Page 48 of Discretion

“He entrusted the company to me.” Because there was no one else. “This is my responsibility. And besides, he deserves a break.”

“You should talk to him,” she said. “I bet he experienced similar feelings when he took over as CEO.”

I seriously doubted that. Graham had prepared to take over as CEO his entire life. “When he was CEO, he didn’t ask for help.”

“And that was a problem. You even mentioned in the past that it was an issue.”

Damn.She had me there.

“You have to stop comparing yourself to your brother,” Halle said. “You also have to remember that the version of Graham you’re comparing yourself to had been in this role for fourteen years! You’ve been doing it less than four months.”

What Halle said made sense, but still… This was Graham we were talking about. But this wasn’t about my brother. I wanted to know why Halle was so upset.

First, though, I wanted to reassure her. “I’m not trying to persuade you, but I know you’d be an amazing SVP. And even though we have—” I cleared my throat, hating the words I knew needed to be said. “Despite our history, we can make this work. We have to. Because Sloan needs you, and so do I.”

Halle was quiet a moment, considering. “I need this to work too. My dad…” She rolled her lips between her teeth. “Last summer, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t want to let on that I already knew. Halle was opening up to me, trusting me. And I didn’t take that lightly. “I know you’re close.”

She nodded, tugging at the corner of her eye. “I’ve been trying to convince my mom to move him into an assisted living facility, but she keeps dragging her feet. After tonight—” She stared at the ceiling, looking as if she was trying not to cry again. “Well, I’m hoping she’ll realize it’s time.”

“What happened tonight?”

She dragged a hand through her hair. “Dad went missing. Thankfully, he found his way back home, but apparently, it wasn’t the first time he’d done this.”

I cringed, imagining someone with memory issues just…wandering off. “That sounds terrifying.”

“It was.” She gnashed her teeth. “I can’t believe my mom kept this from me.”

“Why do you think she’s hesitant to move him?” I asked.

“A lot of reasons. Some of it emotional. Some financial.”

I nodded. “Ah. I see.”

“The pay increase from the temporary promotion means that maybe I’ll finally be able to convince my mom to move forward with getting the care my dad needs.”

As in…she was going to help bear the financial burden. I rubbed a hand over my mouth.Damn.

I was tempted to offer Halle the money she needed outright, but I knew she’d never take it. In fact, the mere offer would probably piss her off.

My hopes for a future with Halle were sinking with every passing moment as the reality of the situation dawned on me. We both needed her position as SVP to work out, and the stakes were even higher than I’d realized.

“I didn’t want to tell you all of this?—”

I placed my hand over hers, stopping her. “I’m glad you did.”

She studied the place where our hands were connected then met my gaze. “Thank you. I just, I guess I wanted you to understand why I need this to work. I want to do this for myself and for Sloan and the company. But Ineedto do this for so many other reasons.”

I remembered everything she’d said about needing this job. Needing us to maintain our distance. So even though I didn’t want to stop touching her, I removed my hand from hers.

“If you want the job, you should take it. You’ve earned it.”

She folded her hands in her lap. “And you really think we can do this?” she asked, clearly still skeptical.

I rested my arm on the back of the sofa, needing to infuse some levity into our conversation. “Afraid you can’t resist me?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “As far as I’m concerned…” She hesitated for a beat. It wasn’t long, but it was enough for me to doubt her commitment. “We’re done.”