Chapter 44 Sutton
Sutton
I’ve turned off my cell. Bobby’s calls were becoming problematic.
They have been all week, ever since the news broke on social media that I’m leaving LA for good.
Now, he’s here in Whispers; he’s been at the front gate for hours.
Demanding that I talk with him, when I prefer to do anything but.
The media is out there as well, capturing every angry minute.
“Maybe we just let him in and get it over with.” Sawyer rubs his head.
“I can escort him in and out,” Jackson adds, the three of us standing in my new kitchen, the appliances shiny, the cabinetry perfect.
Thanksgiving lunch went amazingly well, considering how shit the food was—minus the cheesecake, because that was a slam dunk on my part.
Mom loves Charlotte, just like I knew she would, and the fact that she now has three instant grandchildren made her smile all day long.
“Fine,” I relent as Jackson pushes off the counter and walks out to the gate.
This is long overdue, and it’s time to get it over with.
“You don’t owe him anything. He profited amazingly well from you,” Sawyer reminds me, and my gaze moves to the family room, where Preston sits with his new tablet in his hands and earphones on, Charlotte working on her solar contraption.
They look good in our home. It feels complete with us all here together.
“You want me to hide them?” Sawyer moves toward the family room, and I shake my head.
“No. Bobby won’t have a camera. He doesn’t know who they are.” I take a deep breath, just as I hear the commotion.
“About fucking time, Sutton.” Bobby strides in, a man on a mission, his chest puffed out and his face all red.
“Bobby.” I nod as Jackson brings him into the kitchen, the hundred yards he walked from the gate clearly too much for him as he breathes heavily.
“Bobby? Bobby? That’s all you’ve got to say after a decade?” he roars, and now he has Charlotte's attention. I see her sit up at the commotion from my peripheral vision, Preston still with his noise-canceling headphones on, completely oblivious.
“It was all outlined clearly in the letter—” Sawyer starts his legal jargon, but Bobby isn’t having it.
“Shut up, Sawyer. I don’t need to listen to anything you have to say.” Bobby stares at me only, never even looking in Sawyer’s direction, and I see my brother’s hands tighten into fists at his sides.
“You do, actually.” My brother steps forward, and I’m wondering what he means.
Bobby tenses. “You going to school me now?”
“Just wondering why you put a naked, underage girl in my brother’s bed? Was it meant to get positive press? Did you do it to ruin his career?”
My gaze snaps to Bobby, having not thought of exactly why that happened or who orchestrated it. Sawyer’s always had suspicions about my manager, and I’ve brushed it off. But now, as I look at him, I know my brother’s been right all along.
Bobby gives a sadistic grin but remains silent. My stomach curdles that I had someone on my team, someone so close to me, who would put my career on the line like that.
“Or what about the guy who Jackson hit with the car? The one who walked off without a scratch but ended up in hospital with a broken leg. The media ate that up as well. What I can’t figure out is why you would set all that up?
” Sawyer presses, his voice holding an edge, but Bobby barely shows any remorse.
“Any publicity is good publicity, you know that.” He looks me dead in the eye, like the issues he orchestrated were merely speedbumps, not issues that could’ve completely derailed my career had I stayed in LA. This is what he’s become—sneaky, sleezy, underhanded.
I can’t even speak as I stare at him, my blood boiling, and I see the moment he relents.
“Fine. I could see you pulling away, alright!” He runs his hands through his hair, releasing a deep huff. “I could tell your heart wasn’t really in it, that I was losing you. You’re my last client. I needed to continue to make you relevant.”
“You did it all to increase media attention?” I frown as things click into place.
“YES!” he yells. “Without you, I’m nothing. So, I tried to make you relevant. I ensured that people were talking about you. I did my job!”
With a clenched jaw, I don’t wait any longer to say, “It’s over, Bobby.”
His head looks like it’s about ready to explode as he yells some more. “Over?! OVER?!!”
“It’s been ten years, but it’s time for me to move on,” I say calmly, keeping my cool, and watch as his gaze moves over my shoulder.
When I turn to see what he’s looking at, Charlotte’s standing there.
I watch her swallow before she walks closer.
I might be protective of her, but she’s also protective of me.
“You!” He points at her. “This is all over some fucking piece of pussy?”
I can feel my heart pounding in my ears as I look back at him. “That is your one and only pass you’ll get.”
“Fuck. She must have a magical fucking cun—” He doesn’t get to finish.
My fist flies out and hits his jaw, and he’s laid out on the new kitchen floor before he can get another word out.
Charlotte gasps behind me, Sawyer muttering a “shit,” but I step toward Bobby, relishing how he’s now bleeding from his nose.
Looking down on him, I now see him for the sniveling asshole he is.
“Say it again, Bobby. I fucking dare you,” I grit out, my jaw working overtime. Clearly, my quick anger only happens when someone insults my woman. Sawyer and Jackson stand close by, here if I need them. Which I don’t.
“You’ve changed.” He slowly stands, grabbing a white handkerchief from his jacket, bringing it to his face.
“I have.” I don’t deny it.
“I’ll charge you with assault.”
It’s an empty threat. He won't.
“Go ahead.”
“Fuck.” He’s calm now. Knows my mind isn’t changing. He knows this is the end.
“Ten fucking years, Silvers.” With a shake of his head, he throws his arms up.
“It’s been a hell of a ride. But it’s now over.”
“I can’t hear no fat lady yet…” He lets his loose threat linger before turning and walking to the door, never one to admit defeat, but at least now he’ll give my phone a rest. Jackson follows him out, ensuring he leaves the grounds, and Sawyer blows out a breath as my girl comes to my side.
“I guess that was Bobby?” She looks up at me with widened eyes, and while I feel a little heavy for having such a relationship end, it was long overdue.
“It was.”
She grabs my hand, inspecting my knuckles. “You alright?” This little pocket rocket looked almost ready to punch Bobby herself, and now she couldn’t sound more innocent.
“Never been better. Angiogenesis is already starting.” I wink at her.
“I love you,” she says with a smile.
I swear my knees buckle nearly every time.
“And I love you,” I give her a sweet kiss before she looks between me and my brother and walks back to her copper tubing. I love seeing her working on her projects in our home.
Sawyer wipes his hand down his face. “Well, that went about as well as I suspected.”
“At least he understands now.”
He looks at me with doubt in his eyes. “Do you think he did? Something tells me Bobby won’t go down without a fight.”
“What can he do?” I shrug.
“Ruin your career? Make up stories that pull you even further into trouble?”
Sawyer’s right; he could. But I’ll cross that bridge if it happens.
“I’ll just be a professional beekeeper, then.”
My brother huffs a laugh, grinning at me.
“Good to have my brother back.”
My smile widens to match his. I haven’t been myself for years, and finally, I know who I am and what I want.
“Good to be back.”
I pull at my bow tie, already itching to take it off.
“Here, let me.” Charlotte steps forward and grabs my tie, undoing it and retying it with clear experience.
I’m nervous, not for the launch, hell, I could do that in my sleep.
But I’m nervous about leaving her. Almost everyone will be coming with me.
Charlotte and Preston are the only ones who aren’t.
Thank God, Jackson will be here. Otherwise, I’d call the whole thing off.
“What other man have you tied bows for?” My eyes narrow on her, and she giggles, then snorts, and all thoughts of anything else disappear, my love for her expanding even more.
“Just Preston’s.” She grins, and more than anything, I want her on my arm tonight. But that isn’t our story. Yet.
“I wish you were coming with me,” I tell her softly.
Her eyes meet mine, and I wrap my arms around her waist, keeping her close.
“I know. Me too.”
I see it in her eyes. I see her wanting to be with me, sad for missing this milestone. The launch at Whiteman’s has already started. Tanner, Connor, and I are making our grand entrance in about half an hour.
“I hear the media are camped out. The commercial is going live across digital and TV at the same time as the launch, so you’ll see my face even though I’m not here.”
“We’ll be watching. Preston is already in front of the TV, waiting for it.”
“I have my cell. Call me if you need me.”
“We’ll be fine. We have no plans of leaving the sofa,” she assures me, pausing with the tie to look into my eyes. I think she can sense my nerves about this.
“Jackson will be here and won't leave the house until I’m back.”
“Sutton. Relax. We’ll be okay. The gates will lock, and Jackson is here. Preston and I won’t move. You’ll have all our attention, even if it has to be through a screen.” Smiling, she tries to lighten the mood, and I press a kiss to her forehead.
I don’t know why I feel agitated. It isn’t like I haven’t left her before.
But I haven’t left her side since I got back.
We’ve both been holed up here in my new place, surrounded by the media pack for a few days.
Furniture and things arrive every day, her adding her flair with ordering new rugs and cushions, adding a feminine touch to the place, which I love.
“There.” She finishes the bow, her hands sliding down my chest, and I look up in the mirror. The tuxedo I’m wearing is molded to my frame. The bow tie she just tied looks perfect, better than I can do myself.
“We need to go!” Sawyer yells from down the hall, but my hands don’t want to leave her.
“I’m so proud of you.” Her words are a sweet whisper, and my throat constricts. No one has said that to me in a long time, my mom the only one.
“Thank you for that, for everything.” I stare right at her. Holding her hand to my chest, I pull her body to me.
“I love you.” She lifts up onto her tiptoes, her lips connecting with mine briefly. “Have a great time and celebrate. And we can have our own celebration later.”
I hum, already looking forward to getting home and doing just that.