Her entire family had focused their whole life in the spotlight, while Haley had carefully cultivated her hermit lifestyle. She was more than happy for it to continue, too, despite Nadia repeatedly trying to nudge her out of her safety zone.
The folders on the desk with the names visibly marked might as well have been inked in neon with the heart-pounding that was going on in her chest.
Fingers being snapped in front of her eyes had Haley focusing back on Nadia.
“Earth calling Haley.” Nadia’s patient tone belied the determination shining in her hazel eyes.
Inwardly, Haley knew that Nadia had no choice but ask for her help. It still didn’t make her willing to give the help her friend needed.
She had come to the conclusion years ago that she was a lousy friend. This was just one more example that she would fail the woman who had stood by her side since their teens.
“I’m sorry …” Haley began, using a stern face that Nadia knew would be hopeless to argue with.
On the other side of the desk, Nadia laid her palms flat. The beautiful line of her jaw turned stubborn. “Forget whatever excuse you were about to give me. It’s not going to work this time. I can’t be at two meetings in different areas of the city at the same time. We need the funding to find a new building. We have less than two months to find another building with the space and the facilities we need … or the kids are going to be back on the streets. Do you want that?”
“You know I don’t!” Haley snapped. “I suck at doing this type of stuff. Just reschedule!”
“I’ve tried!” Nadia rejoined. “I’m worried that, if I try again, they’ll change their minds about giving us a chance to solicit their donations. I can’t become a nuisance before they even meet me.”
No, she couldn’t. Haley had to agree with her at that point. The funding they needed and were going to ask for amounted to over a hundred thousand dollars.
Haley rubbed the side of her temple. The rich expected you to drop everything to make them happy. Her stomach curled into a tight ball of knots. She knew exactly how the rich thought, which was why she had no intention of taking a meeting with either of the obnoxious millionaires who Nadia had singled out. She had no clue about who the men were; that they were millionaires was all she needed to know. Quibbling about appointment times would put to death any request for donation or aid Nadia was planning to ask for.
The names on the folders didn’t ease her trepidation. The crippling shyness she hid behind her overly large eyeglasses only fueled it.
“Desmond Beck …” Haley paused before the second name. “Dante Caruso.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat before she brought her eyes back up to Nadia. Pushing up her glasses, she made a light joke. “Why do they sound like they’re both in the mafia?”
“I think one actually is.” Nadia’s voice was barely audible.
“Nadia!” She had clearly stated that as a joke, yet she was pretty freaking sure her friend wasn’t joking. Suddenly, a finger appeared in her face.
“Remember the children.”
“Fine.” She began massaging her head. “Just tell me which one that is.” Seeing her point to Dante’s folder, she quickly grabbed up Desmond’s without a second thought. “I am so not getting involved in those dark family ties.” She shuddered thinking about her own.
“I don’t blame you. But, um …”
She didn’t like where her friend’s sympathetic tone was heading.
“Don’t be angry, but I had to use your family connection to even get an appointment with Desmond Beck.”
Haley frowned. “Which family connection?”
Nadia gaze shied away from hers as she confessed, “I couldn’t even reach Mr. Beck’s assistant to ask for an appointment until I mentioned your family name and that you’re related to George and Amelia Clark.”
Haley’s eyes widened. “I haven’t talked to my uncle and cousin in years.”
Nadia shrugged. “He doesn’t know that, does he?”
Haley wanted to lay her head down on the desk and cry. She definitely didn’t want to take that meeting. She would make a fool of herself if he asked about those particular snobby relatives of hers.
Nadia clearly took pity on her, holding Dante’s folder out to her again. “We can still switch, if you would like?”
Suddenly, the Mafioso seemed like the better option. “How mafia are we talking? Robert De Niro or Al Pacino?”
“Would it really matter?”
“Robert De Niro is actually capable of having a kind face,” she told her, as if she was stating the obvious. However, unfortunately, Nadia was right. “But what does Desmond Beck do again?”
“He’s just a philanthropist.”
Haley sure hoped so, because that was who she was getting as she held her choice closer to her chest. “I’ll go with my gut instinct.”