Chapter 17 Griffin
GRIFFIN
“Stella, we need to hit the ground running on this,” I told my right hand and VP of business development on Monday.
She nodded. “I still can’t believe you got that cantankerous old man to change his mind.”
“It was just luck,” I said.
“Uh-huh,” Stella said, frowning. “You’re never self-deprecating.”
It was all Phoebe. She’d charmed both of them. If I was honest, she’d charmed me too. She’d been constantly on my mind since I dropped her off at her home last night.
Early this morning, Jude’s team had sent several options for a meeting for next week, hence why I had my entire team working on the pitch. I needed this done today because I was heading to Napa tomorrow morning.
As luck would have it, my brothers and I cut our usual brainstorming session short—Chase had to jump on a call with a huge client who was getting cold feet because the Dow Jones had opened abysmally. So I’d suggested everyone stop by my house in the evening for dinner.
In the meantime, I could focus all my efforts on Jude. I had a good feeling about this. My team and I spent the entire morning discussing strategic options. Then they started working on the presentation, sending me the PowerPoint slides to review in the afternoon.
I revised them and was so damn proud of how everything turned out. I’d handpicked everyone on my team, as I knew how to hire the best people, and they’d done a great job. I’d gotten us the foot in the door with Jude, but it was a team effort to pull it all together.
I worked on the slides until five o’clock. Then I sent the team my feedback and called it a day.
My family was arriving at my house in one hour. I’d buy takeout for everyone, thinking immediately about Phoebe’s bowl place.
As I got in the car, I quickly texted the family to ask if they were okay with it. No one protested, so I took that as a yes and placed an order right away.
I was feeling victorious even though I had a long way to go until I sealed the deal with Jude. But my company was in the running, and it felt damn good.
While I waited for the food to be ready, I couldn’t help but remember the last time I was here. I was very tempted to text Phoebe, but I didn’t. She wasn’t ready for anything; she was clear about that, and I had to respect it.
After picking up the bowls, I headed straight home.
I didn’t have much time before my family arrived.
The only ones who weren’t coming tonight were Mom and Dad.
Mom offered yoga classes late on Mondays, and now Dad claimed that he also wanted to stick around to make sure Mom didn’t need anything.
It was a clever excuse. Those two had become inseparable.
I was starting to be less reticent about them rekindling their relationship. My parents weren’t the same people they’d been years ago. They didn’t have as much pressure. This time around, they could make it work.
My brother Duncan called as I was approaching the house.
“Hey,” I answered. “I’m almost home.”
“Yeah, just one thing. Jeremy’s not going to be a fan of the bowls.”
“Shit. You’re right. I didn’t think about it.”
“Do you have time to pick something up for him? If not, I’ll do it.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m going to drive by his favorite pizza place, and I’ll get the one he likes with extra cheese.”
“Yes, Uncle Griffin!” I heard Jeremy exclaim in the background.
I laughed. “Consider it done.” His favorite pizza place wasn’t anywhere near the house, but it was worth a detour. He absolutely loved it.
I got home fifty minutes later. When I arrived, the gate to the house was open, which meant at least one of my brothers was already here. Chase was getting out of the car when I pulled up next to him.
“No Hannah?” I asked.
“Some clients just came to the inn. She’ll join us later.”
“All right.”
The whole reason why my brother and Hannah lived in Point Loma was because she’d inherited an inn from her grandmother. It was the property next to their home.
“She’s really burning the candle at both ends,” I said.
Chase took the pizza from me and two of the bags with food. I was carrying three more. “Don’t get me started on that. I’m trying to convince her to slow down, but the woman’s stubborn.”
“Takes one to know one. Maybe that’s why she likes you so much,” I teased. “But the reason she took the job at Sterling Investments in the first place was to have a nest egg that she could invest in the inn, right? Which she’s already done. It looks incredible.”
“Yes. But now she says that she likes the certainty of a steady paycheck and isn’t ready to give it up again.”
Frowning, I pressed the unlock feature on my phone, and the front door sprang open. I loved technology. “She does know you’re loaded, right? We all are.”
“I think she just needs to have a security blanket.”
That reminded me of Phoebe. Fucking hell, everything reminded me of Phoebe today. I needed to talk to her. I’d postponed calling her all day because I didn’t want to disturb her at work, but I should have called her when I left the office. Now I’d just obsess all evening.
She’s not ready, Griffin.
Still, her idea of being friends was starting to take root. It was better than nothing.
The rest of the group arrived one after another. Jeremy didn’t even look at the bowls, just went straight for his pizza.
Chase whistled appreciatively as he ate up. “This is actually good.”
“You thought I’d buy shit for dinner?” I countered.
“No, but I was suspicious. It sounded… healthy.”
Chase took out his phone and frowned. “Hannah says the new guests are a handful. She can’t leave them. She asked if I could take her dinner with me.”
“Anytime you need help convincing that woman of yours not to overwork herself, we’re happy to help,” Knox said.
“Yeah, clearly you can’t do it by yourself,” Finn added.
Chase looked at them. “Is there a reason you’re particularly annoying this evening?”
“Can everyone just behave?” Duncan asked even though Jeremy was sitting in front of the TV, eating his pizza. There was no way he could hear us. Riley hadn’t come with them, so I assumed she was stuck at the office.
Wyatt flashed a shit-eating grin. “Not tonight. Stop stirring shit up, you two. Chase knows how to convince people. He’s just biding his time.” He looked at Chase. “Aren’t you?”
“Exactly.”
Wyatt fist-bumped the air. “See, I knew it.”
“Yeah, stop butting in,” Duncan added, looking pointedly at Finn and Knox.
Finn narrowed his eyes at Duncan. “Rumor has it, you asked Riley to be a lawyer at Sterling Investments, and she turned you down.”
“You did? Good for you, man,” I said.
“Where’s the good part?” Knox asked. “She turned him down.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“News flash, Knox. People have their own free will,” Wyatt countered.
“It’s just a matter of using the right arguments,” Finn said. He had a point.
Duncan shook his head. “Riley wants a career in a law firm. She doesn’t want to be a corporate lawyer for one company.”
I cleared my throat. “Speaking of using the right arguments, I’m happy to inform all of you that Jude changed his mind. I’m now in the running as an investor.”
“Congrats,” Chase said.
“Well done,” Duncan added.
Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “So, wait, your winning argument was having a girlfriend?”
I laughed, stopping in the act of eating another forkful of my bowl. “I’m sure that helped tremendously. He wouldn’t have given me a second shot if I didn’t go to the dinner with Phoebe.”
“I’ll have to remember that as a business tactic,” Knox said.
“It wasn’t just a dinner,” I said quickly, then immediately stopped, but it was too late. My brothers were eerily silent.
“What do you mean?” Finn asked.
“He invited us for the weekend at his home.”
“You said you’d turn it down,” Knox replied.
“I didn’t. We went, and now the deal is moving forward.”
My brothers all started talking at the same time.
“Holy shit! If Mom were here…,” Finn said above everyone else.
I zeroed in on him. “Is there any particular reason why you’re riding my ass so hard lately?”
Finn wiggled his eyebrows. “Because Mom’s been riding my ass for years. It’s good to finally see her focus all her efforts on someone else.”
Duncan and Chase were silent. I pointed at the two of them. “I can feel the judgment coming off you.”
“We can’t help that,” Duncan said. “I think we deserve prizes for withholding any comment.”
“You do,” I admitted. “I appreciate it.”
“What the actual fuck?” Chase said.
Duncan elbowed him. “Chase, come on. Loosen up a bit.”
“We all do crazy things sometimes, don’t we?” Wyatt asked.
“There are crazy things, and there are stupid things,” Chase countered. “This could bite you in the ass anytime.”
“I’m aware of that,” I said coolly, “and I’ll manage that if the situation arises. But for now, I’m going to take it as a win.”
“It is one,” Finn concluded. “Even I wouldn’t have had the balls to go about it like that, but I’ll take it.”
It was a strange day indeed when all the Sterling brothers turned on one of their own.
“What’s gotten into all of you? When Chase had that outlandish idea with the shell company, only Duncan was completely against it. The rest of us grudgingly agreed. Now you’ve somehow all decided that this is completely insane.”
“There’s a difference,” Duncan said. “When this one had that brilliant idea,” he said through gritted teeth, nodding toward Chase, “the only way it could bite him back was if Hannah found out, which she did. But this is different. It’s public.
A potential business partner is involved.
What do you figure will happen if he finds out about the ruse?
He’d scream at the top of his lungs that Griffin Sterling isn’t an honest man. ”
His words hit me right in the gut. Deep down, I didn’t think Jude would be the type to actually scream anything at the top of his lungs. But you could never be sure.
“All right, I’d like everyone to get off my case right now.”
Chase looked at me. “I’m assuming the charade is over now, right?”