Page 88 of Not A Whisper

I wasn’t planning on conversing, only listening, but at this, I startle. "Revenge?"

"My father has destroyed families, businesses, and lives... There’re a lot of people who want to see everything around him turn to ash. I'm banking on those same people backing us when I announce that my new bride and I will no longer be affiliated with Garry Gipson and how we will be making strides to better the community in our own way. When my father comes for us—” he waves around gesturing to all of us “—he'll find it'll be difficult to do in his usual ways. No one messes with Garry because of his influence and power—the same will apply to us. Given that he’ll have to use sketchier avenues of retaliation, his attacks may not be as subtle as they normally would be. Hopefully, that will make them easier to see coming or to prevent."

I take my bottom lip between my teeth as I consider this. I’ve known that Grant, Jason, and Trip have been planning their separation from Garry for a while. But I also know that they hadn’t actually banked on pulling away just yet. Are they ready for this? Garry has so much weight in the community, it seems unlikely that—with the swift change of direction these guys have chosen—they would be anywhere near prepared for all the blowback.

“You say money and power but all that belongs to your father.” I point out slowly. “If you announce that you’re distancing yourself from him, won’t the—” I struggle for the right word “—prestigeof your name wane?”

“Nope.” Jason answers this. “Because wedohave money and power. We don’t need Garry’s. The accounts we’ve been hiding are fully accessible now. The shell companies we’ve created under GBN Enterprise, LLC will turn into real companies, with real revenue and will host real employees. Our names will become public, as will all the relationships we’ve been nurturing quietly behind closed doors.”

Trip nods once. “It’ll also boost our show of goodwill and power when we start donating large sums into the community.”He shifts in his seat, his dark glower softening ever so slightly as he talks. “As someone who already owns a small business, it was easy befriending other small business owners. We have a large following just waiting in the wings.”

“We’re doing this together, and we’re going to be loud about it,” Grant adds, pulling my attention back to him. “The four of us will present as a strong front, one even my father will have difficulty contending with.”

“Not that he won’t try,” Trip grumbles.

Grant nods but he holds my gaze. “You’ll be safe under the watchful eyes of the community and with our influence, but that might not be enough. We’ve prepared as best we can, but the added relationship status was another line of defense.”

Jason’s hand lands on my thigh. “Now you’re stuck with us, ’til death do us part, dollie.”

I knock his hand away.

“I think between the four of us,” I lower my voice, holding his gaze intently, “I’m the one quite capable of making surethathappens sooner rather than later.”

I can’t saythat after our conversation I’m any less angry with them. But as I consider their reasoning, I have to admit that at least their motivations were decent. Knowing how they are, this could’ve turned out to be some cruel prank. They’re right, of course. If they’d come to me suggesting marriage, I would’ve turned it down. Even with all this information, I still would’ve laughed and suggested a different path.

Becausemarriageis simply way too serious and binding.

Though this weekend has been fun, and things between us seem to have fallen into place perfectly, I can’t forget that Grantjustbroke off his engagement. And there’s the factthat the guys have been avoiding me for weeks. That, too, was under the guise of protecting me. Weirdly enough, we swung from one extreme to the next in that department. On top of all of this, they’d moved inthisweekend. We don’t even know if we’ll like each other once we’re around each other all the time.

So much could go wrong, and if it does? Then what?

I fall into silence, settling in to think about all of this on the trip home. As I stare out the window, contemplating everything, my mind goes in a completely different direction. How am I going to tell Pianna?

Stiffening, I turn to look back at the guys.

Jason reaches out again, his hand landing back on my thigh to squeeze it reassuringly. I find that Grant is already watching me, his expression shuttered and unreadable. Trip’s head is tilted back, and his eyes are closed.

“We need to talk about what you expect from me in regard to this arrangement,” I start, my voice strained as stress works its way up my spine. “But before that, I need something from all of you and you owe me bigtime, so it's not a request, it's an order.”

Trip’s eyes open slowly as he lowers his head to regard me suspiciously. Grant mirrors the look. Only Jason nods eagerly.

“Whatever you want, dollie.”

I swallow down resentment. “Pianna can’t find out about this, ok?”

This is obviously not what they expected. Trip scoffs and Grant’s brows pinch together, confused by the request.

“You don’t want to tell your best friend you’re married?” Jason shakes his head. “Why not?”

“Because she’s currently planning her own wedding and if she hears about how this went down, she might call it off or do something super small to make me feel like I haven’t lost out on the thing we’ve both been looking forward to our whole lives.Between the two of us,oneof us deserves to go through the motions of putting together their dream wedding. Don’t ruin this for her.” Swallowing, I add begrudgingly, “Also, I may have ragged on her for having a quick engagement. If she finds out that I got married before her, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Something flashes in Grant’s eyes as his brows slowly unfurrow. Could it be shame? Regret? Before I can pinpoint it, the emotion is tucked away behind a carefully crafted mask of indifference.

“As you wish,” he concedes.

Jason hums, unconvinced. “You don’t think she’ll be more upset if she finds out later?”

A sickly sweet smile pulls at my lips. “Hopefully by the time she finds out, I can show her the divorce papers.”

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