Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
CHLOE
“So who do we talk to next?” I ask Brantley as we walk away from yet another person he is hoping to impress.
“Well, I would really like to get a word with Gregory Hamilton, but he has been avoiding me all night. He’s got the largest shoe company in the country.
He would be an amazing sponsor if we could get him to sponsor the whole team.
He’s never done it before, so it is a long shot, but I can hope,” he tells me.
“Well, let’s go find him then. I’ll charm him like I’ve done all the others.”
He laughs. “That you have. Okay. Let’s see if I can find him.”
As we walk through the room, Brantley smiles and says hi to everyone we pass. We are almost to the area that is housing the bar when Louis steps in front of us. He gives me a little sneer before he turns to Brantley, smiling.
“I need to borrow you for a moment,” he tells Brantley.
“Anywhere I go, Chloe goes,” Brantley says, squeezing me under his arm.
“A few of the men want to speak with you over a cigar. No other women will be there. No offense.” Louis shoots me a look.
Oh, offense very much taken, but this isn’t about me or Louis. It’s about Brantley.
“Go ahead. I’ll go get a drink and chat with some people. Come find me when you are done.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone.”
I go up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “We have friends in this room. I’ll be fine.”
He looks conflicted but finally nods, and he heads out of the room with Louis.
I turn and make my way toward the bar.
“Dirty martini, please,” I tell the bartender when it’s my turn.
He has it ready in minutes. I slip a tip into the jar before looking around the room. I see Hannah out of the corner of my eye. I start toward her but am bumped into by a gentleman. My martini spills all down the front of his crisp white shirt.
“Watch it. Such a clumsy girl. You’ve ruined it now,” he hisses at me.
“I am so sorry. I will pay for it. I promise. I swear I didn’t see you.”
“Of course you didn’t. Little girls like you with your head up in the clouds? You shouldn’t even be allowed in here. I’ve seen you floating around here on Brantley Gibson’s arm. Little gold diggers like you should be kept at home, not brought out to play with the big boys.”
My eyes start to burn.
“I said I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can do to make it better,” I whisper.
“You can tone it down. You know you’re going to ruin this whole thing for him, right?
You’ll be his downfall. Men like him don’t need women who are loud and out there.
They need demure women who will be pretty and smile at their side.
Be seen and not heard. I don’t think you have it in you to do that, though.
It’s a pity. You really are quite pretty until you open your mouth. ”
The tears start to fall at his words. He’s brought every single one of my insecurities to the forefront. I don’t know who this man is, but with a few sentences he has eviscerated me.
“Mr. Hamilton?” Mason asks, walking toward us cautiously.
Olivia is at his side. She looks at me, concern evident.
Mr. Hamilton. Gregory Hamilton.
This man is the sponsor Brantley wants to impress most, and I’ve ruined it for him.
“Mr. Williamson. What a pleasure. Please ignore my mess. We had a little accident. Nothing some club soda won’t fix.” He laughs, reaching out to shake Mason’s hand.
The switch in his tone and demeanor has me reeling.
Turning from them, I turn and hastily make my way from the room.
“Chloe,” I hear Liv yell out behind me.
I don’t stop until we are in the hall.
“Chloe, what happened?”
I turn, shaking my head. “That man is the one Brantley needs to win over. He just told me that a man like Brantley shouldn’t be with me. That I ruined it all for him. I can’t…” I sob.
“Shh.” Liv holds me to her chest as I cry. “It’s okay. That man is an idiot. Who cares what he thinks?”
“Brantley does.”
“Hush now. You let it all out.” She holds me, letting me cry my eyes out.
Several minutes pass while I get myself together.
“I have to leave. I can’t be here. Mentally, I will spiral. You know me,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “You can’t leave without telling him. Mason went to find him.”
I sniffle. “He’s going to hate me.”
“No. He won’t.”
Before I can argue with her, the door opens. Mason and Brantley step into the hall. Liv squeezes me one more time before letting me go. I watch as she and Mason go back inside.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he asks, pulling me into his arms. He cups my cheeks, wiping away my tears.
“I happened. You know me, Brantley. I’m chaos in a tiny little body. I need to go home.”
“I don’t want you to. I want you here with me,” he whispers.
“I know you do, and I want to be here, but right now, I need to be home. I’m not in a good mental place right now.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “Why does this feel like you are running? Are you really going to be home when I get there?”
“I will. I promise.”
He looks so torn. “I’ll drive you. I don’t want you going alone.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re the owner. You need to be here,” I tell him.
“I need to make sure my girl is going to be okay. I want to know what sent you running for the hills. All of this can run without me.”
I shake my head. “We haven’t been together that long.
Everything has been going well. Not many arguments or anything.
It’s been great. This was going to happen eventually,” I whisper.
“I need a little space. Please, I need you to let me go. I need you to go back in there and get your sponsors. When it’s all said and done, come home to me.
By then, I’ll be ready to unpack all of this. ”
He sighs. “I don’t like this.”
“I know, but if we stand here and talk about it, I’m going to feel worse. Please.” I suck in a breath.
“Okay. If you aren’t at home, I will hunt you down. I won’t let you go.”
“I know.”
He presses a kiss to my lips as he lets me go.
The haunted look on his face is the last thing I see before I slip out of the door.
brANTLEY
Watching her walk away is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
The only reason I even agreed is because I will know the moment she gets home. I can watch the cameras to make sure she’s not packing to leave me.
Heading back into the banquet, I make a beeline for Mason and Olivia.
“What happened?” I ask Olivia.
“Some guy said some really nasty things to her. I don’t know what. She didn’t want to talk about it. She was a mess when I found her, Brantley. She was sobbing. Whatever he said, it had to have been bad.”
“Who was it? Point him out.”
Mason winces. “No need. It was Gregory Hamilton. It looked like maybe she bumped into him and spilled her drink on him.”
My blood runs cold. No wonder she wanted to leave. I told her that he was the most important person in the room tonight. I lied, though.
She was the most important person.
Now she’s gone.
“I need to go to her,” I tell them.
“Wait,” Olivia calls out. “She needs a little space. Right now, she is mentally spiraling. There is nothing you can do for her. It will only make it worse. If she asked you to stay, then you need to stay. Going to her now will only add to whatever guilt she is feeling.”
I nod once. “Fine. I can’t go to her, but I can go to him.”
Spinning on my heel, I stride across the room.
“Brantley, man. Reconsider your options, bud,” Mason says, keeping up with my steady pace.
“I don’t care how much money he offers me. I won’t work with him. Ever,” I tell Mason.
Mason sighs. “I wouldn’t either.”
It takes a few minutes, but I find Gregory with Louis laughing it up. Of course those two would get along. Seems they were cut from the same cloth.
As I approach, Louis smiles at me. “Brantley, I was looking for you. This is Gregory Hamilton—”
I cut him off. “I know who he is. Where do you get the nerve to speak to my girlfriend the way you did? You think because you own a successful shoe company and you have a few dollar bills in your pocket that you can treat people however you want to treat them? That’s not acceptable.”
Gregory sneers at me. “Your little girlfriend is a hazard. She ruined my shirt.” He waves at his shirt. “She is loud and has way too many opinions to be on your arm. You are running this team, not her. You need to get your balls out of her purse and be a real man.”
“Wrong move.” Mason coughs into his fist.
“Wait. Let’s calm down. We can work this out,” Louis starts.
Fucking Louis. It doesn’t even shock me that he takes Hamilton’s side. Of course he would. He’s had it out for Chloe since we got together.
I shake my head as I look at Louis. “You know what? You’re fired.
Chloe is my girlfriend. If you think for even a second I would work with a misogynistic asshole like this, then you don’t understand who I am as a person.
Whatever kickback you were going to get from this deal, you can kiss it goodbye.
I’ll have security pack up your desk and mail your shit to you.
I don’t ever want to see your face again.
” Turning to Gregory, I point at him. “Chloe is the best thing that ever happened to me. She has come up with half the marketing shit we’ve got going on.
Not only that, but she is a good-hearted person who cares about people.
Those are the people I want to associate with.
Enjoy your wealth. You have it now, but with an attitude like yours, I don’t see you keeping it long term.
Mason, escort these two men out before I do something I will really regret. ”
“I’ll expect my severance pay,” Louis hisses as he turns and stalks from the room. Mason follows closely behind him, leaving me with Gregory.
“You think you can kick me out?” He laughs.
“I don’t think. I know.” I wave to a security guard close by.
“Please escort Mr. Hamilton from the premises. If he tries to reenter, call the police. If he offers any of you money to sneak inside, I will fire anyone who takes the deal on the spot. This man is no longer a welcome guest at our events.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard says, grabbing his arm.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” Gregory hisses. “You’ll come to regret this. Pussy is never worth it.”
“You’re right, but Chloe isn’t pussy. She’s my fucking future.”
He stomps off, grabbing his little toy he brought with him for the night.
I let out a sigh.
“You did the right thing.”
I turn to find Mr. Graceland standing nearby.
“I know. He hurt her, and I won’t stand for it.”
He nods. “He might be the biggest shoe brand in the US, but he isn’t the biggest shoe brand in the world.”
“No, he isn’t. I haven’t been able to get a meeting with Mr. Lindle, though.”
“No?” Mr. Graceland laughs. “I think you should come golfing with us tomorrow. Eighteen holes and some lunch? You think you can convince him to sign with you by the end?”
“What?”
“Hannah will need something to occupy herself, of course. You think Chloe would want to go to the spa with her and Mrs. Lindle? After tonight, I’m sure they are both exhausted.”
“I can ask her. Are you saying Mr. Lindle is in town right now?” I ask.
“He is. This is our halfway point, and when he heard I was coming tonight, he made plans to be here too so we could take an afternoon together. We were college roommates, you know.”
“I didn’t know,” I admit.
Could this seriously be happening right now?
He nods. “No one really does. I think you should head on home now. I don’t think there’s anything else here for you tonight.”
I nod. “Thank you. Seriously. You’re saving my ass.”
“It’s what friends do.”
I shake his hand, then watch him walk away.
Chloe thinks she ruined everything for me, but little does she know that her one hockey game with Hannah Graceland has opened up doors I have never even had a chance to knock on.
She’s not a curse.
She’s my blessing.