Page 140 of The Play

“Yeah?” Grant glanced up, mind already whirling through all the things he needed to do before he confronted Cheryl. He’d hoped that she’d email and demand they set a conference call to discuss the interview—he’d known she’d be pissed and make noise about it—but he hadn’t expected her to show up. And today.

“It’s a great article. Great interview.”

Grant smiled. “You said that already, when you read it two days ago. You vetted every line of it, didn’t you?”

Darcy and Nicole had gone through the whole thing. And honestly, they’d brought him barely any changes. Grant’s gut feeling about Marlene had proven to be right. She’d been the perfect choice. Tough on them, but not digging for sensationalistic gossip, either.

Even the two lines they’d been unsure about, he’d told Darcy and Nic to leave in, because if the whole thing felt too curated and kindhearted, then it would lose its impact.

“We did, but I just still wanted to say it. And that I’m proud of you. I know it wasn’t easy to take this path, but you did it anyway.”

“I’m not one for hiding.”

“But not one for sharing your feelings with the masses, either,” Darcy pointed out wryly. “And you did that, anyway.”

Grant set his elbows on the desk. “You were right. But then you usually are.”

He’d been considering several different ways to show Darcy just how much he appreciated her—and the one he was leaning towards . . .well, she wouldn’t expect it. And she’d probably turn it down, at least initially. But he’d fight her on it, because she was too smart to keep waiting on him and doing his bidding. She deserved to have a whole fleet of PAs catering to her every whim.

And, extra bonus, it would free him up to focus more on the product development side of InTech—and also on the Condors, which had become so much more than a passion project and a way to save Deacon from the demons determined to swallow him whole.

Grant had discovered he actually loved owning the team, and not just because of the man who played on it.

“Thank you for that,” Darcy said with a dimpled smile. “Any other times you want to tell me I’m right, feel free.”

“I intend to,” Grant said. Little did she know, too.

“Just let me know when you’re ready. I’ll be in my office,” Darcy said, turning to walk out.

Thirty-six minutes later when the two of them walked into the conference room together, Grant had difficulty reining in his own smug expression when Cheryl looked up, frowning.

“I don’t expect to be kept waiting here like an employee,” Cheryl complained.

“You showed up without an appointment,” Darcy said, her tone still cordial but her smile baring her teeth as they took seats across from her.

“You had to expect that we’d be concerned about this article,” Cheryl pointed out, sliding the printed pages across the smooth wood surface of the table.

“Concerned means you contact us and ask to have a call,” Grant said firmly. “Not just show up at our facility and demand to be seen.”

Cheryl leaned back in her chair and sniffed. “I suppose if we were less concerned that you’d lied to us about your involvement with Deacon Harris, a call would have sufficed.”

“Cut the shit,” Darcy broke in. “You’re not ‘concerned’ or anything else. You came here to act like we’re in the mud, but we’re not.”

“You’re not?”

“We’re not,” Grant said. “Remember that investigation I asked you to perform to discover the culprit leaking my private emails to the press?”

Cheryl barely blinked. He’d give her credit for that, at least. Even with the teeth of the trap about to close around her, she still seemed unconcerned.

“I ask you to remember,” Grant continued, “because it didn’t seem to me like there was actually any investigation happening at all. Every time Darcy inquired about one, you brushed her off. Said you’d taken care of it. But when I asked if anyone had been let go from the commissioner’s office, from your office, I was told that nobody had.”

“We didn’t find anything.”

“You didn’t find anything because you didn’t bother looking,” Grant said inexorably.

“That’s not true,” Cheryl complained. “And I didn’t come here to be abused like this. You’re the one who should be under investigation. For lying to our office about being involved with Deacon Harris.”

“When I told you I wasn’t involved with Deacon Harris, I wasn’t involved with Deacon Harris. If you’d read the article, you’d see our relationship is a new development.”

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