Chapter Eleven #3
think he deserved her. Or he was waiting for something.
Did Gigi know how he felt about her? Because Garrett was
certain Gabe did not see her as a sister. “You grew up with him?”
“Our families were close, and unlike Livie and her brothers,
they live super close to us so we spent a lot of time together. My cousin Greer
even dated his brother John for a couple of years, but they’re friends now.”
“Ooo, are we talking about Gabe?” Miranda two-stepped up to
them with her own partner. Keane was a better dancer than Garrett was.
“Yeah, he’s playing the overly protective big brother
again,” Gigi said as they moved closer.
“He’s not your brother,” Miranda stated over the music.
“But he thinks he is,” Gigi replied.
So she was clueless. It probably wasn’t his place to change
her mind. Gabe obviously wasn’t ready to go after her. He would have a talk
with the guy about not butting into her relationships, but she’d wanted this
save.
“I don’t think you see the way he looks at you when you’re
not paying attention,” Miranda insisted.
Gigi’s nose wrinkled. “Uhm, how would I see if I’m not
paying attention?”
“Duh, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Miranda insisted.
The girls were excellent at carrying out a whole
conversation over loud music while never missing a step. They were obviously
veterans at this.
“If he looks at me, it’s because he thinks I’m a dumbass who
can’t pick a decent man,” Gigi argued.
“And yet he puts together tops and subs all the time, but he
constantly drops the ball when it comes to setting you up,” Miranda pointed
out.
“Because he doesn’t think I’m ready for anything serious,
and guess what?” Gigi asked cheerfully. “I’m not. I’m having fun. I’m
traveling. I’m happy right now. I don’t need a permanent top.”
And now he knew why Gabe hadn’t made a move.
They’d sat with Olivia’s friend for almost an hour, talking
about how he came to found The Hideout with his friends. Gabe seemed to be a
serious top. The kind that never gave up control. He wasn’t sure a free spirit
like Gigi could handle that.
Not without someone in the mix who could soften things.
Someone who understood both roles. Someone like him. A sense of pride filled
him at the thought. He was a bridge between Olivia and Keane. They wouldn’t
work without him. The same way they wouldn’t work without Keane. The way he was
starting to think they hadn’t worked without Olivia.
Something was building between him and his closest friend.
Something warm and exciting, and he wasn’t even afraid. He was looking forward
to it.
“Where’s Livie?” Garrett asked. “Did she not want to dance?”
“She wanted to finish her margarita,” Keane said. “But she
thought Gigi might need backup. It looks like Gabe’s satisfied you saved her.
Everyone okay?”
Gigi gave him a beatific smile. “I’m fine. The guy was
getting handsy, but I could handle it. Not that I don’t appreciate the save
very much.”
Keane nodded to a place at the edge of the dance floor. The
cowboy stood there, staring at Gigi, his arms crossed over his chest. “Well,
he’s still watching you, so stay close to one of us.”
Gigi nodded. “No problem. I can dance with the ones that
brung me, as the old folks used to say.”
Garrett’s cell buzzed in his pocket. He thought about
ignoring it since it was well past work hours, but he slid it out, trying to
keep dancing. Ruby Lockwood.
He needed to take that call.
He stepped back. “Hey, it’s the PI.”
Gabe was at their side in a heartbeat. Like he’d been
standing there waiting and watching for his turn to play knight in shining
armor. “I’ll take care of her.”
Gigi rolled her eyes but stepped into his arms like she’d
been there a million times. “He took me to my senior prom since my boyfriend at
the time was into dirt bikes, but they didn’t love him as much as he loved
them. He broke his leg the night before, and Gabe got conned into taking me
because it would be gross to go with one of my brothers. I asked Seth Taggart,
but he had to study. Which is weird because he’s not the studying type, if you
know what I mean. Now that I think about it, I asked a couple of guys I knew,
but they all had things to do so Gabe took one for Team Gigi.”
Sure, he had. Yeah, it was a real sacrifice.
He slid his finger across the screen as he walked off the
dance floor. He was almost certain Gabe had found out about the dance and told
everyone to tell her no so he was the only one who could do it.
Of course, even knowing Gabe a little made him wonder if
he’d done something to cause the accident. Probably not.
“Hey, Ruby. Let me walk outside. It’s loud in here.” He
glanced back, trying to catch a glimpse of the table where Olivia had been
sitting, but he couldn’t see through the crowd.
He breathed more easily as he stepped out into the warm
night air.
“Sorry. We’re at a roadhouse,” he said.
“You’re at The Barn,” Ruby replied with a chuckle. “Does
Olivia know that for years her parents kept a room upstairs? At one point it
was for her papa so if he had too much to drink, he didn’t drive, but later the
rumors are there were some fun nights had in that room. I wonder if they still
have it.”
It didn’t surprise him that Olivia’s parents had a nookie
room. He kind of wanted one himself. One for him and Keane and their gorgeous,
smart sub.
He wasn’t a great dancer, but he wanted to dance with her.
Not because some cowboy looked her way. Because he wanted her in his arms all
the time. They would have to figure out how to dance as a threesome. See, that
was where her dads could help.
If they didn’t kill him first. “Have you got anything?”
“Of course I have something. I have several things, since
you and Livie seem determined to fund my life this month. I need you to
understand something, Garrett. I’m strictly behind the scenes. My partner got
her ass shot doing work for Olivia’s brothers, and I’m not making the same
mistake.”
“Shot?” He thought the whole PI gig was mostly from afar.
“Yeah. It’s okay. She survived. Got a pretty cool scar out
of it, but I like my skin the way it is,” Ruby explained.
“I will do my best to ensure you don’t get shot. What have
you found out?”
“Do you want the business stuff first or do you want the
fun, gossipy stuff?” Ruby asked.
“Business, please.” He needed to get back to Olivia. Maybe
he could convince her to go home. He missed their play time. He knew there
would be plenty of nights where they wouldn’t spend hours in a playroom, but he
wanted all the time he could get.
She sighed. “All right, let’s talk about Gladen. He’s
definitely skimming somewhere. I need his records, though I’m sure those look
pristine. But I did get his personal financials, and something is not right.
He’s bought a couple of large purchases he shouldn’t be able to afford, and
apparently he did it with cash. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of
dollars.”
“His ranch has been underperforming on paper for the last
two years. Jack even gave him a low-interest loan to fix a couple of things on
the ranch that seemed to be holding them back.” Once he’d studied the
relationship through the focus of legal documents, he could see
Barnes-Fleetwood did everything they could to help Gladen get into compliance
with the processes.
“I read that contract,” Ruby said. “It was for an irrigation
system and barn renovation. It was eight hundred thousand dollars.”
He knew that particular sum. “He’s been making the payments,
though he complains about it.”
Ruby hesitated. “This is where I think Olivia is right. He’s
been making the payments, but I’m not sure he had the work done.”
Frustration welled through him because he had already
checked. “I have the invoices.”
“Ah, you have printouts he gave you, but I attempted to
match those to the companies he claimed did the work, and they don’t show
anything like what he documented,” Ruby replied. “As for him cutting corners,
I’m pretty sure we can prove he’s been using non-organic feed. I found a couple
of his ex-employees who are willing to state that he has them clean the place
up when he knows someone from the home office is coming out. You should know
one of the guys I talked to mentioned Olivia. Apparently she and Gladen went
out to dinner a couple of times. I suspect she would have called it business,
but he told everyone he was dating her. Now he seems to be telling the story
that he rejected her and that’s why she’s causing problems.”
He felt a growl stick in his throat, but he held it there.
“So he’s going to accuse her of unprofessional behavior.”
“I think he’s going to use the possibility to get out of the
corner he’s rapidly finding himself in,” Ruby agreed. “He’s got his story lined
up. I think he’s planning to use this to try to sue the cooperative and get out
of his loan obligations. He thinks if Olivia is on the line, her father will do
anything he needs to in order to protect her.”
“He doesn’t know Olivia. She won’t let her father sign away
a bunch of money to protect her from something she didn’t do.” But he should
have expected this. He should have known that Gladen would use Olivia’s
aggressive stance against her. He’d kind of told her. Well, at least he could
spank her for it. That would be fun. Dealing with her dad would be less fun.
“Send me everything you have.”
“I’m worried about this guy. I think he might owe some
money, and Olivia threatened him.”
“She didn’t threaten him,” Garrett countered. “She found out
he’s cheating on his contracts and explained that he couldn’t do it anymore.”
“Well, I think he sees her as a threat to whatever he’s
doing, and he needs her scared.”
And they were back to the real problem at hand. “Do you
think he would slash her tires?”
A long sigh came over the line. “I think that asshole would
do anything, but it does seem a bit common for him. It also does nothing but
make her more suspicious. Now I worry that there is someone who would think
that was badass and a way to get a man back.”
He groaned. “Who? We met up with one of those a few nights
back. Olivia’s high school boyfriend decided it was time to try to marry for