4. Jacob
4
Jacob
I was having a hard time listening to my brother. When I came back from lunch, I changed the windows in my office from clouded to clear. I wanted to make sure Lily made it back okay. I kept looking at the clock—she would be back soon. Sasha and Kaylene showed up right at noon and whisked Lily away from her desk. I caught Kaylene's attention before she took Lily off to lunch and told her they couldn’t leave the building. I knew she would listen. Sasha, on the other hand, would be mad that I told her she couldn’t go and would make sure they left the building.
“Are you listening to a word I’m saying!” Jared asked. Most people listened when Jared spoke. Jax and I were used to him and let him bark. We knew why our brother was the way he was.
“You said NSSB-46 had a coding error when you had Sasha upload the new software.” I had no doubt our team would figure out a solution. Jared would be down there every night working on the code with the team. “What did Sasha say?”
Jared leaned back in the white leather chair. “She told me to mind my own business and go back to my ivory chair. My chair’s black, not ivory.” My brother's lip twitched as he tried to make a joke.
“Sasha’s good at what she does. I have faith in her, and we need to make sure she stays.” I dealt with the numbers, whereas Jared and Jax worked on the engineering and technical parts of our company.
“If she wants to make it any higher in the company, she needs to watch how she talks to her superiors. And she took a lunch break when we’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”
I tapped my pen on the desk and took a quick look to see if they were back yet. “She doesn’t need to watch her tongue. You just don’t like that she doesn’t know to you and tells you how it is. Her boss does everything you ask. Luckily, she doesn’t listen to him either, or we would never have a working product. Speaking of her boss, have you made a decision about firing him yet?”
“No. I don’t have proof it was him that made a mistake. I’m waiting for Eddy in IT to get me more information.” Jared turned around at the sound of giggles coming from my lobby. Sasha, Kaylene, and Lily were standing in front of Lily’s desk. She reached over the counter, and my eyes went straight to her firm ass. The woman was stunning. She had no clue how hot she was. I shifted in my seat.
“I thought Lily was hot in her pictures, but damn.”
I couldn’t hold back the growl. “Stay away.”
Jared turned back to me. “You should take your own advice. How’s that divorce coming?”
I ground my teeth. The divorce papers didn’t show up the night before as she’d promised. I expected a call today with yet another excuse. “If I didn’t marry her, NSS wouldn’t be open today. We needed that money.”
Jared ran his hands through his hair. “I know, and I’m sorry she won’t sign the papers. As for Lily, you know I don’t date anyone from work.”
I wasn’t sure my brother ever dated. Rumor around the office had it that he picked women up from bars, and never the same one. My brother was adamant about never having a relationship, and I knew it was because of how we were raised and how evil our mother was. Every time our father hit her, she took it out on us. She blamed us for his anger.
I waved at Kaylene before she and Sasha walked back down the hall. Lily sat behind her desk and picked up her phone. “Do you date?” The question just came out.
“No.” Jared didn’t offer any more info. “If you need anything, let me know. That woman out there has been through hell. So if you need Kaylene to help more, that’s fine.”
Even though Jared was brash, he wanted to help people in need. “I think Kaylene has enough to do for you. She deserves a raise for the shit you put her through.”
Jared stood from the leather chair and placed the folder of contracts I needed to look at on my desk. “She probably does. I can’t believe she hasn’t quit yet. Call if you need anything. Jared turned and left. He nodded at Lily as he walked by, not wanting to bother her while she was on the phone.
I felt like a creeper as I watched her work. Her long, blonde hair covered her face as she typed on the computer. Her head was to the side, holding the phone. A couple hours after she started working, I pulled up my calendar to find it color coded. I had to admit it was easier to find what I needed.
My cell phone buzzed next to the computer. Rachele’s name flashed across the screen. I didn’t want to talk to her, but I wanted her to sign the papers. I grabbed my phone and swiped across the screen. “I didn’t get the papers yet.”
“I know, but when we got off the phone, Daddy called, and we started to talk. Then I remembered the Hope for Kids Foundation gala is this weekend.” She was correct. It was on my calendar. I went every year with Rachele along with all my brothers. “I can give them to you on Friday at the event.”
The Hope for Kids Foundation held a place close to my heart. The trip would be quick, and I could take the company jet. I glanced at Lily and thought of her wearing a long red dress with her hair up. “I want the papers in my hand today, or I won’t come.” It was a bluff. I wouldn’t miss the gala for anything. I also wanted to bring Lily. The jet would be big enough to take Abe and Tommy as well. I wanted to meet the little man. I wanted to learn everything about Lily, even though we’d just met. Jax gave good advice, and I wished he was around to talk to, but he was out of the country. Jared would just tell me to stop thinking about her.
“Why can’t I just hand them to you on Friday?”
I took the last sip of my tea. “Rachele, if I don’t have the papers in hand by the end of the day today, I will start over and use the prenup. You will only get back the money we agreed upon back then.”
She huffed. “If I sign, you’ll be here Friday?”
“Yes.” I watched as Lily got up from her desk and headed toward the break room, her ass swaying with each step.
“Did you hear a word I said?”
“Sorry, I’m busy at work. Get me the document today, or we start over, and you won’t like what you get.”
“But how am I to get you the document today? I’m leaving for New York soon.”
“Sign the copy, send it by courier. Give me a tracking number and send me a scanned copy of the document. I’m not playing around anymore. You’ve dragged this divorce out long enough, and I’ve let you. Not going to happen anymore.” I hoped she didn’t find out she couldn’t get back into the Los Angeles house—she would probably make me start over.
“I’ll have them to you within the hour. I’m trusting you to hold up your side of the deal.” She wanted to say the Black brothers were coming to the event so she could get more people.
I would go because the foundation supported foster kids. My brothers and I donated often. The system was broken, and I wanted to see it fixed one day. “One hour.” I didn’t say goodbye or anything else. I clicked off the phone. If I didn’t get them soon, I would call my lawyer by the end of the day so we could figure out the next step to getting the divorce finalized.
I needed to move on with my life. I’d been putting off a trip to New York to meet with a few of our low-level investors for a few weeks. Jax, Jared, and I decided to buy the last couple people out of business. They only owned a total of five percent. When we first started the company, we needed an influx of cash, which had been the main reason I married Rachele. Jared hadn’t wanted me to—he thought we could find the money another way. I didn’t want to keep putting off our dreams if I could help it. I’d invested the money, but Jared and Jax were the technical minds behind the company.
I watched as Lily looked down at her desk and smiled at the picture of her son. My brothers and I hadn’t had a caring mom like Lily. After our father’s death, the only thing our mom cared about was where she was going to get her next fix. A year after his death, each night, a new drug dealer would show up, and Mom would go behind a closed door. When she came out, she was high. Jared spent most of our childhood protecting us from the shit that went down.
On Jax’s tenth birthday, Mom overdosed and died, which led to the three of us being put into foster care until Jared turned eighteen and the three of us could live together again. While in foster care, the three of us were split up and I’m not sure what happened to Jared, but when we were able to be together again, he was even more guarded than before our mother died.
The family I lived with took care of me well, leaving me alone for the most part, but I missed my brothers. The day Jared showed up to take me to live with him, I knew I would do anything for him. We worked together so he could go to school at night. His mind was incredible when it came to building electronics. One night, the three of us were sitting around the table and talking about opening NSS. I was in my last year of college, and all we needed was the funding. Rachele and I went to college together, and she talked about how she wouldn’t get her trust unless she was married.
Three days later, I proposed a deal that if she lent me five million dollars, I would marry her. The prenup we made favored us both. She never thought my brothers and I would make the amount of money we did or earn a reputation that meant everyone wanted to know us. She worried that her clout from being married to me would go away when we divorced—and it would.
My computer dinged, and I looked down. It was an email from Rachele. I clicked it open and downloaded the file, opening to find a copy of our divorce decree. I scrolled to the last page and saw that she had finally signed it. The email also included the tracking information for the documents and an approximate time the courier would be delivering them. I felt a little bit of the tension I had been holding recede.
Lily tapped on my door, and I waved for her to come in. I planed to ask her to go to New York with me. She came in and handed me a cup of tea. “I think I made it how you did. If not, let me know.” She turned to leave.
“Have a seat, Lily.”
She sat in the same white chair Jared had abandoned only minutes ago. “Did I do something wrong?” Her eyes went from me to the cup of tea.
“No, I bet you made the tea just fine.” Even if she didn’t, I would drink it. “I need to fly to New York on Friday to meet with an investor, and that night, I have a charity event. I know today is your first day, but I will need you to come to New York with me.”
Lily bit her lip. “Will we be back Friday night?”
“No, but Tommy and Abe can come along. I will never take you away from your son overnight. Abe can watch him while we work. If you want, we can hire a nanny as well. I don’t know how good Abe is with Tommy. This will all be paid for by the company.”
“Okay, but let me make sure that Abe can come. If not, I can talk with Kat and see if she has someone else in New York to help. I know she lived there for a while.”
I would make sure Abe came. The last person’s bad side I wanted to be on was Kat’s. No matter how long I’d known the Ross brothers, I knew she would kill me and feed me to her gators. “Let me know tomorrow.”
Lily nodded and left the office.
I forwarded the email from Rachele off to my lawyer then sent Jax and Jared a quick text letting them know it was officially over. Once everything was processed, which should only take a couple more days, I would no longer be married. The papers would arrive at the office the next day, and when I headed to New York on Friday, I would no longer be Rachele’s husband.
The cup of tea on my desk tasted delicious. Somehow, she made it better than I did. I took another sip before turning back to the financials for the month. I hadn’t even realized it was after five when Lily walked back in my office.
“Do you need anything else before I leave?” Her hair was no longer down—she had twisted it into a bun that showed off her slender neck.
“No. Have a good night. Did Seth from security get you a badge?” I had contacted the directors to let them know Lily would be working for us off the books, and I wasn’t going to tell them why. If they had a problem, they could talk to Jared or myself. Nobody would confront Jared, so I knew we wouldn’t have any issue.
“Yes. See you in the morning.”
Lily turned and walked out. My eyes were glued to her perky ass and my only thought was, Friday seemed too far away.