Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Oliver
“She told me not to tell you, but—”
“We know,” I say, cutting Boone off.
He stops mid-step, the door to the conference room swinging closed behind him. The look on his face is confusion and surprise muddled with anger. He takes in Holt, Wade, Coy, and me around the long, marble table and then huffs.
“All of you know?” he asks, raising a brow.
“All of us.” Coy kicks back in his chair and sighs. “Welcome to the club.”
Boone’s jaw drops in a display of frustration as he sits next to Coy. “I was the last one, wasn’t I? Mom told me last.” He says it like he’s not sure how to digest that piece of information.
Normally, I’d joke with him and make some assholish remark about how he’s the baby of the family, and she was probably afraid he’d cry. But this isn’t a normal day, and it’s nothing to joke about—not even with Boone.
Especially with Boone.
“How do we feel about this?” Holt asks, his gaze settled on our youngest brother. “Anyone heard from Dad?”
The other four of us shake our heads.
“Our parents’ marriage is between the two of them,” Wade says, his voice characteristically even-keeled. “If they want to end it…fine.”
“Do you have no heart?” Boone asks. “Good Lord, Wade. That’s cold even for you.”
Wade makes a face at Boone. “Please.”
“I mean, that’s our mother,” Boone continues on as though he’s five seconds from losing his cool in a childish spiral. “She—”
“She is going to be fine,” Wade says. “I wasn’t finished.”
Boone crosses his arms and sits back in his chair.
Holt gives Wade a side-eye, silently asking him for the floor. Wade nods and looks at a piece of paper in front of him.
“I think we’re all worried about Mom,” Holt says, his tone soft thanks to Boone’s temperament. Normally called a tantrum.“We’ll rally around her, and she’ll be fine. I hate to say it, but this is probably good for her. Dad holds her back.”
“Good for her or not, I’ll be seeing Dad,” Coy says, his lips pressed in a thin line. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“Make that two of us,” I say. “I’m curious about what’s happening in that man’s head.”
Holt sighs. “I think we all want to know. But as Wade said,” he says, carefully, “this is Mom’s business.
We have to make sure we don’t overstep too much.
We can’t smother her. That’s not her love language or whatever she calls it.
Give her some space but make sure we check in and are there when she needs us. Okay?”
“Naturally. I’ll be there for Mom, but I have no plans on talking to Dad.
” I’m still too angry with what he said about our family—especially considering what Mom heard him say about her.
She’s strong but not impervious. Especially to someone she’s been married to for nearly forty years. “Someone can fill me in if they do.”
“I’ll call you,” Coy says. The look he shoots me is in stark contrast to the ease of his words.
I nod.
Wade coughs. “Now that we have the emotional reaction done and over with, let’s discuss how this might affect our business.”
“It won’t. It shouldn’t,” Holt says, picking up his cup of coffee.
“He’ll still have an advisory position, but we—meaning mostly Oliver and me as co-CEOs—only have to take anything he brings before us under advisement per his retirement contract.
We aren’t required to do anything other than read his emails or take a meeting with him here and there. ”
“We just keep paying him his retirement, and that’s it?” I ask.
“Basically.”
I nod. “Isn’t it great that meeting with the advisory board falls under your CEO-ship?” I ask with a grin.
Holt laughs. “We’ll see about that.”
“The important thing here is that we continue with our work and day-to-day activities,” Wade says. “I know things might be a little different on a familial level, but that choice isn’t ours. We have to make the best of it.”
“Heartless,” Boone mutters. “You’re heartless.”
Wade rolls his eyes.
Holt sips his drink and then sets the mug back on the table. I watch him glance around the room at our siblings, quickly assessing each one. It’s one of his strengths—to read a room in an instant and know how to proceed. He’s especially good at it with our brothers.
He engages Boone and Coy, bringing up Coy’s new agent. Coy loves Anjelica. I like her too. She’s smart as a whip and thinks well on her feet. Boone, on the other hand, is terrified of her. It’s the perfect way to defuse the emotions in the room and work the conversation away from our parents.
It also gives me a moment to catch my breath.
The afternoon has been a whirlwind—an unexpected one, at that.
It was hard to focus on my call with Greg and my meeting with Holt—the middle of which Mom decided to swing by the offices to tell him her news.
Then I got to sit in my office with Shaye and Holt and go over the Jewell file and try not to pull her onto my lap or think about the heat of her skin.
Or the way her lips tasted.
Or the softness of her inner thighs.
I had to stay focused and try not to tip off Holt that things between Shaye and me are anything more than employee and employer—a task that was as easy as threading a needle with a cow’s tail.
A task that I’m not sure we successfully completed.
It’s hard hiding things from Holt. I’ve struggled with it my entire life.
But this time it’s important.
I don’t want to defend my relationship with Shaye to Holt before I know how to define it myself. I’m not even sure it is a relationship. Maybe it’s a fling. Maybe it’s going to blow up in my face, and I’ll be looking for another EA soon.
I just don’t know. And I don’t want to hear him tell me how dangerous or stupid or irresponsible it is to have any sort of an affair with someone who works for our company.
I know. I just can’t help it.
“Who is going to the Landry thing tomorrow?” Coy asks. “I got an invite but didn’t RSVP.”
“Jaxi has a staff meeting at the apartments,” Boone says. “I’m staying home with Rosie.”
We all look at Wade.
“What? I’m not going,” he says. “I had my assistant send a check.”
I grin. “What’s your excuse?”
“That I don’t want to go.” He shrugs. “I don’t feel the need to make up an excuse as to why I don’t want to surround myself with a bunch of people and pretend to give a fuck about what they’re saying. They really just want my money. We can do that without all the pretenses.”
I chuckle. “Heartless.”
“I’m sending a fucking check,” he says, shaking his head and ignoring Boone, who is pointing at me as though I’m right.
Holt laughs. “Blaire and I are going. Her brother was supposed to be in town, but he’s not coming now for some reason. I can’t remember why.”
“Her brother … Walker? Is that right?” Boone asks.
Holt nods.
“Walker is married to a Landry. Sienna Landry. Camilla’s twin.” Boone nods. “I always forget that.”
The room quiets, everyone lost in their own heads. My stomach tightens as I mull over whether to tell them I’m going—and taking Shaye with me.
There are pros and cons to each choice. I could tell them all now and get it out of the way. But if I do that, they’ll be suspicious.
Hell, they’ll be suspicious anyway as soon as they find out.
But if I make them wait, I’ll just have Holt to deal with. At a public event. It could buy me some time and give me a night with Shaye to figure out what things might look like between us.
“I—”
“Are you going?” he asks.
All eyes fall on me. I shift in my seat. Now I feel like Boone, except without the youngest-child indulge-me face.
“Yeah. I’m going,” I say, picking up my phone and setting it on top of the folder in front of me.
Boone reclines back in his seat. A smug grin falls on his lips. “Alone?”
Mom’s words from lunch zip through my memory. We can chalk it up to Boone being your brother and tipping me off that something was brewing.
I level my gaze on him. “No. I’m taking Shaye with me.”
His grin pulls even wider.
Holt’s gaze is heavy on the side of my face, but I don’t look over at him. I don’t look at Wade either. Both of them have things to say. It’s my brotherly instinct.
Instead, I focus on Boone.
“Did Rosie like her car?” I ask, figuring that bringing up his daughter is the easiest way to distract him.
Unfortunately for me, it’s not that easy.
“Oh, no,” Holt says. “We’re not going to act like you didn’t just say that.”
Shit. Was hoping for a miracle that he’d let it go.
“Say what?” I ask. “That I got Rosie a car? What did you get her?”
Coy snickers from across the table. “I need to come to the office more often.”
Holt is undeterred. He leans forward and looks me square in the eye. “You’re taking Shaye to the gala?”
“That’s what I said.”
My words ooze a confidence I don’t feel. Holt is astute enough to read through the facade.
“You just put that out there like she’s your girlfriend or something—like we should expect it,” he says.
“Here we go,” Wade mumbles.
“I put it out there like she’s my date, which is what she is,” I tell him. “What’s wrong with that?”
The question is rhetorical. Every person sitting at this table knows what’s wrong with that.
Mixing business and pleasure is a no-go … unless you’re Boone. And even he did it with a careful magic that only he possesses.
“Is she hot?” Coy asks. “I haven’t seen her yet.”
I fire him a look.
He holds his hands up at his chest. “All right. All right. I’ll take that as a yes.”
“She’s really hot,” Boone says, leaning toward Coy and whispering. “Hot enough that if I wasn’t madly in love with Jaxi …”
Coy snorts, his eyes trained on me. “Pretend you didn’t hear that, Ollie.”
I close my eyes and will myself to stay calm and not overreact.
My first instinct is to mark my territory and stake my claim to Shaye. But my second reaction—the one that’s based on logic and not lust—is to let it go. Laugh it off. Pretend it’s not a big deal because it’s not a big deal.
Is it?
The truth is, it feels like a bigger deal than when I call a random woman who I’ve slept with a time or three and ask her to accompany me to an event.
It’s Shaye. Unlike a random woman, I’ll see Shaye again.
Daily. We’ll work together day in and day out to accomplish tasks that benefit the rest of the people sitting around me.
There’s also the fact that I don’t know how this will play out.
Do I take her flowers?
Will we like each other once we’ve spent time together? Will we want to see each other again? What’s the point of even getting mixed up with her in the first place, considering her end goals—whether with me or generally—aren’t likely the same.
What am I doing?
Fuck.
Holt chews on his bottom lip. Finally, he sighs. “Be careful. Be smart.”
“Use condoms,” Coy says, smirking. “Baby shit is expensive as hell.”
We all laugh as we get to our feet. Relief washes over me as the topic of Shaye seems to have been dropped by my brothers. I flash Coy a grateful smile as we push our chairs in.
“How is Bellamy feeling?” I ask.
“Very, very pregnant. But pregnant sex is the best. The best. Highly recommend. Ten stars. Will order again.”
I chuckle. “Not what I asked, but thanks for the information.”
He sticks his elbow in my side. “Hey, if the look on your face when Shaye was brought up means anything, you might know sooner rather than later.”
The blood drains from my face. My palms get sweaty.
What the fuck is he talking about?
“I think you’re … no.” I wave him off. “Not happening soon or later ever, probably.”
My fuckhead of a brother just laughs. I make a note to buy his baby the loudest, most annoying gift I can find. Every year. For eternity.
“It’s quiet in here,” Coy says as we step into the hallway.
“Everyone has gone home.” Holt leads us toward Kelly’s desk. “I’m heading out too. I told Blaire I’d take her out to dinner tonight.”
“I’m going to go check on Mom,” Boone says.
“And I’m going to call Larissa and see if Hollis is back from Indiana yet,” Coy says, pushing the button for the elevator. “He was supposed to be back this afternoon, but his flight was delayed.”
Wade leans against the wall. “Did he find Harlee?”
Coy shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Poor guy.” He shakes his head. “If he doesn’t find that girl …”
“What if he can’t find her?” Wade lifts a brow. “Shit happens, you know? What if something happened to her? Will he be okay?”
“I hope so.” Coy frowns. “Man, that not knowing has to be killing him. Can you imagine having to wait months and months for a resolution—if there is one?”
The elevator dings, and my brothers step inside. The mood is somber as everyone contemplates Hollis’s struggle with finding his little sister.
“I’m going to grab a couple of things before I leave,” I tell them. “See you guys later.”
They all utter various forms of goodbye before the elevator door shut.
I make my way to my office, ignoring the darkness in Shaye’s. I gather my wallet and car keys and shut off my computer. I do all of the normal things to end the day. I do all of it while keeping half of my attention glued to the edge of my desk.
Where Shaye sat.
Where we kissed.
I stand behind my chair and stare at the spot her sweet ass occupied and try to convince myself I have this under control and know what I’m doing.
We’re both adults. We’ll figure it out.
But even as I think the thought—even as I say it out loud to try to make it seem more believable—I know it’s a lie.
I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know if we’ll figure it out.
Does that make me want to stop? Does it dissuade me in the least from taking her to the gala tomorrow?
I grin. No. No, it does not.
Godspeed, Oliver. Godspeed.