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I nodded.
Kian punched me lightly on the arm. “Hey. You’re not a kid anymore. You don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to.”
Except I did. I owned half the business. Even if I didn’t want it. “I need to get you paid.”
Kian unclicked his seat belt and let it roll back before shrugging. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Don’t go in there just because Harold Coker is a stingy bastard.”
“I need to talk about what we’re doing with the business moving forward anyway. I can’t keep putting it off. If he’s not paying you, who else isn’t he paying? My dad would have never stood for that. He loved his staff like family.”
“Fine. So you do need to go in there.” He shoved me toward the door again. “Go on. You got this. Rip the Band-Aid off. Tell him who’s boss. Seize the day!”
I frowned at him. “That was a lot of live, laugh, love type exclamations in one breath.”
Kian paused, considering that. “Okay fine, how about a realer one? It’s not going to be like the last time you were there.”
There it was. The real reason I didn’t want to go inside that building.
Kian opened the passenger-side door and jogged around the front. To my surprise, he opened my door for me. “Out. Let’s go.”
I peered up at him. “Don’t you have an interview to go to?”
“Not for another forty minutes. I can come with you first.”
I got out slowly, embarrassment creeping up the back of my neck. “I’m being ridiculous.”
Kian shook his head softly. “You’re not. I remember how bad it was last time. How much it affected you. Not wanting to go back there now is totally warranted. The guy is a flaming homophobe and a piece-of-shit human being on top.”
I nodded.
We walked through the lobby doors, me in jeans and a leather jacket just because Harold had told me not to. Kian in his dirty work boots and a flannel shirt.
We were at complete odds with the hustle and bustle of well-dressed businesspeople inside the building.
Kian grinned over at me, and it suddenly felt like it had years ago. Me and him against the world and fighting tooth and nail to stay out of my father’s business, even though everyone expected it of me. Especially Harold Coker. He’d never had any children of his own, and his interest in me had been laser focused. He’d been grooming me to take a role within the company since I was ten years old.
I was sure it was just because he thought I was easily controlled.
The elevator binged open, and I strode across the space to the receptionist. “Hi. I’m Vaughn Weston. Harold is expecting me.”
The woman looked up, and her eyes widened. Then filled with tears. “Oh, I’m sorry! You’re so much like your dad! I wasn’t expecting it.” Her tears spilled over, and she let out a loud sob.
I glanced over at Kian with a panicked expression, and he shrugged.
I patted the woman on the arm awkwardly.
Harold’s office door opened, and his gaze dropped to the woman staring at me with tears running down her face.
She instantly stopped, wiped her eyes quickly, and lowered her head to stare at the floor. “My apologies, Mr. Coker. Vaughn Weston is here to see you.”
Harold’s gaze slid to me, but his disgusted expression didn’t lift. He jerked his head in my direction, indicating I should go into his office, but his comment to the receptionist was scathing. “Get yourself together, woman. Or find a new job.”
“Yes, sir. Won’t happen again, sir.”
I frowned at her as I passed by and took a seat in Harold’s office.
I remembered the woman’s face, even though I couldn’t recall her name. She’d been with my father for years. I’d only ever seen her smiling.
But then my father didn’t speak to her the way Harold did.