Chapter 20 Phoebe
PHOEBE
“Phoebe, I’m so happy you wanted to meet so quickly.” He was smiling.
Hang on. Is he under the impression that I asked him here to accept his lousy terms?
Well, he had another think coming.
I sat down. “I figured we should crush that delusion you’re under as soon as possible.”
His smile fell. “What?”
“I’m not going to give you more of the profit than what we discussed beforehand.”
He frowned. “Phoebe, you can’t be serious.”
“Yes, I am.”
“But you know that I put up most of the down payment.”
I swallow hard. “And you’re getting all that back.”
“Yes, but here’s the thing. If I’d invested that money elsewhere, I would have made a profit, so that needs to be reflected in my share.”
Marshall had always been dismissive of my needs. But this was different—downright callous.
I stared at him, focusing on breathing in and out. “And if I had invested the last few years in someone else, I might have had more to show for it than a huge amount of debt on my shoulders and a flailing career. So I guess we both made bad choices.”
“It’s not even remotely the same thing, and you know that. This was calculated on a spreadsheet. It’s demonstrable.”
I swallowed hard, feeling bile rise up my throat. He was sipping a yellowish drink that looked like vomit, which didn’t help my nausea.
“Who calculated that for you?” I asked.
“That’s none of your concern.”
“I’m just curious.”
“Adriana has a financial adviser.”
Adriana. Her name felt like a punch to the gut.
I laughed. “Right! So you’re asking your current girlfriend how to scam your ex-girlfriend.”
“This is not scamming. That was my money.”
“Which you’re getting back,” I said. “In fact, you know what I’ll do? I’ll send you a bill for everything I had to pay to move.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The hotel on that first night.” I swallowed hard. I’d been too heartbroken to even go to my best friend’s house. “All the things I had to buy for the house.” I could feel tears pooling at the corners of my eyes. I really, really didn’t want to shed any more tears over this asshole.
He shook his head. “I’m not accountable for that. Look, Phoebe, let’s be honest. The reason things didn’t work out was because you pushed for a wedding.”
“I…” My voice died in my throat. “You were going to propose on the trip,” I stated. “I didn’t imagine that.”
“Yes, after you’ve been dropping hints for years at weddings. You kept pointing out that all your friends were getting married and how their boyfriends proposed.”
I was determined not to let him see me cry. I crossed my legs, pressing them together tightly, and put my hands on the table.
“No, Marshall. The reason it didn’t work for us is because you stuck your penis in someone else. I’m not budging on this. You have no legal right to more of the profits.”
“Don’t be difficult.”
I laughed without humor. “That’s exactly what I’m going to be from now on.
For years I kept agreeing with everything you wanted.
And perhaps that was my mistake. I never challenged you enough.
I never asked you to treat me the way I deserved.
But I sure as hell won’t allow you to walk all over me anymore.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go. I’ve said everything I wanted to. ”
I got up from the table and left the bar without another word. I headed straight to the corner where Griffin told me he’d wait for me.
“Phoebe, come on. We haven’t finished the conversation.”
What the hell? He followed me?
I stopped in my tracks. I was almost at the corner. I wondered if Griffin was already here.
“I’m finished.”
“I’m counting on that money. I want to make some investments in the future.”
I sucked in a deep breath. His future with her? But it didn’t matter. “You are not getting more than we agreed on.”
“What’s going on?” Griffin asked as we rounded the corner.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, what the fuck? Do you follow her everywhere?” Marshall sneered.
“He’s picking me up,” I said.
“Right. That’s why you’ve been belligerent. Because of him. Why would you even need the money from the sale with a sugar daddy around?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped at the same time Griffin said, “Watch your mouth.” He was much better at this than me. He was calm and composed. His voice held power despite the fact that he wasn’t yelling. In comparison, I sounded like a wreck.
“What’s going on?” Griffin asked again, eyes focused on my face.
“He wants a bigger share of the profits on the house because he put more on the down payment. Claims that if he’d invested that somewhere else, he would have gotten more return.”
Marshall looked at Griffin. “You’re a businessman. You know I’m right. That’s how capital works.”
In an instant, Griffin transformed. His face was red, his eyes dark and intense. “Let’s get one thing straight. You are the lowest of the lowest scum.”
“What the fuck?”
“No, I wasn’t asking. And you don’t have to agree with me. It’s a universal truth, no matter if you see it or not. If you had any sort of self-respect, you wouldn’t even ask for any of the profit. No real man would do that. Then again, no real man would ever treat Phoebe the way you did.”
“She doesn’t deserve that fucking profit. The bitch didn’t even—”
The next thing I knew, Griffin grunted, there was a loud whomp, and Marshall stumbled backward into the wall behind him.
“What the actual fuck, dude?” he exclaimed.
“Phoebe is not alone, you understand?”
Marshall stared at me. “You’re actually going to let this moron treat me like this? He punched me.”
“You deserved it.”
He snorted. “Whatever. Forget I ever said anything.”
“That’s right,” I said. It was a stupid idea to meet him. I should have just told him to go fuck himself over the email.
Marshall shook his head, looking between Griffin and me. “You know what? This type of guy is exactly what you deserve.”
Griffin stared him down until he turned around, walking back in the direction of the bar.
Only when Marshall was out of our eyesight did Griffin turn to me. “Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, inspecting his hand.
“Yes. It doesn’t even hurt.”
“Are you sure? We can put some ice on it.”
He cupped my face with his other hand. “Really, I’m fine. I just… hmm…” He looked down and then back up. “I’ve never lost control of myself like that.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Don’t blame yourself. Marshall just knows how to piss people off.”
“He actually had the guts to ask you to meet him?”
“Well, uh, no,” I said, stammering for some reason.
“He emailed me. I told him I wanted to meet so I could tell him to his face what an asshole he was. I’m really sorry that I asked you to pick me up here.
I figured it could give me something nice to look forward to after meeting him, but I didn’t want to put you in this position. ”
“I don’t mind. Whenever you need me by your side, just tell me. Okay?”
My mouth parted slightly. “Really?”
“Fuck yes.”
“But…”
“You’re hesitating. Tell me why.”
“This doesn’t exactly sound… casual.”
“One thing doesn’t have anything to do with the other. Whenever you need me, just say the word.”
I nodded. “Well, I do need you tonight.”
His expression slowly morphed into a smile. God, I’d missed him.
“All right, then let’s hop in the car.”
Once we were both inside, he leaned in slightly, like he was sharing a secret. “I’m planning to cook for you tonight at my place.”
“You mean serious business,” I teased.
He growled. “You can say that twice.”
“How was Napa Valley?”
“Productive. I was actually talking to my brothers about renting a house in the area year-round. Then we could take turns going there. But maybe it’s best to rent something on an as-needed basis. I’ll calculate it. There’s no point being wasteful.”
I liked that Griffin was conscious with his money even though I was sure he had plenty.
“How was your course?” he asked.
“Very insightful. I’m grateful that the company is paying for me to do it even though I’m just a part-time employee. It’s going to help me do my job better.”
“I like your enthusiasm.”
“I like what I’m doing. Though between the two of us, even if I didn’t like it, I’d probably still do it. But I’m glad that I’m enjoying it.” I smiled. “Aaaand I’ve told my boss that I’d love to be full-time with them. He said he’ll consider it, whatever that means.”
“I’m proud of you for taking the initiative.” He leaned over, kissing my shoulder.
“Hey, eyes on the road.”
He smiled as he focused his gaze forward. “You’re a fighter. I like that about you. I think it’s one of the things that attracted me from the beginning.”
I turned to look at him. “What do you mean? I thought you were just playing the knight in shining armor because Veronica asked you.”
“I heard you talking before that. I liked the fire you had.”
“Well, I was talking Veronica’s ear off about what an asshole Marshall was—actually, let’s not talk about him anymore.”
Griffin cleared his throat. “It’s fine if you need to.”
“And ruin this perfect evening? Nah. I just want to put everything behind me. I’m not naive enough to think that I’m rid of him, but I refuse to let him overshadow everything. I, for one, am looking forward to this. Can you believe I’ve never been to Point Loma?”
Griffin stared at me. “That’s impossible.”
I started to laugh. “I’m not even sure how that happened. I guess I just never ventured here. It’s possible that my parents might have brought me here when I was a kid, but I just can’t remember.”
“I like it. It’s very laid-back.”
It looked upscale to me. We passed a few houses that were downright mansions.
“One of your brothers also lives here, right?”
“Yes, Chase and Hannah. She inherited the inn from her grandmother, and they live right next to it.”
“That’s so sweet.”
As we turned sideways onto a smaller street, I was oohing and aahing at the homes. Some were bungalow style and clearly a bit older, while others were large and modern.
Griffin stopped in front of a huge gate. He pressed the button, and it opened up, revealing, without a doubt, the most stunning home I’d ever seen. It put everything we’d just passed to shame. I didn’t even think that was possible.
“Griffin,” I said. “This is breathtaking.”
“You haven’t even been inside.” He smiled as he turned off the engine.
“You’ve got all these old trees.”
“It’s why I bought it. A developer built it, and then the couple who commissioned it decided to move elsewhere. They have a lot of kids, apparently. It’s far too big for what I need, but these trees sold me. It feels like I’m alone in a forest.”
All that glass was amazing. And when we stepped inside, I was even more impressed.
I couldn’t keep myself from gasping as Griffin showed me around the first floor.
The view from inside was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Most love the ocean, but I’m a forest girl. I like being surrounded by trees.”
“So do I. You’re the first person to ever say that. Half my friends asked why I didn’t buy something that has an ocean view.”
“Pfffft. Someone criticized this beauty? How could they be so heartless?”
Being here, it became clear as day how different Griffin and I were.
No wonder he thought my house was a dump. Until today, I’d never been truly aware of how wealthy he was. He didn’t flaunt it, but it was clear that he’d spared no expense on his home.
Oh, don’t ruin the mood, Phoebe. Who cares that you and Griffin are from totally different circles? You two agreed to have fun together.
And we were going to do just that.