Chapter 46
TRENT
By the time I finally got Charlotte settled in bed, she was so worn out that she fell asleep before I’d even finished tucking the blanket around her. Her hand slid across the sheets like she was searching for me, and for a second, I almost stayed.
Hell, I wanted nothing more than to crawl in with her after the day we’d had, but Alex had already texted twice. I knew the guy wouldn’t have asked to meet up again unless it was important. Besides, I’d rather get whatever he wanted to talk about out of the way.
When we left Chicago this time, he’d have to fly out to Texas for at least the next decade if he wanted to see me in person. Well, aside from the occasional business trips I’d have to make, but those would be in and out, over as fast as I could force them to be.
Either way, I had to get going, so I slipped out quietly, closed the bedroom door, and headed down the street to a bar near the apartment. Alex was already there, his beer half-finished and his sleeves rolled up like he’d just come from a board meeting.
Knowing him, he probably had. He looked up when I sat down beside him, eyebrows inching up as he looked me over. “Shepard. You look like shit.”
I scoffed. “Trust me, buddy. You look worse.”
Alex snorted and waved down the bartender for another round. “Fair enough.”
We sat in silence for a moment, both of us obviously trying to find ways to avoid talking about the stuff I knew we needed to get straightened out, but finally, Alex cleared his throat. “Today wasn’t a total disaster, huh?”
I let out a short bark of laughter. “It definitely could’ve been worse.”
“Really?” He glanced at me after draining what had been left in his glass. “My blood pressure still hasn’t recovered and I’m pretty sure Nate is traumatized for life.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s gotten a lot tougher the last few years. Give him some credit. He’s all grown up now and you don’t have to protect him from everything anymore.”
Alex stared at me, then laughed. “Jesus Christ. What are you, like, Cowboy Yoda now?”
I shrugged, trying to keep a straight face, but I couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at the corners of my lips. “If the boot fits, I’ll wear it.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t even really give you shit for it because I still can’t believe you dragged Gregory out like that.”
“He needed motivating.”
“That wasn’t motivation,” Alex muttered. “That was a public warning.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. That’s why I can’t give you shit for suddenly thinking you’ve got all the answers.
You really cleaned this mess up for us, Trent.
” He lifted his fresh beer and tipped it toward me.
“It’s not much, but I’ve taken the liberty of having our security camera footage…
fixed up. Just in case he tries squealing about what happened. ”
“He won’t,” I said confidently. “Guys like that are all bark and no balls. If he had any sort of spine, he’d never do this kind of thing in the first place.”
Alex thought it over for a moment before he nodded, inhaled deeply, and took a long gulp of his beer. “Either way, thank you. For what you did, for the way you handled Gregory and everything else.”
He paused for a beat, raking both hands through his hair before he blew out a heavy breath. “I’m serious, Trent. Ever since that first phone call when I asked when you could get back to Chicago, you’ve done more than I ever expected.”
Taking praise had never been my thing, but I definitely wasn’t taking it for this. “She’s my wife.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, about that.”
Here it comes.
“If you want to annul it,” Alex said carefully. “I’d understand. Really. You did your part. More than your part. No one, least of all me, would blame you for walking away now.”
“Why the hell would I annul anything?”
Alex’s eyebrows almost flew off his forehead. “Because today was insane. Everything about what happened here was completely insane. I dragged you into family chaos you never asked for and—”
“I’m not having it annulled,” I cut in. “Not now and not ever. Forget about it. Don’t even mention it to me again. If you want to talk to Charlotte about it, go ahead, but I’m all in.”
He stared at me and frowned. “What?”
“I’d like to stay married to her.”
Alex blinked slowly, like his brain was having trouble catching up to his ears. “Are you drunk already? Did you two go drinking after lunch?”
“No.”
“So you mean that?”
“I do.”
His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. “Okay, wait. Are you sure? Because that’s big, dude. Marriage is—”
“I love her,” I said simply.
Alex froze, not even breathing or blinking for at least ten seconds. “What did you just say?”
“I love her,” I repeated. “I didn’t plan to. I sure as hell didn’t expect it to happen, but here we are.”
Alex rubbed a hand over his face. “God. Okay. Just hang on. You love her?”
“Yep.”
“You never even said that about Savannah. All I got out of you back then was yeah, sure, or probably, dude. I don’t know.”
I chuckled. “That’s because back then, I really didn’t know. I thought I did, but it was never like this. This is it.”
“And this is still Charlotte we’re talking about.”
“I know.”
“My sister.”
I gave him a flat look. “I’m aware.”
He looked down into his drink, quiet for a long moment before he glanced at me again. “You’re really serious about this?”
“I wouldn’t have let things get this far if I wasn’t.” I held his gaze, needing him to see that I didn’t have any doubts about this. “I’m not playing games with her, Alex. You know I wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeah. I know.” He stared straight ahead with his jaw tight, looking like he was thinking through every angle like a man reviewing a contract.
Eventually, I figured we might as well get the next part over with too. While he was already breaking his brain. “So, is that okay with you?”
His head jerked toward me in disbelief. “You’re actually asking me?”
“Well, yeah. I know how protective you are. I reckoned it was better to make sure you approve before I talk to your sister about trying to knock her up.”
He let out a strangled sound. “Don’t ever phrase it like that again.”
I grinned into my drink. “Fair enough, but let’s not forget that your cousin keeps knocking up my sister and putting images in my brain I can never erase.”
“I can’t be held accountable for what Jamie does.” He glared at me, but then sighed, a long, defeated exhale. “I’d rather you don’t throw me in a pig trough, so yes. Yes, Trent. It’s okay with me if you stay married to my sister.”
“That’s good,” I said lightly. “Annulment was never on my to-do list.”
“Never?” Alex shook his head, muttering I cannot believe this under his breath before downing the rest of his drink, but he didn’t look angry or even uneasy. “Welcome to the family, I guess. For real this time.”
“Thanks.” I lifted my glass. “I couldn’t be happier to be here.”
For a couple minutes after that, Alex nursed his drink the way a man nursed a wound, slow and pretending it didn’t sting.
The bar around us was half-empty, the music low and the lights dimmed.
It smelled like fried onions and beer-soaked wood, not exactly a confessional, but maybe that was why it worked.
“Alright,” he said eventually, setting his beer down and turning to me. “Tell me what really happened with Gregory. Why are you so sure he won’t be back?”
“Which part do you want to know?”
“The part where you made him disappear after having him all alone in the sanctuary of my elevator.”
“Ah. That part. I was wondering how long it was going to take you to ask.”
Alex gave me a look, as stern and judgmental as only a Westwood could be, and clearly, he was extremely done with my shit, so I relented. He wasn’t kicking my ass about my very real relationship with his sister and she needed a little slice of peace.
Hell, all of us did. If I could help smooth things over with her family by telling him this, then I’d do it.
“Fine,” I said, lifting my hands in surrender. “I asked him just what the hell he thought he was doing when he put his hands on my wife.”
Alex’s jaw ticked and he stared at me like he was waiting for the building to catch fire, but he didn’t interrupt.
“He said something about how he just wanted to see her rings, but I didn’t care what the excuse was. He touched her and I don’t tolerate people putting hands on what’s mine.”
Alex’s eyebrows rose, but he still didn’t say anything. “After that, I told him exactly what was going to happen next.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“I let him know that he was going to be getting on a plane back to England, and that once he arrived, he was going to stay there. Permanently.”
“You bought his ticket?”
“A chartered flight,” I said. “I wanted him gone before Charlotte even finished her coffee.”
Alex blinked slowly. “Jesus. He didn’t argue?”
“Nope.” I smirked. “Actually, he almost cried.”
“Cried?”
“Big, wet, trembling eyes, practically begging me not to… well.”
Alex leaned in, suddenly far too interested. “Not to what?”
I grinned. “I really did tell him about the pigs. In explicit detail. You would’ve been proud about how descriptive I got.”
Alex groaned into his hands. “Trent.”
“What?” I said innocently. “It’s not my fault he didn’t know what pigs do. I told him to Google it if he didn’t believe me.”
“You didn’t.”
“I absolutely did, then I stayed and watched him do it.”
Alex sat back and rubbed his jaw, but he was smiling. “You’re insane.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied. “I may also have pointed out that we had many more pigs than the guy in the video he stumbled upon and that our ranch is so big, no one else even knows we keep those animals. I might have also made it clear that the authorities are highly unlikely to ever even find the pens, let alone anything else.”
Alex closed his eyes as if offering a prayer to any nearby deity willing to claim him, then let out a long breath.
“I’m grateful to you,” he said quietly. “Truly. For stepping in the way you did.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“And for taking care of Charlotte.”
“She’s my wife,” I repeated. “Even if it’s only been a few weeks, that’s still not something I’d ever take for granted.”
We sat there for a moment before I looked at him again. “You need to fix things between her and Douglas. That’s the one thing I can’t do anything about.”
“I know.” Alex nodded, his fingers drumming lightly against the side of the glass. “I just thought taking over would be different, you know? I thought, I don’t know, I thought I’d handle it better and that he’d let me.”
“You’re doing fine.”
He scoffed. “Sterling made it look easy.”
“Sterling was married when he took over the west coast operations.”
Alex’s gaze cut to me. “So?”
“So, it wasn’t as easy for him as you seem to think,” I said. “Harlan refused to hand over the reins until Sterling was married with a baby on the way, no less.”
Alex stared at me like I’d just grown a dick out of my forehead. “Harlan demanded the baby too?”
I nodded. “He wanted proof of stability and said a man thinking about his family makes better decisions.”
“That’s archaic.”
“That’s Harlan.”
Alex shook his head, muttering a curse.
“What?” I said with a shrug. “Wives do make life easier.”
“Based on your, what, two weeks of experience on the matter?” he deadpanned.
I grinned. “She’s exceptional. That helps.”
He rolled his eyes, but there was a softness there I hadn’t seen in a while. Something relieved. I lifted my glass toward him. “You Westwoods have always been something else.”
Alex huffed out a breath. “I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment, but it doesn’t matter, I guess.
I’ll talk to my dad, okay? I just can’t promise anything.
He’s handed over the reins to the company, for now, but not to the family.
At this point, I’m not sure there’s anything I can do.
Well, not anything more than anyone else can, at least. The man is stubborn as shit and he’s not about to just admit he was wrong. ”
I let out a long, loud breath, then signaled the bartender for another drink.
Charlotte had already lost her mom and I didn’t even want to think about how much it would hurt her if she as good as lost her dad now too.
I planned on being her family from now on, but her dad owed her at least an apology—and one way or another, I would make sure she got it.