Restraint - Adriana Locke Page 0,89
in her life or to fix her problems. What Wade said is true—she chose me to be a part of her life because she wants me.
And I made her think I didn’t want her.
Dammit.
The door cracks open, and Rosie pushes her head around the corner.
“If you boys are going to make it to the Landry offices, you need to get going,” she says. “You don’t want to be late.”
“Thank you, Rosie,” Oliver calls.
“Of course. And Boone called and said that none of you are answering your phones and that he will meet you there.” She rolls her eyes. “He gave me an excuse, but it was garbage. So lord knows what he was doing.”
“Thanks, Rosie,” Wade says.
She gives us a little wave and disappears behind the door.
We all take a deep breath and look at one another.
“You guys ready to do this?” Oliver asks.
“Yup,” Wade says.
“I am,” I say.
We stand and grab our briefcases and keys.
I glance at my watch as we take the elevator to the parking lot. I calculate how long it will take to seal this deal. If we can get it done within a few hours, I can still make a flight out of Savannah and be in Chicago tonight.
I need to go to her, but I need to be here for my family too. I have a responsibility to them. They’re counting on me. If it wasn’t for them—if it were for anyone else or anything else—I’d be gone.
As soon as this is over, I’m going straight to the airport.
My brain spins as we exit the elevator and head to our cars.
I have no idea what Blaire will say if I just show up at her apartment. Maybe she won’t even entertain a conversation with me. If she does, I still don’t know how any of this will work out between us.
We still live a thousand miles apart.
All I know is that I have to try. Because she’s the one—the only one I’ve ever wanted to fight for. The only woman who makes my life more uncomplicated by being a part of it.
I stop at my driver’s side door and wait for my brothers to catch up.
“Do you guys want to ride with me?” I ask.
They look at each other. I know something is amiss when Oliver smiles and Wade shakes his head as if he’s in disbelief.
“Go on,” Oliver says. “We got this.”
I furrow my brow. “Go on where? You got what?”
Wade rests his hand on my shoulder. “I think this is ridiculous, and that you’d be much better off in life being alone. But I can see that you think otherwise. So, in your best interest and probably not ours, I think you should go to Chicago now.”
“What? You’re crazy. We have a meeting with Graham in thirty minutes.”
Oliver winks. “We know. Trust me. But I’m going to have to fight myself from punching you in the face every time you do that little exasperated sigh that you’ve been doing for the past two days.”
I look at my brothers to see if they’re serious. “We’re in this together. I’m not going to bail on you guys.”
“We know you’re not,” Wade says, opening my door for me. “You’ve killed yourself for months to get this thing in order. You’ve gone above and beyond and are the only person I know who could’ve pulled this off. Because we are going to pull this off. I have no doubts. You’ve done your job. Now let us do ours.”
“But …” I stammer.
“Trust us like we trust you,” Wade says.
“Can I just point out how nice it would be if we had a jet? Because you could get to Chicago so much faster.” Oliver looks back and forth between us. “What? I thought it was a good point.”
I don’t know what to say. Sure, I’d rather skirt off to Chicago—in a private jet if I had one—and find Blaire and put an end to my personal misery. Or try to. But they can’t really expect me to leave them high and dry.
“Go,” Oliver insists. “I like being in charge anyway.”
“Fuck you,” Wade says. “I’ll be the one calling the shots today.”
Oliver groans. “I’m the joint CEO of this company. You are the head of the architectural division. I outrank you.”
“Then do it without my drawings, genius.”
Oliver looks at me and rolls his eyes. “We’ll figure it out. But you need to go. I heard there’s a ticket for you for the twelve thirty flight.”
“I don’t know what to