Page 72 of Grand Love

* * *

Mase

The woman fucking rattles me,and she knows it. It’s her intention to wind me up, and I’m putty in her hands. All she has to do is smile and I’m semihard in my suit pants. Jesus, I have zero fucking control when it comes to her.

I scrub my hand over my face as I stand in the elevator on the way up to my floor. Get a grip on yourself.

“Good morning, Mason. Good weekend?” George chimes as the elevator pings. “I did spy some snaps on the gram, so I already know it was all things fabulous.”

“Not today, George. Please, mate.”

“Jasmine.” I give her a curt nod, walking to my office.

She mutters back a barely audible “’Morning” without looking up from the computer screen.

Although Jasmine isn’t bad at her job, she also isn’t great at it either. She spends the majority of her time sitting quietly behind the desk.

I should probably have a word.

“I expected this mood.” George follows me. “When I spotted Nina in that strapless piece of deliciousness. She looked hot! What happened?”

“George!” I yell, turning on him. “Get out of my office.”

He smiles, not flinching at my tone. “You got it, Bossman.” He winks, dropping the coffee cup and stack of files on my desk then leaves.

I’m at my office window before he can close the door, staring out over my home city. The skyline is fogged, the winter morning setting the sky in a dull hue. My eyes are drawn to the building three away from my own, though. The bottom floor is a blur, and the second is crowded by the equipment and people, but the top floor—although I have to squint to see it—is still, quiet, and waiting. Empty, like it always has been.

* * *

“Jasmine.”Her platinum painted head pops up from behind the desk. “A word.”

I turn and walk back to my office, waiting for her to follow. Vinny is sitting at my desk, his hands steepled under his chin. “What is it?” Jasmine asks from the door, not crossing the threshold.

“Have a seat,” I tell her.

Her eyes tighten as she looks between us both, as if she’s figuring out if she can trust us. I nod to the chair, and she moves to sit next to Vinny. I eye him cautiously before addressing her. “We need information—”

“About what?”

“If you let me speak, I’ll tell you,” I snap.

My teeth gnaw at the inside of my cheek as I try to contain my annoyance. As much as I don’t like what Jasmine has done, I still want to help her. I want to give Nina the chance at a real family.

Or at least a sister.

“Jasmine, we know your boyfriend Lenny has been in contact. If you’re serious about getting your children back, you need to think about the people you allow in your life,” I spew her the watered-down line. She probably wouldn’t like what I really had to say.

“He only wanted to know about Betty.”

“So you didn’t agree to meet with him?” I question with a raised brow.

“What’s it to you?” she asks defensively.

I want to lay into her, tell her some home truths but Vinny is concerned that she’s depressed. She’s been through a lot but it’s all on her. She has to make this shit show better now, no one else can do it for her. Speaking to Lenny will only go against her when it comes to the children.

“We’re worried, love, we come from a good place,” Vinny tells her in that comforting voice that seems so fucking foreign to me. I only ever saw the man soften when Nina came into the picture. “The children will be with you much sooner if you can leave him behind.”

She nods, gritting her teeth. “I know that.”

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