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“I know,” she said, keeping the receiver pressed to her cleavage, “but he doesn’t sound so good.”
Grae stroked his beard, muttered a curse and took the phone. “I don’t have time for this,” he told the man on the other end of the line.
Tielle watched Grae handle the call. His responses began harshly and became more so as the call went on. She scooted toward the bed’s edge, intending to give him a little privacy. Grae cradled the phone against his shoulder and dropped his free hand on the covers to block her escape. Moments later, he was reaching over Tielle to slam the phone back to its receiver.
“What was that about?” she managed despite having her breathing substantially stifled by Grae’s weight.
He felt around beneath the bed. Locating the phone cord, he yanked it from the wall socket. “Listen to me next time,” he said.
“What happened?”
“Never mind.” The words were faint. He nuzzled his very nice face between her breasts, ready to continue what they’d started before the call.
Tielle set her hands to his shoulders, pressing with all her strength even though Grae didn’t budge an inch. Finally, she resorted to thumping at the iron wall of his chest.
“Hell.” He rolled his eyes at last, acknowledging the persistent blows. He rolled to his side of the bed, used a forearm to cover his eyes. “Same ol’ crap,” he muttered. “‘Come back, Grae, just for a while. Forget about that nasty business in Canada and get back to making us all that money.’”
“Leo wouldn’t say that.” Tielle propped herself on her elbow and watched him. “What’d he want?” She nodded once a minute of silence had passed without an answer. “Bedtime’s over,” she decided.
Grae stopped her with an arm across her middle. “They want me back. Leo says it won’t be long. Just for the interim until they find somebody.”
“Somebody besides your brother. Leo sounded pretty desperate.”
“Yeah….” Grae dug the heels of his hands into his eyes.
“You know you have to go back.”
“I only know I want to be where you are.”
“I’ll go with you.” She clutched the arm he’d just dropped over her hip.
Grae was already shaking his head. “I don’t want you involved anymore.” He gave her a disbelieving look. “Why would you want to be? Most of ’em didn’t show an ounce of regret when we divorced.”
“I just think you should go back.” She raised a shoulder. “We should be there for the ones who did show regret.” She brushed her thumb at the bend of his elbow. “Right or wrong, you’ve never hidden from a confrontation, never allowed anything to stop you from doing what you thought was best.”
“Like forcing you to walk away from our marriage.”
She smiled. “I said ‘right or wrong.’”
Grae forced a smile through his scowl.
Tielle scooted closer. “No matter how angry you are, you can’t just leave them to fend off Faro and his plans for payback.” Suddenly angered by the thought of it, Tielle flopped to her back and pounded the covers beneath her fists. “He’d probably sell off the company just to spite your father for loving you.”
“What?” Grae’s scowl cleared.
“Well, he’s always been an angry man,” she said matter-of-factly. “That always came through loud and clear. I thought it was just all the stress between you guys, but he’s vengeful, Grae. Are you okay leaving a company you helped to build at the mercy of someone so reckless?”
* * *
Two afternoons later, Leo Cartright looked like a man saved from the grips of a terrible fate when he found Grae in the main conference room.
“I thought they were joking when they said you were here to see me.”
Grae stood and shook the hand Leo offered. “I’m not here for work.”
Leo’s exuberance faded. “But I thought—”
“How soon can we get the board and executive officers assembled?” Grae interrupted.
“Shouldn’t take long. Mostly everyone’s somewhere on the park today. If we hustle…should have everybody here in a couple of hours.”
