He stands in the doorway for a moment. “There is a good chance I have to work out of the London office for a while, and I don’t think long-term will work.”
Something in his voice is ominous concerning me. “Are you all right?”
He shrugs. “I will be…eventually.”
Ten Hours Later
“Hey. What’s going on?” Lauren’s blonde head peeks around my doorway.
I glance at my watch. “What are you still doing here? You should have left a while ago.”
“I didn’t want to leave until I got a chance to talk to you. I was worried. You seem more stressed than I’ve ever seen before.”
I run my hands down my face. “I have a lot of shit going on.”
My office phone rings from Lauren’s desk, so she runs back and gets it out of habit, even though she would usually be gone by now and let it go to voicemail.
“Please hold one moment,” she says, then runs back to my door wide-eyed. “Philip Archibald is downstairs and would like to see you. He said to tell you he is alone, and it’s important.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Fuck’s sake…I’m not in the mood for this right now. I’m exhausted, working on little to no sleep, and after this morning, the rest of the day went downhill.
“Earth to Harrison.”
“Yeah. Let him up, and then you go home.”
“Got it, boss. See you tomorrow.” She salutes me and then is off to receive my guest.
I have to admit, after the shitshow this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder about Philip. He didn’t say one word, and his facial expressions stuck with me for some reason.
When footsteps ring out, I watch intently as he walks down the hall into my office. Earlier, I wondered if the men looked anything like Jules’s dad; however, now that I have a moment to look at Philip, and who knows if he looks like her dad, but he certainly looks likeher.
When she’s with Inès, they look similar, but it’s clear she’s a mix of both families.
“Thanks for seeing me,” he says, reaching over to shake my hand.
I wasn’t planning on standing, but something about his tone had me standing to greet him.
“How can I help you?”
“Do you mind if I sit?” he asks, and I nod, pointing to the chair in front of my desk.
He leans forward and rubs his temples over his salt-and-pepper hair. This is a much different man than I saw earlier. He’s distraught and similarly disheveled to how I look after the long day.
He takes a breath and glances up to look me in the eye. “I’m here to assist in any way I can. I have no interest in helping my father and brother take away Inès and Juliette’s livelihood.”
I suck in a breath. Neither of the men acknowledged them earlier; for some reason, hearing Philip speak their names makes it personal.
“Do you take me for a fool? Why would you help me and go against your family?” I ask skeptically.
“Because I loved my brother, Harrison. He would be devastated knowing that Inès would have to vacate the bakery she’s owned for the last twenty years.” When I stare at him, shocked, he smiles sadly and continues. “When my brother was disowned from our family, I was only eleven. I’m the youngest of the siblings, and we were ten years apart. Because of that, we never had the opportunity to become close, and I was influenced by my family’s hatred. I didn’t know any better until I was older.”
“I don’t understand,” I tell him honestly.What is he getting at here?
He runs his hands through his hair. “A year before my brother died, we reconnected, and it was the best and worst dayof my life. I realized that I had made a grave mistake listening to my family and that my brother was not some monster, but a kind, loving family man. Someone I wish I had gotten to know sooner, but I’m glad I had that year with him. He is someone I will always admire.”
“Jules never mentioned it,” I whisper.
