Page 3 of Grant’s Heat

The contentment glowing from Bas turned into a full light show of happiness. “Abbi is due May twentieth,” he supplied. “And she’s doing great. The morning sickness has finally calmed, so we’ve got a bit of a break.”

Another commiserating chuckle from Nash. “Yeah, well, wait until you have to witness the delivery. That’s just stuff you can’t unsee. You know what I mean?”

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Wise man!”

The two men laughed and then bumped shoulders. I just stood there, never feeling more out of place. On the other hand, I couldn’t have felt more grateful. I’d never imagined there’d be a guys’ club I didn’t want to belong to until Bas’s life began being taken over by baby-daddy dribble.

“All right, all right.” Jerry flopped unceremoniously into a creaky old desk chair and then motioned for us to take seats as well. “Enough small talk. Let’s get down to why you came by. I know you two suits have a lot more important things to do with your day. How can I help you, gentlemen?”

Sebastian leaned forward and planted his elbows on his knees. “I’m just going to shoot straight with you, Jerry. I have a feeling you’re the kind of guy who appreciates that sort of thing. Am I right?”

“Well, you got me pegged, Mr. Shark. Guess I’m pretty easy to read.” Jerry’s stomach visibly vibrated as he chuckled.

I looked on, almost wanting to shake my head and congratulate Bas for recruiting another member to his fan club. My friend’s chameleon-like approach never failed with the working-class man—or woman, for that matter. It was kind of awe-inspiring.

“Nah, it’s not that,” Bas told the guy. “People forget where I came from. Where we came from.” He gave me a fraternal shoulder knock with his own. “Thing is, Grant and I have been busting our asses since we were teenagers to build this business into what it is today. We both know what it means to put in an honest day’s work.”

Jerry nodded thoughtfully. “But you didn’t come all the way over here just to tell me that.”

Sebastian didn’t bump me anymore, but the glance he tossed at me was just as impactful. “No,” he finally said. “We didn’t.”

“So again, how can I help you?”

Sebastian looked at me again, wordlessly bouncing the metaphorical red playground ball into my square. I didn’t need further cue to take over point on the conversation.

“There’s been a rumor that some of the construction management team is talking about walking off the job. Bas and I figured we better come down and see if you knew anything about it. If that’s true, then the follow-up is obvious. What can we do to prevent that from happening?”

“Well.” The man was back to punctuating with a lot of heavy breath, only now the humphs matched how he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t heard anything. Just some grumbling, mostly, from some of the guys…about pulling chocks. But it’s hard to take it seriously, you know? A lot of these guys are as bad as hens clucking in a hen house.”

“What’s the problem?” I surged to my feet. “Why do they want to walk? And why this late in the game?”

“It’s ridiculous.” Jerry shook his head, now seeming embarrassed to have to be the voice behind the complaint.

“Not if there are real concerns,” Sebastian retorted, pinning his stare to the man. “Come on. Level with me, Nash. I try to be fair to all my people. There’s always a solution, as far as I’m concerned.”

But still, Jerry waffled. He laughed then and stroked his meaty hand from his beard to the back of his neck. The man had a hard time maintaining eye contact while saying, “They’re…uh…well, they’re saying the job site is cursed.”

“Cursed?” I repeated in question. Surely I couldn’t have heard him correctly.

“Stupid, right?” Jerry fought to form a full laugh. “But there was the body…your assistant, picking here of all places to off herself. That came right after all the gossip about Viktor Blake coming after you for God knows what. Some were saying the guy has ties to Russian mobsters.” The big man paused, giving an uneasy sense the next sentence was going to be a doozy. “Then some of the guys were saying your woman had gone missing for a month…”

“She wasn’t missing,” Sebastian said through clenched teeth. “She was with her family on the East Coast. Not that it’s anyone’s business.”

“I mean no disrespect, Mr. Shark.” Jerry held his hands up in front of his round torso. “I told you, they’re like a bunch of hens. I just want to get this job done—on time and under budget. That’s how I land my next gig.”

“Yeah. Okay, okay.” But Bas glared at me as he muttered it, with fury rolling off him in waves.

Damn it.

When I finally thought I’d gotten him over his obsession with Viktor Blake, this bullshit was stirring it up all over again.

“So how serious is the problem?” I leveled. “Are we going to lose men, or is this just ‘clucking’ too?”

“Because I have no problem handing out pink slips,” added Sebastian.

“Bas. Christ.”