28. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Kaitlyn
What do you wear to meet a very rich, very powerful man who already hates you, and who holds the future of the man you love in the palm of his hand?
Apparently, you wear a black pencil skirt with a white blouse and a pair of bright-red heels that you so lovingly refer to as your “fuck-me heels.” I wanted to feel powerful and in control. This outfit makes me feel as such.
“You’re lucky we had somewhere to be,” Griffin says when we pull into the driveway of his father’s very large home.
“Why?”
“Those heels are obscene, and I fucking love them.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before he climbs out of the car and makes his way around to my door. “How can you even think about something like that right now?” I say, taking his hand so he can help me out.
“Have you looked in a mirror? How could I not think about that right now?” Before we get to the front door, I tug on Griffin’s hand to get him to stop. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything. Is it wrong that I selfishly want him to like me?”
“His opinion doesn’t matter. He no longer matters. You heard my mother; this is a formality, and honestly, a fuck you he won’t see coming. We grin, bear it, and leave.”
“My brain understands that. My heart and honor are having trouble with it. I was brought up to respect my elders. I’m walking into this man’s home with zero respect for him.”
Griffin gently wraps his hands around my face, something I’m so used to feeling. His gaze is strong, his emotion stronger. “He doesn’t deserve your respect, or mine. He doesn’t have it. That’s how it is. We’re staging this meeting for my mother. Think about the respect you’re showing her instead.”
I nod and straighten my back. “Let’s do it.”
Griffin rings the doorbell and squeezes my hand while we wait for someone to come to the door. I hate this for him. The house is so beautiful on the outside. It feels so warm, yet I know what awaits us on the inside. What kind of parent-child relationship is this, where he doesn’t even feel like he can just walk in and be greeted? I can’t even comprehend it since it’s so different from my experience.
Even in the situation we were presented with at my father’s house days ago, Griffin felt more welcome there. The nerves that were pouring through my veins seconds ago have now morphed into abject rage. I have a quick temper with people who have zero common sense or compassion. This could get ugly if I don’t keep myself in check for Griffin’s sake. Oh, Mom, please help me out here.
It doesn’t take long before an older woman with red hair greets us. “Griffin, dear,” she says, coming in for a hug. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
“Greta,” he says, returning her affection then motioning to me. “Greta, this is my girlfriend, Kaitlyn Logan. Kaitlyn, this is my father’s long-time housekeeper, Greta.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I tell her as I reach my hand out and she shakes it softly.
“I can’t remember the last time Griffin brought anyone with him. I had heard through the grapevine you were seeing someone, dear boy. My, isn’t she pretty? It’s lovely to meet you as well, dear,” Greta says sweetly.
“Is my father in?” Griffin asks as he nervously places a hand on her shoulder.
“He is. He’s up in his office, and just to warn you, he’s a bit prickly this morning.”
Griffin leans in to whisper, “When isn’t he?” Greta smiles at him before he gives her a soft kiss on the apple of her cheek. “We can see ourselves up to his office.”
“I’ll bring up some coffee in a little bit, just in case you might need a buffer.”
“You always know what I need. Thank you.”
We cross the threshold and I crane my neck to take it all in. Holy shit. This place is huge.
“Did you grow up in this house?”
Griffin does something of a scoff-laugh mix. “No. My father bought this place during some kind of midlife crisis. It’s too big and ostentatious.”
“Where is the home you grew up in?” I ask him as we start the trek up the stairs.
“We lived in a lot of houses and flats. There wasn’t a singular place.”
I frown. “That makes me sad, actually. My memories of home are some of my favorites. I hate that you don’t have those.”
We reach the top of the stairs and take a left but stop short of what I can only assume is his father’s office door. “I made memories with my mom and brother, no matter where we were.” He turns to face me and takes my face in his hands. “I don’t know what is going to come out of his mouth in there, okay? He could cross many lines, but just know… this will likely be your first and only interaction with him, if I can help it.”
“If he treats you like how I think he will, that’s all I want. Otherwise, it will be a bad day for him.” I wink.
“Fuck. I love you.”
A gruff voice comes from behind the door. “Did you think I didn’t know you were here? We have cameras, you know.”
Wow. What an asshole.
Griffin wraps his hand around my hip, pulling me close as he turns the knob of the giant ornate wood office doors. The right door swings wide and when it opens, it’s a room three times the size of my whole apartment. The wall behind the desk, which is straight ahead of us, is a wall of windows and dead center, at the desk, sits Lachlan Shaw.
“I wasn’t trying to sneak in, Father,” Griffin says as we step inside.
“It certainly seemed otherwise,” Lachlan says from his seat. He doesn’t stand to greet us. He just stays in one spot, puffing on a cigar.
“We won’t take up too much of your time. I wanted to formally introduce you to my girlfriend, that way you can stop making assumptions about her and her family based on tabloids and internet trolls.”
Lachlan laughs and finally rises from his seat. “There’s no need for us to bring our bickering out in front of mixed company, Griffin.”
“Father, this is Kaitlyn Logan, my girlfriend. Kaitlyn, this is my father, Lachlan Shaw.”
I extend my hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shaw. I’ve heard many things about you.”
“Hmm. Indeed. I’m sure you have. I’ve heard little to nothing about you, other than what Page Six has told me. Let’s hope most of that is inaccurate.”
I can feel the anger ready to boil out of Griffin’s body. I flex my grip on his arm in a silent way to let me handle it. “Usually when you meet someone new, pleasantries would follow. At least that’s what my parents taught me. What they also taught me is when presented with hatred, I don’t have to stand and take it. So, let’s get down to it. You tell me what you want to know and I’ll answer it. Then we don’t have to waste time playing any games.”
Griffin clears his throat in a vain attempt to mask the laugh he was trying to hold back. “I see you’ve found yourself a tiger. That didn’t come across in the tabloids. I thought I’d get the usual unintelligent whores I’m used to seeing you with.”
I stand up straighter and take off my metaphorical earrings. Let’s do this. “First of all, women should be called women, no matter what they may do or not do behind closed doors. Secondly, I think my MBA and my law degree should speak for themselves, and lastly, I’m only a tiger when provoked. Like now, for example.”
Lachlan nods and takes another drag from his cigar and blows it up and over our heads. “I like your fire. Maybe you’ll teach my son how to have some.” He turns on his heels and heads back to his desk. “While I have you here, come have a seat. I’d like to discuss something with you. You can stay if you’d like, Ms. Logan. I normally don’t allow women in my office while I’m conducting business, but I’ll make an exception.”
“Dad,” Griffin chimes in. “One more out-of-line remark and I’ll take Kaitlyn out of here and we can do all of our business through messengers and lawyers.”
Shaw holds his hands up as if to surrender, but I think everyone in this room knows better. “Forgive me, Kaitlyn. I’m just an old man stuck in his ways.”
I don’t accept his apology. I just plaster a fake, sweet grin on my face and sit next to Griffin.
Lachlan’s desk is a huge, dark oak affair that looks too big even for this large office. I assume it’s to look intimidating and powerful. In any other circumstance, it may work, but not today.
“I didn’t exactly come here today to discuss anything other than our pending contract. I have clearly held up my obligation and would like to start the transfer of power as soon as possible.”
If he hadn’t spent the evening inside of me, worshipping me, and telling me how much he loved me, the word obligation may have stung.
“Eager as ever to take control.” Lachlan laughs. “We’ll get to that, but first, I’d like to know why I received an email from Brandon Finch, saying he was going to be working with Jackson Properties moving forward.”
“Brandon Finch?” Griffin questions. “The last we spoke; he had given Tobias every reason to believe he’d be doing business with us. If that changed, I had no idea or inclination.”
“Ah, there’s my answer,” Lachlan seethes. “Passing the buck to Tobias, like always.”
“Tobias is my partner at Orion in every sense and will continue to be. I have every confidence in his abilities and negotiation skills. If this deal went wrong, and that’s still an if for me, then I will go over the details with him.”
“If? Are you saying I’m lying?” his father growls.
I immediately jump to his defense. “He didn’t say that. Don’t put words in his mouth.”
“I don’t believe this is a conversation that involves you, girl.”
I can feel Griffin about ready to jump out of his skin and about ten feet in the air. I quickly wrap my wrist around his forearm. “In case you hadn’t heard, I too now work on the legal team for Orion, so any deal pretty much is my deal. If Finch bailed, I say good riddance. He was going to leave us with a property that would have had more maintenance done instead of a revamp and resell. Orion would have spent more money than it made.
“If you’d bothered to look at the architect’s report, you’d know that. Or better yet, you could have an architect on staff who would also save the money on contracting it out for review every time. But you seem to only like the sound of your own voice, so I’m certain no one was willing to tell you the total truth. It’s all about what you want to hear and what’s best for you. Griffin is one of the best negotiators out there. That’s how I know Tobias is too. They work efficiently and as a unit. Yet another thing you seem to know nothing about.”
I expect Griffin to step in, to try to protect me, like he always does, but instead, he allows me to protect him.
“I see you picked a mouthy one, Griffy,” he says and the use of his mother’s pet name for him makes me see red and I bolt to my feet.
“No,” I say sternly. “I know that you don’t know me, Mr. Shaw, but I refuse to sit here and allow you to speak to him that way. We may not have been together long or what some might consider any time at all, but I know he’s a good, decent, smart human being. He’s damn good at his job and despite not having a stellar example growing up, he’s an incredible man .” I’m nearly shaking, but I don’t stop. If I stop, I’ll start crying in anger and I refuse to let him see that. “As an attorney, I looked over this sham of a contract you presented to him, and while he’d have a damn good fight to prove it not enforceable, we won’t be doing that. We are together. Period. Consider his portion of the contract completed. We’ll expect the final paperwork to be sent within the next few days. Griffin, if you’re finished, I know I am.”
My dark knight rises from the chair beside me, staring down at his father. “Finished doesn’t even begin to cover it.” His hand reaches across to me. I slide my one shaking inside his. When we turn to leave together, his father decides to get one more jab in. “This little acting job you both just presented to me won’t fool anyone. I see right through you, and I’ll make sure it’s known who you are and what you’re after, girl.”
“Get a good look, Father. The next time you see us will be in a courtroom. After that, you’ll be here alone with your house. That will be all that’s left.”
“Is that a threat, boy?”
Griffin turns back to him, shielding my body with his. “No, Mr. Shaw. That’s a promise for the ages.”
Griffin
I’m not sure I’ve been more angry, proud, and turned on all at once before. Seeing her jump to my defense thawed a piece of my heart I didn’t even know was frozen.
We nearly bumped into Greta when we exited the office.
“Oh!” she says, startled. “Leaving already?”
“Yes, Greta. Prickly was an understatement.” I lean in and give her a quick hug. “If you ever get sick of his shit, please come to the U.S., I’d be happy to have you. Call me if you need anything at all, all right?”
“You know I will. It was lovely meeting you, again, Ms. Logan,” she says, nodding to Kaitlyn.
“You too. And, it’s Kaitlyn, please,” she replies in a shaky voice. Her adrenaline must still be high.
I whisk her as quickly as I can down the stairs and out to my car, and as soon as we are alone inside, she begins to cry.
“What… an… asshole…” she says between sobs.
“That’s an insult to the word asshole.” I’ll say anything to get her to smile. “Sweetheart, are you going to be okay?”
“I…will be…eventually.”
I want to leave this place, but I don’t want to take my eyes off of her. I have so many things I need to say before I leave here and never come back. “Kaitlyn, will you look at me?” She turns her tear-stained cheeks toward me as an answer to my request. “I know I’ve said it before and I meant it then, but I need you to know it now. I truly love you. I don’t just love you for your body. Any man would be an idiot not to. I love you for your fire, your willingness to defend what’s right. I love you for the way you spoke to him.
“You went at him with your sharpest axe, your words. You wove them like a fine thread. You let Lachlan Shaw see the woman you are, the woman I fell in love with. The woman I hope to have by my side forever.”
She sniffs back more tears then surprises me by climbing into my lap and wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I can’t believe you had to deal with that man for your entire life.”
I cradle her back and bury my face in the crook of her neck. “Maybe that was all part of some kind of invisible thread that was leading me to this moment. If that’s the case, I’d put up with Lachlan Shaw for one hundred lifetimes if it meant I found you.”
I hold her close to me. Part of me is screaming to connect with her completely right here and now in the driver’s seat. The part of me that prevails is the man who knows she just needs me to hold her and listen to what she says, but more importantly, what she doesn’t.
She slides her beautiful pencil skirt up just enough so she can wedge her knees at my sides. My left hand holds gently at her neck while my right caresses up and down her back. Her sobs become less. The shaking of her body subsides. Her breathing evens out into a quiet purr.
“I hate watching you cry. It tears my heart out, Kaitlyn.”
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles against my neck.
“Don’t you dare apologize. That fucker in there is responsible for all of this. I’m grateful I exist, but not so much that I won’t cut him off. If I have anything to say about it, I’ve had my last words with that man.”
“That breaks my heart for you, for the little boy in here,” she says, laying her hand on my chest.
“That boy mourned his relationship with his father a long time ago.”
She lays her forehead against mine and closes her eyes. We remain still for a few moments before the ringing of my phone tears through the car, removing us from our newly found peace.
“I’m ignoring it,” I tell her.
“No, don’t do that. It could be important. You should answer it.”
I sigh and reach into my jacket pocket to pull out my phone. MUM shines brightly on the screen, so I answer.
“You have impeccable timing,” I say into the phone.
“Griffin, where are you?” she asks in a tone I only rarely, if ever, hear.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tell me you’re nowhere near your father’s house.”
“Actually, we’re in recovery mode in the drive up. Why?”
“Griffin, I need you to leave immediately. Mr. Graves and I are on the way over and things will not be good, especially if you’re there.”
“Graves? Your attorney? Mother, what’s going on?” Kaitlyn carefully moves over to the passenger seat and regards me with furrowed brows.
“As we speak, your father is being effectively locked out of Orion. Graves is along for service of your father’s NDA and retirement agreement. As of today, I managed to secure controlling interest in Orion and he’s out. You and Kaitlyn are free to be however you want to be without the threats your father could pose.”
I swear I can feel the color drain from my face. “Christ Almighty. What have you done?”
“I’ll explain it all soon. I promise. Just keep your phone nearby and enjoy your time with Kaitlyn.”
“I don’t want you here without me. I’m staying. We can talk to him together.” I’m already reaching for the car door handle.
“No. Absolutely not. Graves is with me, like I said, and this will be a much calmer affair without two hot-headed men in the room. I can handle this, Griffin. I need you to trust me. Your old mum can handle a lot more than you know.”