Keep Me Never (Boys of Avix #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Paige

“It’s quite simple, really.”

I stare across the long wooden table at the man on the other end of it—because sitting twenty feet away from me makes sense when we’re “in a meeting”—and he’s looking at me like I’m an incompetent little lamb he has to dumb himself down to speak to. I’m not.

I was the valedictorian of my high school and I’m going to graduate from college at the end of this year with a perfect GPA. He should know this. After all, he ran a background check, paid someone somewhere for access to all my personal records, and that was before he even made himself known to me.

This man, he’s what people call old money. There hasn’t been a day in his life when he didn’t have more than a person could ever need in their lifetime. I know because, like him, as soon as I found out who he was, I did my own research.

Of course, mine consisted of social media stalking and a few dozen Google searches, but it was all right there in big, bold letters: Billionaire and CEO Grant Randolph V rumored to retire, but to whom will he leave his legacy?

That was the headline that came up the very first time I took to the internet in an attempt to learn a thing or two about the man who claimed he was my grandfather. The grandfather whom I had no idea existed until a little over a year ago.

I stare into his blue eyes—eyes that mirror my own down to the golden line curving around our pupils. I’d always known that I had my mother’s eyes. I guess I never thought deep enough to wonder where hers came from, but now I know.

It’s funny, when you have all you need in a parent, you never really stop to wonder what the other one might have brought to the table had they been there. Apparently, the answer is an obscene amount of money and unrealistic expectations.

What did he say? Oh yeah, he called this simple.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not so sure I agree.” I don’t agree. At all, but I have a feeling saying as much, and so directly, would be an error on my part. This man requires the sharpest of eggshells beneath your feet, and I learned that the very first day we met.

He looks at me with frustration, and maybe a little annoyance. “Which part of what I’m offering is confusing to you?”

“‘Confusing’ isn’t exactly the word I would use.”

“And what word would you use?”

“I don’t know…excessive?”

A low laugh comes from the man in the corner of the room, who has yet to introduce himself. For the first time, the man in the suit’s eyes lift from his laptop screen, locking with mine, and I hold my breath, unsure of what to expect to come out his mouth.

He’s…very handsome. Perfect teeth, chocolaty-brown hair, and bone structure even Cillian Murphy could appreciate.

He smiles and it’s a little unnerving to have it pointed at me.

Me in my leggings and baggy T-shirt and messy braid because Grant insisted I come here straight from my lesson at the local youth center.

“I think maybe the word you’re looking for is old-fashioned.” His lips curve higher as he glances toward my grandfather. “Isn’t that right, old man?”

“All right, fine.” Grant chuckles as he sits back in his seat, folding his fingers together and resting them on his stomach. “I’ll introduce you to my lovely granddaughter, whom you’ve been asking me about for weeks.”

“Weeks. Months. Who’s counting?” The man grins, closing his computer.

“You, apparently. Paige, meet Prescott. He’s the man of the hour around here. Keeps me in line among other things. Prescott, this is my lovely granddaughter, Paige.”

I wince, standing when he approaches with an outstretched hand. “Not so lovely at the moment, but Mr. Randolph—”

“Paige,” Grant chastises.

My cheeks flush a little. “But my…grandfather insisted I come here straight from work.”

“As he did me.”

I laugh lightly, looking over his perfectly tailored, deep-mahogany three-piece suit. “Right.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Paige.” His brown eyes hold mine. “I look forward to you schooling your grandfather on his excessive ways.”

“Easy, son. If you give us a few minutes,” Grant tells Prescott, and without another look, he heads out of the room—a massive conference room in the cliffside coastal home he’s apparently just converted into a satellite office here in Oceanside, making this the second piece of real estate he’s purchased based on where I live, the first being a large home just nine miles from Avix University.

I’m not sure if I should be honored or concerned.

“Paige, sweetheart.” The way he says sweetheart is more condescending than a term of endearment. Not that he’s endeared to me.

I’m pretty sure I am a representation of his biggest aversions—artistic, lower class, single. It’s not his fault, really. We just come from different worlds.

Grant continues. “It’s not as complicated as you’re making it seem, and sure, maybe Prescott is right.

You could call it old-fashioned, because yes.

This is how things were done in my time, and people who were born into my world, the world your mother robbed you of, still favor this direction.

It has its benefits, even if those aren’t clear to you right now. ”

I want to say I don’t know why it matters, but it’s his money, his company.

Grant reaches for his espresso, taking a small sip before leveling me with what I’ve come to recognize as his tactical expression.

“I’m getting old, Paige. What the rest of the world has yet to learn is how my work ethic is catching up to me.

” He pats his chest. “These old organs aren’t working the way they used to, and one day, most likely in the near future, I’ll have no choice but to step back.

I trust the people around me to run this company effectively.

Prescott has been with me since his internship, the others just as long or longer.

There isn’t a single person I fear to leave in their positions the day my time ends, but do you know what none of them have and could never achieve? ”

It’s a rhetorical question, so I wait for him to answer himself.

“Randolph blood doesn’t run through their veins.” His blue eyes hold mine. “You and I are the only two people left in this world who can claim that honor. Eighteen months ago I was defeated and searching for a way to save my family’s—our family’s—legacy. And then I found you.”

I swallow, trying not to break eye contact when I really want to.

“My company’s core focus is legacy preservation and estate management. We are the guardians of generational estates. The literal definition of what we do is protecting family legacy.”

I open my mouth, but all that comes out is “oh.”

Surprisingly, Grant chuckles, the creases at the corner of his eyes deepening. “Yes, sweetheart. Oh.”

My heart pounds a little harder in my chest. “So…if someone in your—” I pause when he raises a graying brow and start again. “If someone from our family doesn’t take over after you…”

“The Randolph family legacy will be no more. The entire business model will fall. We represent royalty, names so big you would fall out of your chair if I told you, and we are still here because they know the loyalty of the Randolph name. Without a Randolph, we’re just another company and their money and secrets and heirlooms are at risk of exposure, or so they would assume, and I might be inclined to agree. ”

“But you don’t even know me. What if I’m a slimeball at heart?”

Grant smiles, the hairs of his mustache curling over his lips slightly.

Honestly, the man is intimidating to look at.

I’m basically a fairy compared to him, he’s that tall and wide.

His shoulders are thick and sharp under his suit, and his salt-and-pepper hair is much fuller than a seventy-five-year-old man’s should be, but there is an air of kindness to him I can’t ignore.

“I’m a fantastic judge of character, Paige. I can peg a person after a single meeting. Call it a superpower of mine.”

His half smile matches my own and he tips his head. “This company might be at risk of falling apart, but if I thought you would destroy it or tarnish the name, I wouldn’t be asking of you what I am. I would have sold it off and made peace with that.”

“But I’m a fifth-year college student and rec leader. I don’t even charge half the kids I teach.”

“Paige, you’ve taken every business class in the book.

” Right, he’s seen my transcripts. “Obviously, the purpose of those was to help you navigate your interest in running your studio, but you have the knowledge up here.” He taps his temple.

“And charity is a very big selling piece for new clients.”

I wouldn’t call my work charity, but okay, that still leaves the bigger issue.

“I don’t think I’m the best person for this.

It would be a huge risk on your part. Clearly, I am not good with money if the state of my studio tells you anything, and taking classes for a passing grade is one thing but running a bill—” I cut myself off, the word even hard to say.

“Lucrative business like yours is another thing.”

“I have faith in you, Paige, and I would be here to help.”

Knots start to form in my stomach, and I shake my head. “To be honest with you, and I’d like to be, I don’t know that I’d even want to.”

“I know that.” He nods. “There is no denying it will be an adjustment, sometimes a small burden, but it wouldn’t only be yours to carry, now would it?” He raises a brow.

No. I guess it wouldn’t be, considering what his offer entails. “I just… I’m not ready to decide.”

“That’s okay, but I would like to request you give it a chance before you do. Can you do that?”

Can I?

Nerves swim in my veins, making me a little nauseous, but I nod, even if I’m not so sure it will turn out the way he hopes in the end.

He notices, clearly relying on his special skill, and pushes to his feet, coming my way. He smiles down at me, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. “Do or don’t, Paige, I’ll still be here. I’d like to be a part of your family either way.”

Family.

My family.

That’s sort of the magic word now, isn’t it? Because I no longer have one of those.

Unless I count him.

I’d like to, I think, but this is all so…well, unbelievable. And new.

My smile is small, as unsure as it is hopeful, and he accepts it. Grant excuses himself then, and I’m left alone with my thoughts in a multimillion-dollar home he bought for fun.

Sighing, I drop back in my seat and look out over the Pacific Ocean, my shoulders feeling even heavier than they did before I walked through the door. But hey, at this point, what’s one more worry added to the overflowing list already threatening to take me down, right?

Dang.

I thought last year was challenging.

What the heck am I in for this time around?