Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
"Before you go…I'm heading to San Diego for a few days."
My brows furrow as I turn a frown on him. "Why? I thought you were dealing with locating suppliers."
"Oliver is taking care of it. Wyatt called. His unit is being sent out on a mission." Tryst sighs. "He needs someone to watch Thanos until Aunt Cadence and Uncle Walker get back from Europe."
"Shit," I mutter, scrubbing a hand through my hair. Wyatt is a SEAL. He brought a retiring bomb dog, Thanos, home from his last mission. The dog has PTSD and can't be boarded, so Tryst usually brings him here to stay when Wyatt gets called up. "Where's he heading?"
"Classified," Tryst says, his expression grim.
I sigh heavily. "Take whatever time you need. We'll handle shit here."
"Thanks." He holds his fist out to bump mine. "Just do me a favor and don't fuck things up with Constance before I get back. I'm going to be pissed if she quits while I'm gone."
"She isn't fucking quitting."
"She better not."
By late afternoon, I've tracked down and run my plan by most of my cousins. They were all on board. Miriam even clued me in that Uncle Nathan did something similar for Aunt Brooke before they got married to ensure she always knew she had a home here, not just as his wife but because she belonged here.
I'm guessing he won't have a problem with me doing the same thing for Constance, but I won't make a decision that belongs to everyone without their input, too. I don't get to make a unilateral decision about a company that belongs to the entire family.
I call Jareth on the short walk to my parents' house to run it by him. The late afternoon sun beats down directly overhead, and I instantly regret making this walk in a suit. I strip out of my jacket, flinging it over my arm.
"Why are you calling me?" Jareth asks as soon as he answers.
"Hello to you too."
"I'm trying to get Zoya pregnant. You're fucking up the program."
I chuckle, not really surprised he's already on a mission to get her pregnant. I think he was on that mission as soon as he met her. But now that she's finished with school and she has his ring on her finger, he's moving full steam ahead.
"You'd better get through the wedding first. Knox will kill you if another of his daughters ends up pregnant before she's married."
"Why the fuck do you think I'm trying to make this wedding happen at the speed of light?" he grunts into the phone. "He likes me. I'm not fucking that up before we even say, 'I do'."
"Smart choice." Knox Mikhail is a goddamn Russian giant who loves his daughters beyond reason. I would not want to be on the man's bad side.
"Why are you calling me?" my twin asks again.
"I need a favor."
"If I agree to whatever it is, will it get you off my phone faster?" he sighs, exasperated.
"I want to give Constance my shares of the winery, effectively making her co-owner with the rest of you."
"What?"
"Before you say no, I'm marrying her," I growl. "But before I can do that, I need to not be her boss. This is the best way to accomplish that."
"We've never taken on a partner."
"Yes, we have. Uncle Nathan did the same thing with Aunt Brooke."
"Wait, really? When?"
"Before they got married."
"I didn't know that."
"Me either. I just talked to Miriam. I guess Aunt Brooke grew up in foster care, and he wanted to make sure she knew she had a place here, so they added her as a co-owner of the winery before they got married. It was his engagement gift to her."
"Huh. Did Constance grow up in foster care or something?"
"No. But it's complicated."
"Her family situation?"
"Our situation."
"Ah," he says, a smile in his voice. "She told you to fuck right off when you asked her to marry you, didn't she?"
"No," I snap. "I haven't asked her yet."
"Why the fuck not? You scared she'll tell you to fuck right off?" When I don't respond, he stops laughing. "Damn. You really are worried about it, aren't you?"
"I'm currently her boss."
"So?"
"She can't marry her boss. It's a whole thing." I pinch the bridge of my nose, pausing halfway between my house and my parents' place. "Do you want an explanation, or do you want to get your fiancée pregnant?"
"Good point. Do whatever you want. I'll sign off on it." He chuckles again. "Especially if you're jumping through all these hoops just to get her to marry you."
"As if you didn't do the same for Zoya." He relocated to Tennessee just after the New Year, so they wouldn't be half a country away while she finished school. He's spent the last several months working with a whiskey distillery there on our new whiskey.
"Damn right I did," he growls. "And you know what? I don't fucking regret it."