Chapter 20 Olivia
OLIVIA
The sound of a shrill ringing pulled me from the deepest sleep I’d had in weeks. I looked around, blinking to clear my vision. The living room was still bathed in darkness, telling me it was early morning.
I felt so warm, so safe, lying here, sandwiched between three bodies.
Duke wrapped me under his arm, pulling me as close to his body as was appropriate, while Charlie and Harper occupied my other side.
We were a tangled mess in all the blankets the girls had piled around us.
Even though I was sweating through my pajamas, I was content.
When the noise started up again, I carefully extricated myself from between them. I followed the sound to my bedroom, angrily swiping the device from the dresser and glaring at the screen.
It was barely six in the morning, and my assistant was already calling. My stomach dropped as I swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“I’m so sorry to call this early,” she rushed out. “And I know the timing is horrible given what happened yesterday, but—”
I rubbed at my temples, already feeling a headache begin to bloom. “It’s fine. What’s wrong?”
Darcy hesitated. “The board is going to call a meeting. Today, if the buzz around the office is to be believed.”
“Today?” I echoed. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I tried to put them off. I told them the funeral was only yesterday and you needed more time—”
“They already knew that,” I muttered. “Most of them were in attendance.” Christ. Couldn’t they give me one fucking day before dragging me back into work? “Do you know what it’s about?”
“Mr. Montgomery called a few of the members yesterday after the funeral. Apparently, he wasn’t happy with the conversation the two of you had.”
“Fuck me,” I muttered. “What is he asking for? My removal?” I laughed because it was such an incredibly vile and petty thing to ask, but I knew if anyone was capable of it, it was him.
Despite how enjoyable it had been to watch Duke hand him his ass on a platter, I knew it would come with consequences. I didn’t, however, think they would come so soon. Leave it to this prick to waste no time in stirring the pot.
“I don’t know exactly,” Darcy said. “Anything is possible with him. He’s used to getting what he wants, and what he wants—”
“He’s not going to have,” I finished. “He’s been trying to take a bite out of my family’s hard work for years now. John warned me about this. He knew he’d come sniffing around.”
“You’re the executor of his will, aren’t you? So you have control of his assets?”
I teetered my head side-to-side. “Yes and no. I’m in charge of ensuring his final wishes are carried out, and his estate is taken care of, but that doesn’t mean I’ve taken control of everything.
” While I’d taken on the role of CEO, John had remained the majority shareholder when we took the company public.
Despite my position, he remained in control of Hartstrings.
I didn’t know how his shares would be split or who was getting what. Lukas and I had a meeting with the lawyers in three weeks to discuss his wishes. For whatever reason, John had been explicit in his instructions that nothing was to happen until that time had passed.
“What do you want to do?”
I had absolutely no idea. “My hands are tied. Even if the board calls a meeting, no decisions can be made until John’s will is finalized and we know how his shares will be split.
As the majority holder, his vote is needed to make any decisions,” I said, chewing on my thumbnail.
“Try to hold them off. Tell them the family is in no position to meet at this time.”
Darcy hesitated. “And if they push it?”
“Then conference me in, and I’ll set them straight. I’m not entertaining this bullshit today.”
I could hear the smile in Darcy’s voice as she said, “Yes, ma’am. I’ll take care of it.”
When the line went dead, I threw the phone on my bed and ran my hands over my face.
I knew those vultures were bound to come calling sooner rather than later, but to try to call a meeting the day after John’s funeral was diabolical.
What was their goal? To hope I was so exhausted and overcome with grief that I did whatever they asked?
Or maybe they were simply searching for any sign that John’s stocks would be going up for sale.
There was a point when Hartstrings wasn’t simply about profit. It was about family, connections, and helping artists build something they were proud of. My uncle knew growth could take away from that, but he tried to be intentional about who and what would lead the company into the future.
When he decided to step down as CEO and take the company public, he’d already laid the path for me to follow. But those around him weren’t happy with the change. Whether it was my age or my sex, nearly every person on the board had argued against my appointment.
It hadn’t mattered that Hartstrings bore my name, nor the fact that I had been training for this position since I was eighteen years old. They saw a woman who was strong-willed enough to block whatever bullshit they tried to push if I believed it didn’t align with our company’s core values.
“You okay?”
I looked up, noticing Duke leaning in the doorway. He looked like he’d just woken up, his hair mussed, shirt askew, and pants hanging low on his hips. I very intentionally refused to look at the impressive bulge making itself known.
“Yeah, just—” I waved my hand toward my phone “—work shit.”
A line formed between his brows. “It hasn’t even been a day.”
I laughed, but it was dry. “Considerate of them, huh? No matter how long I’ve been in the business, the callousness of others will never cease to amaze me.”
“Tell them to fuck off. You’re grieving.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Even if it did, well, I doubt that would go over well. It’s fine, though. My assistant is fantastic. She’ll take care of it the best she can and buy me a few weeks to take care of things here before I have to go back.”
Even if I didn’t want to go back.
Duke pushed off the ledge and walked toward my bed. He paused, taking the seat next to me. We didn’t talk at first, letting my words settle over us like a weighted blanket. Only, instead of comfort, it felt suffocating.
“What if you didn’t?” he asked quietly.
I turned my head towards him, noticing the way he kept his gaze trained on his hands in his lap. “What if I didn’t what?”
“Leave. What if you didn’t leave?”
I wanted that. God, I wanted that more than anything else in the world.
And not just because I’d found myself drawn to the man sitting next to me, but because being home was the happiest I’d felt in years.
Seeing Charlie every day and going to Harper’s soccer games felt so normal, and so right.
Having my brother on hand for any emergency that might come up was comforting.
And Duke? Duke made me feel alive. He made me feel like a woman—one with needs and desires and dreams. He made me feel seen—not just the face I showed the world, but me. A woman who could do anything, be anything, she wanted.
Even if what I wanted was to live an inherently average life without paparazzi following me around and men in suits looking down on me every time I walked into a room.
I shook my head. “I can’t stay. The company needs me.”
“And what about the people here?” he asked, staring straight at the wall. His jaw set in a hard line. “Don’t they need you too?”
“And who would that be?”
“I can think of two perfectly good reasons in that room in there, and one right here.” He turned his head, letting me see the way his bright green eyes burned with fire. “Including Lukas, Grady, and Cleo.”
Duke’s words made me want to cry. Why couldn’t he see that my hands were tied here? I couldn’t throw away my life—my family’s legacy—for someone I wasn’t even sure I had a future with.
This conversation was too much, too deep. I wasn’t prepared to be poked and prodded before I’d even had a cup of coffee in my system.
“Duke—”
He put his hands up in surrender. “It’s just something to think about, honey. I just want you to know you have options.”
I could walk away from the company with little effort, settle down here, and live out the rest of my days in comfort.
But why couldn’t anyone ever try to understand the way my guilt gnawed at my conscience, telling me that the option didn’t exist?
Or that if I did walk away, it would be met with smug judgments and “I told you so” whispers.
I didn’t want to be a failure. I didn’t want to let anyone down, other than myself. At least then, I had no one to blame but the woman staring back at me in the mirror every day.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to get some more sleep, are you?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Figured as much. Why don’t I make us some coffee? We can sit on the back porch and watch the sunrise.”
Duke pushed to his feet, turning to hold his hand out for me to take. My gaze dipped to his open, waiting palm. “You don’t have to do any of this, you know. Last night was amazing, and I’m so appreciative of it, but—”
“I’m not just doing this for you, Olivia.
I’m doing it for me. I like taking care of people I care about, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone save for Harper.
” He moved, cupping my jaw and letting his thumb trace my bottom lip.
“Let me take care of you a little while longer. Let me pretend there isn’t an expiration date on whatever the fuck this is.
” His gaze dipped to my mouth. “I don’t make a habit of begging, but I will if that’s what it takes. ”
The thought of him begging—regardless of what it was for—had me squeezing my thighs together to stop the ache blooming between them.
And then I remembered last night. How he’d been so enraptured by me, by my body, that he couldn’t move.
Having that kind of power over someone was a heady notion. One I didn’t take lightly.
But it left me wanting more. Craving more.