Chapter 39
Clayton
I cringed when Lachlain’s name appeared on the car’s display.
Much like the first time I came to Henley Falls, I’d slipped out of Manhattan under his nose.
Unlike the first time, shit was flying in every direction back home, but there was something I needed to do down here.
Something more important than everything else.
There was a time I would never have considered that a possibility, but that time was over.
I could ignore him, but he’d keep trying, and what I had to do next needed to be done without interruption. I tapped the phone button on the dash as I pulled onto the winery’s driveway.
“Fuck you, Clay.”
I winced because unlike his normal teasing tone, Lachlain actually sounded pissed.
“I’ve had every fucking board member calling me this morning because they couldn’t get a hold of you. I don’t like these people, brother. I sure as hell don’t want to talk with them.”
The board had been more than a little antsy over the past few days as they were questioned by the police and our lawyers.
If I found out any of them had willingly aided Reginald, there was nowhere they would be able to run.
As of now, it appeared as if it were simply willful ignorance.
Either way, their days as board members were numbered.
Whether they’d be in a jail cell next to my dear stepfather was still to be determined.
“At least,” Lachlain continued, “tell me you’ve gone to the mountains to get your woman. I can’t stand your grumpy ass anymore.”
“I am indeed in Henley Falls,” I answered as I slipped into a parking spot.
Right next to the tin-can-sized car Reese drove.
I already had the manager of our corporate fleet lining up options for her newer and significantly safer vehicle.
It had crossed my mind to surprise her with one, but decided I valued my balls too much to presume I knew what she wanted.
Besides, I had need of them in my plans to win her back over.
Lachlain sighed. “Thank God. You were becoming unbearable. Are you sure your plan’s going to work?”
“Not really.”
“Good. Confidence. I like that.” The sarcasm in my brother’s voice came through loud and clear. “Grandmother and Sofia both think it will work, though they have suggested some groveling is also needed.”
I’d heard that from my sister a few times and wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. I had my words and my actions, and I had to hope that would be enough. If they weren’t, well…well, I didn’t exactly have another plan.
“Listen, for what it’s worth, and having nothing to do with the business, I think Reese is really good for you.
” His voice turned serious. “I didn’t know what Grandmother meant at first, but she was right.
Reese makes you alive. I like it.” Then, just like that, irreverent Lachlain was back. “You better not fuck this up.”
A knock on my door startled me before I could respond. A large body blocked the window, which I rolled down. “Logan.”
“You better not fuck this up.”
“Hey,” my brother’s voice yelled from the speakers, “is that her brother? I like him already. You make sure my idiot brother doesn’t screw this up any more than he’s already done, because we like your sister a lot.”
I shook my head. “Logan, meet my brother, Lachlain.”
He leaned over, arms braced on the door. “Hey man. I’m going to try, but she’s not happy. This could be a tough sell.” He looked at me and shrugged. “Tellin’ it like it is.”
“Sex, Clay. Use sex.”
“I mean, she is my sister and I hate to say I agree, but—”
Lachlain suggesting sex was not a surprise. Logan voicing his agreement, when he wouldn’t even stay in the apartment when I’d spent the night, shocked the hell out of me. I shuddered, embarrassment I was not comfortable with overtaking me. “I’m not talking to either one of you about that.”
Twin laughter came at me from both sides, and I had a sudden vision of Lachlain being around all of the Henleys. Fuck my life.
“Listen, I gotta go in. I’m the last to get over here. I waited to make sure I saw you arrive.” He straightened and slapped the roof. “See you in there. Hope to meet you soon, Lachlain.”
He strode away after my brother and I said our goodbyes to him.
“I like him, Clay.”
I liked all of them here. It was funny how a few short weeks ago I had less than a handful of people in my life that I’d call important. Family.
Now I had dozens.
Don’t fuck this up, Clay.
Forty minutes later I grabbed my briefcase and left the car when Logan texted me the signal, then slipped through the door of the tasting room. I wanted to see her reaction to the presser.
She was close to the computer screen, but Logan slid out of the way behind her, as if knowing I needed to see her.
Every bit of anger and frustration disappeared the moment I saw her.
I watched as she cycled through a relaxed stance to a more tense one as the televised version of me started talking about everything happening.
It was almost as if I could see the wheels in her mind spinning, processing what video me was saying.
These days apart from her had been hell and for more reasons than my dear stepfather and his actions. Not knowing if I’d ever see her again, if I’d even get a chance to explain had weighed heavily on my mind and my heart.
I came here to make it right, in whatever way I could.
“Man,” Randall complained as the feed flipped back to the anchorwoman, “I certainly hope we don’t run into any kind of trouble.”
If ever there was a cue for me to jump in, it was now. “Oh, I do. I think having a little trouble is the best way to live.”
Reese spun on her heels and I caught my breath.
She was fucking stunning. I knew, in that moment, there was never a time this woman wouldn’t be everything to me.
It didn’t matter what was happening or changing in our lives.
Reese Henley would be the person who would make it all make sense.
Fire lit her eyes, a mix of anger and what I hoped was her own dose of frustration bubbling close to the surface.
Good to know I wasn’t alone in my suffering these past days. I was more than willing to make it up to her, however. Her eyes narrowed and I readied myself for the most important battle I’d ever face. No threat to Conti-Montgomery would come close to the threat of losing this woman.
“Maybe you have some big trouble in your future.” She propped her hands on her hips, looking like a petite Valkyrie ready to defend her homeland. In a way she was. “I see you’ve shown up uninvited once again.”
“Yes, I do remember the view provided upon my arrival last time. One of my favorite sights ever, I believe.”
Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red, and I’d be lucky if she didn’t attack. “You weren’t exactly wanted then.” I took a step forward and had to bite back my smile as she took one backward. I didn’t miss the way her family retreated until we were standing alone. “You’re not wanted now.”
I let my gaze scan her body, lingering on her chest where her nipples pressed against the top she wore. “Are you sure about that? I bet somebody wants me—” I paused for a second. “—here.”
“Not this someone.”
If there was one thing I’d learned about this woman who captivated me from the very first moment, it was that sarcasm and her own brand of contrariness served as protection.
If she went on the offensive, she thought she couldn’t be hurt.
Except her feelings ran deep. She tried to act as if nothing mattered, when in reality, things mattered too much to her.
It was what made Reese, Reese. It was how I’d fallen in love with her before I even realized it was happening.
“You sure about that, Little Trouble?”
“Wait, was that the trouble he was talking about?” someone asked from behind her. Her family still remained, but I only had eyes for her.
“Yes, I am.” Her gaze shifted away from mine, and she was playing with her Grandmother’s ring again. My advance study of Reese Henley told me she wasn’t exactly as confident in her words as she pretended.
“Does he mean something more than the havoc she usually brings?” That sounded like Beckett.
“Oh, he does, brother.” I was glad Everleigh was keeping the family in check because I had more pressing matters to deal with. I also didn’t need Reese preoccupied with them.
Reese turned on her relatives. “Which one of you answered him first? He needed an in somewhere.” She pinned Everleigh with a look that would do wonders in a boardroom.
“Hey, it wasn’t me.” Everleigh’s eyes shifted toward Logan, but Reese had already pivoted his way.
“Brother?”
“Of course not.” Logan did a damn good job of sounding insulted at the accusation.
“He’s lying.”
“Dude.”
Lawrence clapped Logan on the back and stepped around his son. “I think you have some explaining to do, Clay.”
I had a lot to do here. A lot that would go a long way to seeing how my first venture as President and CEO went.
I knew what I wanted, who I wanted, but I also knew what I was willing to give up if I had to if she gave me no alternative and no way into her heart again.
There wasn’t a second that had gone by over these past days that I didn’t hear the words she’d uttered on a busy, loud New York City street play over and over in my head. Stolen her heart.
It occurred to me last night as I sat on my balcony, unable to sleep for the third night in a row, that I loved and hated the phrase at the same time.
I didn’t want to steal her heart. I wanted her to give it to me freely.
Wanted her to want, to need, what we could build together.
Then again from the first time I’d heard her voice, she’d woven herself around my heart and taken it for herself.
A heart that was both stolen and given, seemed to be the best of both worlds. I just needed her to see that.
“I know that, Lawrence, and I’ll do my best to answer all your questions.”
“Probably not with the truth,” Reese muttered under her breath.