Page 91 of Bling

Chapter Twenty

Garrett sat in his office having just finished a conference call with a tech group who wanted to further automate his fulfillment process at his order fulfillment centers. He’d spent the morning in a virtual meeting with the rest of the president’s economic advisory panel. They had been tasked with formulating recommendations for the first hundred days of President Donavan’s second term, should he win in November. As always when dealing with egos that big, there had been a lot of talking over each other and getting little done. At the end of the day, it would be interns, assistants and middle managers who provided the meat of the agenda.

Now he was waiting for Regina to connect him with Paul Andrews, a former roommate, and the current governor of Colorado.

He watched Isabelle on her own phone call with a shipping facility in another state and a smile played at his lips. Waking up next to her was proving to be more and more desirable all the time and he wondered if she would let him spend the night at the safe house with her more often.

“I have Governor Andrews for you, Sir,” Regina’s voice crackled through his tablet and soon his desk phone rang.

“Paul, thanks for making the time.”

“Always, Garrett. I’m disappointed we won’t be seeing you on Friday.”

He scowled. “That’s actually what I’m calling about. I think there’s been a mix-up. I absolutely want to attend. Is there a way to get two tickets?”

“Well, that’s a relief. The small business council of Colorado told us you were no longer interested in lending your support to their organization.”

“Where the hell did they get that idea? I’ve been sending them annual donations and contracting with local vendors since we bought Colorado Logistics. I’ve even had the states tech supply contract up until a few months ago when it was suddenly awarded to Maxitech. I’ve been trying to get you on the phone ever since.”

Paul cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t try to call you and find out more, but you know how day-to-day governance is. I just let my assistants handle most things.”

Garrett knew all too well what that was like. “Well, send me two tickets and I’m going to get on the phone with the president of the council and find out where the mix-up came from.”

“You got it. It will be good to see you again, even if I do only get to wave from the stage. We’ll get together sometime soon for a drink.”

Garrett sucked in a breath. “What do you know about Maddox being on the guest list?”

Paul was silent. “Your brother? That’s the first I’m hearing of it. I didn’t think you two were on speaking terms.”

He stood to pace. “He hasn’t spoken to me since I shut down the jewelry sector of our company a decade ago.”

Paul whistled. “That’s what I thought. I’ll get you a copy of the guest list.”

Garrett chuckled. “Pretty sure Regina already has one.”

“Of course she does. Our assistants are always one step ahead of us, aren’t they?”

They spent a few minutes catching up before Paul was called into his next meeting. “Oh hey, before I go, I saw you locking lips with a pretty woman at the gala in Dallas. Who is she?”

Garrett grinned even though Paul couldn’t see him. “You’ll meet her on Friday if you’re lucky.”

When he ended the call, he debated whether or not to reach out to Maddox to find out what the hell was going on. Was his brother trying to undermine him? Before Maddox’s accident, they were supposed to inherit equal shares in the company, with Maddox running day to day operations, but circumstances changed.”

He stood and paced, feeling restless. He wanted to pull Isabelle away from her work and take her to his hotel room, but he had a feeling she would object. Instead, he called his driver and asked him to bring his gym bag upstairs. When it arrived, he quickly changed into jogging pants, a t-shirt, and expensive running shoes.

When he stepped into the outer office a few minutes later, he laughed. She was on the floor in front of a filing cabinet with folders spread all around her.

“Can I get you something,” she asked, setting aside a folder.

“Don’t get up. I’m going for a run. Do you need anything while I’m out?”

“A run sounds nice in theory. Maybe you can bring lunch back.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure I can make that happen. Text me if I need to cut it short for any reason.”

She nodded and returned to her pile of folders.

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