Another wave of relief washes over me. Yes, this is a nightmare, but everything’s going to be okay. “Yeah, let’s get some sleep. Good night, Griffin.”
“Good night…What do you want me to call you? Red or Bernice?”
My cheeks warm. Not just because I’m embarrassed about how I presented myself to him during those wild two weeks, but also because a small part of me—the last bit of the naughty girl I haven’t been able to tamp out—wants him to call me Red, the same as he did back then.
But, like I said. We’re both adults now.
I clear my throat and answer, “Bernice.”
“Okay, Bernice.” He gives me one more solemn nod and tips his cowboy hat at me. “Good night. Sleep tight.”
“You too,” I murmur.
Maybe he’s not as big of a monster as I made him out to be ever since that New Year’s Eve night. I turn and go to my room and wonder if I got what happened…if I got him all wrong.
There are, of course, a thousand messages waiting from Allie when I finally check my phone.
I type her a quick note, just to give her some peace.
He took it pretty well. He’s staying the night in the castle, and then we’re going to talk tomorrow when we get up. I’m pretty sure he didn’t see you, so as long as you didn’t run into any other Reapers on your way out, you should be fine.
I lie back on the bed, and that’s when I find out that I must have been just as exhausted as Griffin said.
I fall asleep before I receive her return text, and when I wake up the next morning, I find several replies from her waiting on my phone.
ALLIE: I didn’t run into any other Reapers. TYL!!!But are you sure everything’s cool?
ALLIE: I mean, he might be legitimate now. But he’s still a Reaper.
ALLIE: And those guys don’t forgive. They’re ruthless. It’s literally in their name.
I walk to O2’s room to check on her and type Allie back at the same time: “Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But it’s not like he wanted kids anyway. And I’m not asking him for anything. I think he probably wants to be done with this as bad as—”
I abruptly stop texting when I see that O2’s bed is empty. Not just of her, but also Ellie, her favorite stuffed animal.
Oh my God. Oh my God. My blood ices over. Somehow, I know even before I go looking everywhere for her in the castle and the guard at the front gate confirms that he let a car pick up Griffin at two in the morning.
She’s gone. He’s taken her.
I was right. Griffin Latham isn’t as bad as he was five years ago.
He’s an even bigger monster now.
CHAPTER 26
GRIFFIN
“So Dad’s obviously lost his mind.”
My brother storms into my office the Monday morning after our unexpected Zoom call with our father. “I don’t know what happened after Dad flew out to Missouri—for reasons I still don’t understand—but this is insane. He’s clearly not thinking straight, and he needs to be managed. We’re both agreed on this, right? I know we’ve got our stuff, but we’ll need to stick together if we want to counter this bullshit barrier he’s constructed to taking over his CEO position.”
I lean back in my chair and regard Geoff over my steepled hands. Maybe…maybe my brother’s not trying to be a self-serving dick.
But our corner offices sit in the same building—on the same floor, even—and I can count on my fingers the number of times he’s come to visit me here since I started officially working at AudioNation five years ago. The fingers of one hand. And I wouldn’t have to use my thumb. Or my pinky.
To be fair, we’re both territorial bastards. Most of the time, we have to meet in a conference room just to prove neither one of us is ceding any ground.
But today, he bursts right into my office and starts pacing back and forth in front of my desk. Like a lion in a gray suit. With an agenda.
I can’t say I’m surprised by this unannounced visit. I’d be shaken by our dad’s ultimatum too—maybe even willing to seek out my main competition for an alliance. If I were Geoff.
Lucky for me, I’m not my brother. I have a plan to deal with Dad’s unexpected requirement to be appointed to his CEO position—an insane, diabolical plan. And all my chess pieces are almost in place.
Like the Death Buddha song currently floating at the top of the charts, I count my unexpected blessings.
“Let me guess,” I counter Geoff dryly. “You’ve already got a big countermove in mind. You want me to back out of the running and side with you. That way, Dad has no choice but to give you the job.”