His voice trails off.
“He what?”
“He wanted to tell you. Mom threw a fit. How did you find out?”
“She told me when she fired me.”
I glance at the other three and realize they are all stunned.
“You should have told them,” I admonish.
“They didn’t need to know.”
“What the fuck, Austin?” Dallas shouts. He is the most volatile of all four of my brothers. It’s the artist in him, I guess, although that is a copout. I think with our passive aggressive ways, it was the one way to stand out.
“I…Jesus, I didn’t know she knew, so I didn’t want to say anything. Then, when Diego came to me and told me what he found about the money…fuck, everything just sort of fell apart.”
“You guys are serious? There’s an issue?”
Diego nods. “It’s amazing we’ve lasted this long.”
“How? We make a fortune, especially at Trinidad.”
“Mom and Dad haven’t been paying for the lifestyle for the last couple of years.”
I shake my head. “Are you telling me they’ve been embezzling?”
“You can’t really call it that. They are the CEOs and they have a right to call something a business trip.”
It still makes it embezzlement, but I’ll deal with that argument later.
“What did they call a business trip?”
“Every trip,” Austin says.
Jesus. My parents go out of town at least once a month. Sometimes it’s a simple excursion, but I know for a fact they rarely stay at a hotel without a five-star rating. In fact, there is a good chance that hasn’t happened in years.
“And you never noticed?” I ask Diego. This is part of his job, the things that he should know about.
“They kept putting it under expenditures and it didn’t happen overnight. It took some digging—not all of it was above board—to line up what we were paying for. If we don’t do something, there is a good chance we will lose our livelihoods.”
“I hope you’re not including me in that statement.”
“You own twenty-five percent,” Austin says.
“Yeah, but I don’t need the business to survive. Tito made sure of that.”
Anger fills his face, but he can’t say a word against me because he knows that’s true.
There’s a long moment of silence. “We just need you to look that over. I didn’t understand it all, but Diego explained it,” Dallas said. “Pull it up and he can go through it.”
“No.”
They all blinked, but as usual, it is Austin who takes the lead. “Why not?”
“I’ll look over it, but I want to do it by myself. I have training in restaurant management so I can get the gist of it. If I have any questions, I’ll call you.”
“We have a meeting with Mom and Dad tomorrow morning,” Lou says.
“And you want me there?”
“If we’re going to force them out, we need to make sure to have a united front,” Austin says.
“Okay. I’ll look it over and let you know tonight.”
“We would rather have an answer right now,” he says.
“I’d rather have known I was burying my biological father, but I wasn’t given that opportunity, was I?”
He sighs, his shoulders drooping. I want to apologize, it’s right on the tip of my tongue, but Fritz squeezes my knee again. I look at him. He’s a compassionate man, but he understands this situation better than most people would. He’s seen all the crap, and he’s letting me know to let Austin stew.
“What time tomorrow and where?”
“We’re meeting them at Trinidad before the lunch crew shows up,” Lou says.
“I’ll text all of you later, okay? Let me look this over.”
They all get up from the table. I stay seated, watching them go. Diego, though, can’t help himself.
“It isn’t just for us, Savannah. You know if we go bankrupt how many of our family and friends will lose their jobs.”
I nod. “I do.”
They all walk out of the house, but the door opens back up. Austin strides into the room again and turns the chair so he can kneel in front of me. He hugs me, pressing his head in my lap.
“You’ll always be my sister.”
Then, he gets up and strides back out, shutting the door behind him. Tears fill my eyes as my emotions take over. Fritz, as always, knows what to do. He plucks me off the chair then carries me into the living room. He settles us on the sofa, me in his lap but he says nothing. I didn’t know how they would react, but Austin…dammit. He knew and he didn’t tell me.
“You’re upset he didn’t tell you.”
A statement.
“Yeah, but…”
I can’t say anything else around the lump in my throat. I feel jagged, yet raw and in pieces thanks to my family, once again. If they had all just walked out, I would have probably been mad still. But Austin.
You’ll always be my sister.
“He loves you. They all do. Now you can move forward since you all know.”
“I have to fix everything first.”
“No. You don’t.”
I sigh because I had a feeling Fritz might get irritated with me. “I need to look at those files.”
“Why don’t I cook breakfast while you do that?”
I nod. “That sounds great.”
I get up off his lap. Once he stands, I wrap my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
I look up at him. “I’m pretty sure you’re not used to this happening with your women.”
“Only woman that matters is you.” There is no hesitation in his voice. Joy fills me. I know it might just be a line, but I ignore that thought. All I care about is the words he used.
I kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck and leaning closer. Heat surges; need taking over my good intentions, but he stops it.
“You need to look at that stuff and, woman, we need to eat.”
I pout but he just laughs, stepping away from me, and tugging me to the kitchen.
“Take the thumb drive and your coffee. There’s plenty of time for that after we have some protein in our systems.”
He gives me another kiss, then smacks my ass.
“Watch it,” I warn with a laugh, but he pays me no heed. He heads over to the fridge and I turn to walk to my office. Better get this over with so I can climb back in bed with Fritz.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Fritz
Savannah and I study those files for over an hour and, finally, admit defeat. The intricacies are beyond my abilities and they’re making Savannah cranky. The fact that someone who has been trained to manage restaurant business can’t figure it out tells me we can’t handle this on our own. We put in a call for reinforcements and that’s why EJ and Harry are in our house talking about it.
Our house. Yep, I like the sound of that. I know what you’re thinking. Maybe I’m just drunk on sex. I’ve been drunk on sex before in my life, but I have never wanted that happily ever after EJ loves to read about. I have always been a fun for right now kind of guy. Not that any of the women hadn’t been good, and not that the sex hadn’t been spectacular, but none of that measured up to Savannah.
We had made time to get back into bed that afternoon. I mean, we had to wait for Harry to make it over, so…well, she seduced me. I told her we should wait, and she’d talked me back into bed anyway. What can I say? I’m kind of easy where she’s involved. I mean, there is a good chance she could get me to turn state’s secrets over to her in exchange for getting to slip into her delicious pussy again. I don’t have any state’s secrets, but still. Good chance.
“This does not look good,” Harry says.
Savannah is sitting next to him on a chair while he is in her office chair.
“Yeah. I think that everything they labeled research is their trips or things they just wanted to buy. Fuckers.”
EJ is sitting on the
couch with me, McLovin in her lap. “Would they do that?”
“I hate to say it, but I think they would. And did,” Harry says, disgust in his voice. He’s the accountant for Camos and Cupcakes, and he’s handled books for other businesses as well. He knows when someone is screwing with money.
Everyone looks at Savannah. She looks at each of us and her shoulders slump. “Yeah, they would definitely do that.”
“They would put the restaurants at risk?” Disbelief and disgust fills EJ’s voice. As a businesswoman, EJ would rather cut off a limb than engage in shady dealings like that. She might sell happily ever after in her romance bookstore, but when it comes to business, she has a level head.
“Without a doubt. Tito was the workhorse and my parents always saw the revenue as my father’s birthright. Tito probably kept a tight lid on the money.”
It takes me a second or two to remember that she still hasn’t told the rest of our friends about her parentage. I didn’t blame her due to the situation, but she needs to tell them as soon as this is all cleared up.
“So, what are you going to do?” Harry asks.
She shrugs. “I don’t really know at the moment. I know I need to tell Austin if I am going to the meeting tomorrow.”
I hear the dejection in her voice, and anger hits me harder than I thought possible. The idea that her family is, once again, expecting her to fix everything is beyond irritating. She’s the baby, the youngest, who has given up several years of her life to help them. Not one of them respects her or what she does for a living.
“I would say that would be a no.”
Everyone in the room looks at me with different expressions. EJ looks at me with approval, Harry with confusion, but the most important one—the woman who holds my heart—looks at me with irritation.
“Your opinion has been noted.”
There is a beat of silence, then, “I think we should get going, love. It’s late and it has been a long day,” Harry says rising out of the office chair and holding his hand out to EJ. His fiancé looks from Savannah, to me, then back to Savannah again. I sense her hesitation because she probably picked up on the irritation pouring off Savannah at the moment, but she apparently decides to let us deal with it.
I see them out but EJ hesitates again. “Remember, she’s used to handling everything alone, and she really doesn’t like being told what to do.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know,” I respond. She sighs, then walks out the door, Harry following behind her.
“Let us know what happens,” Harry calls back.
Like the entire group of friends wouldn’t know right now. I mean, the idiots were going to be texting all night long. As if proving my point, I get a text from Ed.
Ed: Dude, I heard from Harry things are fucked up for Savannah. What’s up?
Even across the Atlantic Ocean, I was getting bothered by text messages.
Me: Parents have mismanaged funds. It’s kind of a FUBAR.
Ed: Damn. Let Sunshine and I know if there is anything we can do to help.
Me: Sure thing.
I can’t complain about my friends. They might be nosey mofos, but they definitely have my back, all the time—no matter what.
I walk back to the office and find Savannah sitting there, looking out the window, completely lost in thought. I know what those thoughts were. She is going to walk back in there and cause herself pain. They were going to try to pull her back into the business, and this time, she might not survive. In just over a week, she’s grown happier, freer, and able to laugh more openly. If she goes back, I might just lose her. If they get her working for them again, our relationship might be ruined. But it’s beyond that. It’s about her health. They could easily kill her.
That thought sends a shaft of fear razoring down my spine. Because of that, I don’t think before opening my mouth.
“You can’t go in there tomorrow.”
She blinks and looks back at me. “I don’t think that’s your decision.”
Panic forms in the pit of my stomach. She’s slipping away from me. If she traipsed back into that den of vipers, I would lose her for sure. Not physically, and she would probably still let me in her bed. But her soul would start to die again, and I could not let that happen.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do.”
A bark of laughter falls from her lips, but there is no humor in it. “Really? I think you just told me I couldn’t go tomorrow.”
“I should have said you shouldn’t go.”
The expression on her face seems to dissolve, leaving a blank slate.
“Your objection has been noted.”
“And ignored,” I spat out, aggravated with myself as much as with Savannah. I don’t know why it was bothering me this much that she was going to go save the day for her family. They weren’t the ones who had been there for her. Her brothers hadn’t even noted her absence. Hell, they didn’t know I have been living with her for over a month.
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. I could feel her retreating from me. Not physically, but emotionally. She was putting up those walls she’d kept in place for so long.
“This is my family business. I have to help them.”
Why did I expect any different from her? She knew they would never give her the support she needed, but here she was, riding in to save the day. They didn’t deserve her.
“No, you don’t. You can let all your brothers grow up and actually act like men for once in their lives. They should be the ones protecting you.”
And that’s what is pissing me off the most. They came here expecting her to fix it all.
“With me, we will control the majority of the company. I will get pulled into this no matter what. I can’t sell my shares because I will only sell to family and no one, not even my parents or brothers, can afford to buy twenty-five percent.”
“I still say it is a mistake.”
“What is this really about, Fritz?”
“What do you mean?”
“You are blowing this out of proportion. It’s like you think you have some say in my life.”
If she had taken a dagger to my chest, it would have hurt less. I know we haven’t been “together” all that long, but I’m in love with her. Granted, I haven’t told her. I tried to show her this morning, but maybe I didn’t make myself clear. Still, she should have some kind of idea that she’s important to me. At the moment, she’s the most important person in my life, and that’s why I feel like I’m bleeding. I’m easygoing, but when I’m hurt, I lash out. Now is no different.
“So, what? I’m just the guy you could use to get rid of your virginity?”
She says nothing for a long moment, the silence stretching out. She’s a statue, retreating in on herself. Moving away from me. Anger and fear twist inside of me, and I know if I don’t get out of here, I will say some things that are unforgivable.
“Listen, you have a lot to think about and I need to give you room.”
“Is that a fact?”
The words were almost a whisper, but I didn’t miss the anger vibrating in them.
“Yeah. I’m going to go for a ride.”
“Why don’t you tell me what this is really about, Fritz?”
“I told you.”
“No, you came up with some bullshit. Tell me the truth.”
Fear hits me again, and I had to swallow it down. Nothing in my life had ever felt this right, and I couldn’t tell her how I felt. Not right now when she held so much power over me. She could easily throw it back in my face. It also wouldn’t be fair to her.
It has nothing to do with the fear I’m feeling.
“Just, I need some space.”
She says nothing for a second or two. “You need some space?”
“Yeah, gonna take a ride.”
“Well, good for you. Go on.”
She turns back to her computer, and I can feel her slipping away.
“I’m just going for a ride.”
“Sure you are, Fritz.”
Her tone left me no doubt how she felt.
“Savannah.”
“Listen, Fritz, I get it. Too much family, and I am also not the type of woman who can keep your attention.”
“What the actual fuck, Savannah?” The woman had lost her mind.
“Just go. Go for your ride.”
“I just think…”
I trail off when she looks up at me with daggers in her eyes. Damn, I forgot how scary she can be.
“Tell me. Tell me what you think so my poor little female mind can know what to do.”
That sends more anger coursing through me, and it fights to win against the fear that has been holding me steady for a few minutes.
“Never mind. You take care of it just like you always do, okay? You go back and do whatever your family wants you to do so that you can fool yourself into thinking that you are important to them, when we both know they only want to use you to make themselves richer.”
The moment the words come out of my mouth; I know they are a mistake. If not, the wounded expression in her gaze definitely does. But it vanishes so quickly, I blink. The cold shell is there, the one I have seen before. The one she gives her family. The one that was fully intact when I first met her.
“Your thoughts have been duly noted, and you may now leave.”
I open my mouth, but she stops me.
“Go. Just, give me space.”
I wanted to scream at her, get her to understand that all of this is because of how much I love her. From the look on her face, I’m pretty sure she’s not in the mood. I hesitate, just a second, then turn and walk out of the room. I don’t slow down, just walk out of the house, grabbing my keys off the side table as I do.
Fighting tonight was stupid, but…I couldn’t go back in there. I would tell her how I feel, and she did not need that right now. So, I slip on my helmet, get on my bike, and drive off.
Chapter Thirty
Fritz
My first thought when I wake up on Sunday morning is that the universe is against me. Sunlight burns my eyeballs so badly that I slam my eyes shut again. Fucking hell, why is it so bright in here? I blink, trying to focus and realize I’m not home. I’m at Harry and EJ’s house. Yesterday’s events come rushing back to me so fast that it almost hurts. I drove for hours, not knowing where to go, or what to do. Instead of going back and talking to Savannah like an adult, I had hidden from her. Once I knocked on their door, Harry and EJ took me in, no questions asked.
Scrumptious: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Camos and Cupcakes Book 3) Page 25
