by Layne, Ivy
“What?” Griffen pressed.
“He, um— Well, Mom thought she was married. But I don’t know if she had a reason to think that or if she was just guessing.”
Griffen only said, “Wouldn’t be the first time.” That was true enough. Griffen looked at his watch. “I have to get to Harvey’s to sign some papers and then we need to get on the road to Atlanta. We’ll be back by Tuesday. Maybe sooner. Do you have everything you need?”
Savannah consulted her list. “I’ll need a key to Hope’s place as well as a list of anything she doesn’t want moved.” She looked to me for confirmation.
“I’ll drop it by Miss Martha’s on our way out. I’ll pay for movers for anything that needs to be packed up.”
Beside me, Griffen shook his head. “She pays for nothing. Bill it all to the house. And if Hope is good with it, bring everything. Anything of Hope’s that doesn’t fit, store in my old room until she can decide how she wants it all arranged.”
“Got it, boss.” Savannah shot me a wink.
“Any ideas for a groundskeeper?”
Savannah tilted her head to the side, staring at the ceiling as she thought it over. “Not off the top of my head. I can ask around.”
“I have someone in Atlanta who might take the job. We can knock out security and the grounds in one shot if he’s interested.” Under his breath, he muttered, “And if Cooper doesn’t kill me for poaching him.”
“Got it. The grounds can wait, anyway,” Savannah said, scribbling on her pad. “We need the inside done first. What about uniforms?”
“Uniforms?” I asked, confused.
“My mother and the other house staff always wore a uniform,” Savannah explained.
Griffen and I stared at her, non-plussed. Eventually, Griffen said, “Do you want to wear a uniform?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” She looked around at the over-the-top grandeur of Heartstone’s master suite. “It feels weird to show up in jeans, you know? The house deserves more.”
“Then how about this,” I offered, hoping Griffen would agree. “You decide about the uniforms, and if you want them—for you or the rest of the staff—charge them to the house account.”
“Will do,” she murmured, making another note.
“Can you get this place in shape before the invasion?” Griffen asked.
“You won’t even recognize it.”
“Then we’ll see you on Tuesday.”
Griffen moved to leave. I turned to follow as Savannah’s hand closed over my wrist.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asked.
I shrugged. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t need rescue. I’d agreed to this, foolish though it might be. A shrug wasn’t enough for Savannah.
“I meant what I said before. I’m not just here to enforce Prentice’s ridiculous will. I’m here to look out for you. I know we don’t know each other that well, but my mother loves you, and that’s good enough for me. I don’t think I’m going to have many friends in this house, but I’d like you to be one of them.”
Tears filled my eyes at Savannah’s bold honesty. “I don’t think I’m going to have many friends in this house either.” Impulsively, I threw my arms around her in a tight hug. “One is more than enough when it’s a good friend.” I had a feeling Savannah could be a very good friend.
A little embarrassed at my unexpected show of affection, I ran from the room, trying to catch up with Griffen’s long stride.
Chapter Sixteen
Griffen
By the time I got back from signing papers with Harvey, Hope had her apartment ready for the movers. Three battered suitcases were neatly arranged by the door holding the contents of her closet. A stack of cardboard boxes sat beside them, labelled Hope Personal. She’d left the rest for the movers.
My tires ate up the miles between Sawyers Bend and Atlanta, Hope silent beside me, staring out the window, lost in thought. I wanted to hear her voice, wanted to talk to her, but I had nothing to say.
What had happened in the hall just before Savannah showed up? Had I been about to kiss her again? I was pretty sure that’s exactly what I’d been about to do. Right after I made her cry.
I was an asshole.
I wanted to protect her and I wanted to punish her.
I wanted to make her pay for what she’d done and I never wanted to see her cry again.
That was the biggest difference between the younger version of Hope and this one—young Hope had never tied me up in knots like this. Not even close.
“Are you hungry? We missed breakfast and it’s getting on to lunch.”
Hope shook her head, keeping her eyes on the road. “Not really.”
She needed to eat. I could go without meals, was used to it when the job took precedence over my stomach, but Hope was thin enough as it was. We wouldn’t be in Atlanta for another two hours. I didn’t want to wait that long.
“Do you mind if we stop in the next town? I’m starving.”
Just a shake of her head to say she didn’t mind. Hope’s silence wasn’t manipulative. I knew that in my gut. She wouldn’t play those games with me, and that made her reluctance to speak that much worse. If I thought she was giving me the silent treatment as payback for being an ass, I could play along.
Her retreat into herself, I hated. Hated it to the core of my being. I wanted to hear her laugh, not feel the sadness coming off her in waves.
Fuck it. There was nothing I could do about Hope. Not right then.
If I couldn’t fix things with Hope, I could handle another problem. Better to do this before we got to Atlanta. I picked up my phone and hit the contact without looking at the screen. I didn’t need to. I’d called Cooper so many times, my finger found his name on its own.
“Where the hell are you, man?” he answered.
“On my way back.”
“How was it?”
“An unholy clusterfuck.”
A pause. Cooper weighing what he knew of my family and the tone in my voice. “Shit,” he said, finally. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Yeah, you can join the club. No one fucking likes it.” I drew in a breath, knowing I had to get it out fast. My gut was tight as I slammed headfirst into reality. “I’m not staying in Atlanta. I have to move home, take over for my father.”
“Or what?” Cooper’s voice was flat. He knew there was a hook, knew I’d never have stayed a second longer than necessary if I hadn’t been forced to.
I gave him a quick summary, saving the best part for last. “Oh, and remember Hope Daniels?”
“The woman who came to tell you about your father? The one who threw you under the bus way back when?”
A careful glance at Hope, who appeared completely absorbed by the thick forest flashing by her window. “Yeah, that Hope. We’re married.”
A string of expletives that would have made a sailor proud came blasting through the phone. Cooper was loud enough to grab Hope’s attention. Her eyebrows shot up and the faintest smile curved her lips before it faded back to the sad, almost wistful expression she’d had since I’d picked her up at her apartment.
Knowing it might be exactly the wrong thing, I pinned the phone between my shoulder and my ear and used my now-free hand to hold hers. Her fingers were like ice. I squeezed, sending her what I hoped was a comforting smile. She squeezed back but kept her eyes on the side of the road.
When Cooper wound down, I cut in. “Chill, Coop. In this whole fucking disaster, Hope is the only thing I’m not pissed about.”
As I said the words, I realized I meant them. All the way to the bone, they were the truth.
I tried to imagine doing this alone, facing it all by myself: Harvey, that grave, my siblings, fucking Heartstone Manor. As I tried to picture it, all I felt was empty.
Hope had screwed me over. Big t
ime. She’d ruined my life out of selfishness, and still, she was the only one I could trust. The only person in Sawyers Bend I was sure was on my side. Was she there out of guilt? Out of loyalty to our long-ago friendship? I didn’t know.
Maybe I shouldn’t trust her. I’d had a point with my bullshit accusation in the hall—Hope had what she’d wanted all those years ago when she’d tanked my engagement. But, no. No fucking way. Hope had not killed Prentice. Not in a million years. Maybe Hope was the last person I should trust, but my gut didn’t care. I trusted her anyway.
“Earth to Griffen.” Cooper sounded faintly annoyed. I realized he’d been saying my name for a while.
“Yeah, sorry. I feel like shit, dumping this on you with no notice. We have to be moved into Heartstone Manor by next week. I’d give you time to replace me if I had it to give.”
It was an empty promise. I’d been out of the field since I’d been shot by Tsepov’s goons. In essence, Cooper had already replaced me. My desk job had been little more than a time-filler, a pity job, and we all knew it.
“Fuck you,” Cooper said without heat. “We’ll figure it out. I don’t care about work. Is there any way we can get you out of this?”
“Sure. But not without sinking the town and letting my half-wit cousin walk away with everything the Sawyers have built over two fucking centuries.”
“And Hope? What does she get?”
“Not a fucking thing worth having,” I said, realizing that those words were more truth.
“Except you,” Cooper countered.
“And I come with a family of asshole siblings, a white elephant of a house that’s an abandoned mess, a business I have to remember how to run, and let’s not forget that someone murdered my father. Since we don’t know why we have to assume any one of us could be next.”
I couldn’t forget what Edgar had said about getting Hope pregnant. A baby meant security. Both Hope and our non-existent child deserved more than being used as pawns.
“Fuck. Well, that answers my next question. Now I know how we can help. What is there for security?”
“You can start salivating now because the bill is going to put Petra through college.” I wasn’t kidding. Securing Heartstone Manor would be no small project. “I have some ideas we can run through, but essentially, we need what we did for Winters House, times five.” I thought about those thousands of acres surrounding Heartstone Manor and the sheer size of the house. “Maybe times ten.”
“Are you up for a meeting tonight? Dinner at my place? I’ll get everyone in. No wives, just business—” He broke off at the sound of a smack and a feminine protest. “Except you, babe. I meant no wives except you.” Cooper gave a patient sigh.
“Can I talk to Alice?” I interrupted. “I need a favor.”
Alice’s chipper voice came on the phone. “You got married? Without letting me vet the bride? What were you thinking?” She was laughing, but under her humor, I heard the thread of concern.
“We didn’t exactly have time for you to put my bride through the wringer. Listen, I need a favor. Is one of the safe rooms clear?”
“Sure. No clients in-house. You want to stay in my old place? Why not yours?”
“Because I need you to find me rush movers who can pack up all my personal shit and have it ready to ship to Sawyers Bend by the middle of the week.”
“Ahh, gotcha. I’m on it. What about the furniture?”
“We can leave it. We’re moving Hope’s things to the house and I don’t really care about mine. I thought I could rent my place for a while.”
“Got it.”
“And one more thing…” I glanced at Hope, who was studiously pretending she wasn’t listening. I squeezed her hand to get her attention and mouthed, Don’t argue. At her look of confusion, I said to Alice, “Are you free tomorrow?”
“Sure, I have a dance class, but I can miss it. Why?”
“Would you take Hope shopping? On me. She needs everything.”
Hope’s brows drew together, and I waited for her to argue. Instead, she gave a wry smile and shook her head. She tugged her hand from mine and turned back to the window, but the smile still tilted the corners of her mouth. I was taking that as a good sign.
“Shopping? On you? I’m in. She needs everything?”
“Everything. Hope’s a workaholic and there’s no decent shopping in Sawyers Bend.” I wasn’t going to tell Alice about Edgar and his miserable taste in suits. That was Hope’s to share if she wanted to. “The closet at Heartstone Manor is huge. She needs some clothes to fill it.”
“I do not,” came from beside me.
“I say you do. Don’t argue when someone hands you their credit card and tells you to have fun.”
Hope shook her head again, that tiny smile growing just a little wider. “You’re nuts.”
I ignored her. To Alice, I said, “We’re stopping for lunch, be there in a few hours.”
“What’s my budget on the movers?”
“Whatever you need to get it done.”
Lunch passed with more semi-awkward silence. Hope tried to convince me to drop the idea of a shopping trip. I shut her down. Alice loved to shop, and though she had a unique style of her own, I knew she’d be able to figure out what Hope liked and find her what she’d want.
I couldn’t get those suitcases by her door out of my head. An entire life in three suitcases and a few boxes. Hope should have more. I was going to give it to her, one way or another.
Chapter Seventeen
Griffen
I pulled into my parking spot in the Sinclair Security garage, feeling like a visitor. This place had been home for over a decade, but since the day I’d learned my shoulder wasn’t going to be the same, something inside me had been pulling away. I just hadn’t realized it until now.
Cooper, his brothers, and my co-workers were my family, but I didn’t belong here anymore. I couldn’t work in the field and didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk watching everyone else out there doing my job.
The idea of running Sawyer Enterprises was different. It was both a brand-new challenge and one I’d spent half my life preparing for. I didn’t like the way I’d ended up in charge of the company, but I won’t deny I was excited by the prospect of finally taking the reins the way I’d always expected to.
I used my handprint to get us access to the elevators and rode up to the third floor. Before she’d hooked up with Cooper, Alice had lived in one of the safe room apartments kept for clients who needed heightened levels of protection. Alice’s place wasn’t the most luxurious of the three apartments, but unlike the other two, Alice’s place was familiar. Comfortable.
I dumped our things in the kitchen and turned to Hope. “I want to head upstairs and check in with Cooper, go over some things. You should come—”
She was already shaking her head. “I’m exhausted. I’d rather lay down, try to take a nap.”
Hope did look tired, but I’d bet she didn’t want a nap as much as she wanted to avoid meeting my friends. I wanted to promise it wouldn’t be that bad when I remembered the string of expletives Cooper had spit out when he’d heard about our marriage.
This mess wasn’t Hope’s fault any more than it was mine. She’d made mistakes years ago, but this marriage, the will—those were all my father and Edgar. Not Hope. And I didn’t like the dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t had a minute alone since she’d shown up at Harvey’s office. If she needed solitude, she would get it.
I did a quick check of the fridge. Fruit, a bag of coffee, carton of creamer, and a few more odds and ends. Alice was the best. “Alice left us some snacks and coffee. I’m just upstairs. Call if you need anything.”
Hope nodded, so deep in her own head I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Acting on instinct, I wrapped my arms around her, holding her against my body for a long moment. “It’s going
to be okay. We’re going to figure this out, Hope.”
She nodded against my chest, relaxing into me just enough for more words to loosen in my chest and come spilling out. “I’m sorry about earlier. In the hall. I was an asshole.”
She shook her head in denial. It shouldn’t have annoyed me. It did anyway. “You were right,” she said in a tiny voice I could barely hear.
“You killed Prentice?” I asked, trying to get her to smile.
“I kind of wish I had,” she whispered. “But you were right about the rest.”
The bitch of it was I had been right. So what? Did it even matter now? I couldn’t get my head, my heart, around the split. I was right, she was wrong. This was my vindication. Why didn’t I want it? Why couldn’t I just let her off the hook?
Her slight body against mine, the curve of her waist under my hand, the heat of her breath through my shirt all made it more complicated. Since when did I want Hope Daniels? My body didn’t give a shit about the past, about the bad choices she’d made as a teenager. My body wanted the adult woman in my arms, the woman who’d been my friend, today and all those years ago.
I had the terrifying feeling it was more than my body talking here. I had no fucking clue what to do with that. Since I left Sawyers Bend, my heart shattered, I hadn’t given it to any woman. I had my friends, male and female, and I had women I saw socially. I didn’t do relationships. I never went looking for forever.
I’d learned firsthand—forever was a lie. Seeing my friends all fall in love over the last few years hadn’t shaken my basic belief that I was better off going through life alone. Now I was married, and I’d be faithful to Hope, but it was only temporary. None of this was real.
My head was upside down. My body knew what it wanted. My arms tightened around Hope, plastering her to me, absorbing her heat, her warm apples and cinnamon scent. Lowering my head, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, wishing I could erase everything that had happened in the hall, the ugly words I’d spoken, the cruel tease of that almost-kiss.
