Page 66 of Outcast
“No. I figured I’d come to you since we keep missing each other this morning.”
“Okay, sure.” I rounded my desk to sit. “I know you’re wondering about the Forrester foreclosure.”
“I am.”
I hesitated. “I met with Holden and his brother Gray. They’re working really hard to bring this business back from the dead.”
Dad sighed. “It’s too bad Mr. Forrester put them in this position.”
I seized on that. “Yes! I mean, surely we can do something for them. You’re always saying how banking is about investing in your community.”
He shook his head. “We gave Mr. Forrester all the chances we could afford, Emory. This is the result of a long deferral.”
“I know, but?—”
“File the paperwork,” he said brusquely, turning toward the door.
He stopped short to see Janine smiling apologetically while four men hovered behind her.
“What is this?” Dad blurted, sounding almost angry.
“Sorry, Mr. Gold, but these young men wanted to meet with Emory about their debt. They said it was urgent.”
Dad stepped back. “It’s more appropriate to make an appointment.”
Holden stepped forward, face set in tight, grim lines. “Sorry, sir. We felt time was of the essence.”
Holden held out his hand, and Dad shook it. Interesting. I’d noticed Holden never offered to shake my hand. I’d just figured he was too blue-collar to think about those sorts of business niceties.
Well, he was on his best behavior today. He shook Dad’s hand, then waved his brothers forward, introducing each of them.
“This is Gray, Axel, and Bailey.”
Dad shook each of their hands as they came into the room. “You brought the whole gang.”
“This impacts our whole family,” Holden explained. “We’re not trying to intimidate anyone. I just wanted my brothers to hear it straight from Emory.” He paused. “Or…whoever will make the final decision?”
Dad retreated behind my desk to stand at my shoulder. I stood up so everyone wasn’t towering over me.
“The decision has been made, I’m afraid,” Dad said. “Emory’s visit with you was a courtesy.”
I glanced at Gray, stomach in knots. I didn’t want to give up on them, but Dad had made up his mind. I wasn’t sure how much more I could do.
I’d hoped to find an alternative solution to paying the debt all at once—or at least some additional time. In some cases, thatwaspossible. But this particular case was messy because Mr. Forrester had already exploited every loophole.
Gray looked me up and down, then winked as a small smile curled his lips. My face instantly heated, thinking of the last time I’d seen him.
The way I’d kissed him, bossed him around—at least until he took charge in bed. I’d felt like a completely different man in that room. Someone who knew what he wanted and went for it.
“…don’t want to sell our home,” Holden was saying. “We just got our family back together.”
“Orparts of our property that subsidize our business,” Axel said with a pointed look at his older brother.
Holden nodded. “We don’t want to carve up our assets. We’re trying to rebuild something here, and we can’t afford to hamstring ourselves. But we need achance.”
Dad shook his head. “I’m sorry. Your dad burnt his bridges here.”
Gray spoke up. “We’re not him. We’re not the kind of men he was. We’re working damn hard to prove it, and you must know we had no idea he took out this loan. We know it has to be paid. But if there was a way for us to make payments or a way to use our home as collateral rather than selling it?—”
