Everyone in that room tonight, she said, was calculating something. Even Evan, he wasn't rude about it. He was actually very charming. But he'd been briefed. He came in knowing things about me and asking questions he already knew the answers to.
And the whole time he was smiling. This smile that said, "This is a good arrangement. Not you're interesting to me. Not I'd like to know who you actually are. Just this is good for both our families. " And your father thinks that's enough.
My father thinks it's everything. She set her mug down. He built something from nothing, Daniel. Three trucks in Durham. Now he's got 42 million in logistics contracts.
He did that through deals, through partnerships, through connections. And it worked. He's not wrong that it works. She paused. He's just applying the same logic to my life that he applied to the company and you're not a logistics contract.
No. She looked at him. I'm not. Gloria came back and asked if they wanted anything else. Lauren looked at the pie case on the counter.
What's good? Cherries good tonight, Gloria said. Strawberry rhubarb. If you want something different. Strawberry rhubarb, Lauren said.
Same, Daniel said, which surprised him because he hadn't intended to say it. Gloria left again. What did you do? Daniel asked. Tonight, when he introduced you to Evan, I shook his hand.
I talked to him for about 20 minutes. He was perfectly pleasant. She paused. And then I excused myself to the bathroom and texted my father that I was leaving. He sent me.
I know. She looked at him. You were supposed to drive me home and I was supposed to wake up tomorrow morning at the estate and my father was going to have Evan's number saved in my phone and a brunch scheduled for next weekend. How do you know all that? Because that's how he works.
He sets things up. He doesn't ask. He arranges and then by the time you realize what he's done, you're already three steps into something you didn't agree to. Daniel leaned back in the booth. I knew men like Richard Whitmore, not at that level of wealth and power, but the same architecture of thinking.