“ I’d not sign it.My pet peeve is having spelling mistakes in the first paragraph.They have three.Also, the date is wrong.If they want to sell you shares in the morning, then the date should be that.It’s from five years ago.That could be another typo, but it also means that they’re going to try and get you to owe them back-dated money.”He handed the contract to his brother.“ Also, and this is just me looking it over quickly, there is no mention of their name.They are calling themselves the party of the first part and nothing else.You were right to bring it here, but I think you had already decided.”
“ Thanks.And yes, I had, but I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss out on a great opportunity just because I didn’t like the way they were going about this.It seems too quickly too for them to want money.Like in the morning?That’s just too fast for me to want to invest.”He stood up.“ Thank you very much.How about I buy you lunch, and we call it even.I know you said you had a headache.But it’s probably because you’ve not eaten since breakfast.It’s gone past three now.”
“ That’s it.I believe you’re right.”He stood up too and pulled his jacket off the coat rack.“ I’vebeen getting the new stuff ready for David Sheen and his pretrial notes.I think the judge will have a different opinion of him when I show him that seven more women have come forward about him.That’s a total of about sixteen women that he’s worked with and abused.One of them is still recovering from her injuries that happened just over a year ago.”
“ Christ.And the school didn’t do a deep background check on him when he applied?”He said he didn’t think that they’d done one at all.“ Elaine should sue the school and him.That’ll make them sit up and pay attention next time they have a new candidate to apply.”
“ We can only hope.I mean, you should be furious about it more than I am.You have kids who go to the school there.”He said that he was waiting for the end result.Then, if he didn’t like it, he was going to enroll them in private school.“ That might be what I do if I ever have kids.Or find someone to marry.”
They were out the door in no time and on their way to the little diner in town.Main Street Eats did a good job for lunch, and he enjoyed seeing all the pictures of the main street in different flyers around the rooms.He ordered a burger and fries, and Dusty did the same.They were having a salad too and were nearly finished with it when their meal was brought to them.
Zander had to slow himself down before he made himself sick.He was so hungry that he was tempted to order three more burgers so that he’d make it to dinner.As soon as he ate his first burger, he made himself sit there talking to Dusty while he decided that he really didn’t need a second burger.Dinner would be soon enough, and he could hold off until then.
“ You really were hungry.”He told him what he had been thinking.“ Isn’t this Wednesday?Your cook is off tonight.You might as well get yourself something to eat now, or you’ll have another headache before you go to bed.And that’s not good.”
“ You’re right.”He ordered a second burger plate to have the fries.That was one of his favorite foods was French fries smothered in barbecue sauce.When it was brought to him, the first plate taken away, he did feel much better and was able to actually taste the second one.“ I’m going to have to set myself an alarm about eating on Wednesday.Usually, Hari will bring me something in when I’m working, and I’ll eat it without thinking.I hate having a headache.”
“ I do too.It’s something that you don’t want to have around four kids.”They both laughed.Dusty really did have four kids, and he’d never seen him happier.He had adopted the four kids of Shipley’s family, and they had one on the way.He envied him on Christmas morning.It was going to be a madhouse and so much fun with all the little ones around.“ What were you going to do for dinner tonight?The reason I’m asking is that Shipley and I were going to have a late dinner, and you can come and join us.The kids eat around six, and by the time we wrestle them to bed after baths, it’s usually after eight.”
“ I can’t.I’m sort of seeing someone.”That perked his brother right up.“ She’s having trouble with her parents getting to her, and I’m going to see if I can convince her to stay with me so that I can keep her safe.”
“ Are you in love with her yet?”He told Dusty that it wasn’t like that.He and she were just friends.“ So was Shipley and I.And it turned out that I fell in love with her like within an hour.For some reason, it happens fast between us and our wives.”
“ I don’t think of her like that.”He thought of the one time he could see her heavy with his child, but didn’t bring that up to his brother.“ She’s a personal shopper at the big store in the next town over.They had a fairly large mall there that she worked in.Have you ever used one of them?I’m telling you I’d recommend her to anyone.I’ve got all of my shopping done the day after Thanksgiving.”
“ All of it?Christ, we’re still looking at things for the kids, and we know our delivery people by first names.Shipley wants to go all out for their first Christmas with us.”He said that was what he’d been thinking.That since they were a big family now, he wanted to get everyone something.“ That’s awesome.You’re usually the one who is still shopping on Christmas Eve.What are you going to do with yourself if you’re not shopping?Come over to the house.”
“ I’ll let you know.I do have two meetings on Christmas Eve that I have to take.I didn’t setthem up, but Alex did.It was the only time that she could get them all together.I’m ready for it, as you probably guessed, but it’s going to be difficult getting them to pay attention with everything that is going on that day.”He asked if Alex and Locke were going to be there too.“ They are.They’re not thrilled about meeting that day either, but like I said, it was the only time that we could get together.”
After they were finished eating, they sat around and talked for a little bit.Main Eatsclosed at five, and he didn’t want to make someone have to stay over just because they had time to sit around.At four, they both left, and he was dropped off at home.Glad now that he didn’t drive, he was happy to go to town to see when Olivia got off.He wanted to make sure she was safe.
Since he had no idea if her parents would be there or not, he was pleased to find her Aunt Mae there.She said that she was doing a little shopping and was hoping to have dinner with her favorite couple.He didn’t bother correcting her on them being a couple, but told her that it would be up to Olivia.He had no plans.He did catch a glimpse of Olivia working, and he wondered how many people would know that she didn’t much care for her job.She seemed to be really good at it, and he loved watching her work.
“ You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you, young man?”He said that he didn’t think so, but he did like to hang out with her.“ Yes, I can see it in your eyes.You either have a great deal of lust for her, or you love her.”
“ Why can’t I have both?”They both laughed, and he smiled at Mae.“ I just want to keep her safe from her parents.They were planning to follow her home from the hotel last night to see where she lives.I have a couple of bodyguards with her as we speak.She called me this morning to thank me for doing that.I didn’t expect her to be happy about having them around.”
“ She’s smart enough to know when she needs help and won’t be afraid to ask for it either.That’s something that I taught her.”He thanked her.“ You’re so very welcome.So your plan is to stick to her like glue and make sure that Caroline and Hubert can’t get to her.That sounds like something someone in love would do.Do you plan on taking her under your wing for the duration?”
“ I plan on doing what it takes to keep her safe.I don’t know what they’ll do to her, but it won’t bode well for them to try and hurt her.”She asked him again if he was in love.“ No.But that doesn’t mean that I won’t help someone just because of that.I like her a great deal and don’t want her hurt by anyone.”
“ You love her.”He was getting annoyed by her professing that he loved her niece, but he didn’t care right now.He needed to make sure that Olivia was all right and would be forever if that’s how long it took him.
After she was finished with her customer, he made sure that she knew he was there to take her home.She seemed relieved, a bit fearful too, and that worried him a bit.He wondered if she’d seen her parents today, and that was why she was happy to see him.Whatever it was, he didn’t like the fear on her face.He still had his guards on her, but wasn’t sure where they were at the moment.Looking for them, he still kept an eye on Olivia.
“ She’s been working all day.And when she went to break, we went with her.Even sat with her for a time.She’s been all right.”He didn’t know what was wrong then.“ Perhaps she’s a bit afraid of her aunt.She wasn’t fearful until she came around.I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
“ I’ll talk to her and see.”The older of the two men nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.“ What else have you seen today?Something that I should know about?”
“ The one that you pointed out, her aunt?She was talking to her parents when they came by today.I don’t think that the young lady saw them together, but I don’t know.She’s been acting like she was fearful after that, like we said.”He wondered aloud if the aunt was somehow in on them, finding her all of a sudden.“ I don’t know, sir, but that’s what I think too.”
He’d have to look into things to make sure that the aunt wasn’t helping her parents.The more he thought about it, the worse things got in his head.She was forever pushing him into something, too, and he didn’t care for that either.Making a decision as to what to do, he was going to get to the bottom of all of this and know what was going on.Even if he had to call in a little help from his family.
Chapter 5
“ That’s another thing that I wanted to say to you is that I don’t appreciate you hiring people to keep us out of your banking business.What right do you think you have in doing things like that?None, I can tell you.You’re our daughter, and you’ll do as I tell you when I tell you to do it.”She’d answered the phone ten minutes ago, and her mother had never shut up once to even take a breath.Finally, she was winding down, and it looked as if she might get to say something.“ What do you have to say for yourself right now, young lady?I’m not happy, and you know what happens to you when I’m not happy.I pull out my workers, and they take care of you.”
“ Are you finished?You’ve been going on about stuff for the last ten minutes, and I’ve not been able to defend myself.”Apparently, she wasn’t finished and asked her again about her goons.She didn’t actually call them that, but she knew what she meant.“ Trent and Sammy are really nice men.They’ve been doing a good job helping me stay out of your way for the last few days.You should be happy I’m not around you right now.I have a few things I’d like to talk to you about.As for my goons.I wish I’d had them all along.”
