Taming the Moguls (25 page)

Gretchen felt twenty shades a fool for
believing they had a future. Tommy had never been alone. He’d
admitted he’d had plenty of sex in the last ten years. She didn’t
know why she was so surprised to find someone waiting for him with
open arms. When the phone rang again, she shoved her arms through
the hotel’s robe and stomped over to the nightstand between the two
double beds. His name flashed on the screen, and she almost let it
go into voice mail again. Almost.

“Hello?” she said as if she didn’t know he
was on the line.

“Where the hell have you been?” Tommy
demanded. “I’ve called you, like, five times in the last hour.”

“I was in the shower.”

“For an hour?”

“What do you want?”

“Other than you here with me, in my bed, in
my arms? I don’t know. Maybe a pizza.”

She let out a sarcastic chuckle.

“What’s wrong? Why are you acting this
way?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do
with the busty blonde who jumped you as soon as you got out of your
truck at the restaurant. Is there a girlfriend you forgot to
mention?”

“Busty blonde?” Tommy sputtered before he
cackled. “Oh, she’s going to hate that.”

“I don’t think this is funny.”

“You’re going to think it’s funny when I tell
you the busty blonde is my sister.”

“Olivia?” Gretchen felt twenty shades a fool
for being jealous. “I thought she was in Denver.”

“She was. She figured out I’d gone missing
and drove down. I’ve already talked to Jack. He’s got a call into a
firm in Chicago. I’m waiting to hear from one of their
attorneys.”

“Tonight? It’s after eight in Chicago.”

“I told you Jack has pull.”

“Yes, you did.” Gretchen fell back onto the
bed and flung a hand over her face. “I’m sorry about what I said. I
should have trusted you.”

“There’s no one but you. Even if there had
been someone else in the picture, she’d be gone. When are you
coming out? I want you to meet Olivia.”

“She’s there?”

“She’s spending the night. She’ll head back
in the morning.”

“I don’t want to impose,” Gretchen said.

“You won’t be imposing. Besides, it would be
great if you were here when the attorney calls. How soon can you
get here?”

She felt the ends of her wet hair. “Maybe an
hour.”

“Hurry. I’ll have the pizza ready when you
arrive.”

“Tommy?” She waited until he hummed in her
ear. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

“I kinda like that you were jealous. I love
you, too. Now hurry up.”

Gretchen made it to Tommy’s house in under an
hour. She was let inside by the busty blonde with bright blue eyes
and a porn-worthy body. No wonder she’d been envious.

“You must be Gretchen?” Olivia said. “I’m
Tommy’s sister, the busty blonde.”

Gretchen closed her eyes as her cheeks
flooded with heat. “I’m sorry about that. He shouldn’t have told
you.”

“I’ve been called worse, believe me.” She
reached for Gretchen’s hands and squeezed. “I’m so glad to meet
you.”

“You, too. Tommy speaks very highly of
you.”

Olivia cocked her head to the side. “Tommy
has never spoken of you until today, which makes me curious. Can
you fill in some of the blanks?”

Gretchen’s stomach clenched. “I suppose that
depends on what he’s told you.”

“Virtually nothing except that you were
together in college. You broke up—he won’t say why—and now you’re
here and back together.”

“That about covers it.”

“Okay, okay,” Olivia said. “I suppose you’re
going to have to get to know me better before you confide in me.
Whatever the story, I’ve never seen Tommy like this. He’s happy,
optimistic, and excited about something other than work. I’ve never
seen him in love. It looks good on him.”

“I love him. Your brother is…He’s a very good
man.”

“One of the best.”

“I understand you’ve got yourself a keeper in
Denver?”

Olivia’s smile lit up the room. What was it
about love that gave people that inner glow? Did Gretchen have it,
too? Would Robert and Elise or Alex see that she’d fallen in love?
“Oh, yes. I’ve got a keeper. I’ll tell you all about him after I
take you to Tommy. He’s on the phone with the attorney, and he
wanted to know as soon as you got here.”

She led Gretchen through the foyer and into a
den with a massive stone fireplace, beamed ceiling, and large
leather furniture before turning down a hallway. She knocked on a
closed door. “Gretchen’s here,” she said before twisting the
handle.

Tommy sat behind a wooden desk with carved
legs and waved Gretchen in with a smile. “Hang on a second, Peter.”
He cupped a hand over the receiver. “We’ll be right out,
Olivia.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said before closing
the door.

“Hi.” Gretchen drank in the sight of him.
He’d showered and shaved, and he looked so breathtakingly handsome
in his oatmeal-colored sweater sitting behind the desk with the
world at his fingertips. That was how she’d always imagined him:
casually successful and the king of his universe—a universe she
wanted desperately to be a part of.

“I’m talking to the attorney. Do you have a
copy of your custody agreement?”

“At home. Why?”

“He thinks we’ve got a good case, but he’ll
need to see the agreement.”

“I could ask Elise to run by the house,”
Gretchen said.

“Could she get it to him by tomorrow?”

“Probably.”

He winked and lifted his hand from the
receiver. “She’s got a copy at home. It shouldn’t be a problem to
get it to you tomorrow. I’ll work on getting the witnesses lined
up.”After a few more comments, Tommy hung up. “Jack’s a lifesaver.”
He stood, walked around the desk, and drew her into his arms. “Hi.”
He fit his mouth over hers. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. I like your sister.”

“Me, too. I’ll let you get to know her in
just a minute.” He ducked his head and kissed her again, that time
with purpose.

“What witnesses were you talking about?” she
asked when he pulled back.

“Peter Barnes, the attorney Jack connected me
with, thinks we’ve got a strong case for termination of parental
rights.”

Gretchen shed her coat and tossed it over a
wingback chair. She shook her head. “Ryan will never agree to
that.”

“He hasn’t seen his son in almost nine years.
According to Peter, even though he’s made his child support
payments, his failure to show a reasonable amount of interest or
concern in his child’s welfare constitutes grounds for
termination.”

“But he wants to see him now. Did you tell
him?”

“Yes. I also told him he raped you and that
he’s under investigation for sex with a minor.”

“How do we prove that?”

“He said he’d get someone on the current
charges in the morning. I’m going to work on witnesses to testify
about what happened when he raped you.”

“What witnesses?”

“My mother and your father.”

“What makes you think they’ll do it? It’s
been ten years. They want nothing to do with Alex or me. Why would
they testify?”

“Let me worry about that, okay? We need to
get back to Chicago and get this in motion. I’ve got us booked on a
flight the day after tomorrow. Does that work?”

“Yes. I spoke to Robert. He’s mulling over
the smaller development. He really wanted two hotels, but I think
he’ll settle for one. He said he’d have an answer for me in the
morning.”

“Perfect. I’ve got to wrap some stuff up here
with work before we go to Chicago. I’ll call a meeting of STS, and
hopefully we can get this thing settled before we go.”

“Did the attorney think we can stop Ryan
before he takes him for the holidays?”

“Peter thinks that with the current charges
levied against Ryan, it shouldn’t be a problem. There’s one more
thing.” Tommy put his hands on her shoulders. “Termination of
parental rights cases are more inclined to proceed when another
person’s willing to adopt. That other person should be a
spouse.”

Gretchen’s hopes dashed. “Obviously I don’t
have a spouse.”

“That’s easy enough to change.” Tommy
caressed the sides of her neck. “Gretchen, I love you. I want to
spend the rest of my life with you. Let’s not waste another day,
and just do it. Let’s get married.”

An entire nest of bees buzzed in Gretchen’s
stomach. “Are you serious? You haven’t even met Alex yet.”

“The sooner we’re married, the sooner we can
file the adoption papers. It’ll make the whole process run
smoother. I’ve already checked online. Both Colorado and the
greater Chicago area provide no-wait marriage certificates. I
assume you’ll want Alex present, so Chicago makes the most
sense.”

She grabbed her head and spun around. “This
is crazy. It’s too fast. You can’t adopt a child you haven’t
met.”

“People adopt children all the time they’ve
never met.”

“He’s not an infant. He’s ten! I don’t even
know how he’s going to react to all this.”

“He’s a ten-year-old boy who’s never had a
father. I think he’ll be pretty excited once the shock wears
off.”

“Of course he’ll be excited, but…I just…” She
faced him. She had to be honest. Neither of them would tolerate
anything less. “I’m afraid when the dust settles, you’re going to
regret this.”

“Gretchen—”

“No, listen to me. I’m not the same person I
was ten years ago, and neither are you. A shotgun wedding without a
child is taking a big risk. With a child you don’t know, it feels
like we’re destined to fail. I can’t bring you into his life—into
my life—and lose you again. I don’t think I’d survive, and it
wouldn’t be fair to Alex.”

“Honey, I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled
her into his arms. “What I feel for you I’ve never felt for anyone.
You’re right; we’re both different people. We get to fall in love
all over again.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “Yes, there’s
going to be an adjustment for all of us. I’m prepared to be patient
and understanding and totally flexible after we do whatever it
takes to get Ryan out of the picture for good. Marriage and a
couple of legal filings are the first steps.

“You don’t have to answer me right this
second,” he said. “Take some time, have dinner, get to know Olivia,
and then we’ll talk.” He kissed her lips and tried to lead her to
the door, but she didn’t budge. “Gretch?”

“Yes,” she said after taking a couple of deep
breaths.

“Yes, what?”

Summoning every ounce of courage in her
heart, she said, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

“You don’t want to think about it?”

“With the understanding that you can back out
at any time before we say ‘I do,’ then yes. I can’t imagine wanting
anything more than spending the rest of my life with you. We’ve
lost too much time already.”

“It was stolen,” he said. “We’re taking it
back.”

She nodded. “I love you, Tommy, but I mean
it. If you change your mind at any time—”

“I’m not going to change my mind. Our life
together starts now.”

Chapter 49

Patrick Garrity stood outside the brewery
wearing a thick denim coat, a dirty baseball cap, and a smug smile.
Tommy watched him leer at Gretchen as she got out of the rental car
and approached the door. She and Patrick exchanged a few words, he
held the door open for her, and he stared at her ass as she went
inside.

For that alone, Tommy would make him pay. He
and Gretchen had agreed to take separate cars even though Tommy
planned to step down as leader of STS. The development at Bear
Stream would either fail or pass. He didn’t give two damns one way
or the other anymore. Gretchen would earn her stripes with Holcomb
and earn the respect of the citizens of the valley if she could
sell them on the compromise.

Tommy got out of his truck and moseyed up to
Garrity. “Patrick.” Tommy yanked the zipper on his jacket up a
notch.

“You got a minute to talk before the meeting
starts?” Patrick asked.

“Sure.” If Tommy hadn’t expected the move, he
would have been curious why Patrick was ushering him along the
sidewalk and away from the brewery.

“I figured out why you wanted me to stop
digging in Lowry’s past. Your upstanding guy routine didn’t hold
water once we started looking.”

He regretted Patrick’s discovery only because
it would make Gretchen’s work even harder. “We know each other.
It’s none of your business. Besides, I’m—”

“Know each other?” Patrick flung his head
back and let out a hacking laugh. “That’s a good one.”

“I’m stepping down from STS. Obviously
there’s a conflict of interest and my objectivity’s in
question.”

“Why didn’t you tell us your stepsister works
for Holcomb?”

Stepsister? Garrity was not only stupid but
lazy. If he’d dug a little deeper, he would have discovered the
truth. Oh, well, Tommy thought. He’d figure it out soon enough. “We
lost touch. I was as surprised as anyone when she showed up in
town.”

“How do we know you haven’t been working both
sides all along? You’ll benefit more than most if the development
goes through.”

Or he could lose one or more of his
businesses when the competition came to town. “You don’t, which is
why I’m stepping down. Do yourself a favor and hear her out. She’s
got Holcomb’s ear and the power to negotiate on his behalf.”

Patrick poked Tommy’s chest. “This feels like
a setup.”

Tommy fisted his hands at his sides. He would
let it go; he had bigger things to worry about than Garrity’s
temper. “It’s not. I’ve lived in this valley a long time, and so
has my family. I’ve made my home here, my life. I’ve worked side by
side with you and everyone else to fight the overdevelopment of
Bear Stream, along with hundreds of other projects, to protect our
way of life. If you’re willing to throw all of that out of the
window because of some coincidence, go right ahead, but put your
pride aside and listen to what she says. The valley and everyone
who’s given you their trust deserve for you to listen.”