Chapter Thirty
Julian
The next morning, I felt like I was on top of the world. I headed into the Quarter, where the LeBlanc-Broussard building was located. Our legal team was there, and I wanted them to immediately start working on the contracts with Robert and officially make him the offer so he wouldn't be tempted to pull back.
As soon as I went up, my phone pinged. It was my assistant. Just as well, as I wanted to tell her I wasn't coming into my office above the bar today.
"Good morning," I said as I stepped into the office I used here. Since I wasn't here all that often, it didn’t really feel like mine. "Listen, I meant to tell you, I won't be coming in today. I'm at the LeBlanc-Broussard headquarters."
"Right. So, um, what happened at the Landry party?"
I blinked, leaning against my desk and looking out the window, frowning. "What are you talking about?" I wasn't even aware that I'd specifically told her I went to the Landry party. "Aside from the fact that I convinced Robert to sell to me?"
"That's great. Congrats."
"But that's not what you were referring to," I surmised from her surprise.
"No, it's just that we've had a call this morning from the Tableau family. They're asking if we've actually had any issues with Georgie and her work."
"Excuse me?"
"I was shocked. They said that Kyle Deveraux had told them that some of her clients had complained. I guess they were trying to find out what clients those were. Honestly, it was a bit bizarre. I don't know what's going on."
"I think I do," I replied through gritted teeth. Kyle was starting a smear campaign against Georgie. That motherfucker. "Thank you for telling me this. I'll take care of it."
"What do I tell the Tableaus?"
"That Deveraux is a fucking liar. He's trying to spread these rumors because he doesn't like that Georgie put him on the spot in front of everyone at the Landry party."
"Good for her. I've never liked him. Thank goodness someone's finally taking him down a peg."
"And I will do the rest," I assured her.
"I’ll call them back immediately and let them know, but in a more polite manner."
"Yes, of course." We had to remain professional, after all. But my thoughts were anything but.
After hanging up, I stared out the window some more. I wasn't prone to gazing off and being unproductive, and even less so when I was preparing to make an acquisition. I made a quick call to our legal department, letting them know about the next steps, but that was the most I could focus on. Deveraux was still front and center in my mind.
The guy needed to be taught a lesson, because he wasn't going to stop. He hated losing, and he’d lost Robert’s buildings and, to top it off, was humiliated by Georgie at the Landry party.
There was only one thing to do—call Xander. This was one of those times that I wished he had an office here too. It would make things easier, but he answered after the first ring.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hi, Xander. Thanks for picking up."
"You’re early today," he replied. “Is it because you got Robert's property?"
"News travels fast," I said.
"The important news does, yes. "
"That's not what I'm calling."
"Then why?"
"How much do you know about the swindling Kyle Deveraux did last year?"
"A lot. I've researched that in detail because I wanted to make sure we weren't caught up in it."
"Do you have any documentation to prove it?"
"What do you have in mind?" Xander asked.
"I’ll need that documentation."
"That's not how I work, brother. I need the details."
"This is not the time for it." I wasn't in the mood for a lengthy conversation.
"You’re asking me to hand you confidential information. Of course I need to know what you want to do with it."
When he put it like that... “I want to make everyone aware of Kyle's swindling. Absolutely everyone."
Xander whistled loudly. "Damn, you truly don’t like him. Is it because of Georgie?”
"Fuck yes, it is. He’s trying to make her lose clients again by spreading lies that some of them are unhappy with her work."
"What the hell?" I was proud of my brother's indignation on behalf of my woman. "That fucker."
"My thoughts exactly." I paced the office, already forming a plan in my mind.
"Some people will be pissed off about this. No one likes to look the fool, even if Deveraux swindled them.”
"We can do this carefully. We don't have to reveal names. We can simply track his funds, see where all that money went."
"I'm starting to like this. I need more details."
"Xander!" I was infuriated now. "I don't have them. I'm making them up as I go.”
"See, that's not how this will work. I need a solid plan."
"You want to create a PowerPoint out of it?"
"That wouldn't be a bad idea."
I groaned. "I was joking.”
“I know. But I think there’s a way we can do this. I'm sure Anthony, Beckett, and Zachary can help.”
"You've lost me. How, exactly? What do we even need their help with if you have the documentation?”
"Our younger brothers have skills we don't," Xander said.
"I'm going to sound like you now, but care to expand on that?"
"They’ll know how to find out exactly where Kyle transferred the money. And also how to let people know without revealing that the information came from us."
"You sound like you're in a James Bond movie," I countered. I wanted to tease him some more, but I knew he was right.
"All right," Xander said. "I'm going to talk to our brothers. Do you need me to look at the documentation for your acquisition of Robert's bar?”
"If you have time, sure."
"This is family business. Of course I have time."
"Thanks, brother." I trusted our legal and finance team, of course, but Xander was simply better at everything. "We'll stay in touch."
After hanging up, I felt so full of energy that it was insane. I had half a mind to talk to my brothers right now. But since Xander wanted to do it, there was no point.
I checked my emails for news from the legal team. They wanted to meet in the afternoon. I grinned—served me right. Why would I assume they’d just be able to do this at the drop of a hat? I was impulsive, and I'd trained the people working directly with me on a day-to-day basis to accommodate that. But the legal team was handling everything for the entire Orleans Conglomerate, not just my stuff.
It made no sense for me to stay here until the afternoon, so I called Georgie as I walked down the stairs to the ground floor. It wasn't anywhere near noon, but I could drop by for coffee.
"Hey!" I greeted. "You busy right now?
"Not that much. I have a bit of a lull, so I'm working on checking in the next batch of book boxes."
I was so proud of my woman. She had a very solid business mind.
"Listen, I'm not sure if you heard, but Kyle is—”
“Spreading some rumors.”
“So you know.”
She sighed. “Yes. I got a call from Calliope today. I had a lengthy conversation with her. When I told her everything that went down between me and Kyle, she quickly understood his incentive to spread lies.”
“Don't worry. Soon everyone will know what a scumbag he is.”
"How do you mean?”
“Xander and I will show everyone that he’s a stealing bastard.”
"Julian, you don't have to do that on my behalf."
"It's not just on your behalf, though it’ll ensure that he never bothers you again. He's a menace to everyone. And it's time someone made it known what they’re dealing with. Want me to drop by with a coffee?"
"Um... no."
"You sound off. Something wrong?" I asked as I reached the foot of the staircase and took the employee exit toward the back. The narrow side street was relatively empty at this time of day.
"I don't know."
I was confused. She stayed silent. "Georgie, talk to me." I was certain something was wrong. I just didn't know what. "Georgie, you’re worrying me. You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"
She cleared her throat but still didn't say anything.
"I'm coming to the store."
"No, no. Maybe it's easier to say this on the phone."
I stopped in my tracks just as I was about to step onto Royal and leaned against a brick wall. It sounded serious. "I'm listening."
"It's just that... yesterday at the party, when you told Robert all those things about the future and our house..." Why is she bringing that up? "It all felt so real."
That was a bad thing? It was supposed to sound real.
"I guess I got my hopes up,” she said quietly.
I was starting to understand what she meant. "Georgie—"
"No, just please let me finish. Otherwise, I might lose my nerve."
"Sure. Sorry. Go ahead."
"And then, when you said that you just made it all up and you're not envisioning anything close to that in the future, I realized that... well, if our visions of the future differ so much, maybe I should reevaluate some things. You, too, I guess."
I swallowed hard. To my intense dismay, I was speechless. I'd never had a raw conversation like this my whole life.
I was so out of my depth that I had no idea what to say. Not even how to reassure her. Ultimately, I went with "Georgie, it was not my intention to hurt you. I'm sorry."
"I know. You've been nothing short of amazing to me, but this isn't just about what we’re doing now. I mean, it's great, but if I keep falling for you and getting my hopes up, it's not... I can't let my heart be broken again."
"Fuck this. I'm coming to the store. We need to talk about this."
"No! I wouldn't know what to tell you," she said hurriedly. "I'm sorry. I don't have things clear in my mind either. I'm just telling you how I feel."
"Thanks for being honest. You can always share what weighs on you with me," I reassured her. I was of half a mind to go to her store anyway, but she'd explicitly asked me not to, and I needed to respect that.
"Listen, I have some customers.” I'd heard the bell chime a few times, so I knew she wasn’t making up an excuse. “We'll talk later, all right?"
"Sure."
I groaned as the line disconnected. Damn! Talk about a fuckup. I wasn't even sure what just happened.
I stumbled down onto Royal, needing a coffee, so I headed to Maria's shop. I was still deep in thought, mulling over Georgie's words. I couldn't believe I'd hurt her and hadn't even realized it. I needed to fix it.
There were already a few customers inside the coffee shop when I stepped in, and I patiently waited my turn.
Maria kept throwing me suspicious looks as she took care of the other customers. Then when my turn came, she asked, "Two coffees to go?"
"Just one."
"Hmm, don’t want to surprise the Mrs. this morning?"
"Just one."
"Actually, do you mind taking two coffees over to your grandmothers’ store? They called and said they’d love some coffee but will drop by later. They’re very busy.” Maria spoke quickly, averting her gaze.
Strange.
"Sure, I'll take their coffees to them, then."
I wasn't feeling like going into the office at all, so it gave me a good excuse to postpone. I needed to be out and about, to think over this matter with Georgie.
I was expecting Maria to prod me with some more questions. Maybe she even knew about the Landry party. But she didn't say anything at all.
"All right, here you go," she said as soon as she put all three in a cupholder. "I'll call them to let them know you're on your way."
"I don't think that's necessary."
She darted her eyes away from me with a noncommittal hum.
She was definitely acting strange, but I didn't have the brainpower to focus on it because I needed to focus on Georgie.
I wanted to understand what was happening and how I could fix it. This woman's happiness was everything to me, and I couldn't believe that she was unhappy right now because of me.
I arrived on Dumaine quickly. There wasn't much foot traffic at this time, which made me wonder if my grandmothers had a group of tourists. Why else would they be so busy that they couldn't grab a coffee?
Their store was completely empty when I arrived. Isabeau was in the doorway. "Come in, dear boy. Maria told us you were stopping by."
"She asked me to bring your coffees."
I put the holder on the counter. Both Celine and I grabbed a cup.
"She actually said you didn't have time because you were busy. I assumed you had a group."
Celine looked at Isabeau. "Yeah, about that. Maria made it up."
I nearly spit out my coffee. "What?" I glanced at Isabeau, who'd shut the door and actually put the sign to Closed.
What is going on?
"I think Maria's exact words were ‘I know what someone who is in very deep love troubles looks like,’" Isabeau said.
I jerked my head back. "She actually said that?"
"Yes. She also figured that you might need us.”
How is everyone such a busybody? I took another sip of coffee, steeling myself for this conversation.
Isabeau walked from the door to join us, leaning against the counter. "Dear boy, I've always lived by a certain rule. Troubles seem smaller when you share them with others."
"Oh, Isabeau," Celine chastised. "Maybe Maria was overreacting."
Isabeau looked at me intently. "No, she wasn't."
Celine sighed, drinking her coffee. "I'm sorry, my poor boy. I tried. But if you don't want to share anything with us, that's perfectly fine too."
I nearly laughed at Isabeau’s expression. Her eyebrows were in the middle of her forehead. Clearly, she disagreed with that.
I took yet another sip of coffee. I wasn't really pissed off. In fact, if there was ever a moment when I needed a sounding board, it was right now. I was never too proud to admit that I was out of my depth.
“Georgie and I started this, our relationship, as a ruse,” I said slowly.
Isabeau smiled sardonically. "That's debatable. I'm not sure we ever thought that."
"Most people thought we were a couple before we actually became one, including Robert.”
"We heard you bought his buildings, by the way. Congratulations."
I had to tell Xander that he didn't need to worry about spreading the news about Kyle. The French Quarter would do its thing one way or another.
"During the conversation with Robert, he assumed Georgie and I were already making plans for the future. I made a big deal about how we had envisioned a huge house with a white picket fence and everything."
Isabeau frowned. "But that doesn't sound bad at all."
I swallowed hard.
Celine closed her eyes. She was a bit like Mom—they both had strong intuitions.
"Yeah, but that's the thing. I didn't really mean it, which I told Georgie last night before dropping her off at home." Now that I'd said it out loud, the conversation came back to me. Replaying it bit by bit, I realized how cold that sounded.
"Oh, Julian," Celine said.
Isabeau just pressed her lips together, which was a sure sign that she thought I'd completely fucked up.
"She's upset." I didn't want to give them more details.
"I can understand that," Isabeau said finally.
"She also said that she needs to reevaluate things because she might be falling for me and doesn't want to get hurt."
"What did you say?" Celine asked.
"Not much," I admitted.
Isabeau put a hand on her chest. "Julian, I thought you cared for this girl."
"I do! A lot."
"When a woman goes out on a limb to tell you how she feels, she usually hopes you're going to reassure her and reciprocate,” Celine said quietly.
"Fuck," I exclaimed. Neither of them even winced at my use of profanity, something they always chastised us about.
“That sums it up."
"I was so shocked by the whole turn of the conversation that I wasn't thinking straight," I said.
"Sounds about right," Celine said. "So, you do reciprocate?"
"I care about her so fucking much. I didn't realize she was... How the hell did I miss it?"
"Word has it that you were planning how to expose Kyle Deveraux. There are only so many things people can focus on at once, I suppose."
"You spoke to Xander?" I asked.
"Briefly, but let's talk about you and Georgie," Isabeau replied.
"Yeah, let's not." I looked from one to the other, already making a plan.
Oh, screw this. I was never good at making plans.
"How quickly can you make custom fragrances?”
Both of them straightened up, rolling their shoulders. "Very fast. Why? What do you need?" Isabeau asked.
"I need something that says, 'I'm sorry. I love you, and I want you to be mine forever.' How fast can you do that?"