Page 120 of Moonlighter

“There’s a problem with my rollout. It’s confidential. And it’s weird as hell.”

“Let’s hear it,” he says.

“Sit down,” I begin. “It’s not a short story.”

“Motherfucker,” my father says when I’ve explained the whole thing. “Do you really think you can keep this secret?”

“I have to. I can use Max’s people for some of the extra legwork.”

“Can you do the final assembly in this country?”

“Maybe. There’s a recently shuttered cabinet factory in Pennsylvania that might work. Nine hundred employees are jobless.”

“Sawdust, though,” my father grumbles.

“I hired an environmental company to fly down and check it out.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “You’ll have the technical issues handled, Alexandra. You’re an ace at that. But your credibility might take a hit.”

“It might,” I agree.

“I can’t decide if it will be worse in the press, or worse in the boardroom. If institutional investors get jumpy, they’ll be calling for your head.”

“That’s why I need secrecy.”

“That comes with a cost, too,” Dad says. “You’re relying on Max Bayer’s intuition. Not like that’s bad. I trust those guys with my life. But when this leaks to the board, you’ll be saying a lot of ‘Max says this and Max says that.’ Without much proof.”

“Withoutanyproof,” I grumble.

“They’re going to say Max runs your company.”

“Dad!” I gripe, sounding like a pissed-off teenager. “I already understand how that works. Half of them already think that you run my company. The other half thinks that Nate Kattenberger does. That rumor started when I licensed his AI software.”

He chuckles. “I know you’re just trying to save the world, honey. But so many people will be ungrateful. Especially when they realize they’ve been kept out of the loop.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. But I can’t let anyone in on this until after the trap’s been set. I need a month at least.”

He clicks his tongue. “Be careful with the optics. Don’t let Max hire out anything you can do yourself. And for God’s sake, squash those rumors about you and the other Bayer kid. The athlete.”

“What? He has nothing to do with this.”

“Gossip forms in a vacuum. I’ve heard so many rumors about the father of your child. First I heard Nate; then I heard Max. Now Eric.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I have over a thousand employees. I knew people would gossip. But the fact that my own father hears these rumors? That makes me ill.

“Hang in there, honey. Don’t give them any extra reasons to doubt you. When the baby comes, you won’t be around to defend yourself, either. The timing is terrible.”

“You think?”

“Deep breaths. You need me to fly out for a visit?”

“No,” I say quickly. “Not until the holidays. I don’t want people saying that daddy had to come and rescue me.”

I don’t needanyoneto rescue me. This problem is big, but it will not break me.

“Okay. Call me tomorrow? I know you hate asking for help, Alexandra. But everyone needs a springboard sometimes. And there aren’t many people you can trust.”

“Thank you,” I say softly, because he’s right. “I’ll fill you in tomorrow.”