Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood Read Free Book Online Page B

to Emma, she said, “Tell me about Jeff Wilcox.”
    “Don’t answer that,” Robert ordered. “Olivia doesn’t need to concern herself with business matters, especially in her weakened condition.”
    “Will you stop—” Olivia began to protest.
    Her father cut her off when he said to Emma, “My daughter is so starved for affection, she’ll believe anything you say, Emma, and she’ll try to help because you’ve shown her that you care. If you get her involved in this, the stress could prove to be too much for her.”
    “For God’s sake, Robert, your daughter has grown up and is quite healthy. Stop trying to make her an invalid.”
    “Tell me about Jeff,” Olivia repeated. She folded her arms and leaned back against the desk, leaving no doubt that she wasn’t going to budge until she got an explanation.
    Her father refused to respond. Emma didn’t have any such qualms. “Jeff became the manager of the Walden Foundation. They help the indigent and the homeless by providing housing and job programs. They’ve had a tremendously successful track record. The man who started the charity had, himself, been homeless and had been helped by a kind stranger. When Walden’s luck turned, he vowed he would help others, and he started the charitable foundation. He died several years ago, but he left thirty-two million dollars for his charity to continue, and Jeff was brought in as its director. The position was perfect for Jeff. He always wanted to do work that would make a real difference in the world. And he was doing a great job I understand . . . until he met your father.”
    “Jeff gave him the money to invest,” Olivia said.
    “That’s right.”
    “And now it’s gone,” she concluded.
    “Yes,” her aunt said. “All of it squandered in risky investments.”
    “The risks were clearly explained,” her father argued.
    Emma ignored his protest and continued, “The board of directors had allowed Jeff autonomy to make these investments because he had given them assurances that everything was in secure funds. Of course, when the investments went under, they called for an investigation. Your father had guaranteed that all of the investments were protected and had the highest ratings possible, and Jeff, being the trusting and decent man that he is, believed him.” She shot Robert a look of contempt.
    Olivia’s father shook his head and smiled condescendingly at her. “He was lying, Emma. The papers he signed clearly show he was made aware of the risks.”
    Emma turned back to Olivia. “The prosecutors are involved now. They’re claiming that Jeff not only mishandled the money but also that he did it knowingly and with the intent of lining his own pockets. If there’s a trial and he’s convicted, he could go to prison and be taken away from his wife and his baby—all for something I know he didn’t do.”
    Olivia turned to her father. “How much did you make on these investments?”
    Her father gave a slight shrug and answered, “It’s not my responsibility to keep people from making stupid decisions. If Wilcox had chosen to invest in my Trinity Fund, he wouldn’t be in this mess, but he insisted on another route.”
    “How much?” Olivia insisted.
    “My five percent commission for the transactions was a low fee, considering the circumstances.”
    “So you walked away with over a million and a half, and Jeff Wilcox faces prison—not to mention the charity that is destroyed.”
    “I’ve wasted enough time talking about this,” her father said as he began making his way to the door. “I have to be back in New York for an event tonight.”
    Olivia could barely control her anger. Her chest was tight, and she desperately needed to use her inhaler, but she didn’t dare in front of him. It would be one more thing to mock, and it would prove to him that she was, indeed, inferior.
    She had known that her father’s business activities were suspect in the past, but it was as though she was seeing