Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Maybe Mimi is right. Maybe Jason is crazy about me.
Is that really possible?
I look across my shoulder at him just as he looks over at me and gives me the sweetest, shyest, yet most confident smile I’ve ever seen.
My heart wobbles, and my head spins.
In my wildest dreams, Jason is the hero of the story. Gorgeous. Kind. Brilliant. And he looks at me in a way that makes me feel like the only person in the room.
Mimi might be right. He might be crazy about me.
And I might be crazy about him, too.
Jason winks and downshifts, the engine roaring as we speed down the road to our hotel.
Chapter 22
Jason
“Iwould’ve been much happier had we not walked out of there with a threat still hanging over our heads,” I say into the phone.
Towlin sighs.
I gaze across the desert, as the hot morning sun hits me through the windows. Sunshine usually lifts my spirits. But not today. Not about this.
“We’re confident we can navigate this situation, Jason. And, if it does become a legal issue, we’re prepared to pull out all the stops to stop it in its tracks.”
“That’s good. That’s very good. Because if I’m left to explain to Gannon that our father is pinning fraud and extortion charges on the two of us, I’m going to be fucking pissed.”
My jaw pulses, clenching so hard it hurts. The pain is welcome, though, because it takes an ounce of focus off my problems at hand. Namely, Reid Brewer.
Towlin babbles on about strategy and how Discovery should help us in the long run, and the claimant knows that. He assures me that they’re probably aware it was Dad, but we're targets since Gannon and I are the major controllers of the Brewer finances. And with Dad pointing his finger our way, they’re all too happy to agree.
“If you don’t mind me saying this,” Towlin says, meaning I’m absolutely going to mind what he’s about to say. I brace myself. “But you should tell Gannon and take the air out of the argument. Let him know.”
“And you should mind your business.”
“Jason …”
“Reid Brewer has torn our family apart,” I say, the words hot as they pour from my mouth. “He has gone out of his way to try to dismantle our businesses, our relationships, and each of us individually.”
“I know that.”
I chuckle angrily. He’s known on paper what my father has done. But he doesn’t fully comprehend the emotional toll this has taken.
The stress and angst we’ve had to live with daily. The pain his lies deliver. The brutality of the betrayal.
“May I ask why you want to protect Gannon?” Towlin asks. “If it were Tate, or Ripley, I’d understand. But it’s peculiar that you’re working so hard to protect your eldest brother.”
It’s none of his damn business why I do or don’t do anything. But I’ll tell him anyway. Maybe then he’ll follow along.
I slide my free hand into my pocket. “Gannon has idolized our father since the day he was born. He played baseball because Dad did. Went to the same business school. He has intentionally or otherwise picked up most of Dad’s mannerisms over the years.” I stop moving, my heart pounding. “He took our father’s betrayal harder than any of us, even if he doesn’t show it.”
Towlin is silent.
“If he knew that the man he’d put on a pedestal his whole life cared so little about him that he’d orchestrate for him to go to prison for something he didn’t do, Gannon would be devastated.” I frown. “He’d be absolutely crushed, Towlin. And that would destroy my mother. Again. Bianca would blame herself for stepping down as the president of Brewer Group. Ripley would probably try to climb the walls of the prison to slice Dad’s throat. Ripley isn’t going anywhere without Tate. And do you know where that leaves me?”
I pause to see if he responds, but he doesn’t.
“That leaves me figuring out how to do it because I’ll be damned if my family takes any more pain because of that motherfucker,” I growl, running my fingers across my scalp. “I’ll figure this out. Gannon finds out as a last resort.”
“You don’t have to carry this all on your own.”
The bedroom door opens, and I turn at the sound. Chloe’s wrapped in a new robe from yesterday, and she smiles, hesitating, as she observes the situation.
I exhale sharply, my heart softening as I take her in.
I’m not carrying this alone because I have her.
“Are we done here?” I ask Towlin. “I have a few things to take care of before we head to the airport.”
He lets the insinuation of my marital status go. He wasn’t thrilled about the news this morning, although he didn’t have the balls to bring it up to me. His argument against me marrying Chloe would be that it adds another layer of complication, and it’s distracting to the topic at hand.