Page 98 of The Renegade Billionaire
“But will Uncle Grey?” Sage asks.
“Will Uncle Grey what?” the man in question repeats.
I gasp and slip beside Braxton instead of in front of him.
“I want to go to work with Madi at the Chug today.”
“Why are you all up so early? If I wasn’t working, you couldn’t drag me out at this hour.” I say before Grey can answer.
“I get up to work out at four every morning,” Grey says, studying my face.
I hadn’t even noticed that he walked in wearing gym shorts and nothing else, but once you see it, it’s kind of hard to forget.
“Did you guys all win the gene pool lottery or something?” I mutter.
“Hardly.” Grey snorts. He’s relaxed since he’s been here. A little, anyway. I’m not sure he knows what relaxing truly means though. “Brax seemed to really enjoy being at the Chug, so I don’t see any reason you can’t go. See? I’m not always an ogre.”
It’s self-deprecating, but there’s no mistaking the love he has for his nephew.
“Not always.” Sage smirks. “But most of the time. I’m going to shower. What time are we leaving, Madi?”
“In about an hour? Does that work? Clover, Savvy, and I are all recording today, so we’re trying to get it done before too many customers arrive.”
“Recording?” Grey asks, taking the mug of coffee that Braxton hands him.
“Yeah, my best friends and I all run fairly successful podcasts out of the Chug.”
“And Savvy is one of those friends?” Grey mutters.
Things have been nonstop since they moved in, and I haven’t had the time to properly grill Savvy on what went down at the fundraiser between her and Grey, but I need to rectify that soon. Today probably won’t work since I’ll have Sage in tow.
“Yes, actually. Her podcastCan We Talk About That? is consistently in the top three of her genre.”
“Which is?” Grey asks without glancing up from his coffee mug.
“She’s a sex therapist,” Sage blurts. “I’ve been listening to her show for years.”
“You what?” Braxton is the first to jump in, but Grey is right behind him.
“Is that appropriate for teenagers?” Grey asks with fire in his tone.
Staunch loyalty flares in me, and I stick a hand on my hip. Admittedly I take a little bit of strength from Braxton’s hand on my lower back, but mostly, my indignation is for my friend. “Listen up, it is not Savvy’s fault if you didn’t have parental controls set on his devices. She has a well-respected show, and she’s helped a lot of people. She’s saved so many relationships too, so don’t go placing blame where it doesn’t belong.”
“That’s not?—”
“Yes, it is, Uncle Grey. And she’s right,” Sage interrupts while moving toward the door. He pauses just inside the threshold. “Out of curiosity, what’s Clover’s called?”
“Flirting with Fear,” I say with pride. “She writes bestselling thrillers but scares the crap out of herself while doing it.”
Sage allows the door to close, but I hear his laughter all the way up the stairs.
“I’m protective of him,” Grey says quietly.
“We both are,” Braxton continues, “but Madison wouldn’t take him somewhere he’d be treated poorly.”
“Why would he be treated poorly?” I ask.
This time, Grey lifts his head and sears me with his gaze. “His birth was famous for all the wrong reasons, and where we live, it followed him. He’s also way smarter than either of us, so he’s never fit in well with his peers because he didn’t know how to interact with kids his own age and the kids in classes with him were several years older.”
