Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,59

again, my dear.”

“Why wasn’t the ramp out, Mom?” Luke says before I can respond.

A little crease appears on Sophie’s smooth forehead. Sometimes I think the woman has fewer wrinkles than I do. “Honey, Maria forgot. I’m so sorry.”

Luke looks like he’s going to say something more, but I shoot him a look, and he closes his mouth.

“Your father is out in the living room,” Sophie says. “He’s so excited to see you both.”

“Yeah, right,” Luke mutters under his breath, but we both follow him into the living room.

The last time we saw Thomas Thayer, he was lying in his bedroom, hooked up to oxygen. He looks better today. He doesn’t have oxygen prongs in his nose, for starters, and he’s sitting upright on their buttery leather sofa. But he still has that emaciated look with deep hollows in both his cheeks and eyes sunken in their sockets. His skin is dusky gray.

I remember the photos I saw of him when he was young, how tall and imposing he seemed, his cheeks always flushed with good health. He was never handsome the way Luke is, but there was something so powerful and intimidating about him. But even though he looks feeble and sunken, there’s still something very scary about his dark eyes.

And that’s when I notice for the first time that even though Luke is the spitting image of his beautiful mother, he has his father’s eyes.

“Luke!” Thomas Thayer barks. He doesn’t bother to stand, although I’m not certain he could if he wanted—he looks like he needs a wheelchair as badly as Luke does. “I see you managed to get in the front door. Looks like all you needed was a little motivation.”

A muscle twitches in Luke’s jaw. It turns out he was right all along.

“Maria brought him the ramp, Tom,” Sophie says quickly.

“So you didn’t even bother to try, did you?” Mr. Thayer grunts.

Before Luke can spit back a response, Sophie breaks in cheerfully, “Ellie, please have a seat. Tom, you remember Ellie? She’s Luke’s girlfriend.”

As I settle down in the leather loveseat, Mr. Thayer looks me up and down the same way he did last time I was here. I cross my legs awkwardly, hoping he doesn’t remember me. The look on his face is pure disapproval—almost disgust.

“Eleanor Jensen,” he says finally. “From Mediapp.”

“Yes, that’s right,” I say.

That surprises me. I expected he might remember me, but it didn’t even occur to me he would know what company I worked for. Then again, it’s his company. Technically, he’s my boss as much as Luke is.

So basically, right now I am trying to impress both my boyfriend’s father and my boss. No pressure.

“Ellie is the star of the company,” Luke says. “The app she is developing—”

Mr. Thayer waves his hand. “I know all about that app. I told you I thought buying Mediapp was a mistake. Stupid move, Luke. That company is hemorrhaging money.”

“I disagree,” Luke says tightly.

“You think you can turn it around, do you?” Mr. Thayer snorts. “Honestly, Luke, you’ve had that company for months, and I don’t see you doing what you need to do.”

Luke sucks in a breath. “It’s not that simple.”

“It is that simple.” The old man’s dark eyes flash. “You’re unable to do what you need to do. I don’t even know why I trusted you. You’re weak—that’s why you’re still in that chair.”

“Tom, please,” Sophie murmurs. “Luke has a spinal cord injury. You know the doctors told him—”

“I don’t care what the doctors told him,” Mr. Thayer snaps. “If it were me, I would have been walking again a month later. Now look at the boy. Eleven years in that chair. Eleven years. He’s just decided to accept it.”

Luke stares at his father, not saying a word. I wonder how many times they’ve had this discussion. It looks like he’s learned to keep his mouth shut.

I told off Luke’s old girlfriend, and it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. I want to do the same thing to his father. I want to tell him that his son is an amazing man in every way, and he has no right to talk to him that way. But even with his gray complexion, Mr. Thayer is terrifying. Every time I open my mouth to respond, my throat goes dry.

“Now.” Mr. Thayer rises unsteadily to his feet. “Let’s have dinner.”

As the old man takes a step, I wince as he nearly falls. He criticized Luke for not being able to walk,