“Well, sir, that’s all I can tell you.”
I rushed to my father’s desk and snagged a pen and his sticky notes. “Can you provide me with the address?”
“Yes.” She read it off while I wrote it down. “When can we expect you?”
“I’m on my way now. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I hung up, and my assistant approached me.
“Everything is set up with Tommy,” she said, tucking her phone away.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll probably have to cancel it. We’re on a super-tight time crunch. Rene is going out of town tomorrow. If we don’t get a model and get him to handle this tonight or by morning, we’re screwed.”
She nodded and said, “Okay,” without the pissy tone that I deserved. I loved that about Elizabeth. She deserved the bonus she got this Christmas for putting up with my bull.
“Come on. We have to meet with the photographer and pray we can pull a miracle out of our asses. Father, I’ll be in touch. Don’t tell Henry where I’m going.” We rushed through the building while I popped open the special contacts folder for all my father’s people in the industries and looked for the modeling one. With my phone to my ear, I hopped in the back of the SUV and handed my driver the address.
It was last minute, but I needed a model. I hoped that this guy had the right girl. “Can I speak with Jared?”
“One minute, sir,” the receptionist said.
Elizabeth tapped my shoulder. “Mr. Keaton, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I do have a friend. Well, she’s not a friend. Actually, she’s my neighbor, and I think she’d be perfect for the shoot.” I gave her a skeptical look. Women tended to be a little more generous when it came to their friends about their looks. She was probably cute, but I needed a model.
“I know you’re giving me that look, sir, but I promise you she’s perfect. I could bring in a photo.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. We need to have a model in at the photo shoot by tomorrow.”
“Hey, Jared, this is James Keaton. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”
“I’m sorry, but if it’s for the agency, it’s going to be a no.” Surprise hit me first from the instant refusal because we’d usedhim a thousand times before and had an excellent track record with him, but my gut already had the answer before I even asked.
“What? Why?”
“Your brother is a piece of shit, and I’d rather sell my damn business before I’d ever work with him.” Damn it. That bastard had ruined everything he touched.
“May I ask why?”
“He fucked my girlfriend,” he roared.
Of course he did. “I’m sorry.”
“Not sorrier than I am. If I see him again, I’ll kill him.” A part of me actually believed his words. He hung up on me, and I let out a heavy sigh. What the fuck were my options?
I thought about it for another moment, and then I turned to Elizabeth.
“Make the arrangements with your friend. I’ve got no other options,” I muttered, feeling like I’d been boxed into a corner, and I was up against the ropes with no hope of making it to the next round.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do to get her there.”
“Whatever it costs, but not too unreasonable. My father’s company isn’t worth that damn much,” I reminded her.
“Of course.”
The fallout with Jared must have been the reason Henry blurted out Claude Rene’s name. The fucking useless prick couldn’t keep his dick in his pants long enough to keep the company from falling apart. I was so damn tired of cleaning up after his messes. I just wanted this to be over with.
It wasn’t my company going down the drain. I had my own damn company to run. Picking up his pieces wasn’tsomething I wanted to do. It wasn’t my fault that Henry was on the verge of bankrupting my father.
“Sir, we’re here.”
