I didn’t agree to it. I would never agree to it in a million years. Yet, my signature is at the bottom of the last page, mocking me. Not wanting to involve the family, I contacted the IT team to dig into it. They’re good—not as good as Adrian, but I hoped they’d find anything that would explain what’s going on. But after four days, they found nothing. It’s why Mr. J. Tanner, the sender of fucking email, is now on his way to the mountain.
They verified the email came from Tanner’s computer in the contracts department. He was hired a little over three months ago and is assigned to Ronald Snyder’s team. Snyder’s worked for us for at least ten years, with no hint of an issue. So why is there a problem now? In the past, I would have had Snyder figure it out, but my gut’s telling me to keep this quiet.
The dead end forced my hand. I sent our plane to San Francisco to fly him here yesterday without telling my brothers. It will be up to us to figure this out; I’ve put off telling them as long as I can. Adrian is going to kick my butt for not bringing him in as soon as I received the email. I have no excuse why I haven’t either—no good one, anyway.
“I’ve been looking for you. Why are you at your desk so late?” Adrian asks from my office doorway.
I smirk. Apparently, all I have to do is think his name, and he shows up.
“Just some paperwork. What’s up?” I answer, meeting his gaze. Even to me, my voice sounds strained, and my lame excuse causes his eyebrows to pull together.
“I just got a call from the car service we use. Do you want to explain who he picked up from the airport and why? Oh, and he’ll be here in less than an hour.” He strides into my office as he’s speaking and sits in the chair facing my desk.
I curse under my breath as I check the time on my laptop. How have I been sitting here for almost three hours? And fuck, I’m not any closer to an answer than I was before.
After running my hands through my hair, I sigh. “Yeah, I guess I do, but I’d rather just explain once. Can you call a family meeting? I’ll meet everyone in the great room in fifteen minutes.”
The slight parting of his lips and narrowing of his eyes tell me he’s on the verge of asking more questions. Holding up my hand, I stop him. “Don’t make me pull rank. Just do as I ask, please. It’ll all make sense soon.”
Adrian stands and heads out the door. Before he’s fully through the doorway, he turns. “Whatever it is, you know we have your back, right?”
“I know.” I do know. We will always be there for each other, even when one of us does dumb shit—usually Asher, though. Though he’s better since he met Emma. She won’t let him kidnap and interrogate those he finds on the mountain anymore. Thank God. I don’t know how many people we had to pay off to avoid lawsuits. It was getting out of hand.
After Adrian leaves, I print out copies of the last few pages of the Enki paperwork and the email I received from Tanner. As the printer spits out the source of my anger and frustration, I stride over to my office window, staring out at the setting sun. It’ll be dark by the time Tanner arrives. Thinking about him makes me growl. Just when things were going smoothly, this asshole drops a boulder into the calm waters.
Dammit.
I reach for the bottle of bourbon sitting on the nearby table, I pour a shot and down it. The burn of the alcohol sliding down my throat eases a bit of the tension knotting my shoulders. I’ve put this off long enough. It’s time to face my unsuspecting family. With a sigh, I set the glass down and grab the papers from the printer. After striding out of my office, I head toward the great room where they’ll be waiting.
My steps are quiet as I walk down the hallway, leading away from our offices, and toward the main part of the homestead—the main house on our property. None of us live here. At least, not since the fire that took our parents’ lives over ten years ago. We use this more as our Gallant Mountain Headquarters and a place for guests to stay when they visit. Instead, when we came back to the mountain to make it our home, we hired a company to do the basic cabin construction—except Asher. He built his own and has been living here for years.
I still need to decide where I’ll put Mr. Tanner for the night. Maybe I should let Asher have him. He can interrogate him in the woods. I smirk, thinking about it. Ash would love it, especially after they find out what I think Tanner is up to.
From the volume of voices I hear as I reach the end of the hall, I know everyone is waiting for me. They’re curious why I called the meeting. I don’t blame them. We rarely have one these days—there’s been no need for quite a while.
Aaron is leaning against the fireplace when I step into the room. He tips his chin and raises an eyebrow when he sees the papers I’m clutching.
“Thanks for coming on short notice…”
“Not like we had a long trip,” Adam replies with a grin. Rebekah is next to him on the large L-shaped sectional, with Hannah beside her. Aaric is next to Hannah, cradling their baby daughter. Adrian is in one of the larger chairs to the side of the couch, and Asher has Emma on his lap at the other end of the large sofa. As I step in front of the fireplace, Aaron moves to another chair.
“I’m not sure whether Adrian mentioned we’re about to get a visitor,” I begin, meeting all their gazes.
“Who’s coming?” Adrian asks.
“A contract attorney from JNG.” I pass around the papers.
“What is this?” Aaron asks as he reads through the pages. “Wait, what the hell is this addendum?” His gaze meets mine, concern furrowing his eyebrows.
“It’s a problem, is what it is. One I haven’t been able to figure out on my own or with the help of the tech team at JNG.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Adrian asks. Hurt is clear in the thin line of his mouth and his narrowed eyes.
“I should have. If you give me the chance to tell you everything I know, I’ll answer everyone's questions. Okay?”
“Fine,” Adrian huffs. The others just nod and remain silent, their focus shifting from the papers I gave them and my face. I hate having to bring this to them without a solution.
“Okay, so about a week ago, I received an email from a J. Tanner from the contracts department. I know for sure it’s valid and sent from his computer at JNG. He’s been an employee for a couple of months, working under Ronald Snyder.” I watch the expressions on my brothers’ faces as I explain. The women aren’t as familiar with JNG yet.
