I’ve spent a lifetime around good women. Strong-willed, capable women are everywhere in my life. I thought Kylie was strong, but what she revealed implies she is actually in need. I meant it when I said she needs to talk to a professional. I don’t think she’s crazy, but I do think she’s headed down a dangerous path.
I’ve come to Dalton for advice because if anyone can understand this side of Kylie, it’s him. He paces around his office. “I told you she needed a distraction. I didn’t tell you to fall in love with her.”
“I’m serious, Dalton. She thinks she knows who’s messing with your company, and she’s determined to take them down before they take you down.”
His eyebrows arch then fall. “That’s actually kind of sweet of her.”
“You didn’t see the wall.”
“I had a business hit list once—I kept it up here where no one could see it,” he says, pointing to his head.
“That’s not making me feel better.”
“What do you want me to say, Ben? Not everyone is as nice as you are. Not all of us can afford to be. You tinker with some code, shit out a program people line up to buy, and move on. The rest of us have to fight our way out of the trenches to build our fortune. It’s not all daisies.” He shrugs. “Forget about the board. Go on a trip. You’re welcome to the jet. I have some pull at a few resorts. I can get you the presidential suite. Beach, mountains, whatever you want.”
“You’d make a great travel agent.” I wish it were that easy. “That’s not going to work. I can’t unsee something like that.”
“Listen, you came here for my opinion, and I gave it to you. Penny is a wreck. Kylie has barely been home. She’s not answering calls. From what you said, Kylie didn’t hurt anyone who didn’t have it coming. You said nice girls bored you. Well, you can’t say that about Kylie, can you?”
Maybe coming to Dalton wasn’t my best choice. “Do you still have a mental hit list?”
“I should.” He grinds his teeth. “Some of those fuckers are still trying to damage my business and my reputation. I should take them all out.”
“But you don’t. You don’t spend your time methodically digging up dirt and weaknesses of each person in the Tower. You don’t walk around with your finger on the trigger all day. Why not?” I already know the answer to the question and so does he, even if he looks reluctant to give it.
“Because I’m with Penny, and she deserves better than the man I was. But that doesn’t change the fact that if anyone put Penny, Kylie, or anyone else I care about at risk I’d crush them.”
“And you know I’d be right there with you.” I sigh. “I’m worried about Kylie.”
“Me too.” Dalton finally settles into the large leather chair behind his desk. “I don’t know what to tell Penny.”
“Tell her to talk to Kylie about that wall.”
“I have.” Penny is standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. “I’m not the problem here.”
“I am?” I cut back defensively.
“I know what she’s doing might not make sense to you.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense to me to know it’s bad for her. That level of anger is destructive, consuming.”
“Well, since you’ve chosen to walk away from her it’s no longer your problem, is it?”
“I didn’t walk away.” I ran.
“You have to understand that Kylie has been hurt.”
“I know. She told me about Michael.”
“She loved him,” Penny says simply as she comes in the office and leans against the desk. “She was infatuated and rightfully so. He was charming and sweet. He was her first love. She thought they’d get married. She was inches away from seeing her whole future laid out before her and it included, no it depended on, him. She’d done exactly what my mother had always warned her not to do.”
“And he stole her idea?”
“He did way more than that. He convinced her she never deserved the opportunity in the first place. Michel was a manipulating bastard. It was psychological warfare and she never stood a chance. It wasn’t some logistical thing where they worked together and then in the end he took the credit for their idea. He planned every bit of it. He played her from the moment he realized how brilliant she was. Then when it all fell apart she had only one choice. She had to crawl back home and had the longest I told you so speech. One that lasted months. It prolonged the damage.”
“I can’t imagine Kylie not getting right back up, hunting him down, and kicking his ass.”
“You’re thinking of the Kylie you know today. She did get back up—it just took time. And she doesn’t want to ever open herself up to that kind of hurt again.”
“Protecting herself is one thing. You know what she’s been doing?”
“I do.”
“And you think it’s all right?”
“God, no. That’s why I made Dalton tell you to take her out. You were my best plan. And it almost worked. She was happy.”
“Almost,” Dalton groans. “Maybe I can talk to her.”
Penny smiles sweetly at him. “I love that you would do that. I’m not sure what you’d say.”
“I’d tell her she’s normal. Stupid to put it on the wall where anyone could see it—but besides that—normal. These men fight dirty. Kylie isn’t going to sit back and let them win. So before I go talk to her—tell me something. Do you want her to take down the wall or change who she is? Because one is doable and the other makes you the one I’ll worry about.”
“I’ll talk to Kylie, but you’ve given me something to think about. I don’t want to change her. I want to understand her, not change her. You might think her strategy is normal, Dalton, but you won’t convince me she’s happy.”
“She’s not.” Penny is so matter of fact I almost don’t believe she’s serious. Has she really cracked that code? “Kylie has spent the last several years climbing. Not because she wants to lord her success over people, but because up there you have a good view. You thin the herd and isolate yourself. Bachelor Tower was another opportunity to quarantine herself. Root out the bad eggs and lock yourself away. She’s not fighting to shatter the glass ceiling; she’s fighting so she can have a fortress to hide in. She’s scared, Ben. She has been for a long time.”
“I’m going to help her.” My assertion is well intentioned but hollow unless I can figure out what to do.
“As a person who has done a fair share of shutting people out, I’ll tell you, it won’t be easy,” Dalton says.
Luckily, I’m not afraid of a challenge.