Chapter 33
GRIFFIN
“Dude, you look like shit,” Finn said the second I stepped into the meeting room at Sterling Investments.
“Thanks for the observation,” I replied.
My brothers were all gathered here. Even though I had a lot on my mind with Jude, I was determined to focus on the here and now.
“Want to share what happened?” Wyatt asked.
I shook my head. “No, let’s hit the ground running. I have a lot to do today.”
“You know, we have been known to have good ideas,” Knox said.
“Not to sing their praises too much, because it might go to their heads, but they’re right,” Duncan said.
Chase frowned, looking at me without saying anything for a few beats. But then he said, “Want me to have your back or work with them to convince you to fess up?”
Knox whistled. “Dude, that’s not how taking sides works. You don’t actually ask one of the parties involved.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at him, shrugging. “You do things your way. I do them the way I want.”
I tapped my fingers on the table, making a split-second decision. I actually did want to talk to my brothers. They were smart, and their input was valuable. But I also knew that if I opened up, I’d derail the whole meeting.
“This is what we’ll do,” I said. “First we’ll vote on the creation of those new funds, and then we’ll chat about my issue.”
“Ha! So there is an issue,” Wyatt said.
“Voting first,” I insisted.
The team at Sterling had worked tirelessly since we’d spoken about adding funds into our portfolios that invested in green energy. They’d put together some options for us to consider. We had a golden rule: all of us had to approve any change in strategy for it to happen.
Chase cleared his throat. “The team has done a great job vetting funds. I, for one, fully believe that adding this area of focus will be beneficial for us as a company.”
Duncan sat up straighter. “I agree.”
“That means you both vote yes?” I asked.
“Yes,” Chase replied.
I nodded. “Good. So do I.”
Knox and Finn exchanged a glance, looking to me before speaking.
“I agree too,” Knox said.
Finn added, “Count me in.”
Wyatt began to laugh. “You do realize that we could have just done a group call if all we wanted to do was say yes. Which, by the way, I’m saying yes too. I thought we might have to discuss pros and cons.”
“That’s always a possibility,” Chase said, unfazed. “Hence why we always do this as a meeting, so no one feels pressured into agreeing with the rest.”
Wyatt waved him off. “We can’t be pressured into anything.”
Knox slapped one hand against the table. “Okay, the topic is adjourned. Now we can all hear what Griffin has to say.”
This had been the shortest voting protocol we’d had in years. I was certain they’d sped it up for my sake. Although, granted, we had all been in favor of the ideas since the beginning.
Now that quite literally all eyes were on me, I was second-guessing my decision to share this with them. I’d never hear the end of it. Not that I didn’t deserve it, but still.
“The unthinkable happened,” I said.
“Phoebe is pregnant?” Finn asked.
I jerked my head back. “Why would you jump to that conclusion?”
“And why would it be unthinkable?” Knox asked.
“Stop derailing the conversation. This is about something else,” I assured them.
“Something serious,” Wyatt said.
I wasn’t smiling at all. “Jude found out I was lying to him.”
“Fuck,” Chase exclaimed.
Duncan just fixed me with his eyes. A few beats later, he asked, “How?”
“It doesn’t even matter. The details aren’t important.”
“Just spin things around,” Wyatt suggested.
“Impossible.”
“See, that’s why it’s helpful for us to know details,” Finn said.
“How did he find out?” Duncan asked again.
I cleared my throat. “You all know that Phoebe sold that old house. The closing was today.”
“Fuck yes,” Knox said. “I can’t believe she actually lived there.”
“Anyway, I figured it might be a difficult day for her, but she didn’t want me to go along. I still wanted to be nearby, so I held my morning meeting with Jude at a coffee shop in the area. She joined us after signing the papers.”
Chase actually smiled. “Good for you. You’ve got soft skills I wasn’t even aware of. It was important to be there for your woman.”
“I figured that, too, except that her ex also dropped by that very same coffee shop.” There was a collective groan around the room. “He caused a scene and made it very clear that he and Phoebe were together until three months ago.”
“Fuck my life,” Knox said.
Finn’s eyes were wide, and then he leaned back in his chair, putting his hands on top of his head.
“Now I’m getting the full picture,” Wyatt said.
“There’s no way to turn this around,” I admitted. “And I don’t want to lie to Jude anymore.”
“Figured out that’s a bad idea, huh?” Duncan said.
I looked straight at my older brother. “I know I fucked up. You were right. This whole thing backfired.”
“What’s your plan?” Chase asked.
“I don’t have one.”
“How did Jude react, exactly?” Duncan asked.
That felt like twisting the knife in a wound. But again, details were important.
“He stormed off, assuring me that he doesn’t deal with liars. A few minutes later, I got a call from my team that we were no longer in the running as an investor.”
“He moves fast, then,” Duncan said.
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds.
“No words of advice?” I laughed but without humor.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what to say,” Wyatt said.
Well, that was a first. I’d managed to stump all of my brothers. This was not good. Not at all.
Chase cleared his throat. “I hate to point this out, but it’s more than just your reputation at stake.”
“I know.” The reputation of my company and even of Sterling Investments was on the line. Besides, I genuinely hated that I’d disappointed Jude. “I’ll fix this.”
“You’d better,” Chase replied.
“All right, well, if any of you actually comes up with an idea that could help me…,” I said, rising to my feet.
“How about threatening him?” Knox asked.
I nearly stumbled backward. “I’m sorry, did I hear you wrong?”
Tilting his head, Finn said, “I don’t see how that would work.”
Wyatt turned to them. “Are you two serious right now?”
“We’re just considering the options,” Knox said. “We could find some dirt on him. Everyone has skeletons. Nothing too bad, just embarrassing enough for him to keep quiet that our brother faked a whole-ass relationship to get a business deal.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my younger brothers?” Duncan asked.
I was too stunned to answer for a few moments, then recovered.
“All right, I’m going to forget that you said that,” I declared.
“Yeah, I’m not,” Duncan said, “because what the fuck? Do I have to keep an eye on you?”
Knox rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic, Duncan.”
I threw up my hands. “Right, I don’t have time to listen to bickering. If any of you comes up with usable solutions, you can call me anytime.”
“How is Phoebe taking this?” Chase asked.
“I haven’t had time to discuss it with her in depth. She was visibly shaken up by that asshole causing a scene.”
“It’s a good thing her family is coming to visit, then,” Chase said.
“That’s right.” I knew how important family was to Phoebe. They’d make her happy. “Okay, I’m leaving. Let me know if you come up with ideas—legal ones.”
Knox and Finn chuckled, and then Finn said something I hadn’t thought of.
“You know, if you had done this to me, I would have taken it personally—that I was stupid enough to fall for your charade, faking the relationship. I’d be pissed off for that reason rather than that you lied to get my business. ”
The others kind of collectively agreed. I did too. Being lied to didn’t leave anyone with a good feeling, no matter how you looked at it.
We said our goodbyes, and I left the meeting room.
After I left headquarters, I went straight to my office. On the drive, I tried Jude a few times, but he rejected my calls.
“Fucking hell.” I knew he needed to cool down, but time was of the essence. I needed to get to him. I couldn’t allow too much time to pass.
My team pounced on me the second I arrived. “Griffin, what happened? Weren’t you meeting Jude this morning?” Stella, my assistant, asked.
“I did,” I said.
“Everyone was surprised when he called.”
I hurried into my office, and she followed me, standing in the doorway.
I took a deep breath. “There’s been an unfortunate development—of a personal nature.”
“What can we do to fix it?” she asked.
I didn’t answer right away. I’d come here determined to brainstorm with my entire team and fix this together. But the truth was, that wasn’t possible. This was all on me. It was my responsibility alone to fix it.
“Only I can do that.” Then a thought hit me. “Actually, you can help me with one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I need to know Jude’s schedule today and tomorrow.”
She smiled. “I can find that out.”
I frowned at her. “That easy?”
“His assistant is very friendly. She was shocked when she heard about Jude’s decision. I called her immediately to double-check that it wasn’t a mistake or something.”
“All right, thanks.”
After she left, I paced my office up and down. Jude was my utmost priority, but I couldn’t just sit around twiddling my thumbs while she inquired about his whereabouts. I had plenty of other things to do.
Stella emailed me his schedule for today an hour later. Fuck, he was trapped in back-to-back meetings.
I immediately got up, heading to her office. She winced when she saw me.
“How about tomorrow’s schedule?”
“I’ll do my best, but his assistant is a bit more tight-lipped now that we aren’t buddies anymore. But I’ll get it to you tomorrow, I promise.”
“Thanks.”
I headed back into my office, sitting at my desk. Miraculously, I managed to get in a few hours of solid work. I threw in the towel at five o’clock and headed straight home.
Usually, I was easily able to push work issues to the back of my mind in the evening, but this was different. I kept thinking about the best way to apologize and get back in Jude’s good graces the whole drive.
Phoebe was already there when I arrived. I smiled for the first time in hours. Fuck yeah. My woman was at home, and I was determined to give her the very best of me.
I jogged up the porch stairs and pushed the front door open.
She simply fit my life in a way I didn’t know was possible.
I didn’t announce my presence right away, just stood watching her for a few seconds before walking toward her with quick steps.
She must have heard me, because she looked over her shoulder and smiled.
Yeah, watching her light up because I was there would always be one of my favorite things.
“Well, hello,” she said.
“Hey, babe.”
“I’m making meatballs and pasta. I figured we might both need some comfort food.”
“Fuck yes!” I kissed her without further ado.
She gave in to my kiss immediately, just as she had this morning. But now I could make it last as long as I wanted. I could devour her to my heart’s content. Kissing this woman was exactly what I needed right now.
Then something warm touched my shoulder.
She jumped back and covered her mouth.
“Oh, whoops.” She’d dropped the spatula on my shirt. “Sorry. You sort of made me lose my balance and my head.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “You know, the usual.”
She sniffed the air before abruptly turning to the stove. “Crap. I don’t want to burn dinner. Don’t distract me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
She looked over her shoulder and asked, “Want to tell me how today went? Did you talk with Jude?”
I shook my head. “He wouldn’t take my calls, but I’m going to get to him eventually.”
I’d managed to take my mind off him for a few seconds, but now the issue was front and center in my mind again.
Phoebe smiled at me. “Why don’t you go change your shirt before dinner’s ready?”
“Sure. I have to take a shower too.”
Before going up, I wanted to do one more thing. Standing behind her, I put an arm around her waist, bringing my mouth to her ear. “I like coming home to you.”
She melted against me and wiggled her ass against my crotch. “Good, because I love it too.”