Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
HUNTER
“Jonah, figure it out. I can’t be a part of it.” I roll my eyes at my brother's request.
“Why? Give me one reason and don’t tell me it’s because of Ava. I see how you look at her. You’re faking it with her. Why, I’ll never know.” He meanders over to the beverage station in my office.
“It’s late, so don’t even think of pouring a drink. I’ve got to get out of here.” I stride over to my closet and grab my coat.
My conversation with Joe rings in my ear. I’ve got to figure out how to get out of my agreement with Ava. If I don’t, I worry about what will happen.
It’s clear she’s threatening me with the pictures of Dorothy and me together. If they get to the board, she’ll lose her job. There’s no saying if my position here is safe, either. Dread fills my insides.
Does Jonah still have his betting chip?
He was younger when that happened, so he might not remember. I want to ask, but bringing him into it is risky if my mother doesn’t want him involved.
He pours himself a drink, anyway. “Christmas is a little over a week away. Go with me to the ball and you can count that as your gift to me.”
“I already have your present, so going with you to some Christmas ball is out of the question.” I toss my coat on the couch.
He sits and crosses his leg, resting it on his knee. “What if I told you Dori will be there?”
Dori?
The edge of my eyes bunch up as I shake my head. “How long have you called her Dori?”
“Since the day I met her.” He swirls his scotch and takes a drink.
“Really? I could’ve sworn you always called her Dorothy.” I return to my desk to gather the belongings I need.
“No. You’re the only one who calls her Dorothy.” He laughs quietly.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
“Oh, it’s just a stupid rumor.”
“Okay, Jonah. Tell me about this rumor. Especially if Dorothy’s involved. She’s been dragged through the mud enough lately.” I rest my hands on my desk and make direct eye contact with him.
“It’s not about her, really. It’s about you. People think you call her that because you have some Dom/Sub fantasy running on repeat in your head.” He laughs harder this time. “Sorry, I can’t picture it.”
I can and so can my dick. I’m growing in my pants and at the perfect eye level for him to notice. I turn and pretend to be looking at the streets below.
“Fuck off, Jonah.”
“Come on, Hunter. You’re wound too tightly lately.” He joins me at my side. “Give me one good reason why you won’t go to the ball.”
“I don’t like crowds. You know that. ”
“But you do so well hiding it, so why not humor me and go with me?”He slaps my back, so I glance over at him.
“I have a lot I’m dealing with and that’s the last place I want to be.”
“Tell me about it. Maybe it could help.”
I nod and take a deep breath. If I’m going to win her back, this is the first step. My therapist says I have to be more truthful, so who better to practice with?
I face him to show him I’m dead serious. “If I confided in you about something, do you think you could keep it to yourself as my brother, not my business partner?”
“Fuck, Hunter. Do I even need to ask?”
“That all depends. What do you think I’m asking you to keep to yourself? Again, as my brother.”
“So it’s that bad?”
“Like I said, that depends on how you look at it.”
He hangs his head and huffs a few times. He knocks back the rest of his drink and goes right back to the beverage station.
I stay where I am. “In case you haven’t noticed, I could use someone to talk to.”
“Then I’m pouring you one too. If we’re having a brotherly chat, I have a feeling you’re going to need it.” He pours two drinks. “You can confide in me as your brother, but please tell me whatever it is won’t cost us a shit ton of money.”
My laugh barrels out. “That’s what you thought this was about? Do you think someone is holding me to the fire and demanding company money? I thought you knew me better than that.”
“Unfortunately, I do. If you’re putting your dick in the wrong place, it could cost us a fortune. And sorry, dear brother, that is something I can see happening.”
“It doesn’t sound like you have much faith in me.”
“It’s not just me. Why do you think Dad’s so against removing the damn clause in the first place?” Jonah motions me over.
“What do you mean, Dad’s against removing the clause? When have you talked to him about that?” I’m more than curious now, so I walk forward and take my drink from him.
“Since we’re bonding and all that kumbaya bullshit, I may as well spill my secrets too.” He returns to the couch and sits. “You first.”
I take a drink of courage and join him. After a few breaths and half my drink, I get enough strength to speak.
“Jonah, I’m in love with her. It’s not a casual fling. I’m really in love with her. I want to marry her.” My mouth goes dry as my heart jackhammers in my chest.
To say I’m terrified is an understatement. I may have just blown up my life in seconds.
Jonah stares at me, blinking like he didn’t hear me correctly. I don’t dare move or say anything else, so I wait.
“Are you saying you’re in love with Dori?”
I clear my throat. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
He finishes his drink and places the glass on the table next to him. He rubs his face with his palms.
“Do you know how bad this is, Hunter?”
“How so?”
“You tell me this just weeks before the launch of the biggest damn thing this company has ever done, and it’s supposed to be something I can’t talk about. If Dad gets wind that I know and didn’t go directly to him, we’re both fucked.”
“Jonah…”
He jumps to his feet and paces in front of me. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
His eyes bear down on me, and I don’t blame him for responding this way. But it’s me and I’m the older brother. I meet him at his level, my chest out, and gesture to the couch.
“Sit the fuck down and hear me out before you go full- blown; the world is crumbling on me. It’s not as bad as you’re making it out.”
“Fuck if it isn’t. I fucking warned you, you selfish prick.” He pushes me aside and stomps over to the scotch.
He fumes as he downs two more shots. He’s going to regret that in a while, but who am I to stop him? I’ve done it myself a time or two.
“Well, brother. We’ve come this far. You may as well tell me everything.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “How long has this been going on?”
“A while.”
“How long?”
“It started the first trip she went on. You were right when you came to my room. She was with me.” I rub my neck.
He growls as his face turns red.
“Jonah, she won’t try to get money or do anything that puts the company in harm's way. Sometimes I think she loves the company more than she loves me, so try to see this from that point of view. She wouldn’t do that.” I finish my drink while he glares at me.
He shakes his head as he flashes another shade of red. “I knew it and you lied to my face.”
“I did because she thought she was going to get fired. I fell hard for her and hated seeing her go through that kind of fear. She would’ve crumbled right there if I had come clean with you.” My stance softens just thinking about it.
“She’s a better liar than I could’ve imagined. After her Tupac rant, I thought I was reading it all wrong. Maybe you two are made for each other.” He marches back to the couch and sits.
“You have to admit, the Tupac comeback was brilliant. She even impressed me with that one.” I sit next to him and laugh to myself.
He looks me over. In an instant, he goes from Jonah Efron, COO, to my brother. “You didn’t coach her on that? ”
“Nope. She came up with it on the fly.” I turn to him with a smile splitting my face. “Her quick wit is one of the many things I love about her.”
He gets comfortable as he checks my eyes for any level of bullshit.
“Fuck, Hunter.” He sighs. “You know, you’re going with me to the Christmas ball now. There’s no getting out of it.”
“Is Dorothy really going to be there?”
“She is, but why don’t you know that? Do you two not share your social calendars?”
“If you recall, we can’t be in public together, so events like a Christmas ball don’t get brought up.”
“Makes sense.”
“If I’m being honest, it's a huge sore spot.” My stomach turns into iron as I consider how close I am to losing her. I return to get another drink.
“Pour me another.” He stands and rolls up his sleeves.
“Are you sure that’s smart?”
He nods. “I have a million questions. Like, what about Ava? She’s with you all the time. I know Dori and that can’t be good for your relationship. Shit, she dumped a guy for getting another girl's number, and they weren’t even exclusive.”
“I’ll tell you everything if you swear on your portion of the business that you won’t tell a soul.” My shoulders relax as I fix our drinks. It feels good to talk to him about this.
He leans against the counter in the beverage area. “You’ve got my word. I don’t think it’s wise, but I know Dori and can see how you fell in love with her. I think I knew you were falling that first week. You looked at her like she was a goddess.”
“She is a goddess.” I hand him his scotch.
My gaze falls to the floor. The weight of losing her hits me. It will destroy me if that happens.
“Talk to me, Hunter. Lay it out because there’s something heavy on your shoulders. ”
I look at him. “If I don’t do something soon, I’m going to lose her. I need to get the clause out of her contract, or there won’t be a chance in hell I’ll get her back.”
“I thought you said you’re in love.” He grabs his drink and swirls it. “Shit, Hunter. How bad did you fuck things up?”
“Believe it or not, it started with her fuckup. I just keep on doing things that put us at odds.”
“Like what?”
“Like telling her last night, I was reconsidering how I feel about her.”
“What did she do to evoke that response?”
“She fucked Jamison. That’s what she did.” Bile rises in my throat.
Jonah coughs as he tries to swallow. “She did what?”
“You heard me.”
“When?”
“When she went to Denver to see her brother, they hooked up there. Long story short, Jamison and her brother are best friends. Please don’t ask about that right now. I’ll tell you about that another day.”
“She cheated on you and you want her back? You might want to rethink this.” Jonah gives me a look like I’ve lost my balls.
“We weren’t together when she went there. We had a fight, and I walked out on her. I told her not to contact me until she could tell me…”
“Don’t hold out on me now.”
“It’s such a long story, Jonah. The bottom line is if I don’t get this clause removed, she’s going to wind up with Jamison. Like me, he’s in love with her, and he isn’t going to back off unless she tells him it’s me she wants.”
Jonah’s mouth is nearly on the floor. It slams shut. “Okay, so Jamison loves her. How does she feel about him?”
“She told me she loves us both, but she doesn’t see how we can be together. She loves her job and won’t quit. There’s no way she’ll choose me if I don’t figure this out.” I motion around the room. “What’s this all worth if we can’t share it with the person we love?”
“You’ve got it bad, big brother. I half thought you were just infatuated, but talking about the company and sharing it with her, that’s a whole other level.”
“You said something about Dad being stuck on the idea of the clause. Tell me about that.” I round my desk and sit.
He wanders over to the couch and does the same. “When I thought you were together in your suite, I asked him about it. I didn’t want her to lose her job if you were with her.”
“So you had a feeling I was with her?”
“Yes, but I had no idea it was this serious. I still wanted to cover my bases, so I went to ask him about it.”
“Tell me about that.”
“I asked him if he would consider removing the clause. I wanted to take it to the board that week, but he shot it down faster than I could get it out.”
“Did he say why?”
“He said how you work your way through women, it was only a matter of time before you had your way with one of our executives.”
“Meaning he suspected something about me and Dorothy?”
“He saw how you were looking at her just like I did. He doesn’t know her like we do, so of course he was watching out for the company.”
“Do you think we could get him to change his mind if we both told him about her character?” I scoot to the edge of my chair, waiting for his answer like a child waiting to open a present.
“If we set it up right, yeah. He’d do anything for us. You know that.” Jonah glances at his watch.
I pick up my phone and check the time. It’s getting too late for me to drop by Dorothy’s like I planned .
Out of habit, I check her location. My heart slams into my throat when I see she’s at my complex. She’s got to be with Jamison again. My mind races with ways I could get her out of there.
“What’s wrong, Hunter? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Jonah snags my attention.
My head rises as an idea comes to mind. “Jonah, I’m going to need your help.”