Page 116 of Falling Into Forever
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I lean back against my chair. “Yeah. So far, no one from Kingston Corp has commented.”
“What do you know about Shannon’s fiancé, Blake?”
His question surprises me. I would have thought he knew more about him than me. At least now.
“He was a good guy when I knew him. Nothing like his father, as far as I could tell. You haven’t met him over the years?”
Grady grunts in that caveman way that he has. How he ever wore a suit and tie every day boggles my mind.
“No,” he says. “As far as I know, he never set foot in Hope Hollow again after the funerals.”
“He said he would help Saylor and Ainsley. Did he abandon them?” My pulse gains a jagged edge to it. I always assumed they had him in their corner. It’s what eased some of my worry on the bad days.
“Financially, he did everything he said he’d do. But he’s never been around in any other way.”
My jaw clenches. Maybe I misjudged the guy. Once a Kingston, always a Kingston.
“Grady? Why are you asking? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing,” he says distractedly. “I’m covering my bases.”
“What kind of base could Blake be?”
Three beats of silence fill our space before he says, “An unpredictable one. Companies like Kingston Corp all operate in the same way. They’ll make a statement eventually, and when they do, we need to be prepared for every possible scenario.”
“Would they really throw the girls to the proverbial wolves?”
“I’m not putting anything past anyone these days,” he says. “Listen. Everything is good here, but Lena’s on edge over Trent. Shut those doors and get home. Our girls need you.”
He hangs up before I process his words—our girls.
Well, shit. Tossing my pen on the desk, I plug in my phone, and after a minute, it lights up with notifications. I scroll by them all until a text from Saylor pops up.
I stand and shut my office door. The place cleared out quickly after I told them I was shutting down Ascendancy, but there are still a few stragglers, and seeing me after I got a text from Saylor would not be considered workplace-safe.
My girl is fucking dirty, and I love it.
Once the door is locked, I practically run back to my desk.
Saylor: How do you feel about hand necklaces?
Saylor: This arrived in the mail today.
Saylor: Picture sent.
Holy shit. Is that a dildo?
Saylor: Strictly for research purposes, of course.
Saylor: Have you ever watched anal porn? That does not look comfortable.
My suit pants instantly become way too tight. I can’t even read the rest of her messages. I hit call on the video message and wait for her to pick up.
“Hello,” she sing-songs in a very un-Saylor-like way. She’s really pulling out all the stops to win our game. It has taken every ounce of willpower I possess not to nut in my jeans every time we talk.
“Saylor,” I growl.
“Yes,” she drawls, then props the phone up in front of her. She’s sitting at her desk, and her fingers fly across her keyboard.
