Chapter Fifteen
Zachary
The following week was a bit of a shit show. This time of year always was. Everyone was rushing to fulfill orders before business ramped back up in September. That meant our ships needed to arrive on time—every delay cost us money. I hoped the meeting we’d had last week helped with the logistics and that we’d circumvented the quota issues that were pending. As one of the country’s main shipyards, it was important that everything ran smoothly. We safely transported containers of goods and were highly respected both domestically and internationally. It had been a legacy operation of the conglomerate for decades.
On Monday morning, the first meeting was insane. We had a delay with one of our biggest transports, which would cost us a lot.
I needed to blow off steam somehow. So, right before my second meeting, while I drank my fourth coffee of the day, I texted Grace.
Zachary: Week started off awful, but I’m still in a good mood, remembering the way you looked on that bed, completely naked for me.
To my astonishment, she replied right away.
Grace: Zachary, I’m in a meeting.
Zachary: So they’re wondering why you’re blushing?
Grace: They’d better not.
I didn’t say anything else, though. I hadn’t thought this through. Clearly we needed a better arrangement. We couldn’t randomly text; there was a high chance the other one was busy.
Zachary: Buzz me when you’ve got a break.
Of course, she texted me while I was in a meeting three hours later. This one wasn’t going smoothly either, but it wasn’t a total shit show like the other one. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy?
Grace: It’s not even noon and I’m already on edge. If only someone could take the edge off.
Fucking hell.
I’d never had a hard-on in a meeting. But there was a first time for everything.
I drew in a deep breath and then turned the phone over with the screen down. I shouldn’t have looked at it.
It took me a few moments to push the image of Grace with her legs wide open out of my mind. Then I decided to text her back; otherwise, I’d be thinking about it for the rest of the meeting.
“Just one second. I need to reply to something urgent,” I said in a serious tone, picking the phone back up.
Zachary: When do you have your lunch break?
As soon as I hit Send, I flipped the phone back over and set it to the side. Astonishingly, I focused perfectly on the meeting after that. But the second we were finished and I was alone in the meeting room, my thoughts raced back to Grace. Grabbing my phone, I saw she’d texted me twice.
Grace: One.
Grace: Damn it. I won’t have a break today.
I groaned. The impulse to flirt with her was overpowering.
Zachary: The evening, then.
She didn’t reply.
I spent the rest of the day in a huge negotiation with a potential business partner. It was six o’clock by the time I finished. Almost everyone on the floor had left. Six o’clock was the unofficial end of the workday here. I didn’t encourage extra hours, as I’d seen enough people burn out early in their careers because they’d worked far too long for years. I didn’t want that for any of my employees. Burnout could sneak up on you unnoticed.
I texted Grace.
Zachary: Fucking long day.
Grace: Mine is still ongoing.
Zachary: That’s not good.
Grace: What are you going to do about it?
My pulse shot up for the second time today, and it wasn’t because someone was annoying me. Rather, I was seriously considering tracking Grace down.
Jesus, I was starting to lose my mind. It was one thing to flirt; it was another to barrel into her office.
Zachary: I can take the edge off right now.
Grace: Through the phone?
Zachary: Hell yes. We don’t even need to call. Texts are enough.
I was getting turned on from the prospect of it alone.
Grace: Zachary! I’m about to start a conference call again.
I wondered if it was the truth or if I was pushing too much. Maybe it was a mix of both, so I decided to backtrack.
Zachary: Then good luck. I’m off for the evening.
***
We texted back and forth for the rest of the week, and it was the damn highlight of every day. I didn’t push as much as I did on Monday because I realized that I needed to ease Grace into this—whatever this was. I couldn’t define it yet, but one thing I knew for sure: I wasn’t ready to forget what happened at the ranch.
After a record six-hour meeting on Friday, I was headed to the mansion to have dinner with the whole family. Later, I was going into the Quarter with Anthony and Beckett to blow off steam.
As I went down to my car, I texted Grace.
Zachary: My day is done. What are you doing tonight? I’m going to be in the Quarter.
Grace: Me too. I promised Lais I’d go out with her, and I can’t bail again.
I smiled triumphantly. One way or another, I was going to see Grace tonight. Getting into my car, I drove straight to the Garden District because there wasn’t much time left until the family started dinner. My mind was on Grace the whole drive, which made it pass by quicker than usual.
Mayhem reigned inside as usual when I arrived. Besides both sets of grandparents, Chad, Scarlett, Simone, and Bella were already there. Then I noticed Anthony and Beckett, too, along with Xander and Bailey. Only Julian and Georgie were missing, along with my parents.
“Uncle Zachary!” Bella exclaimed when she saw me. “You know what just happened?”
“No, tell me.”
“Dad agreed to let me watch Goblet of Fire .”
I whistled loudly, nodding at Chad, who, by the looks of it, had simply decided the fight was taking too much out of him. He seemed resigned.
“Scarlett said she’ll watch it with me,” she went on. “Do you want to watch with us too?”
Ever since I told Bella that I’d watched all the movies, I’d risen to the ranks of a very beloved uncle. I was still battling with Xander and Julian for the top spot, but they both only watched it because Bella made them. I’d actually seen them when the movies first came out and had always been a fan. Watching them with Bella was like reliving my own teenage years.
“Sure thing, kid.”
“Yeeeeeees!”
Everyone was gathered in the sitting area around the fireplace. They hadn’t lit it during the summer months, of course. The weather was sweltering enough, and the family simply refused to use AC, which was driving me crazy. There were huge fans hanging from the ceiling, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
“Uncle Zachary, Gran Isabeau said that you’ll have a horse ranch.”
I sat down on the couch, and Bella perched on my lap. I liked that she still did that. She claimed she was too old for far too many things, but not for sitting on my lap.
“I don’t own it yet, but I’m in talks to invest in it.”
“Can you take me there too?”
I looked at Chad, who simply nodded. He took Simone from Scarlett’s arms, keeping her on his chest. She giggled, leaning into him.
I gave my brother shit for a lot of things, but I wouldn’t promise Bella something he wasn’t comfortable with.
“We can arrange something. I don’t know when that’ll be, though.” I was always very careful with what I told Bella. Kids were very exacting, which took me a while to learn.
“How’s that progressing? Have you gone back to the ranch again?” Beckett asked.
“I did, yes. I was there last week. I looked at a new horse they acquired, and we got some more intel on their renovation plans.”
“We?” Anthony asked, a brow cocked. “Was Grace Deveraux there again? Is she still in the running?”
“Yes, both of us are still in the running.”
“Have you made an official offer?”
“No. It hasn’t been a priority at all this week. I don’t think it has been for Grace either.”
Beckett looked up from his glass of scotch. “What makes you say that?”
I cleared my throat. “Just a hunch.”
“Did you get a better idea of how she is as a person?” Isabeau asked.
“She’s nothing like her brothers. Though I’m not entirely sure about her motivations to buy the ranch, considering she owns a cosmetics company.”
“And you run the shipping branch of the Orleans Conglomerate,” Celine pointed out, “which is not exactly related.”
“True, but my EMT background... You know what? Never mind. It wouldn’t be fair for me to guess Grace’s motives. But I wouldn’t count her out of the running. Felicia and Gaston certainly like her.”
Isabeau’s eyes actually glinted , as if lights had popped up in them. “What do you think? You like her too?”
“Sure.”
My grandfathers were sitting on the couch adjacent to the one where my grandmothers were sitting, and the two of them exchanged a glance. I could swear Grandpa David was fighting laughter. That meant they’d already talked about this.
“But that’s not relevant,” I added quickly. “We started off on the wrong foot, I’ll say that.”
“What do you mean?” Isabeau asked.
“I had Marcel look for information on her. It was the wrong thing to do. I don’t agree with his methods.”
“I warned you about him a while ago,” Xander said.
“That’s true. You did,” I admitted, turning to him. “The only problem with you, brother, is that you’ve warned me about so many things that I lose track.”
Xander shook his head. “He’s not a decent guy.”
“Yeah, I’ve learned that the hard way.”
“That poor girl. What did you do to her?” Isabeau asked, and I turned my head toward her. She was frowning.
“You don’t even know what happened, yet you’re siding with her?”
Isabeau shook her head. “You know I always side with the family. But I’ve heard from trusted sources that her ex-husband was a shithead.”
I jerked my head back, and Bella clapped. Chad groaned.
Isabeau had a very loose filter, but she kept the swearing to a minimum around Bella. She’d tried it while we grew up as well, but she gave up as we became teenagers.
She winced. “Sorry. Bella, that’s a bad word. Don’t repeat it.”
Bella didn’t even bother to nod. She was just grinning, and I knew she’d already added it to her vocabulary.
“Why do you say that?” I asked Isabeau. I had a feeling that Grace hadn’t told me everything. And why should she?
“He didn’t treat her right, and when they divorced, he put a detective on her. Then, when he couldn’t find much, he started to make things up. I really don’t know the whole story, but it didn’t bode well in the end from what I’ve heard.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was a million times worse than what I’d imagined, and it explained why Grace had been so upset about Marcel.
I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s not the same thing, obviously, but Marcel called the owners of the ranch and implied that Grace wasn’t to be trusted.”
Isabeau crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought we taught you better than that.”
Mom and Dad came in just then. “Sorry we’re late,” Mom apologized. “That gallery event took longer than expected.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said nonchalantly. “You’re not missing much. Just Isabeau giving me a hard time.”
“Oh, well, she’s always been very good at doing that, which made me look like the best mom on the planet.” And that had been true.
“Well,” Celine said, “whatever you do, just make sure you don’t give that poor girl more grief. She’s had enough to last her a lifetime.”
“It was a mishap. I’ve made sure it’ll never happen again,” I assured them.
“That’s what I was hoping to hear. Anyway, I heard she has great business sense. And that her family’s company increased their profits a lot in those years when she was involved,” Isabeau said, then glanced at her phone. “Julian just texted and said he and Georgie can’t make it. Means we’re all here. Celine and I are going to bring the food. Anyone want to help?”
“I’ll come with you,” I offered. Anthony and Beckett joined us too.
As we went to the kitchen, Isabeau asked, “Are you going to see Grace again?”
The honest answer was “Fuck, yes.” But Isabeau didn’t have to know everything.
“Not sure. We didn’t discuss any more meetings with Felicia and Gaston. The next step is going to be to make an offer. Although, I need more information regarding the actual cost of the renovations they’re planning. We’ve seen and talked a lot but haven’t discussed any numbers.”
Isabeau looked over her shoulder as we went into the kitchen. “Well, if you do see Grace, could you tell her about our fragrance shop?”
“Why on earth would he do that?” Anthony asked.
“Rumor has it that the poor girl hasn’t dated since her divorce. We could give her a nudge by making one of our special lilac perfumes for her. I found her story very endearing. And if we can help her find the right one, then why not?”
I was absolutely not going to tell Grace about their shop at all. I didn’t want her to have a perfume, especially not one with lilac. Not that I truly believed my grandmothers when they said it had special powers to bring people together, but why risk it?
“I’ll see if I can find a way to put that in the conversation,” I said.
Was the look in Isabeau’s eyes triumphant, or did it just seem like that to me?
Anthony whistled, and Beckett clapped my shoulder. “Dude, you should consider yourself lucky that she’s not offering to make a lilac perfume for you . You know, to attract ‘the right one,’” he mimicked Isabeau, who instantly bristled.
“Oh, you three, just keep mocking us,” she replied.
“We’re not mocking, Isabeau,” Anthony said, but Beckett tilted his head.
“I was. Sorry, I just can’t take that story seriously.” He chuckled.
“Lilac doesn’t work on men,” Isabeau explained.
“Yes, we only use it in women’s fragrances,” Celine added as she put jambalaya in bowls.
“Well, now we’re relieved,” Beckett said in a sarcastic tone. My youngest brothers couldn’t read Isabeau and Celine as well as the rest of us. I wanted to warn them that all three of us were in trouble.
“We have something else for men,” Isabeau said.
Fuck, I knew it.
“And what is that?” Anthony asked, and he at least had the good sense to sound a bit terrified. Maybe he could read Isabeau’s intentions better than I thought, but it was too little, too late. “You know what? Never mind. We don’t wear colognes anyway.”
“No, you don’t,” Isabeau said sweetly. “But you do get all those soaps from us all the time.”
I could practically feel my brothers panicking next to me. I was panicking a bit too. Yeah, that was the power of Isabeau LeBlanc and Celine Broussard. The three of us were grown-ass men, CEOs of our respective branches. Yet our grandmothers had the power to make us cower.
“What?” Beckett asked sharply. “You would tell us if you put something in them, wouldn’t you?”
“Why would we?” Celine replied. “After all, those things don’t work,” she continued, mocking my brother. It was too funny.
“Fucking hell,” Anthony groaned.
“Now, boys, let’s take the jambalaya and the rice with beans to the living room,” Isabeau ordered, effectively ending the conversation.
I exchanged a glance with my brothers, but neither said anything. Our grandmothers could be joking, of course, but I was going to thoroughly check my soaps once I got home.