Chapter Seventeen
GABE
My motto in life was "Don't worry about something until it happens."
Worrying simply wasn't productive, unless, of course, you could proactively do something. I was good at problem-solving. Local management in Texas was grateful I’d flown down and worked overtime along with everyone else.
I never asked anyone to do something I wasn't willing to do myself. That was another rule I lived by.
As a result, we got everything up and running faster than I’d initially assumed, so I returned to Boston earlier.
There was another crisis here, although much smaller.
We’d done a limited-edition series of aged bourbon bottles and were including a pack of playing cards.
But the packaging company screwed up the measurements, and the packaging machines couldn't automatically put the cards with the bottle.
They had to be fitted manually. Everyone in production was on it, but I was going to join them, too, once I finished the tasks for today.
I texted my brothers and half brothers before I boarded the plane.
Gabe: I’ll be back today already.
Maddox: All good?
Gabe: In Texas, yes. In Boston, we need to manually put some promo material on 3000 bottles.
I touched down at four o’clock in the afternoon and headed straight to the office, where I had several fires to put out. At six o’clock, I went to the distillery.
I couldn't wait to go home, relax, and check on Diane. I’d messaged her twice today, but she hadn't answered. What was up with that?
There was a flurry of activity in the distillery, and to my astonishment, my half brothers were here.
"When did you arrive?" I asked them.
Maddox, Leo, and Nick had their shirt sleeves rolled up to their elbows and were packing the cards with the bottles.
"Just now."
"Did I ask you to come and I forgot?"
I wouldn't put it past me. I was exhausted from the past few days.
Nick chuckled. "No. You said you're playing catch-up, and we came to help."
"The rest of the crowd is coming too," Maddox said. "I talked to Jake earlier."
It still amazed me that Maddox and Jake had managed to form a tentative friendship. Natalie working with Maddox definitely helped. They'd barely exchanged a few words before that.
"Thanks. All right, I'll start with that stack." I pointed at a huge pile of overturned boxes. They were stuffed with bottles and promo cards, waiting to be manually sealed.
"Don't. You've been burning the candle at both ends this week. We've got this," Leo said. "And with Jake, Colton, and Cade, we'll do this quickly."
"Thanks, man. I’m dead on my feet; otherwise, I wouldn’t even let you do this. Let's talk this weekend. We'll do something together so I can make it up to you." Then I reached for a box. Despite what they said, I didn't want to just leave them to do all the heavy lifting.
Nick cocked a brow. "You don't need to make up for anything. This is what family is for. And anyway, we don’t have time to meet this weekend."
He exchanged a glance with Maddox and Leo.
"What are you doing this weekend that you don't want to tell me? Please don't say you’re conspiring with Grandmother."
Maddox held his hands up. "Hell, no. That's where your mind went? What did we ever do to deserve that?"
"My apologies. You're right," I said.
Still, Maddox looked a bit uneasy as he glanced at our brothers.
"Mom is coming into the city," Leo explained.
"Oh, right. Well, have fun."
"Yeah. She hasn’t been here in a while," Nick added.
His voice was tentative, which was so unlike him.
Maddox shrugged. "We’re showing her around this weekend."
"Cool."
What, was I twelve years old? Then again, I never knew how to react when they brought up their mom.
I'd never met her. Somehow it felt like I’d betray my own mother by doing so, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Both women had been lied to. Their mom wasn't a homewrecker.
Neither knew of the other until the end, and yet every time they brought her up, things became awkward.
I managed to seal ten boxes before Nick said, "Dude, go home. The rest of the crew is here."
I looked up to see Jake, Colton, and Cade striding toward us.
"You go. We've got this," Jake exclaimed.
"You guys are all workaholics, even more than me," I declared. "How come you're even here?"
Cade shook his head. "Don't put me in the same category as these two." He pointed one thumb at Jake and the other at Colton.
"Sorry, my bad."
"Colton and I are making huge progress," Jake said. "And besides, this is an emergency."
"You look like shit," Colton said.
"That's exactly how I feel," I replied. I felt guilty that they came here after their workday to help me out, but I was also immensely grateful.
We worked side by side for a while before taking a break. That’s when I realized Leo, Maddox, and Nick had their heads together. I recognized the tight expression on Maddox's face and had an inkling that I knew what they were talking about. I made my excuses and joined them.
"You all really need to work on your poker faces because they’re a dead giveaway that something's wrong."
Leo narrowed his eyes, looking at the others too. "Fuck, he's right. Stop with the sour faces."
"I meant you too!" I clarified.
He scoffed. "I don't look nearly as bad as these two bozos."
"Is this about Dad?"
All three of them went rigid.
Leo scratched his chin and nodded. "My contacts tell me he's looking for a huge property."
"What for?"
"Rumor has it," Maddox said, "that he wants to build a hotel."
"Oh, for fuck's sake."
"You were thinking about going into the hotel business, too, weren't you?" Maddox asked.
"Yes! Seems like a natural expansion from the bar business, but right now my priorities are building a bigger distillery."
I looked at the rest of our brothers and then made a split-second decision.
"There's no need to involve the others in this," I said.
"We weren't going to," Leo said.
"I don't see why we should annoy everyone with Dad’s antics," Nick added. "It’s not like last time with the shares. There's nothing anyone can do about this."
I didn't know how, but I wasn't going to allow Ryan Whitley to mess with our legacy. Not again.
Him coming back to Boston was out of the question. He'd done so much damage to the Whitley name over the years that we’d barely recovered. He wasn't going to tear it down again.
“When you find out what exactly he wants to buy, let me know.”
"Let all of us know," Maddox said. "I'm starting to think Colton and Jake were right."
Coming from Maddox, this was shocking. Those three were on good terms now, but I never thought I’d hear Maddox say he actually agreed with them.
“About what exactly?” I asked.
“Giving him money. Feels like we gave him a prize for all the shit he’s pulled. And now he has enough capital to continue messing up the name.”
“He won't,” I assured him. “I’ll make sure of that. Now, let’s get back to work before the others catch on.”
An hour later, we finally finished everything.
"All right, everyone. Cocktails are on the house, but it has to be some other evening when I can join you," I said at 11:00 p.m. “I’m exhausted right now.”
"I’ll hold you to that, don't worry," Cade said good-naturedly. "Come on. Let's all go."
The warehouse manager was the last one out, checking everything before closing up.
I went home, and once I got inside, I remembered that Diane hadn't responded to my messages all day. That was unlike her. Not that I was an expert at communicating with women.
"Diane?" I called, looking around the living room. It was empty.
Was she not home? She would have told me if she went somewhere, right?
Then again, why should she? She didn't owe me an explanation for anything.
I was about to go to bed, but then I saw she'd left her phone on the kitchen counter. Fuck, something was really off. She wouldn't have simply left it in here. When I touched it, the screen lit up with all the messages from me.
I went back to the entrance and up the spiral staircase. Her door was open—yet another sign that something was off. I sprinted up the last steps.
"Diane?" No response. "Diane?" I asked again.
"Am I imagining this?" The faint voice came from the bedroom.
I walked straight to her. She was lying on one side, hair plastered on her face. She was a sweaty mess.
"What happened?"
"Some sort of virus. I don't even know. I feel like death."
I sat at the edge of the mattress, putting my hand on her forehead. "You have a fever. Did you take anything for it?"
"I don't even remember. I think I did, maybe a few hours ago. What time is it now?"
"It's midnight," I said.
"Oh shit."
"I tried calling you."
"Damn. I forgot my phone downstairs. I wanted to call my sister and see if she could drop by. My whole body hurts."
I sat beside her, rubbing her neck and shoulders.
"That’s a bit better," she said. "How are you good at everything? Even curing flu or whatever this is. And wait a second, how come you're back?"
"I finished earlier than anticipated, and I wanted to surprise you," I admitted.
She grinned even though she was clearly not feeling well. "You came home thinking you were going to get some and instead find me looking like death."
I burst out laughing. "You never lose your sense of humor, huh?"
"No, never," she murmured. "It's what keeps me going right now. I feel so dehydrated. I wanted to make myself tea at the kitchenette earlier but couldn't even get out of bed."
I looked around and made a split-second decision. "I'm taking you to the master bedroom."
She blinked her eyes open. "Why?"
"Because I can take care of you better there and keep an eye on you. Plus, I know my way around my kitchen better than here."
She laughed. "There's no learning curve. I only have two appliances."
“I’m going to lift you in my arms.”
"That would totally make my day. I've spent it lying in bed, and now I can feel up those sexy muscles."
"I'm glad to be of service," I informed her, peeling her cover away. "I’ll change you first. It's bad for you to stay in these wet clothes."
"I have nightgowns in the dresser. First door, second shelf."
I got up and followed her instructions, immediately finding a nightgown.
I took three more from the same shelf. They’d come in handy if her fever didn’t break.
Diane was sitting at the edge of the bed. She was shivering. She'd already peeled off her nightgown. I used it to dry her back and then slid on one of the fresh ones.
"I bet this isn't the sexy picture you had in mind," she murmured. Her voice was fainter.
I kissed one corner of her lips. "Don't you even think about it, okay? Come on, up we go. Keep these," I told her, putting the nightgowns in her lap.
"Good thinking."
I lifted her, putting one arm under her knee and the other at her back. She laid her head on my shoulder.
"Oh, this is good," she said. She nudged my neck with her nose and then nuzzled it with her lips.
I barely suppressed a groan. Now was not the time to get turned on. She was sick. I wanted to take care of her.
"Behave so I can focus on the stairs," I admonished.
"Oops, yep. I promise I will. The last thing we need is to tumble down the stairs."
I walked slowly, and she kept her promise…until we were in my bedroom.
My cock clenched in my pants. "Diane, fuck."
"Oops. I know I was supposed to behave, but you smell so delicious."
"Really? Because I had a long-ass day and spent the last few hours doing physical labor."
"Oh my God," she said as I lowered her onto the bed. "You have to sleep."
"I'm going to take care of you first."
"You don't have to do that. You can’t even do much.”
"I have one of those powders that are supposed to help the immune system when you have a cold," I told her. "Want me to make you one?"
"Sure."
I kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
I massaged the back of my neck on the way to the kitchen, noticing how tense I was. I couldn’t believe Diane had been on her own all day. But I was home now, and I was going to look after her.
I mixed the powder with boiling water, then added some cold water in it, too, so she could drink it right away.
When I came back to the bedroom, she was asleep, so I put it on her side of the nightstand. If she woke up and was thirsty, she’d drink it. Although it tasted like shit when it was cold. Not that being hot made it much better.
I slid into bed on the other side.
Diane immediately turned onto her side and scooted closer to me, putting her head on my chest. "Mm, that's better," she murmured, clearly still asleep.
I smiled, kissing the top of her head. If she wanted to use me as a pillow, I had nothing against it.