked back around his desk and sat down, reached for his glasses, then his report before looking up at me. “Finish this business with Gentry. And then we’ll talk.”
    I wanted to argue. I really did. But I knew that I needed to talk to the guys first. I didn’t want to be the reason for us getting blacklisted even before we had the chance to get our business off the ground.
    What the old man was doing was what he did best.
    Blackmail. Plain and simple.
    When John Maxwell didn’t get his way, he threatened and used intimidation tactics to get his way.
    I just never thought he’d stoop so low as to use them on his own son.
    I’d know better from now on.

 
Three
    Ali
     
    It was Friday before I could get back to the Gentry house again.
    Cheryl had a dozen other events in the works at the moment, and half of them were happening sooner than Gentry’s charity gala. But fortunately there was a ton of work to do on-site to prepare for the gala, and I was the drudge who got to do things like taking measurements and drawing the layout of the event spaces. On Friday, I convinced Cheryl that this needed to be done as my top priority, so I got to go back to the house—this time, by myself.
    Gentry wasn’t at home today, which meant his normal entourage wasn’t either. So the only people I needed to avoid were the regular domestic staff, which seemed to consist of a couple of people. A housekeeper let me in and just pointed me in the direction of the ballroom.
    This was going to be perfect. I’d have my run of the house without anyone getting in the way or getting suspicious.
    Sebastian Maxwell wouldn’t be here either today, which I told myself firmly was a good thing.
    I definitely couldn’t think about him any more than I already had, not if I wanted to complete my mission and get justice for my family.
    I had to start in the ballroom—which would be the main event space—or it would look strange, even just to the housekeeper. So I rushed through the layout and measurements of that large room and then the terrace and pool area before I could finally let myself explore the rest of the house.
    I started in the east wing, where I found a formal dining room, which got just a cursory investigation. Then I entered the library.
    The library was one of old-fashioned kind with wood paneling, built-in bookshelves, and big, antique furniture. It looked like it belonged in an English mystery, in which there would naturally be hidden safes or secret tunnels.
    It was obviously a public room, though, which meant there was almost no chance of Gentry hiding any incriminating work information in it.
    Even so, it would be stupid not to look around, since I was here. I checked the desk drawers and then the historic trunk against the wall. All of them were empty, so evidently this whole room was just for show.
    Gentry probably never even bothered to read all the classic books that lined the shelves.
    He was no doubt too busy cheating and