Creed gotoff the elevator and stopped at the receptionist’s desk, looking at the company name,Makami’s Architectural and Designin bold silver letters. Creed could feel his brother’s presence the second he got off the elevator. He felt it more than when he’d walked into Richard’s home.
Creed could only assume that his office was his brother’s home before he found his mate. He walked past the receptionist desk heading for his brother’s office. Creed liked the vast openness of the workspace. He knew how much his brother liked having everyone working together and getting along with no barriers between them.
“Can I help you?” Creed turned when he heard the man’s voice behind him. “Oh, I should have known.”
“Who the hell are you?” Creed asked not liking the guy already.
“I’m sorry,” the guy deflated. “That came out wrong. I’m Jarrod O'Malley, and by the resemblance, I can tell you are Richard’s brother.” He extended his hand for Creed to shake.
Creed shook it quickly and smiled politely but secretly he wanted to punch the guy out for sleeping with his mate even if it was before they had met. The beta was classically handsome with blond hair and blue eyes that might have gotten him anything he wanted no matter who they were. “Yeah, I’m Creed. I thought you were out of town on business?”
“I was, but it got done a lot quicker than expected, so I figured I’d come in and get some work done. I thought you weren’t coming until Monday?”
Creed smirked. “I guess we were thinking on the same page. I wanted to get a feel for the place before I formally introduced myself to everyone.”
Jarrod chuckled. “I can already tell you and your brother are alike.”
Creed shrugged his shoulders; he’d never mind being compared to his brother. Richard was a good man and Creed looked up to him in every way.
“How’s the baby? I’ve been meaning to stop by and see Win, but I’ve been a bit busy.”
Creed wanted to growl at the man for being so familiar with his mate. “Winter is doing good and so is Connor.”
“That’s good. I was worried about him. I knew how much Caroline meant to him. Richard always said that Winter and Caroline were a package deal.” Jarrod looked away, and Creed could tell he was holding back his emotions.
“What about Terry?”
“They are pretty close, but not as close as Winter and Caroline. So, you’ve met Terry?”
“Yeah, he showed up this morning.”
“That dude is nothing but trouble. No matter how many times I try to warn them, they refused to listen.”
“What do you mean?” Creed’s protective instincts kicked in.
Jarrod sighed. “I don’t mean it in a bad way. Terry blows into town when he needs something or is hiding from someone. The second he gets what he wants he fucking disappears again until the next time he needs something. He's a fucking moocher.”
“Oh,” he said relaxing.
“Yeah, anyway, let me show you around. I know we need to talk about the business side of things, since you have majority shares, but we can deal with that later.”
“Thanks for the consideration. I have a few ideas of what I want to do.”
“You’re not planning on selling, are you?” Jarrod asked.
Creed could hear the fear in his voice.
“No, my brother put his heart and soul into this company. I don’t plan on letting it go,” Creed answered.
Jarrod sighed. “Good, I don’t have the funds to buy the rest of the shares. And I’d hate to see this company be sold off to someone who doesn’t care about this company or the people that helped build it.”
“Then we agree on something,” Creed said smiling. He didn’t want to like the guy, but he was starting to. “Come on, show me around and give me some information on the guys that work here.”
