Men Of Honor Eric - Jordan Silver Page 0,5

know I was coming, but I was sure that you’d be here overseeing things instead of sitting behind your desk like a fat cat. You’re damn near a billionaire now, Eric, you don’t have to be so hands-on.”

We smacked palms and turned to look at what progress the guys had made in the last few days. “We’re coming in on time or just a little under.”

“As usual! Er…” Grey scratched the back of his head, looking uncomfortable for a second, something I have never seen him be in all the years I’ve known him.

The guy could buy and sell me a few times as down to earth as he is. I’ll never forget the first time we met. Not only because it was the moment my life had changed but because I’d seen in him what I someday wanted to be. He was moneyed, sure, but with a laid back attitude and a no-nonsense way about him even at his young age.

I’d been helping out another contractor at the time since things were so scarce on my end. It was only a few months since the divorce, and I was now finally crawling my way back out of the hole I’d gone into. It hadn’t taken me long on the job to realize that the guy I was working for was one of those cut corners types, and I’d lit into him for it.

We were working on a hotel, after all, a place where people would be coming and going, and the shit he was doing was way too dangerous. His answer was that the stuff that was needed was too expensive for his budget, and what he was using would hold up for at least five to ten years, at which time if shit went wrong, it would no longer be his problem.

I think I saw red that day. I couldn’t get over the fact that someone would be so cavalier about human life. I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him and threatened to go to the owner with my complaints, something he did not take lightly. He threw out a few threats of his own that day, none of which fazed me one bit. I was over assholes like him, period.

Unbeknownst to us, Grey had pulled up and had overheard the whole thing. When Tom, the contractor, saw him walking towards us, he was all smiles. Grey had ignored him and walked straight to me. “Is what you just said true?”

“Yes, every word.”

“Who are you?” I explained who I was, that I owned my own construction company yadda-yadda, and before I knew it, Grey was telling Tom to get his crew off his site, then turned to me and said ‘I’ll give you four days to get your team together to finish the job. Do you think you can handle it?’

I damn near shit myself that day I was so excited. My mind hadn’t gone to the money I’d make but to the fact that if I got my name connected to one of this guy’s buildings, things could only go up from there. It was days later when I saw what I would be making and damn near had a heart attack.

Since then, we’ve built three more hotels together, and I’ve gotten many more significant projects through his word of mouth, something I can never repay him for in this lifetime. But now he was acting out of character. “What’s up? Something on your mind? Something wrong with what the guys are doing here?”

“No-no, it’s nothing like that, um, when last have you heard from your ex?”

“Janine? She called me earlier: why?” He and her husband are in some of the same clubs as far as I remember and have played golf together a time or two in the past.

“I heard from my wife that she’s planning some shit.”

“Planning what? What’re you talking about?” He shrugged his shoulders and looked away. I could tell he had more to say.

“I’m not sure what she has planned, but my wife was pretty upset about it. Keep a close eye is all I’m saying.” He’d barely got the words out before I was walking back to my car.

“I’ll see you later,” I called over my shoulder.

“Good man!” I heard him say with a grin as I started jogging in my three thousand dollar suit.

Justine

I rolled over in bed and stared up at the ceiling, still wearing a stupid smile on my face. As I stretched,