53. Chapter 52
Ria - Three Months Later
“Remind me again why we’re heading over to your brother’s house right now instead of me being between your thighs, Mrs. Brent,” Leo moans as we walk up the steps to Hunter and Jade’s house.
“Because we have news and I wanted to do it in person.” I knock on my brother’s impressive black front door and then lean back into Leo’s chest. “And you better not be too tired when we get back as I want to come on your tongue and your cock.”
“Baby, I can’t go into my best friend’s house with a fucking hard-on.” He repositions himself just as the door swings open, and Jade’s smiling face comes into view.
“Hey, come in, guys. Hunter is in the kitchen.”
“Christ, is he trying to cook again?” Leo kisses Jade on the cheek and passes her the bottle of pinot grigio we brought over.
“God, no.” She laughs. “He’s plating up the Chinese takeaway.” She closes the door behind us.
“Well, I’ll go and help.” He kisses me hard on the lips before heading through the large space to the kitchen at the back of the house.
“I heard you, by the way.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry; we won’t keep you.” She wiggles her eyebrows and I roll my eyes. “Come on, let’s open this.” We head in the direction of the kitchen.
“Leo, put that down.” Hunter is taking the large glass vase of sunflowers out of Leo’s hands.
“But they would look better over here.” He points to the side table in the dining area.
“No, they look fine here.” Hunter places them back down on the windowsill.
“They would actually look lovely over there,” Jade says, grabbing two wine glasses.
“See.” Leo points at Jade. “She understands style.”
“Tink, why are you playing into his crazy?” Hunter hands Leo a beer and opens a bottle for himself.
“It isn’t crazy if it’s right,” he says, sliding onto the stool and stealing a spring roll. Jade places a glass of wine in my hand before turning to help Hunter plate up the rest of the takeaway. “You two should get a pet or a plant. Maybe a big yucca…oh, or a palm.”
“It is true you do turn into your other half after a while.” Hunter snickers.
“You’re not funny, Stone,” Leo huffs.
“Stop bickering, you two.” Jade giggles. “Anyway, apparently you have news that you couldn’t tell us over the phone.”
“We do.” I smile at Leo and grip his hand.
“Oh my God, am I going to be an aunt again?” Jade squeals. “Oh wait, you're drinking.”
“Indeed I am.” I wave my glass at her. “No, we are definitely not making you an aunt just yet, though I’m hoping you both will make me an aunt again very soon.” They both look at each other and give each other a coy smile.
“Not just yet,” Hunter says gently.
“You’ll make disgustingly beautiful babies. I mean, look at the bone structure on both of you. Like you were carved by angels.” Leo sighs.
“I’m taking that as the compliment you intended it to be.” Jade laughs. “But come on then. What do you have to tell us?”
“Your husband actually knows what our news is. He’s been keeping something from you.”
“What do you mean?” Her gaze swings to Hunter who is grinning into his beer. “We don’t keep secrets.”
“Trust me, Tink, it’s a good one.” He brushes the backs of his knuckles down her cheek affectionately. “Listen to Ria.”
“Okay.” Slowly, she turns to face me, a deep crease set in her brow as her bright blue eyes meet mine.
“You’ve been with Bright for how long now?”
“Nearly two years, why?”
“You’ve been a huge asset, especially with The West Wing Hotel portfolio. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Can we not butter me up and just tell me what the hell is going on?” Jade’s eyes are flicking between all three of us as she sits ramrod straight.
“And you’ve made it pretty clear that you’ve wanted to run a company,” Leo chips in.
“So today we have the go-ahead for something that is going to change the way we run Bright here in London.” I nod at Hunter and he turns and takes Jade’s hands in his.
“Tink, we’ve been working behind the scenes as a family, and today we officially got the paperwork to buy Peak Investments.
” Jade gasps. “With what Dale and Ezra did, the company for obvious reasons began to sink, and well, let’s say my sister negotiated a good price and the shareholders were willing to sell to us.
We have thousands more clients and staff to look after.
We all signed this morning but”—he pulls out the contract we had drawn up and smooths it out in front of Jade—“it’s missing one signature before it's officially ours.”
Jade looks down at the paperwork and then quickly back up to Hunter. “This says my name.” Her gaze quickly flies to mine and then to Leo. “You want me to be a director of Peak?”
“No, Jade.” Standing, I move around the island and she spins in her seat to face me. “I want you to run our new branch and not just as a director as the major shareholder. I want you to be the CEO.”
“You want me to do what?”
“If you sign, you’ll be the CEO of Bright Stone Investments.
We will split the portfolios and Bright will hold the high net worth, while Bright Stone will help the smaller individuals and help them achieve their potential.
” Jade blinks rapidly as I keep talking.
“I don’t want anyone else to do this, and neither do Mom and Dad and especially this guy.
” I grin at my brother who can’t take his eyes off his wife.
“You belong at the top, Jade. But if you don’t want to do it, tell me and we will rip the contract in half.
The Stone family isn’t doing this without you. ”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I want this.” She jumps up and wraps me in an almost violent hug as I’m flung backward, and I stumble slightly before righting us both.
“So it’s a yes?”
“Hell, yes.” Tears are streaming down her face as she pulls away from my chest. “Do you have a pen?”
“As you wish, Mrs. Stone.” Leo presents her with a pen and bows at the waist.
She quickly scribbles her signature and drops the pen down on the island before throwing herself at Hunter. “Oh, you’re getting the good loving tonight, Mr. Stone.” She kisses him hard on the mouth, and he cups her head and shifts her so she's sitting on his lap.
“Are we eating this takeaway, or should we see ourselves out?” Leo jokes.
“Take whatever you want,” Hunter mumbles before returning to kissing his wife.
“But you threw the containers away,” Leo moans.
“Just take the plates,” Hunter says quickly.
“But—”
Hunter scowls across at Leo. “I think that’s our cue to leave.” I take Leo’s hand in mine and pull him to stand.
“But I’m still hungry.”
Stretching up on my tiptoes, I kiss him softly and whisper against his lips, “Perfect.”
“On second thought, keep your plates.”