“It’s August, Matteo.” I sigh, already annoyed. Maybe Jules’s grouchiness is rubbing off on me. “Claud is not in school, and anyway, I’m the fucking CEO. I can get here whenever I damn well please. Now stop wasting my time and explain why you need me so urgently.”
“You have a meeting right now, and they’re waiting.”
“Who is waiting where?”
“Lauren has them waiting in a conference room on fifteen. She wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Who?” I bark in frustration.
He freezes. “The Archibalds, they’re demanding a meeting. One of their assistants called saying they weren’t happy I’ve been snooping around.”
“Motherfucker. You’ve got to be kidding me right now,” I shout and can feel my blood pressure rising.
“This is why, when I text you, something is important. I mean it.”
He’s right. Not answering is completely unlike me, and when you’re running a business, there is no time off, especially when you ask for a personal favor. “Sorry. I was a little preoccupied and lost track of time,” I admit and realize I need to tell him Jules’s secret. I want him in the room during the meeting. “What I’m about to tell you stays between us, not Becks, no one. I know I’ve said it before, but this is serious.”
He nods. “I swear.”
I explain Jules’s family situation, how they are buying out her building, and that I’m not sure what the hell is going on now.
“Holy shit, something shady is going on for sure.”
I nod, agreeing with him. “I just don’t know what yet. Let’s go.”
“Calm down,” Matteo mumbles.
“I am calm,” I say through a clenched jaw while releasing my death grip on my briefcase, storming into my office, and slamming the door behind me.
Shit.
I swing the door back open, let Matteo in, and find Lauren staring at me.
“I don’t have the time for anyone’s shit today, Lauren. Escort the Archibalds to my office in five minutes, and do not let them out of your sight for even a second,” I snap.
“Good morning to you, too.”
I glare at her. “Good morning, Lauren,” I mutter, then slam my door again.
Twenty minutes ago, I was as happy as could me, and now I’m about to rip off anyone’s head who looks in my direction. Deep down, I know this meeting is not going to go well, and the fact that they’re bombarding me first thing in the morning without a set meeting is crossing the line in my book.
“If it weren’t nine thirty, I would probably suggest you have a drink. Hell, just looking at you makes me want to knock one back,” Matteo mumbles as he sits in the far corner of my office.
I take a deep breath, then grab the stress ball Lauren bought me last year. I hate to admit it, but it fucking helps.
I hear voices approaching, so I cut my attention to Matteo. “Don’t move from that spot. I want them cornered.”
Lauren opens the door and in walk three men I’ve never officially met but have seen in passing, considering our families run in the same circles.
The infamous Warren Archibald, Juliette’s estranged grandfather, walks in first like he owns the place, reminding me so much of my father with his entitled arrogance. If I didn’t already hate him because of what he put Juliette’s family through, I’d immediately hate him for that alone.
Her uncles, Conrad and Philip, follow behind like Warren’s little puppets, and my first thought is to wonder if either of these two look like Jules’s dad.
I walk around my desk and put my business mask on before shaking their hands hello. Matteo follows my lead and then sits back in his seat.
“Harrison Davenport,” Warren says, looking around my floor-to-ceiling glass corner office. “You’ve done a good job with Abbott. Your grandfather would have been proud.”
Of course, he’s met my grandfather, but someone I don’t know, especially someone I have no respect for, doesn’t get to speak of him to me.
