Sawyer (The Billionaires of Whispers #4)

1. Sawyer Silvers

Sawyer Silvers

I look around this small, pokey office and sigh. I can’t believe the things I do.

“It has everything you need,” Tanner watches me as I place my briefcase on the office desk that looks like it’s stayed in this exact same spot for the past few decades. The thick legal books line the dark timber shelves, and I wonder what a small-town lawyer would ever need them for.

My jet landed in Whispers early this morning.

I’ve already handed over the keys and paperwork to the old florist building to Tanner’s son and one of my closest friends, Connor, before meeting Tanner here.

I’m now spending more and more time here in this town than I ever thought possible, thanks to the Whitemans.

This father-and-son duo run this town, their whiskey distillery the backbone of Whispers.

“Think you could work out of here a few days a week?” Tanner asks, and I whip my head around to look at him. It might be his hometown, a place where he’s spent his entire life, but it isn’t mine. This is as far removed from my usual life as you can get.

“I’d rather eat cardboard.” I’m honest, because Whispers is not part of my life plan.

But Tanner and Connor Whiteman and Whiteman’s Whiskey certainly are.

The two men whom I’ve worked with for years are now firm friends I would do anything for.

Including entertaining the fact that they want me to be the new local lawyer. The whole idea is preposterous.

A town of about two thousand and thirty something, Whispers is quaint, with the population tripling in size on the weekends due to the distillery, spa, and soon-to-be new accommodations down on Distillery Drive.

What Tanner and Connor have done for this town is nothing short of amazing.

I just prefer to be in Manhattan, with my town car, Michelin star restaurants, and my penthouse in the sky.

“Get a junior in to run it when you aren’t here,” Tanner adds, knowing that I’m not sold on his idea.

“I don’t have time to train anyone.” I’m worth fifteen hundred per hour, and there’s no way I’m spending my time teaching some country kid the basics of law.

“Make it a secondment from one of your city offices.”

I look at him, deadpan, and shake my head.

With a main office in New York and a smaller office in LA, I have teams positioned to take on any client at any time of the day.

My business over the past few years has skyrocketed.

So much so, I now have my own jet, a real estate portfolio, and investments in smaller businesses that bring in a great profit for me each year.

“Yeah, like any city lawyer will want to come out here and do wills and land titles and deeds when there are commercial deals for the millions being made in the city.” I admire his efforts, but hell, this is crazy.

I mean, technology has made it so people can work from anywhere so, it’s possible I can run my legal empire from here, especially since the grind of the city that I used to thrive off is now wearing me a little thin.

But moving to Whispers is a jump too far.

“You’ll need to find a secretary. Jerry’s wife handled all his paperwork, so now that he’s going, she will too,” Tanner tells me, and I roll my eyes.

“Of course she is.” I look around, seeing Jerry’s half-packed boxes on the floor. He’s still in the process of moving, with a few active files he needs to finalize.

“He also sponsors the local kids’ baseball team, so you’ll need to take that on too.”

“Oooh, this just keeps getting better and better.” What’s the upside for me in all this?

“Being a lawyer in a small town like Whispers is nothing like you’ve ever experienced.”

“How so?”

“Well, you do the law part, but there’s also the community part.” He’s full of pride. His love for this town is almost comical.

“Do I dare ask?” I walk around the office, seeing if I can picture myself here. It’s a nice office, with high ceilings and bright light coming in from the large windows. It needs a bit of a refurb, but it’s adequate.

“This isn’t just a clock-on-and-clock-off, charge-everyone-for-every-minute-of-your-time deal.

You work the files, and the cases you acquire, you spend time getting to know the people, learning about their lives, their businesses, offering free advice, opening your fat wallet when someone needs a hand…

” He’s watching me carefully with every pointed word.

“I get it. I do. But it just isn’t me.” Can’t he see that I’m the furthest from a small-town guy as you can get? I grew up in New York. The concrete jungle. Multimillion-dollar deals are my life.

“I want all my affairs to be run from this office. Both personally and for the business.” He crosses his arms over his chest like a bouncer, playing his final hand, the royal flush he holds hitting me right in the gut.

“What?” I look at him like he’s crazy.

“I want all my businesses, the distillery business, the bar, the spa, the new accommodation, Victoria’s interiors business, Daisy’s new ventures, Marie's place, and the new goat milk soap business to all be run out of this office, here in Whispers. I don’t want my business, paperwork, files, accounts, or anything else to leave this office.

I want it all to be moved here from New York this week. ”

I huff a breath at his big reveal. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

While Tanner isn’t my only client, he’s one of the biggest, with my brother also taking up a lot of my time. He knows by demanding the Whispers office runs all his affairs, it will keep me here more often than not.

“We’ve taken care of every single thing you just spouted off just fine from New York, and for years, mind you.” There’s no reason to move everything from my head office in Manhattan.

“Well, I changed my mind.” The asshole has the balls to grin at me.

My head shakes all on its own as I process this. “I manage your entire portfolio, which means I’ll need to be here whenever I need to work on something for you,” I state, feeling incredulous.

“Exactly. I’m estimating that it’ll probably be around three days per week.” He doesn’t give me an inch. The sly smirk on his face tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“You're an asshole. Anyone told you that?” Putting my hands on my hips, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do.

“Not today, but it’s still early.” I always knew he had me pegged for running this law office in his small town, but I never gave any indication that I would take the offer.

In fact, I made it very clear I wasn’t interested.

Now he’s basically bulldozing me. Although I know he won't have anyone else but me manage his legal affairs. We’ve worked together for years and have become firm friends, so this is him just trying to prove a point.

“Why?” is all I can ask. I need his reasoning. Need to understand why this is so important to him.

“Because the town needs someone like you, Sawyer. You’re the best damn lawyer I know, and I know a few.

Whispers needs someone decent, someone they can trust. Someone with connections, knowledge, and experience.

There are lots of small businesses here.

Lots of large properties and farms. You know as well as I do that the wealthy are starting to move here in droves.

New ranches are being built so quickly Griffin and his team might as well be here permanently.

He’s already talking about building his ranch here and setting up an office where he and Victoria can base themselves.

So there’s a lot of new money opportunities too, some that may even surpass what you have in the city. ”

I raise my eyebrow at him. He’s right, as per usual.

While I might be a city boy through and through, I’m smart enough to know that Whispers is the new hiding place for some of the country’s most wealthy.

I can already see the dinner party conversations that will happen here soon are bound to birth new businesses and new innovations, and being part of those conversations would be extremely beneficial for me and my law firm.

“Besides, if you live here, you have less flying time to get to your brother.”

At that, I roll my eyes but nod, because that’s true too.

My brother, Sutton, is on the West Coast and is a Hollywood movie star, which has made him a multimillionaire.

With new feature films every six months, he’s worked himself hard the past few years, received a few award nominations, and has been an A-lister at events, each time with a different leading lady.

Managing his business interests is almost as stressful as managing Tanner’s.

“He’s another asshole,” I murmur, and Tanner grins.

“I got you a ranch up on Billionaire Boulevard.”

“What?” I’m surprised. Usually, I fly in and out. If I need to stay over, I stay at Marie’s Place or his old home at the distillery. Both are beautiful.

“Well, I leased a place from a friend for a month or two. To see if you like it. If you do, you can buy it.”

I huff another laugh, knowing this man has had plans in place for me for a long time. He’s persistent and clever. I’ll give him that.

“You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”

“I sure do. Now you need to go and sort out the soapmaking paperwork with Victoria’s business partner, Annabelle. The two of them are now on the same page with building their little business into something bigger.”

“Gertie’s Soaps?” I’ve heard them talk about it before, but thought it was just a hobby for Victoria until now.

“That’s it. They’ve worked their asses off. Turns out, they might have something worth investing in now. Victoria has a vision for growth, and Annabelle needs the cash. So let’s get the paperwork sorted for them and see what they can do.”

Fucking soapmaking business. Is this what my legal career has come to? Years at university, long days and late nights in the office, all boiling down to soap.

“Fine. I’ll get it organized and go see this Annabelle woman today.” There’s no point in fighting it; I need to pick my battles with Tanner, and this is not the one. Nothing involving his girlfriend, Victoria, is a battle to pick. I won’t be winning.

“Great, while you’re gone, I’ll get Victoria to look at this office and suggest a redesign.

Griffin is in town soon, so he can offer any help we need if you want a full renovation.

” He smiles, thinking of Victoria, who’s now one of the most sought-after interior designers in the country.

I look around the small space again, taking in the dust and smell of stale books.

Griffin is the country’s best builder; the fact that he spends a lot of his time here, too, I’m sure Tanner loves.

“Fine, Tanner. You win. Three days per week here in Whispers, and the rest, I’ll be in the city,” I relent, already itching to get back to New York.

I’m many things, smart, affluent, fueled by caffeine and billion dollar deals, but a country boy isn’t in my repertoire.

I wouldn’t know the first thing about farm life and have no desire to learn it.

“I knew you’d come around,” he says with a big shit-eating grin.

It’s not ideal, but how hard can it be? I’ll just sit behind the desk here and be permanently attached to my phone.

I don’t need to get to know people. In fact, I can probably accomplish more work here since there are no notable restaurants or bars.

I’ll work day and night and then get back to the city to live my life. Have the best of both worlds.

It could be just what I need.