Page 49 of Exchange of Heart

I also jumped to stop Nora from finishing her sentence. ‘Such an interesting offer.’

Her gaze froze on me, lips parted. Freddie cleared his throat, and when I shifted my gaze from Nora, I cowered under the glare of every pair of eyes in the room. Especially Mark’s.

‘Could I get a glass of water?’ I tugged at the neckline of the sunflower dress.

‘Of course,’ said Nora.

She moved my long legs to the small table in the corner at the same time as Paddy who pushed his chair back to fetch the requested water. Her foot caught the metal leg, and she flew forward, outstretched hands flailing like a skipping rope.

‘Nora,’ I yelled, reaching out my hands despite being on the other side of the table.

‘Nora?’ Freddie whispered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘Nora is my name, I mean. I’m Nora, I asked for water. Corey Flemmington was getting me that water.’

This conference room was a circus tent, and Nora and I were the performers. Unfortunately, we hadn’t impressed the audience with our act. My father’s red face swelled with anger that couldn’t be released, and Nora’s curly hair resurfaced from the floor with fear in her eyes.

‘Do we need to take a break?’ My father’s tone suggested the only correct answer to that question would be ‘no’.

‘Apologies. Paddy, will you please fetch Nora her water. I’ll hop out of the way.’ Nora slunk back to her seat with mortified eyes.

‘Would you also like to take a seat.’ Mark glared at me.

I lowered myself, exchanging panicked glances with Nora. She needed to prove Corey Flemmington was a hard-ass in meetings, but her loyalty to Dreyton was bound to ruin everything.

‘Right, where were we?’ my father continued.

Freddie crunched numbers and Mark started negotiating a terrible discount. Freddie had the decency to insist on a better offer and removal of some borderline illegal conditions, but I knew Nora’s reputation needed redemption after my outburst. The tiny morsel of concern I possessed wouldn’t let me leave her life in complete tatters for when we switched back. When my father considered the deal done and dusted, I used Nora’s innocent voice to challenge the very line of the contract my father prided himself on.

‘I’d like to request a moment to discuss the conditions with my company privately,’ I said.

Nora’s shoulders straightened her black suit jacket at my request, and she gave me a subtle nod of approval. I wanted to wrap my arms around her waist and celebrate the opportunity to take my father down without worrying about my reputation.

‘I think our solicitors can handle that.’ Mark gave me the kind of smile you’d give a child that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

‘Do you really think Condition 4 sub section 1:3 is fair, though? It could have a huge impact on us financially should we need to claim. Not only in the moment, but for future payments and quotes as well.’

Mark flipped through his papers until he made it to the section I’d mentioned, then paused to read. My dad narrowed his eyes at me then turned to Nora. She shrugged at him, refusing to participate in the horrendous deal. Emotions mixed in my stomach like oil and water. Nothing would fuse to form a single opinion. Watching my body stand up to my father was invigorating, but my brothers’ lives and careers depended on me. They didn’t deserve to give their souls to this company.

In fact, no one did.

‘Take all the time you need,’ Nora assured us.

‘What the hell are you doing? I brought you in to take notes, not speak,’ Freddie hissed at me, his beady snake eyes full of regret for asking me to come along.

‘Well, you’ve raised an excellent point,’ Mark mumbled quietly enough that only I could hear.

I smiled triumphantly and tried to think of a Nora-inspired remark.

‘Questions are good for the soul.’ I cringed at myself. ‘We should take a few days to run numbers and comparisons,’ I whispered, my head angled to Mark so he could take credit for the final decision.

‘I appreciate your time and offer, but we’re going to take a few days to run numbers and comparisons before going ahead.’

‘What are you—?’ My dad’s rough voice was cut off by the squeal of Mark’s chair as he stood.

‘I’ll be in contact.’ Mark reached his hand towards my father.

Clamping my teeth into my tongue so I wouldn’t gloat, I caught Nora’s eye. We smiled at each other while my father, Satan, narrowed his eyes even further like a fire-breathing dragon. I needed to warn her that he’d tear her to shreds for not pushing the deal. I jerked my head to the door, and she moved towards me.