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Chapter 19
Harper
We have a rule as roommates, as family. No sex in common areas of our homes. This was driven home after Hunter and Wyatt's little foray on the island in the pool house and the lovely video that went viral thanks to Roan.
No inside home video systems, no common area sexual activity, no physical contact of any kind whatsoever. No one wants to see that or walk in on that. Especially me. A lesson needs to be learned here, so finally I get my chance to be the teacher.
Being the younger of the cousins, I have endured the lessons of life from Aiden, and Hunter, Bri and Sawyer. It's finally my time. And since Dad's been clear in his feelings about Sawyer and Mad Max, this will be hilarious!
When I came back into the apartment, I expected to find the two arguing about Sawyer's inability to choose a woman and stay faithful. I figured there would be several broken items, specifically glassware, that had been aimed at his head. The last thing I thought I would find was the sexy lace bra hanging from the lamp.
Mentally, I high fived my cousin. However, my devious mind went quickly to work on how I could exploit this opportunity. Then I got my moment.
Doing my best impression of my dad, I deepened my voice, and decided to scare the shit out of Sawyer. It worked perfectly! "I know I told you this wasn't going to happen!"
Sawyer had enough balls to stay where he was and keep the woman covered. Carefully, he reached out and grabbed his own shirt and put it on Madeline before he stood up to face me. But before he turned, before he realized I wasn't Cade, he was already fumbling for an explanation.
"Look, I know what you said, Cade. We didn't plan for this to happen. If you can just give us a minute to sit down and talk about this..." turning around with no shirt on, scratch marks down his chest (holy smokes the woman did that?! Another high five my man!) and a red face, Sawyer finally faced me as I laughed my ass off.
"You want to explain this to Cade?" I dangled the bra in my hand. Sawyer yanked it away from me and handed it back to a very embarrassed Madeline.
"I think that belongs to you," I politely point out, as Sawyer glares over his shoulder at me.
"Harper? What the hell!!" He yells as I fall back into a chair roaring with the tears in my eyes.
"Oh my God, wait! Wait! I can't yet!" I'm laughing too hard to catch my breath. He really thought I was Cade. That's classic. Even Dad would be proud of this one.
"You're an asshole!" He growls as Madeline finishes buttoning up his shirt. I hide my smirk. I don't have the heart to tell her that she's about three buttons off from being buttoned correctly. Or that the T-shirt Sawyer threw on is inside out.
"I thought you were going down to raid the cookie jar," Sawyer reminds me of why I came back.
"I was, Grandma wanted me to invite you two to come to dinner later. Matt is getting a company statement ready for tomorrow. She wants all of us together for it. You too, Madeline. They are going through the details at dinner tonight, including what they plan on doing about Axel. I don't think it was a request. Anyway, I volunteered to deliver the information. Good thing I did or Dad would have seriously lost his shit!"
"You can't say anything, Harp," Sawyer's first inclination has always been to hide the evidence when he's done something he knows he wasn't supposed to do.
"Sawyer's right. Cade was clear he's against this. We made a mistake," Madeline began but I don't think that Sawyer agrees with her. "If he ever finds out... what?"
"I don't think this was a mistake," Sawyer argued, by the surprised look on Madeline's face, I doubt she expected him to disagree with her. "You think this was a mistake?"
Holy shitballs! Sawyer is about to open up a can of worms I don't think he can handle. As much as I would love to stick around to see how this plays out, I know better than to witness a man lose his man card. It's degrading and humiliating to watch a man beg for mercy when a woman crushes his heart with a single stomp of her Louboutin.
"I'm out of here in search of something less.... Grouchy." Getting up, I start to leave.
"Wait! What do you mean they are making a statement? What did they decide?" Madeline asked, obviously not catching on to the way things work around here.
"Your brother screwed the pooch! He shouldn't have talked to the press. Grandma stands by you. You aren't responsible for his actions. You aren't fired. The board has been notified of that. Just as the police have been notified of what happened. Because every dime was recovered, there's no reason to charge you. And you have the best attorneys money can buy representing you, Madeline." Giving her a wink, I nod at Sawyer.
"I don't understand," she whispers confused.
"Sawyer can explain it to you, but hold off on the sexing up until later, okay? And keep it in the bedroom. I don't need to see that, my virgin eyes can't handle it," I tease, turning to leave, "Oh, and by the way, you might want to fix your clothes before going upstairs. Neither of you are dressed exactly right."
Whistling a happy tune, I head out to see if I can find Zoe to walk her home. Maybe I can get lucky too.
Cade
"You really think this is a good idea? The board is going to hate it!"
As I argue my point with Georgia, she brushes me off as if what I'm saying is nothing. I know what I'm saying. The board doesn't want someone who has a history of stealing from another company working for them.
"I'm right, you know it, they know it. It's my damn company! I'll hire who I fucking want! That girl is smarter than half of Wall Street and more ethics than all of Washington DC and you know it!" Georgia argues and I can't find a single reason wrong with her statement.
"Axel is going to be a problem," Matt isn't wrong either. We've met enough people like him to know how they work. It's all about the money.
"No, he won't be. I have that handled." Georgia states as her phone rings. "Just the hoodlum I was talking about. How are you doing, Jeremy?"
"Missing my favorite old gal! When are you coming to see me? I hear you need some excitement," His voice has gotten a little scratchy in his age but I bet the old bartender is still as much trouble as he ever was.
"I need to call in the favor you owe me. You remember the one from the docks, when you were shot?" She reminds him.
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a time I'd rather forget when my buddy from college had gotten himself and his family into quite a bind with the mob and Georgia was the one who could get them out. They owed her their lives for that one.
"I remember a lot." Jeremy calls out to someone about a table to be cleared. "I'm in Cabo, Georgia. I'm not even in the states."
"Even better. I don't need you here. Actually it's better you aren't." She looks at me and nods. "You'll see a bonus in your bank account in the morning."
There's a long silence before Jeremy let's out a curse. "I appreciate it. What do you want me to do?"
"I have a troubled child I want to send your way. He's gotten his sister, who works for me, into all kinds of trouble. I need her working for me, Jeremy. I don't need him causing her trouble. You know what to do with him." Hearing this, I wonder if this is the first time that Georgia has asked Jeremy for this kind of help.
"Send me a picture and his information, I'll deal with him," Jeremy says, resigned to the task. "Hey Georgia, how's the family doing?"
Georgia got a distant smile on her face and I knew she felt guilty about what happened to him. "Trent and his girls are wonderful. We just saw Zoe this morning, you should be proud. She's turned out to be an amazing woman. And Ryder runs the Big Easy. He has a little brother who is following in his footsteps. You did good, sugar. Your children are happy and healthy as are those you love."
The long pause spoke volumes. Jeremy misses them. He made his choices and God knows it wasn't easy but it was for the right reasons. I respect him for that alone.
"Appreciate it. I'll look for your email." He disconnected without another word.
"I wish there had been another way for him. It broke his heart saying goodbye to everyone that way. At least he has Greer." It's the first time she's talked about them in years.
"They're coming to dinner," Harper grins, walking in twirling the keys on his finger and chewing on a cookie.
"What did you do?" I asked, knowing my son has been getting into trouble somewhere.
Harper laughed, not able to hold it in. He looked at Georgia then at me before sitting at the edge of his seat and resting his elbows on his knees, he prepared to share his secret. "Okay, but you can't tell Sawyer. He'll kill me."
"What did you do, Harper?" I pressed again, getting a girlish giggle from him.
"Okay, okay..." Harper looked around and laughed again, "Remember how you said Sawyer couldn't date anyone from work and Grandma basically said, yeah right? Well..."
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