“Yeah, I’m sure. No one’s going to mistake you for being a selfless bastard anytime soon.”
Even without Johnson Haines and the bill I’d been trying to push through the Louisiana legislature, I’d been able to see my dream come true—but on a bigger scale. The lobbyist firm that had dropped the ball had called in favors at the federal level as a move to get Titan Industries’ business back. It had been the next step in my game plan, but I’d been working on the state level first. This just accelerated everything.
But when it came down to it, my conscience couldn’t allow the feds to drop a ton of regulations on small factories and plants nationwide that could run people out of business if they couldn’t pay the price we’d put on it. So I’d made a decision. We’d put all of the information about the technology I’d spent over a decade developing on the Internet—for free—so anyone could create their own solutions with it. What I’d said to Con was true. We’d still make money, but not as much, and in a different way. I felt good about the decision, one Yve had helped me make.
Harriet, who I’d finally met when she’d returned from a landscape painting adventure in France—her words, not mine—bustled over, interrupting our conversation. “Lucas, my dear, please make sure you get a good full-length picture. I want to do an abstract painting of you and Yve so she can hang it in Dirty Dog. I think it’d be one more touch to make it truly hers.”
When Yve had told me about the contract Colson showed her, I’d been livid. I knew he’d been on some misguided mission to protect me, but he’d almost cost me everything. I hadn’t fired him, though. No, he was now leading a humanitarian project in Botswana for Titan Industries. A few years of going without might knock him back into shape.
And Yve had engineered her own solution to buy Dirty Dog when she’d met with Harriet. She’d refused to take a grant from the NOLA Entrepreneur Fund because she didn’t think they could be objective now that our involvement was public knowledge. Instead, she’d worked out a deal with Harriet where Harriet financed the sale herself, and Yve paid her monthly out of the profits.
Knowing my woman, she’d try to find some way to work even harder to increase those profits and pay it off a few years early. More than anything, I wanted to pay off the loan as a wedding present, but I knew that this was important to Yve, proving that she could do this on her own. As much as it went against my nature not to interfere, I was standing back. Yve was a hell of a businesswoman, and she knew I had her back. Always.
The last loose end I could do nothing to wrap up was Haines’s fiancée, Jennifer. She’d been judged to be mentally incompetent to stand trial, and had been committed to a facility for treatment. Jay hadn’t been the first inmate she’d fixated on, and her family had been trying to track her down for months. They’d also been cooperative in my request to keep us updated if she was ever released.
Yve’s safety was something I would never take for granted, so it made me feel a hell of a lot better that Levi had returned to work at Dirty Dog with Yve and JP. She didn’t consider him her babysitter, and she didn’t bitch at me too much for being an unbendable beast.
I looked down at my watch again. She was late. By two minutes.
“You thinking she’s not going to show,” Lord asked, joining us. He grabbed the drink from my hand and replaced it with another. “Straight whiskey. You’re going to need it if you get stood up at the altar.”
“Thanks,” I drawled.
“Did you leave her a note or something?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“What’d it say?” Con asked.
“Wear the blue dress. Brennan’s at eight,” Levi offered. “I read it.”
I made a mental note that I needed to take his house key and find him a new place to live. ASAP.
Deep, rumbling laughter boomed through the courtyard as Con and Lord both lost their collective shit. “You’re so fucked, man. She’s gonna kill you—if she shows.”
The ma?tre d’ pushed open the door to the courtyard and everyone went silent. Holding their collective breath, no doubt.
Yve stepped through the arched doorway, wearing what she referred to as the Cinderella dress. A smile curved her lips when she spotted me. I’d never take that smile for granted—ever.
When I’d asked her why she’d never worn the Cinderella dress before when it was clearly a favorite of hers, she’d told me she was waiting for a special occasion. I hoped that her wedding would count.
“We’ll leave you to it. I can’t wait to see how you spin this one.” Lord, Con, and Levi each clapped me on the back, then joined the crowd on the far side of the room.