Page 118 of My Silver Lining

Nothing about that appealed to me.

“Nope. Not quite there yet. But she made me a special bracelet, and the clasp snapped during the pickleball accident last night. I don’t want to tell Lulu while she’s away, and I was hoping to get it fixed.”

“Of course, he’ll be happy to fix it. Do you have it here?”

I reached into my pants pocket and pulled it out because I brought it with me, hoping to find a jeweler in the city. I handed it to her and told her to just let me know what it costs, and I’d take care of it.

I made my way to Joseph’s office, where he was tipping back a glass of scotch.

It was ten o’clock in the morning.

“Hey, Joseph. You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, come in. Take a seat.” He set his glass down. “Would you like a drink?”

“I’m all right. Thank you.”

“So, I wanted to talk to you about Jordan Waters,” he said, moving to the bar to refill his glass.

“What about him?” I asked, my voice coming out harsher than I meant it to. But he knew all that he needed to know about Jordan, as we’d already discussed it, so my guard was up.

“I don’t know if you’re ready to handle him on your own.” He returned to his seat and swirled the ice in his glass. “I’m thinking that we should have him listed as my client, and you can assist where needed.”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“Why would we do that? He’s my client.”

“Relax,” Joseph said, holding his hands up like I was acting outrageously. “I’m not taking anything from you, Rafe. I’m doing this for your protection.”

I barked out a laugh. I couldn’t help myself. Nothing about this was for my protection. It was for his.

I just signed the largest client this firm has ever had, outside of my brother, Bridger, who also owned a billion-dollar company.

With both of these clients together, I could easily break off on my own.

Hell, I could do it just based on the family members I managed.

But signing Jordan Waters more than doubled my portfolio, and Joseph knew it.

He hadn’t signed on any new clients in a long time. He counted on his reps to bring the big names while he was out on his yacht vacationing.

And there was no judgment coming from me. He built a business that allowed him to do what he wanted at this stage in life.

But trying to steal my client was something I had a problem with.

I’d heard that he did this kind of bullshit with other reps, but he hadn’t tried it on me. My brother had been the most financially lucrative client up until I signed Jordan, and obviously, Joseph knew my brother would never agree to be moved from me to him.

Obviously, I had other clients that I worked with outside of my family, and there were many, but they didn’t have the same amount of wealth as Bridger or Jordan, so he’d never bothered to get involved.

“Joseph, you’re pushing your luck. He’s my client. He and I have a relationship, and I don’t need protection. Thank you for the concern.” I didn’t make any effort to hide my irritation.

“I gave you your break when you came here looking for a job right out of college. You had no experience. You owe me.” He tipped his head back and polished off another drink.

“I owe you what? I’ve made you and this company millions of dollars. I appreciate you for taking a shot on me back then, but I assumed I’d thanked you by bringing on the most clients this firm has brought on since I started. Year after year, I’ve increased my client list more than any other associate here.”

“And you are able to continue growing under the safety of my name. I carry the risk. I think it’s in the best interest of this company if both you and I work directly with Jordan Waters.”

Yes, Joseph had taken a chance on me all those years ago. And I’d repaid him tenfold by bringing in new clients and revenue.

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