Page 25 of Forsaking All Others

There’s something about his tone that jars me, but I ignore it.

“Come on, man, you know me better than that. I’ll fund everything, I just need Holly to get it off the ground and work her magic. She’s the only reason H & M succeeded in the past and if we hadn’t gotten divorced, we probably would’ve expanded.”

He narrows his eyes and again I get that feeling that something is off with him.

“So she would work for you?”

I really didn’t plan on answering questions. Colt is an easy-going guy, I thought I’d just drop a couple of crumbs and he can work the rest of that shit out with Holly. I roll with it, though.

“No, man, I’m just the bank, we go fifty-fifty with that shit. There ain’t gonna be much start up costs seeing as I got the lot on the compound and a bunch of prospects eager to prove their worth. All we need is a trailer for Holly’s office and I already got someone working on that.”

“You want to do this at your clubhouse?” he questions, taking another pull of his beer.

“That a problem?”

He shakes his head.

“It’s Holly’s decision,” he says, tipping the neck of his beer toward me. “Run it by her, see what she says. She was kind of spooked last night when I told her I needed to start looking for a new job. Told me she was gonna go get a job at the fucking supermarket.”

Schooling my features, I bite the inside of my cheek.

“That bad?”

“I honestly don’t know. Gary is downsizing the fleet which means my hours are getting cut. We’d be fine if it weren’t for the fucking mortgage on this place.”

Clearing my throat, I lean back and drape my arm over the empty stool next to me. I’ve been wanting to call him out on forcing Holly’s hand to sell our house since they sold it, but I keep my mouth shut and focus on getting what I need from him.

“Gary’s downsizing,” I repeat. “Well, that fucking blows.”

His brows draw together and just like that, I’ve got my opening.

“Gary owes me a couple of favors and a friend of mine up north is in a jam. A really fucking big jam too because he’s paying me three hundred grand to get him out of it, but with Gary out of the game, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to deliver.”

I cock my head to the side as Colt lets out a low whistle. A man who spent all night worrying his wife on how they’re going to pay their bills is desperate to make money—maybe even desperate enough not to care where that money comes from.

“That’s a lot of green,” he mutters.

“Yeah, you ain’t kidding.”

“Where does Gary come into play?”

I weigh my options for a moment, trying to configure how much I should reveal. If I can trust this man when it comes to my family, I can trust him with my business, right?

“Well, I need a truck—one that’s already routed with merchandise to New York.”

“You’re transporting something to New York.”

It’s not a question so I remain silent.

“Are you looking for someone to drive your shit up there or are you looking to hide it?”

I cock my head to the side.

“What do you think?’

He considers the question.

“Both.”

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