Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“This should be amusing.” Luca takes his wife’s hand. “But I could definitely eat. She has to understand that Ralavia must remain neutral in this war. I’m sorry. We have good relations with Sweden.”
“Oh, I’ll work on that,” Anika vows.
Heath and Ivy along with Patrick and Jeremiah follow, and suddenly Reid and I are alone.
I squeeze his hand. He’s less happy than I would expect, but I’m sure he’s worried about how this whole thing will go. “CeCe really will take care of it.”
“He could go to jail,” Reid says. “The crime of lying on a police report is punishable by one year in jail, and if it’s considered bad enough, up to seven years in a federal pen. I can’t. He won’t survive in there.”
He’s panicking. “I think that’s for filing a false report or lying about critical information when it comes to a serious crime. Lawyer will point out that this is Jeremiah’s first offense and he’s clean and sober and willing to help others do the same. You might have to write a big check, but there’s no way they send him to jail. You didn’t use insurance to pay for the other car.”
“I did it myself to avoid insurance fraud,” he admits. “Harper, I know this means Britta can’t force her way into my life anymore, but it’s still a scandal. If she takes this fight to the press, I likely won’t be able to work in TV for a while. I’ll have all the problems I had before.”
I’m going to have to play a role I never thought I would play. Sunshine. My grump is anxious and needs some optimism. The good news? I’m feeling optimistic. “Then we’ll figure them out. Together.”
I go up on my toes and brush my lips over his.
“Together,” he promises.
“Hey, what’s this about some viral video with your brother?” Tom, the director, has his hands on his hips and looks ready to face Armageddon. “If this is another sex tape, I quit.”
Poor Tom. He thought he was doing a staid little reno show and he got us. “It’s him admitting he swapped places with his brother after an accident because he was super drunk and likely high and then he got blackmailed by a supermodel.”
A long sigh comes from Tom. “Finally something normal. All right. Carry on.”
I can’t help but laugh.
“We should get to the war room then,” Reid offers.
I let him lead me out, but I wonder deep down if he’ll ever be truly happy working at Ross Construction.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“So now this Swedish chick is threatening to sue, but the lawyer says it’s all a smoke screen because once she sees the evidence Jeremiah has, she’ll drop it.”
I’m sitting in the boardroom in the Ross Construction office, surrounded by cousins who are treating me like a rock star. Who would have guessed all it took was dating a reality TV star and getting mired in scandal to become popular in my family? Although I should note that popular doesn’t mean they like me.
“It sounds messy,” Aunt Helen says with a disdainful sniff.
“That’s what we’re hoping.” Reid sits beside me. “The lawyers seem to think this isn’t something we should worry about.”
It’s weeks later and Jeremiah has already made his peace with the police. He pled to a misdemeanor, paid his fine, and is doing PSAs about drinking and driving. He’s so at peace and staying at Patrick’s place in Brooklyn when he’s not traveling. Reid’s at my place. Again, when he’s not taking meetings since surprise surprise, no one is blackballing the Dorsey brothers. They’re actually hotter than ever and have several companies vying for their next show.
Which Reid claims won’t happen since he’s staying here with me. He’s only taking the meetings for Jeremiah’s sake. He plans to leave the show to him and sit here in an office and waste all of his talent.
It’s making me crazy. I can’t convince him to leave me. Or that we can manage long distance for a while.
“Margie, I don’t even know how you’re dealing with this.” Helen pats my mother’s hand, and I can see my mom nearly preen under the attention.
“Well, I for one am shocked.” My mom makes her presence known. Not that she needs to be here for the meeting. She doesn’t have stock in the company, but she does like to bring cookies and sit in judgment of everyone. It’s what she lives for. “I guess I suspected someone who acts as nice as Jeremiah Dorsey would be upstanding.” She blushes slightly as she turns Reid’s way. “No offense meant, of course. And you turn out to be the loyal one. I wouldn’t have expected that. I’m honestly shocked you’re here. I would have thought you would have moved on once the job was over.”
I barely manage to not roll my eyes. I want this meeting complete so Reid and I can figure out what we want to do.