Page 40 of The Marriage Bid
“I’ll still stick to the deal we agreed to. Don’t worry. You need someone in your corner to fight this. Do you have a good lawyer? I could recommend mine if you want.”
“My lawyer is pretty good at what she does. But my brother also is one. He probably knows the people who would be representing the paper if it ever comes to a court battle.”
“Ah… sometimes I forget the Hawthorne in your Hawthorne and Hawthorne name,” he chuckled as though he had made some funny joke. Saffron joined in, but I knew she was only doing so to flatter him. Massimo excused himself to check on the grill.
I turned to Saffron. She snatched her hand away from my hold as though she burned. Something about that made me self-conscious. If she hated my touch so much, why initiate the contact? I asked her the question.
“I was hemming it up for our audience.”
“You’re a good actress. I almost believed your story.”
She shrugged. “Looks like it worked. I am an asset in your arsenal, admit it.”
“An asset that is also a bomb.”
She shook her head, sneering. “You can’t even thank me, can you?”
“What do you want me to say? Thank you for ruining my life and then slightly making it halfway right?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
“I don’t even understand why you wanted me to thank you in the first place. All of this is your fault.”
She gave me a withering look and got up. Saffron strode to Massimo, who was still flipping meat on the grill. She tapped his shoulder. He turned to her in surprise and then chuckled. Saffron pointed at the meat and said something that made him laugh again. They had their backs to me, so I couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but watching them so comfortably like this made me want to grab Massimo and throw him off the building. My body boiled as they continued to be chummy with each other. Then Saffron picked a piece of meat and dropped it into Massimo’s open mouth. Does she not know how not to flirt with anything with a cock?
Without meaning to, I got up and went to them. “What are you two chatting about?”
Massimo turned to me with a smile on his face. “Saffron was just telling me how much she likes a good piece of game. Do you hunt, Tyler?”
“What? Uh…”
“I’ve done so a couple of times. I can shoot a pheasant, but nothing bigger, I’m afraid. I am impatient,” Saffron said.
“Don’t undersell yourself! A woman like you, I can tell you can bring down a deer if you can. What about you, Tyler? What’s your favorite animal? Are you a bird guy like your wife?”
There were favorite animals to hunt? “I’m not much of a hunter, I’m afraid.”
Massimo lightly jabbed Saffron in the ribs. “Listen to your husband. Is he being shy, or is that the truth?”
“He doesn’t like it that much.”
“Oh. I hope he likes the meat, because that’s what we’re having today!” They both laughed; this time it felt as though it was at my expense. When did Massimo get into hunting? That wasn’t in my files on him. “I didn’t know you were into shooting sports.”
“I got into it recently. My time in the army made me sour on guns and all that, but then recently a friend of mine—Stratford, I don’t know if you know him—introduced the sport to me, and I gotta say, I love it.”
Stratford. So he’s been spending time with our competitors. We’d better get this deal signed soon and all the business with the bribes done with, or he will sell the property to them. Stratford had wanted the property as well and had done all he could to get it, including offering a higher price than us. Only Massimo wanted it to go to someone he trusted, and Stratford, as good as he was, was too ruthless and would probably sell the property to a private equity firm in a few years at a markup. Massimo didn’t want that.
“You know Stratford is not going to rebuild it the way you want it to. I will put your wishes first, Massimo. And also make sure your name is on the last building.”
“I know, I know. He’s just a friend. So, are you open for a hunt? I want to hunt with both of you.”
“Sure.” Fuck. I’ve never held a gun in my life, much less shot it.
He slapped my back with a greasy hand. “That’s what I want to hear.” He grabbed a towel and cleaned his hands. “Let me go and get Clarita. The meat, ladies and gentlemen, is ready.”
Once we were left alone again, I asked, “You hunt?”
Saffron shook her head. “I was just going along with it. I didn’t think he was going to invite us. I hate hunting.”
