Chapter 35
Gabe
There’s a loophole,” my attorney said. “It’s a small one, but it’s there.”
“Enough for her to have told me?”
“Enough for her to tell anyone. A sloppy mistake, if you ask me. Probably been using the same agreement for decades without updating it to current law.”
“Thanks, Doug. I’ll let you know if she decides to take it further.”
“And I’ll have your back and hers if she does.”
I tapped my fingers on my desk. Doug and I had been friends since college, and he was one of the best attorneys out there. He’d been working for me since I hired him years ago. If he had a way to break the NDA, then it was a valid one.
Picking my phone back up, I checked my calendar and dialed my pilot, booking a flight to Dulles in two days. I left my office and headed to Tori’s. We’d been inseparable since the night she slept on my couch with me, but that had been the only night she’d spent with me. We were still in the slow phase, which was killing me, but I would handle it as long as she wanted. Whatever it took to get her back completely.
Movie nights, dinners, and Thanksgiving with her family. The month of November had come and gone, ending when I’d taken her and Reid to Rockefeller Center to watch the tree lighting. Now we were in December, nearing the time I’d asked her to marry me, and the nostalgia this time of year had always left me burying my emotions in my scotch. Not this year. This year I had every intention of making December as amazing as it had been the year I met her.
She was finishing a call and gestured for me to wait. I closed the door and took a seat, listening to her run through numbers with whoever was on the other line. She never ceased to amaze me. Intelligent, sharp, and determined. How Carl Bradman had ever thought she was only there as eye candy confounded me. Sure, she was beautiful, but there was so much more to her, and it was the many layers of Tori that I’d fallen for.
When the call finished, she sat back in her chair and blew a strand of hair from her face.
“Tough call?” I asked, crossing my ankle over my leg.
“Eh, not that bad. What’s up?”
“What are you doing this weekend?”
She eyed me, curiosity in those blue orbs. “Reid and I were going to ask you to decorate for Christmas with us. We need to get a tree.”
A constricting sensation enveloped my chest. “I’d love that.”
Her smile was contagious as she said, “I thought you would.”
That changed my plans, but not terribly. “Friday, I’m taking you both to Virginia. I have a meeting with the manager at the Tyson’s Corner location, and I thought we could stay in Crystal City and then take the Metro into DC on Saturday. Take Reid to the museums, see the monuments. We’re too early for the tree lighting, but I can always fly us back if you want to see it.” I was rambling, unsure of why my nerves were so heightened.
Her smile spread, and my nerves settled. “I would love that. As would Reid.”
“I can get us back in time on Sunday to get a tree and decorate.” I scratched my ear, trying to hide my excitement.
“That sounds perfect.”
“Great. The plane is scheduled for ten. I have a two o’clock meeting, then I’m all yours.”
I started to leave, and she stopped me. “Is there another reason for the trip?”
My lips thinned as I remembered what I’d promised her. Clearing my throat, I turned back to her. “No secrets, right?”
“No secrets.”
I returned to her desk and picked her phone up, dialing our secretary. “Paula, can you get Carl Bradman on the line for me?”
While she gathered his number, I said to Tori, “Bradman spends every December in Northern Virginia, which I suppose you know. He works from an office he has in one of his Tyson’s properties. One of the few cities my father’s holdings and his ever crossed over.”
“I have Carl Bradman on the line,” Paula said.
“Thanks. Put him through.” I placed the phone on speaker and set my finger against Tori’s mouth to let her know to keep quiet.
