“All right, I’m going to forget that you said that,” I declared.
“Yeah, I’m not,” Duncan said, “because what the fuck? Do I have to keep an eye on you?”
Knox rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic, Duncan.”
I threw up my hands. “Right, I don’t have time to listen to bickering. If any of you comes up with usable solutions, you can call me anytime.”
“How is Phoebe taking this?” Chase asked.
“I haven’t had time to discuss it with her in depth. She was visibly shaken up by that asshole causing a scene.”
“It’s a good thing her family is coming to visit, then,” Chase said.
“That’s right.” I knew how important family was to Phoebe. They’d make her happy. “Okay, I’m leaving. Let me know if you come up with ideas—legalones.”
Knox and Finn chuckled, and then Finn said something I hadn’t thought of. “You know, if you had done this to me, I would have taken it personally—that I was stupid enough to fall for your charade, faking the relationship. I’d be pissed off for that reason rather than that you lied to get my business.”
The others kind of collectively agreed. I did too. Being lied todidn’t leave anyone with a good feeling, no matter how you looked at it.
We said our goodbyes, and I left the meeting room.
After I left headquarters, I went straight to my office. On the drive, I tried Jude a few times, but he rejected my calls.
“Fucking hell.” I knew he needed to cool down, but time was of the essence. I needed to get to him. I couldn’t allow too much time to pass.
My team pounced on me the second I arrived. “Griffin, what happened? Weren’t you meeting Jude this morning?” Stella, my assistant, asked.
“I did,” I said.
“Everyone was surprised when he called.”
I hurried into my office, and she followed me, standing in the doorway.
I took a deep breath. “There’s been an unfortunate development—of a personal nature.”
“What can we do to fix it?” she asked.
I didn’t answer right away. I’d come here determined to brainstorm with my entire team and fix this together. But the truth was, that wasn’t possible. This was all on me. It was my responsibility alone to fix it.
“Only I can do that.” Then a thought hit me. “Actually, you can help me with one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I need to know Jude’s schedule today and tomorrow.”
She smiled. “I can find that out.”
I frowned at her. “That easy?”
“His assistant is very friendly. She was shocked when she heard about Jude’s decision. I called her immediately to double-check that it wasn’t a mistake or something.”
“All right, thanks.”
After she left, I paced my office up and down. Jude was my utmost priority, but I couldn’t just sit around twiddling mythumbs while she inquired about his whereabouts. I had plenty of other things to do.
Stella emailed me his schedule for today an hour later. Fuck, he was trapped in back-to-back meetings.
I immediately got up, heading to her office. She winced when she saw me.
