{18+ COLLEGE ROMANCE COMPLETED}
What sucks more than being rejected by the girl of your dreams? Finding out afterward that she's moving in with you.
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The night that Beau Martin spends with Collins Bryant is the best one of his life. He wants to...
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"FOR AN INVESTMENT FIRM to succeed, it needs to build trust with its clients. Why should companies put their money with someone who they cannot trust?"
Dalha darted a glance at Cato before continuing to talk while rapidly typing.
"Did you know that the Bailey Investment Corporation has publicly backed a well-known advocate group for road safety for the past six years or so? A group that has specifically focused on drunk driving?"
My stomach turned. No, I hadn't known that. I definitely hadn't known that.
But I also hadn't known that Beau's mom would sit down and start talking to me about the Baileys. About drunk driving. About trust.
I twisted to give Beau a look, but it only took a second to realize that he was just as shocked as I.
"Mom—" he choked out.
Dalha ignored him.
"Public do-good campaigns drive trust. They find a common ground amongst parties by showing support for things that many others also support. So, of course, it would be a PR nightmare if it got out that James Bailey crashed into his own son while driving drunk. But do you know what would be an even worse PR nightmare?"
She lowered her voice and paused the chattering of her nails against the keys to give me a meaningful look. "If years later, investors learned that Bailey Corp pinned the cause of a drunk driving accident on a high school student. And not any high school student, but a close family friend. An absolute disaster." She tutted. "That would be an absolute disaster."
I flushed as my heart pounded in my chest. It was an absolute disaster. But I'd never thought of it like that—that they were more concerned with hiding the cover-up than what happened in the first place. And I'd always known they were worried about public opinion, but I hadn't thought about how that correlated so closely with their business.
Mrs. Martin turned toward Beau, ready to give him her attention.
"Beau," she said, sharp. But as she continued, warmth leaked into her words, explaining everything I needed to know about how she raised Beau. "I do realize that I taught you to be generous, but this is not how you do it. You must be plentiful with your time and resources to do good."
Beau once again opened his mouth to comment, but his mom kept going, getting the last word in.
"Yes, I know you think what you are doing is good, but not when you are backing a corporation that does not deserve to be backed."
"I wasn't going to back them," Beau said with an exasperated sigh. "I was trying to pay them off. There's a difference."
"Is there?" One brow arched high on Dalha's face. "Where you put your money speaks volumes about what you support. We don't pay off people who deserve to be cut down, Beau Martin."
