Chapter Twelve
chapter twelve
NATE
“If I have to hold your hand every step of the way, I might as well appoint myself operations manager and save the company thousands on what we pay you. Next time, do as Valerie told you, and this won’t happen.”
I press the speaker button on the office phone and slam the receiver down, ending the call.
“Is he fucking serious? I explicitly told him that I needed that meeting set for this week.”
“Actually, you barked it,” Dustin says dryly. “The same way you’ve been barking orders for the past two months since you got back from London.”
I give him a look that would send others scrambling out of the room, but my brother isn’t the least bit affected.
“If people would do their jobs—” Speaking of which…“Where is Nolan?” I glance around for my assistant, who seems to be MIA.
“He’s probably hiding from you, like the rest of the staff is,” Dustin drawls. “And stop your bullshit and save it for someone who doesn’t know you.”
He leans back and threads his fingers behind his head—his telltale sign that a lecture is coming. I might be the eldest and the COO, but that won’t stop my brothers from putting me in my place when need be.
“When are you going to accept that you fell for this woman and go after her?” he asks. “I get it. You agreed to no-strings with her, and you want to respect her decision, but, Jesus, bro, you can’t continue like this. You’re alienating everyone around you with your moodiness, and this isn’t how we run the company.”
“He’s not wrong,” Carmine says, strolling in since the door was partly open. He has a seat in the visitor chair next to Dustin and throws his ankle onto his knee. “I just caught Courtney crying to Nolan in the break room. Something’s gotta give. If you need time…”
“Fuck that.” Dustin scoffs. “He’s had two damn months. He needs to either move the hell on or find her ’cause this moody bullshit isn’t cutting it. The employees are noticing and starting to talk.” He hits me with a pointed look. “This is not you, Nate. You’re not the asshole who yells at women and makes them cry.”
Fuck, he’s right. I know he is. But I can’t help it. Since Paige walked out of my life, I’ve been on edge, annoyed at the situation, and taking it out on everyone around me.
“And what is he going to do when he does find her?” Carmine argues .
“I don’t know.” Dustin throws his arms up. “But he needs to do something because the vibe in this place is not it.”
Before Carmine can respond, I cut in, having had enough of them discussing me.
“ He is in the damn room,” I say with a sigh. “And you’re right,” I tell Dustin. “I need to do something.”
My brothers and I don’t argue ever. So, for us to be in my office, bickering like we’re kids, it’s enough for me to open my eyes and accept that I’m not okay and I need to handle my shit.
“Like what?” Carmine asks carefully, concern etched in his features.
My brothers know that Paige lives in Rosemary, thirty minutes outside of Houston—yes, I looked her up because I couldn’t help myself—and in order for us to be together, one of us would have to move, and she made it clear that she’s not moving, nor should she have to.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I can’t continue like this.”
I found Paige’s social media pages a few days after I got back and was desperate to see her face—after making the mistake of not taking any photos of us with my phone. Every night, I check and refresh, hoping to see a new post, but unfortunately, she doesn’t post much, aside from advertisements for Kingston and the various places she’s traveled to for work.
Her last post was a photo dump from London— which didn’t include any pictures of us, despite her taking a couple, but it did include all the places we’d visited together—with the caption: Forgot how magical it is here.
As I swiped through them, remembering our short time together, I was so damn close to messaging and begging her to talk to me. But I left her my contact information, so if she wanted to talk to me, she would reach out. It’s been two months, and she hasn’t, which tells me all I need to know—she’s moved on.
“What if we had a way for you to see her—” Dustin says.
“I already told you?—”
“In a business capacity,” he finishes.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“This.” Dustin tosses a manila folder he’s holding onto my desk and stands. “If you want to see her, there’s your way in.”
I glance from him to Carmine, who shakes his head. “For the record, I think this is a bad idea, and the only reason I’m going along with it is because Dustin bullied me into it.”
“Fuck you.” Dustin laughs. “You’re the one who brought it up to me!”
“No, I was simply presenting you with the proposal since you’re the money man,” Carmine argues. “You’re the one that insisted we share this with Nate.”
“Share what?” I ask, opening the folder.
Only once I do, I no longer need either of them to explain because right there in black and white is the solution to my problem.
“You’re welcome.” Dustin smirks. “Now, quit being a fucking dick and go get your woman.”