“I like it because it is so inconspicuous.” I walked in, the smell of coffee and chocolates from the baked goods filling my nostrils. It was delicious. Heavenly.
I stopped there every time I was in town, and now that I lived there it was more like a daily affair. I’d gotten to know all of the staff quickly.
I stepped up to the cash register and ordered my usual. The barista, Shelly, smiled and waved at me, then at David.
“Two regulars, do you know each other?” she asked as she handed over our coffees.
“We’re getting to know one another,” David said as he shoved a wad full of cash into the tip jar. “I like the table in the corner. It’s quiet. Nice.” He bent down and whispered it into my ear and I felt all the hairs on my head standing on end. I just nodded and followed him towards the back, a hot beverage in my hand.
“Have you made a decision on graduate school?” he asked as we sat down.
“I have, I’m going to send in that leave of absence. I need time no matter what the outcome is. It’s been a trying semester, already and with everything that has happened, I’m behind.” It was the truth. There was no way I could pass my classes with all the assignments and sessions I’d missed.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I remember how excited you were when we met that first time. The look in your eyes said it all.” He sipped his coffee then said, “My family has a way of taking the person you are and twisting it into something you couldn’t even imagine was real.”
It was a truth I felt in the very pit of my soul. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t physically attracted to him, I was. His muscled form and his deep grey-green eyes were enough to keep me interested, but they reminded me of someone else.
Greyson.
“So why are you walking around Inner Harbor?” I asked, happy to change the subject. “I got out of work a little early today, had some errands to run for my father. What about you?”
“Just got back from D.C..” We were both edging around the truth; I could feel it. It was one of those moments when two people try to make what they did sound slightly different than it was. More cheerful, less fear inducing.
“Did you enjoy DC?” he asked.
“It was overwhelming. I’ll be honest, I’m always going to be a Baltimore girl at heart,” I answered.
“Yeah, me too. Well, not a girl, obviously, but I’ll never move over that way. I love this city. It was where I was born and raised. And it’s where I hope to build a good life.” His eyes locked on me and I knew what he was trying to say, what he was trying to ask. He wanted to know if I was going to be a part of that life. If I was going to make my choice.
But he wasn’t pushing, and I could appreciate that. I felt like he was being genuine, and that mattered to me.
“Do you even know him?” David asked.
“What?” I asked as he pulled me out of my trance.
“Greyson. What do you know about him?”
“Astoundingly little, I’m afraid.”
“If you want I can fill you in on the basics.” He glanced at me then his phone which was sitting on the table.
“I dunno,” I said slowly. It was pretty damn tempting. “I don’t think that would be very fair. I haven’t asked him to tell me all about you.”
“It would probably be just as complementary,” he said, his mouth twisted up into a smirk. I had to agree there. “Just, don’t trust him. Or me. Any of us. This isn’t the world you want to get caught up in, Jo.”
“I appreciate your honesty, but I don’t think I have much of a choice,” I admitted. It was the truth, and he knew it. I was already caught up into this world. I’d been born into it. Nothing was going to change that.
“Shit, I’ve got to go. Duty calls,” he said as he looked down at his phone.
Duty. The family. Right.
I kept forgetting exactly what he was. Exactly who he was.
“Thanks for the coffee,” he said as he got up to leave. “I’ll see you around.”
I just nodded and took a sip of my own.
Peace at last.
Chapter Thirteen
Greyson
I stared down at the text on my phone. “I want to talk to you, Greyson. I have questions.” Joanna. She hadn’t send anything else, just that text. It was the only one I’d ever gotten from her.
What kind of questions did she have? What did she know? I bit my lip and put it to the back of my mind.
“Are you present?” my father asked.
I shoved the phone in my pocket and nodded. “I’m here.”
“Good. I need you for this.” Janson was to my right and his father just behind them. The four of us working together wasn’t new, but it hadn’t happened in almost a decade. I’d gone to my father told him I wanted more. That I wanted to be a part of all of the family business.
f*ck
just working at the factory. f*ck
staying out of it. I needed to show him that I could run the companies he wanted. That I could run the family too. No matter what it took.