Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, I put out water and ibuprofen for Levi before checking my mail. The house that Calvin planned to demolish was still standing tall across the street. I’d been keeping an eye on it, not sure why Calvin hadn’t followed through. A more naive version of me would think that he was having second thoughts, but I knew him too well for that.
I’d been so busy with wedding planning and the subsequent honeymoon that I’d put the house’s inevitable fate in the back of my mind, but now that things had slowed down, I was ready to investigate.
There was a note on the door that hadn’t been there a week ago.
The driveway was empty, and my curiosity spiked. I had to see what it was about. Abandoning my mailbox, I walked over and got close to the front door.
Notice of historical significance. Demolition delayed.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what you deserve, asshole.”
This was probably the one time the government actually helped someone instead of making things harder.
Well, they helped me . I’m sure Calvin wasn’t happy with them.
I skipped back to the mailbox and grabbed everything. I was on top of the world. Nothing could bring me down.
It was then, of course, that I finally saw my mail.
Calvin and our parents had a bad habit of sending out fancy invites for the parties they held—if there was enough notice.
The one for Dad’s retirement was tossed straight into the trash the second I got it but they always texted the night before as a reminder.
And this time, there was another, but it was from Calvin.
Calvin Willard is happy to announce that the stocks of the company have gone up. We’re throwing a party to celebrate that as well as some recent changes to my life.
And I hear Amy is married. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the wedding. So we will be celebrating that too.
Calvin was always one step ahead, and I had no idea how he did it. I doubted he wanted to celebrate anything about my life at all, but him mentioning me by name brought my naivety back. What if he really was at the wedding for me? That would have been why Mom and Dad had been so angry at the ceremony. Maybe this was their olive branch.
There was a low chance. A very low one. But there was one.
I stuffed it in my back pocket to look into it later. Levi would want to go. After all, it was the perfect chance to show off our marriage and make Calvin mad, and we could change our plan if it really was him being nice.
Or be worse than usual when it all came crashing down.
Walking back into the house, I saw Levi was up and moving around.
“On a scale of one to ten, how hungover are you?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.
“A one.”
“Seriously?” My jaw dropped. “How is that fair?”
“I drank water the entire time. It’s a trick I used in college.”
“Smart. Did you have fun?”
“I did. I’m sorry for however I came in. Isra tells me I’m funny when I’m drunk, but I never know.”
“You were respectful. You called Calvin a turdhead, though.”
“Ah,” he replied, mouth twisting. “Not my finest choice of words, but it’s true.”
I laughed and started a pot of coffee, trying to figure out my next move. I had a hundred things going on, but seeing Levi reminded me of what he’d said the night before, and that was the most important thing happening.
By the time the pot was mostly full, I had a rough idea of what I was going to do.
“So,” I said as I poured us both a cup, “what’s on the agenda today for the office?”
He raised a brow. “You’re asking about my work? Is this a thing we’ll talk about at the breakfast table?”
“I’m your wife. Shouldn’t I? Besides, I almost worked there. I’m kinda curious what Sally thought of the wedding and if Sebastian is as good at his job as Lily says he is.”
“Sebastian is a hard worker. Too hard of one, if you ask me. And Sally loved the wedding. She keeps asking when you’ll come in.”
Oh, perfect . Now I had a reason to pop in. “Oh, really? I didn’t think I’d made that much of an impression.”
“Come on, Amy. It’s you . Of course you did.”
I wanted to fall into the warmth of his words.
But I also wouldn’t let myself.
I stepped away to gather my wits and pulled the invitation from my pocket. When I did, glitter broke off from it.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Use higher quality shit, Calvin.”
“Why is your ass covered in glitter?”
“My dumb fucking brother.”
“That’s not ... I really hope you have a better explanation than that.”
“Oh my God.” I rolled my eyes. “He sent this and I shoved it in my pocket. The glitter got everywhere. Who even uses glitter for this kind of invite to a party?”
I handed him the card and he read it over. “He’s doing all of this for a party in a week over stocks?”
“Go big or go home, I guess. I personally wish he would stay home and leave us all the fuck alone.”
“Two of us want that.”
“I figured we’d go to piss him off. I should have known he’d find a way to make me mad first.” I swiped at my butt. “I think these need to be washed. Hopefully it all comes out.”
“They look good from my angle.”
I glanced over at him, and true to his word, his eyes were on my backside. The second he realized I was looking, however, he averted his gaze.
That warm feeling was back and I couldn’t stomp it away.
“No matter how good it might make my butt look, I can’t leave a trail like Hansel and Gretel. Whoever would follow me would not be very friendly.” I went up the stairs to change, which gave me a moment to get my head on straight.
When I came back down, Levi was dressed too.
“I’ll be back on time tonight,” he said. “See you later.”
“See you,” I replied, though it would be much earlier than he expected.
Word about our marriage had obviously gotten around the office. I was let in without a bat of an eye and led right to Levi’s shut door.
“Is he in another meeting?” I asked the receptionist.
“Yes. He’s in a ton of them lately with everything that’s going on.”
Everything that’s going on.
“Oh, yeah,” I lied. “I can’t imagine the stress he’s under.”
“There you are!” Sally said as she nearly jogged down the hallway. “I heard from the front desk that you were visiting. Here to see your husband?”
“Here to surprise him with lunch, but he’s busy.” I gestured to the door.
“Always is, unfortunately. Though I’m sure he’d cancel something for you. You could tell him she’s here, Maisie.”
“Interrupting the boss in a meeting is a bad call. He’s so stressed today.”
“He’s not like your last boss,” Sally said, shaking her head.
“I know, but I don’t wanna get in trouble.”
“I would never ask you to do that,” I cut in. “But I have wanted to get to know my almost coworkers. Have either of you had lunch yet?”
“I haven’t.” Maisie sighed and rubbed her stomach. “I’m starving.”
“Me either,” Sally added. “There’s a new barbecue place I’ve been dying to try.”
“We should go there. My treat.”
Sally clapped her hands together excitedly and Maisie perked up. Even though I was here to get information on Levi, I was glad to make their day a little brighter.
We were able to walk to the new place, and when I entered, I knew by the smell alone that this was going to be good.
“Damn,” I said. “I wish I worked at Leviathan. I could have this every day.”
“But you have Levi as a husband instead.” Sally sighed dreamily. “I bet he’s the best.”
“He’s great. A little tight-lipped about some things, though. Admittedly, I didn’t know he was that stressed at work.”
“I bet he wants to live in the honeymoon phase.”
“Yeah,” Maisie added. “He always says work stays at work. He really wants people to have a good work-life balance.”
“Still, is what’s going on bad?”
Sally and Maisie looked at each other. “It’s not the end of the company bad,” Sally said. “There’s just someone who’s trying to hurt Levi, and he’s doing a good job of it.”
“Let me guess,” I said dryly. “He owns some hospitals.”
“Yes, that’s him. Calpert or something.”
I laughed at the terrible version of my brother’s name. “I bet that’s it.”
“I’ve never seen someone with a vendetta like this.” Sally’s smile was suddenly gone. “He’s coming after people who work here exclusively. I already got a job offer for double my pay.”
“Double?” I asked. “But that hospital pays way below what you guys do.”
“According to their page, they do,” Maisie said. “I guess this guy is giving special incentives to those who work for Levi.”
My stomach churned. He wouldn’t pay me a livable wage, but he would do it for revenge?
“Some people have taken the offers, and neither Levi nor I can blame them. In this day and age, money talks. But those of us who are loyal are just so shocked. It’s so unprofessional.”
“There should be laws on this kinda thing,” Maisie added. “But there’s not. Levi is mainly doing damage control.”
“There has to be something. Calpert needs to get in trouble for this.”
“He would deserve it,” I said lowly. “But I know men like that. They never get what’s coming to them. They find a way out.”
Both women didn’t seem happy with that answer. Maisie shook her head and Sally scoffed.
“Levi did tell me he’s also going after the doctors that work here too,” I said.
“And the nurses,” Sally added. “He’s stealing the whole business model and trying to pass it off as his own.”
“Asshole.” It was one thing to be in the direct line of fire of Calvin, but it was another to see him try to take down Levi’s business. I’d done my research on it. Leviathan’s method of providing care was the cheapest on the market, and it had helped countless people.
Why couldn’t Calvin let things go? Why did he have to be such a dick?
“When did all of this start?” I asked.
“About six months ago. Though the poaching only got worse these last few weeks. We’ve gotten more messages than ever.”
Right when I’d married Levi.
Calvin was upping the stakes, and it wouldn’t be too long until I was in the middle of it again. Though hearing about this, I wasn’t sure I cared. Maybe this would be the time that Calvin finally got what he deserved.
“A man like that doesn’t need any more attention.” Sally waved her hand. “I want to know about you .”
“Right,” I said. “No more work.”
I tried to put it out of my mind, but I knew I would be talking to Levi later.
The three of us got in line, and I told them about the honeymoon and the time after. Both women loved to hear about it and were excited to see the pictures. By the time I had caught them up, the food had arrived, and the three of us talked about how amazing it was. We then shared all of our other favorite Nashville spots.
I’d almost forgotten the fact that Levi had chosen not to mention all of the things Calvin was doing to his company.
Almost.
When we were back in the four corners of the office, it all came back.
And by then, Levi was out of his meetings.
His office door was open and he was glaring at his computer. I knocked and he didn’t even look up.
“I’ll skip lunch today, Maisie.”
“It’s not your receptionist, unfortunately,” I replied, and his gaze shot up.
“Amy? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how things were going and had lunch with Sally and Maisie.” I walked fully in and shut the door. “Funny. I hear Calvin is being more of a little shit than normal.”
“They told you, didn’t they?”
“Without much prompting, actually. Which is why I’m wondering why my husband didn’t.”
“You knew enough.”
“He’s my brother.”
“And this is my business.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t understand. This whole thing is about making Calvin mad. Why are you not telling me the full story of what he’s doing?”
“It’s like I said, you know enough.”
“Obviously, I don’t.”
He let out a sigh, and dimly, I recognized that this might be the first time he was mad at me.
Good. I was mad at him too.
“So your answer was to ask my employees?”
“Let’s get one thing straight. If I know there’s something going on, I’m gonna figure it out.” I pointed at him. “And then I’m gonna figure out why you didn’t tell me. Is it because you’re planning some sort of big revenge you know I won’t like? Something life ruining?”
“Maybe it’s that I don’t want to make everything about your brother, Amy. Did you consider that?”
I blinked. “No, I didn’t actually.”
“You know more than anyone else that he doesn’t stop. You’re dealing with a lot from him already. You don’t need any more.”
He was ... protecting me? Wow. That was new.
And it was sad that it was new.
“It still affects me, though.”
“Not this time. I’m more worried about keeping my employees and going after him for stealing them.”
“You have to have some big plan to get him back.”
“Not really.”
“But you married me as a part of it.”
His eyes cut to me and then he looked back down at his laptop. “Yes . . . I did.”
“You have to have something else, and when you do, it’s gonna come back on me.”
“I’m not gonna let that happen.”
“But he’ll still try, and I’d like a warning before he does. He knows that he can only do business stuff with you, but with me he can ...” I trailed off. He could try anything with me. It had been years since he got physical, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t again.
The scar on my face ached as a reminder of what he was capable of.
“He could do what, exactly?” Levi asked lowly.
“Bad things. Mean things. I can handle it, but you can’t keep stuff from me.”
“I can protect you.”
“Yes, that’s nice and all, but?—”
“Amy,” he said. “Let me do this for you.”
“You’ve done a lot for me.”
“And I’ll do more. But you have to let me handle things.”
I crossed my arms. I didn’t want him to handle anything. At least not on his own, but I didn’t know if I could turn him down. Had I been alone for so long that I didn’t know how to hand things off anymore?
Did I trust Levi to handle them in the first place?
“Please,” he added.
“Fine,” I said, even though it went against the roiling feeling of my stomach. “I trust you to handle it, but can we meet in the middle here? If you do find some legal way to go after him, some way to make him look like the idiot, you have to tell me. I won’t stop you, but I need to know.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
It was something, at least. It didn’t completely get rid of the feeling in my gut, but I would have to make do.
“What do you want for dinner?” I asked. “The least I can do is cook something, considering I came into your office and made you tell me what was going on.”
“I’ll handle dinner.”
“But—”
“I’m fine,” he said. “Trust me, I am.”
I didn’t know if I did. But he wanted to do it all, it seemed.
And I wasn’t sure I was okay with letting him.