Page 73 of Fierce- Royce

They got to work. At least he could take his mind off of this now and move on.

“I don’t knowhow many more tactics I can try,” Richard said to Grant and Garrett later that afternoon when they met at the commercial building. Royce was on site at another project and Richard said he’d check in on things here and the Fierces just happened to stop over to get an update too. He knew his son was working more than normal and that wasn’t helping their cause any so he was trying to cover what he could.

The timing of this project and setting his son up wasn’t working in their favor.

“What did you do or say?” Grant asked.

He explained what happened this morning. “I laid it out. I apologized. He said it was fine and moved on. It’s like it’s not even fazing him.”

“Do you think he’s messing with you?” Garrett asked. “There is part of me that thinks Chloe is with us, but we aren’t close enough to her to be that bold.”

“I thought you two were always bold,” he said. “But the truth is, I’m not sure. Royce is working twelve- to fourteen-hour days. I don’t know where he has time unless it’s on the weekend. And even then he is always doing something around his house or working on things for the business.”

“With most people we are bold,” Grant said. “But this one is throwing us.”

“I don’t think Royce is, but I have no idea anymore either. The older my kids get, the more private they are. I even upset my daughter trying to figure this out.”

He’d gone to apologize to Elise. He really did feel bad and said he was only joking. The last thing he’d ever do is put the pressure on her like he’d felt in his life. He’d promised himself that his kids wouldn’t feel what he did in his marriage and yet here he was doing it without knowledge.

It was a wakeup call for him to dial it back.

“What happened there?” Garrett asked. “Having a daughter myself, I’d never want to do it either.”

He told them everything and the Fierces laughed. “We feel your pain,” Grant said. “Leave it to us for now. We’ll work on Chloe and you can just pretend you have no knowledge of anything. We’ll keep you informed if we hear anything, but you’re off the hook.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll keep you up to date if I see or hear anything, but it’s just not happening.”

Maybe he was wrong and the Fierces could pull this off, but he was losing hope fast.

26

Know The Basics

“Thanks for helping me with this,” Chloe said to Royce Monday night. He’d managed to get a hold of Zander, explain what was going on and find out if they could meet. He’d kept it simple that Chloe was a friend and Zander wouldn’t ask more anyway.

He’d rearranged as much of his schedule as he could to get out on time for this, as he wasn’t missing it for anything.

They’d just pulled into the parking lot for Zander’s office. It was in an older big building downtown, on the second floor. He supposed they were lucky to find a parking spot in the back of the shared lot, but maybe it was because it was the end of the day.

“I wouldn’t have you come alone,” he said. “It worked out good to meet now. I was done for the day mainly.”

“You’ll go home and get some work done like you always do,” she said, smirking at him. She didn’t seem to mind it or so she said, but he wasn’t always so sure.

“I’m sure you do the same at times,” he said.

“I do. It’s hard to shut it off, but I do try.”

They got out of his truck and then walked around the front of the building, found the door for Zander’s place, went inside, and climbed the stairs.

“He could do with some sprucing up here,” she said. “He knows a contractor.”

Royce laughed. “Zander is pretty handy, but I’m sure he’s busy doing other things.”

They opened the front door and there was a woman putting her jacket on and looking as if she was getting ready to leave for the day. “Chloe Grey?” the woman asked.

“That’s me.”

“He’s on the phone if you just want to have a seat. He knows you’re coming.”

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