“Yeah,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s not going to happen,” I mumble while I walk into my new office. I sit behind the desk, leaving the door open. Taking out the budget folder that I was looking at in the meeting, I see a couple of things that I didn’t understand. The logical thing would be to ask my father, but I’d rather eat nails. I’m looking at the numbers when I hear a knock and look up, seeing Jacob.

“You’re back?” I lean back in the chair, and he nods, coming in and closing the door behind him. He sits in one of the chairs in front of the desk and leans his head back and groans.

“I didn’t think I would make it,” he mumbles. “By the time we got to the house, they were both puking out the windows.”

“Yuck,” I say, shaking my head. “Where are they now?”

“I dropped Kallie and Ethan at her parents’ house,” he says, and I nod my head. I don’t acknowledge the way my stomach flipped at the thought of them in my house. I grab my phone and send Savannah a text, asking her if she wants me to bring her lunch instead of meeting me. “Grady told me about your car.” I toss my phone down and nod. “You think it’s the same person as Savannah?”

“Doubt it,” I admit finally. “My guess is it’s my brother.” He just looks at me. “Do you think my brother also did that shit to Savannah?” I ask, my stomach sinking. “You really think he’s that much of a prick?” I ask, and his face says it all. “Fuck.”

“Anyway,” he says. I watch him, and I know he’s nervous about something, but I can’t imagine what it is. “The reason I wanted to meet with you is to go over the mayor’s role.” I cross my arms over my chest and listen to him. “It’s no surprise that you are not your father,” he starts. “And he had his own way of doing things.” He looks me in the eye when he says the next part. “Not ethical either.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask, not sure I want the answers.

“It means he did things his way, and you either were with him or you weren’t. And if you weren’t, it sucked for you because you wouldn’t get anything.” He comes right out and says what I was thinking. “He was always the one cashing in on favors.”

“I called Tony while I was at the bar,” I say. “He said my father made it clear that she was off-limits. He thought it would lose the contract.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he tells me, and I just look at him. “Let’s just say it’s good to have a good guy sitting behind that desk.”