Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set(70)

Sutton sat back in his seat hopefully beginning to accept defeat “She called the other day to broker this same deal.”

“You figured you could weasel your way out.”

“I don’t answer to her. Besides, she didn’t mention surveillance or you and your bouncer buddy here.” He gestured to Ryan.

Griff bent down over the desk, making sure he towered over the man who had no compulsion about hurting women, but who cowered before men his own size. “Listen well. You so much as breathe in her direction, you answer to me.” Griff made a show of lining the pictures up and placing them back in his pocket.

The thought of Chelsie having anything to do with this slime, even long distance, made his skin crawl. Yet he admired her courage and the foresight it took for her to come up with the same plan he and Ryan had formulated together.

“Let me ask you a question, Sutton.”

The man raised defeated eyes to his.

“Doesn’t it even bother you, what you did to those two women?” The two they knew about, Griff silently added. He didn’t want to think there could be others and hoped this deal would prevent further victims.

“They asked for it. It’s not my fault they push a guy to the end of his rope. I never meant to hurt either of them.”

Figures. Griff shook his head. He just wanted Jeff out of their lives and less of a threat to womenkind. “Then do yourself a favor. Take this deal and get yourself some help.”

Without a second glance, Griff turned and walked out. Ryan followed. The easy part was behind him. The hard part was yet to come. Chelsie returned today, and Griff’s life hung in the balance.


* * *

“How was your trip?” Griff looked at his partner with hungry eyes after a weekend of deprivation.

Chelsie wore jeans, an old sweatshirt, and a pony-tail with stray strands of hair falling around her neck. Not a woman dressed for work, that much he knew. She obviously hadn’t changed her mind about severing their partnership. Nor could he ask her to.

His stomach churned with dread, but he remained calm. His perspective may have changed, but she didn’t know it, and he’d put her through hell. She deserved to make her own decisions about her future.

“Not bad if you like heat and humidity,” she said.

“Did you get much sun?”

She laughed, but it sounded strained. “Not all that much.”

“Could we move past the weather?” Otherwise they’d become exactly what he feared most. Friendly adversaries, two people who cared too much, but couldn’t get past their opposing points of view. He couldn’t live with that. In fact, he flat out refused to try.

She looked startled at his unnecessarily abrupt tone, then shrugged. “Okay. The trip was productive.”

“They’ve forgiven you?”

“Actually, they never blamed me as much as they blamed themselves. But my parents were never the warm type and they didn’t know how to show what they were feeling.”

“So they retreated to Florida to lick their wounds?”

She tilted her head, obviously assessing his sincerity. “To heal, Griff. To get over losing a daughter, to come to terms with the kind of people they’d become.”

“I know that.” Just watching the play of emotions over her face, listening to her defense of people she didn’t understand but still loved, how could he not?

“I can’t justify their attempt to bribe you, but they realize they were wrong. And now that they’ve begun to readjust their priorities and are trying to live without Shannon, they’ll come back home soon.”

She glanced up, meeting his gaze with serious, imploring eyes. “They miss Alix. They’d like to see her, and I’d like them to be her family, if you’ll let them.”

How like Chelsie to put her parents’ needs before her own, to risk his anger by pressing their case. “Of course they can see her. I never said they couldn’t.”

As Chelsie’s parents and Alix’s grandparents, he’d have to make peace with them eventually. It helped that they’d won Chelsie over, but it wasn’t a necessity. Blood bound them to his niece. He’d have given them another chance regardless. He paused before asking, “Did you tell them about your past?”

She nodded. “It was hard, but necessary—and in the end, cleansing for me. Very shocking for them. But the truth is out in the open now.” Her warm, dark eyes met his. “For all of us.”

“Speaking of truths, when were you going to tell me you’d been in touch with your ex?”

Her eyes narrowed. “At the same time you told me you’d done the same,” she said, challenge lacing her words.