33. Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Anson
I t was a humbling experience to beg for something. I never thought I'd do it, but somehow, with Nova, it didn't feel wrong—it felt natural. She was my other half, begging her was…well, it was the way it was supposed to be.
I was under no illusions about how badly I'd fucked up.
Nina was in no mood to entertain my bullshit, and she'd unequivocally informed me of that when I met with her the day after I officially moved to Savannah.
"You have a large space here, Nina. Just rent Larue Homes a few offices and a conference room so we can have an office here. It'll make it easy for us to work together on this project and others in the future." I wasn't above using the lure of business to get what I wanted.
"Do you think I'm runnin' a freakin' matchmaking service?" Nina snapped. "Seriously, Aurora, Stella, and now Nova. It's like every single woman in Savannah Lace is having some kind of a volatile relationship that interferes with my company."
"I love her, Nina."
"I don't give a fuck," Nina exclaimed. "Manage your relationships on your own time."
"Okay, then let's talk about the professional relationship. We have a contract. You've already spent too many hours on Sentinel Heights to pull back. Let's finish that project."
Nina absentmindedly fiddled with a pencil, twirling it between her fingers before tapping it rhythmically on the table.
"You'll have a new project manager."
"No deal. I asked for Nova. I still want her."
"I can't force her to work on this," Nina drawled. " You convince her if you want her so much. And good fuckin' luck with that."
"For a Southern lady, Nina, you cuss like a sailor," I remarked, amused.
"Most Southern ladies cuss under their breath. I do it loudly 'cause I'm outta fucks, Anson. I'm a woman in my late forties, and I got no patience for bullshit. So, here is how it's goin' to be. Suppose you can convince Nova to work with you, great . And since she's our office manager, work with her on getting Larue Homes set up here. If she agrees, we can figure out the cost of rent and services."
I knew she'd want a development company like Larue Homes partnering so closely with Savannah Lace that we even shared an office. We were an established company across generations, while Savannah Lace was new and an all-woman company to boot, which was sometimes seen as a dilettante amongst the real architecture firms that were owned and managed, usually, by middle-aged white men.
"Okay."
"I hear you're looking to sell Larue mansion."
"That reached you real quick." I'd floated the idea to a couple of real estate agents, one in Atlanta and one in Savannah, a couple of days ago.
"I keep my ears open. I know Gabe has been looking to build a Rhodes Hotel in that area ‘cause of how it's developing."
I grinned. "And you want to help facilitate the deal?"
Nina was no one's fool. "Yeah, and develop the hotel."
"I hear Gabriel's wife works here, so he will probably hand over a project to you without you helping with the sale."
She scoffed. "Gabe doesn't work like that, and Aurora would cut his dick off if he did. We keep business and personal separate, though that's becoming a problem, first with Aurora, who was dating Gabe, then Noah becoming a partner, and now you chasin' after Nova."
"I'm goin' to catch her, too," I informed her.
"She's stronger than she looks."
"I know."
"You broke her," Nina said solemnly.
"I know."
"But Luna said you went on your knees, and I hear you crawled. I'd pay good money to see that."
I sighed. "I thought Sentinel was a small town."
Nina laughed. "So is Savannah, darlin', a real small town that thrives on gossip."
My conversation with Nova didn't go as well as it did with Nina.
She glared at me when I came into her office. Everyone in Savannah Lace gave me a stink eye. It was common knowledge that their darlin' Nova had been arrested for a crime committed by my ex-fiancée, who had framed her. Diego was right, my life right now was a freaking soap opera.
Bailey had called several times, texted, and sent a message through Alma—I'd ignored them all. I'd made way too many mistakes in my past. Bailey wasn't the biggest one, but she was in the top three.
"Nina, is okay with you setting the Larue Homes Savannah office here?" Nova was incredulous.
"I'm quite persuasive." I settled into the office chair across from her.
She put her hands on her desk as if bracing herself. "What're you tryin' to achieve here, Anson?"
"I'm tryin' to win my woman back."
She rolled her eyes. " Your woman ? What is this, the freakin' nineteenth century?"
"No, Sugar, it's 2024, but it doesn't change a thing about me wanting to be with my woman, which, in case you were unaware, is you."
She rolled her eyes again.
She was in a white dress with red poppies scattered over it. Her shoes were black stiletto pumps with a red bow on the side. Her hair was in a slouchy ponytail. Her lipstick matched the poppies, and her eyes were wide because she'd done something to them to make them look dark and smokey and fucking gorgeous.
I wanted to pull her up on her desk, sit where I was, open her up, and taste her. I so badly wanted to have the privilege of doing that, of having her smile at me affectionately, of her calling me honey .
"We came to a good place that night in my cabin," I spoke softly.
"Yeah, and the next day I was arrested… again , thanks to your fiancée."
"Ex."
"Whatever."
Diego had given her all the details of what went down. He'd taken great pleasure in telling me that.
Her phone rang, and she frowned at the name of the caller before taking the call. "Lemon?"
My heart beat a little faster. Lemon Goodwin, I'd learned, was the toughest lawyer this side of the river, and Beau had hired her for Nova.
As Nova listened to what was being said, she went pale.
I went to her side of the desk and crouched next to her, my hand holding her free one. She let me.
"I…I don't understand," she whispered.
She put the phone down after a minute and looked at me, her eyes wide with fear and relief.
"What's up, Sugar?"
"Raymond Carre is dead. He…ah…he got into a fight with…another inmate, and he died."
I kept my face clear of emotion though I was shocked as fuck. Beau had been serious. This could not be a coincidence. Beau Bodine was a fucking dangerous man. He'd had the man who hurt his sister murdered in cold blood. I was certain there would be no proof of his involvement.
"Oh God, Anson, he's dead." Her eyes filled with tears, and I understood, finally, the impact of what Carre had done to her. Since that day, she'd been afraid he'd come back, and his ghost lived rent-free in her head. With him gone, she'd be able to heal.
I didn't believe in murder. I didn't believe in the death penalty. But I was glad Carre was gone. I should buy Beau a bottle of something good.
I stood up and pulled her into my arms, held her close as she let herself feel the relief and probably the guilt that came with being happy about a man dying.
"He's gone," she whispered again and again.
I hated that she had to feel this way for me to be able to hold her, but I wasn't complaining. I was going to use every advantage I could create or use to make her trust me again, to make her admit she loved me enough to forgive me, forgive the past, and build a present and future with me.
I held her for a long while. Finally, she extricated herself from me. She went to the restroom for a while, and when she came back, she drove a hard bargain regarding rent and service charges for Larue Homes to share office space with Savannah Lace.
It wasn't forgiveness, but it was a start. I knew I'd have another battle on my hands when I had to tell her she had to project manage Sentinel Heights. It was my chance to spend time with her—and her with me. We were going to learn about one another anew, and that journey of discovery was going to require proximity, which I knew she wouldn't allow unless work demanded it.