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* * *
“It’s probably not a good idea for you to stay for this.”
“Forget it.” Leo slanted a look down the conference room table to Desree. “Especially when you just told me that you asked Ti to get Grae out of here.”
Desree rolled her eyes. “I can handle Faro.”
“Can you? Giving him that deed is lunacy.”
“It’s the only way to quiet him down.”
“That’s a crock. Faro’s never been trustworthy.” Leo tugged at his shirt cuffs and snorted. “You’re a fool, Des, if you think he only wants that deed as a memento of his father.”
“It’s a chance I’ll have to take.”
“And if it blows up in your face?”
Desree slammed her hand against the table. “Dammit, Leo, what more can I do?”
“Talk to Grae.”
“And you call me a fool?” Desree practically sneered. “Why would you suggest that?”
Leo shrugged. “Should’ve been done long ago.”
“The child’s just blowing a lot of hot air.” Desree fidgeted with the stylishly frayed sleeves of her sweater. “Once he has this—” she reached for the folder containing the land deed to the Clegg Marketing Park “—it’ll be over.”
“Des…” Leo closed his eyes.
“You know how much he thinks of Tielle. For him to do what you’re thinking would hurt her as much as Grae.” She shook her head. “Maybe there’s a part of him that won’t risk that.”
“Desree, no one means as much to Faro as Faro.” Leo swiveled the chair he occupied at the head of the table. “The only reason he settled down when Tielle was in the picture was because he probably thought she could get Grae to step down and let him have the top spot. I believe he thought her attachment to this place—” he extended his hands toward the ceiling “—would have her wanting to come back here and take Grae with her.
“Grae let his drama with Faro blind him to the fact that he was losing his wife. How do you think Ti will react knowing she’d stood up for someone willing to hurt the man she loves this way?”
Desree rested her head in her hands. “You want me to be the one to talk to Grae, but I can’t put that in his head.”
“And if Faro puts it there?” Leo challenged.
Desree sighed. “I just want them all out of here. If giving him this deed has a chance in hell of accomplishing that, then I have to see it through.”
A smile cracked his face then. “You’re one stubborn woman. All right, then. I’ve got no desire to witness what I know is coming, but I’ll be damned if I leave you here to handle it on your own.”
Leo’s voice fell silent just as a knock landed on the conference room door.
“Come in,” Desree called. Her lips thinned as Faro walked inside.
“Got your message, Aunty,” he said. His angular, dark face appeared guarded when he noticed Leo in the room. He greeted the man with a stiff nod then looked to Des with mock expectancy. “Well?” he prompted.
* * *
“Right here.” Tielle pointed toward a paved, tree-lined road while giving Grae directions.
“I remember, Tel.” His voice was quiet. He’d insisted on driving and had barely spoken a word since they’d left the retreat.
Tielle regarded him closer then. Even in profile, he looked rather subdued, and she figured their locale had much to do with that.
They had spent their wedding night at Brunch and Memories. The secluded bed-and-breakfast wasn’t far from Turner Estates and Gardens. The two businesses shared such an easy coexistence, in fact, that all couples who exchanged vows at Turner Estates received a complimentary wedding-night stay at Brunch and Memories as part of their wedding package.
Tielle remembered that she and Grae had so enjoyed the perk that they extended their stay to include two additional nights before jetting off to begin their honeymoon. She felt herself growing a bit more subdued when the B and B came into view.
“I miss you, Tel,” Grae said once he’d parked the SUV and sat looking out at the inviting brick-and-stone structure beyond the windshield.
“I never wanted to go,” she said.
