Deception

“Were you able to use the information I gave you on Clinton Steele?” Lisa asked finally. She instantly noticed the faraway look that passed across Terri’s face and the faint smile that tugged at her lips. Interesting.

“Yes. Thanks,” Terri said softly.

Lisa’s brown eyes creased into a taunt as she leaned forward and ran a hand through her mop of auburn curls. “Come on, tell…tell.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Don’t give me that. I’d know that little smirk of yours any day. So?”

“All right, all right. Just don’t beg,” Terri teased, itching to tell her friend about Clint.

She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. She began slowly. “Well, at first, I had real misgivings about him. Everything that I had ever heard or read was negative. Hightower Enterprises was notorious for buying up smaller companies, and that’s how he built his fortune—along with very wise investments in the stock market and profits from the companies.” She laughed a self-deprecating laugh. “Little did I know that Mr. Steele never took control of the companies, but helped to rebuild them for the owners. And when they were back on solid ground, Clint turned the reins back to the original owners if they decided that they wanted them. A lot of them didn’t, of course, preferring to put that part of their lives behind them—”

“It’s a shame,” Lisa interjected, “that the media never tells that part of the story. They only publicize the buyouts, but not the positive end results. If you hadn’t asked me to investigate him, I wouldn’t have known myself. He actually started out as a runner on Wall Street. He’s a remarkable man, Terri. Huge amounts of his profits go to the black colleges, universities and community organizations.”

“I know. The worst part is that I fell right into step with the bad press, eating up every word. And he never said a thing to me. He just let me believe those things about him, too proud to tell me anything different. He said he preferred to keep that side of his life private.” Terri sucked on her bottom lip, disappointed in herself.

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