SIXTY-TWO
It’s been a shitty few days. Mainly becauseI’vebeen fighting with myself almost non-stop since I got back to New York. I want to call her. I want to figure out a way past the Hawthorne’s security and sneak up to her hotel suite and bang on her door. I want to stake out Blackwell Tower and snatch her off the street.
I want to do a lot of crazy shit but when it comes to Millie, that’s nothing new. I’ve been fighting a losing battle against myself since the moment I met her.
Instead of calling or kidnapping her, I do the smart thing and leave her alone. She’ll call me eventually. I know she will because Millie is as addicted to me as I am to her. Sooner or later,she’ll call and when she does, I’ll come running. There’s no use in pretending otherwise.
So, I wait.
And while I wait, I work.
Getting into the office before Natalia—she has class on Mondays so I won’t see her until the afternoon—I make coffee and check my emails. There’s one from Jase Bright—a reminder that he’d made an offer to buy me out months ago and I still haven’t given him an answer.
Dean –
I’m going to keep this short. I realize by now that you’re not going to sell to me. I get it—I wouldn’t sell to me either, no matter what the offer was. But if you’re not willing to sell, consider a partnership. Not with the Bright Group. With me personally. We can meet later in the week and go over numbers. I’m sure we can come to mutually beneficial terms.
Jase
Partnering with Jase Bright would be a smart move. It would give me the infusion of cash I need to take Bar-None to the next level. Since the latest video of Paige and me fighting at the hotel bar surfaced, my inbox and voicemail has been flooded with requests and inquiries—not all of them business related.
Mr. Mercer, this is Brian Stack with the Boston police department. We’ve gotten numerous calls, reporting a sexual assault that took place at the Hawthorne, last Friday night, of which you are the alleged victim. If you could call me back at…
Hitting reply on my email from Jase, I tap out a quick reply.
Jase –
I’ll be by your office after lunch. We can talk about it then.
Dean
After that, I buried my head in account contracts andpayroll until my stomach nearly took a bite out of my backbone, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since last night.
Digging a protein bar out of my desk and stealing a cup o’noodles from Natalia’s I use the electric kettle to heat up some water. Ten minutes later, I’m shoveling noodles into my mouth when I hear the outer door to my office open and close.
“Took your last ramen cup,” I call out. “I’ll buy you—” Looking up when a shadow falls over my desk, I don’t find my assistant, standing in my doorway, ready to brain me for stealing her food.
I find Millie’s father, watching me from the doorway in one of his seemingly endless supply of custom Tom Ford suits.
Dropping my spork into the styrofoam cup in front of me, I sit back in my seat and wait because I knew this was coming. I’d made him a promise and broke it. I told him I’d stay away from his daughter. I didn’t and I’m not going to. The only way I’m going to leave Millie alone is if she tells me to and even then, I’m not sure I’ll be able to. Looking up at him, I shake my head. “If you’re waiting for an apology?—”
“No,” Preston shakes his head. “I—” Frowning at the cup of noodles on my desk like he has no idea what it is, he looks up at me. “Is that your lunch?”
“Yeah.” Hunching over my desk, I fork noodles into my mouth as if to prove it. Sitting back, I chew enough to clear my mouth. “I bought your daughter shoes this weekend so my pastrami and potato salad money is stretched a little thin.” Because he has no idea what I’m talking about and probably doesn’t care, I give him a sigh. “Like I said—if you’re here for an apology?—”
“I’m not here for an apology.” He tips his head at one of the chairs parked in front of my desk. “You mind if I sit?” he asks, his tone pointed enough to tell me that he thinks I should’vemade the offer on my own. “There are some things I think we should talk about.”
“I’m not discussing my relationship with Millie,” I tell him bluntly while he moves into the room. “There’s not going to be any negotiations. You can threaten me as much as you want—I’m going to see your daughter as much as she’ll let me, in whatever capacity she’ll allow.”
“Because you love her,” he says with a flat, unreadable smile.
“Yes,” I answer him even though I just said that Millie isn’t a subject I’m willing to discuss. “Because I love her.”
For a long moment, all we do is sit here and stare at each other. Finally, he clears his throat on a nod.
“Conner Gilroy was in my office, bright and early this morning,” he informs me. “He’s an odd fellow.”
“Yeah.” Setting my lunch to the side because I’m suddenly not hungry, I give him a nod. “He is.”
