“I’ve been thinking, darling…” She smiled and tilted her head. “After we’re married, I want to be more involved in our family endeavors—I’d like for you to appoint me CEO of Alcott Inc.”
“The fuck?” I tilted my head. “Don’t you have your hands full with Devereaux Properties—I mean, when you do somethings besides torment people.”
“Aidan can handle that.” She waved off my concern. “Alcott Inc. will be a much better fit for me.”
“Well that’s not happening. I made an agreement with Jon to let him stay on as CEO after I bought the company.” I narrowed my eyes and growled.
“I’ll have my lawyer look into that.” She turned towards the door. “See you soon—only two weeks until the big day.”
Don’t fucking remind me.
I headed to my car as soon as I was finished at the office. I wasn’t in the mood to go home, because Alexis kept randomly stopping in to see me—or offer suggestions on the future decor. I wanted to see Taylor, and she wanted to see me, but we agreed that we should keep a low profile until we figured out what the fuck we were going to do. I decided to just stay in the city for the evening—Sarah had agreed to meet me for breakfast, and then we were going to see Shaina together. I hop
ed she was still doing well. She hadn’t checked herself out of rehab, so I assumed things were moving in a positive direction.
One thing in my life is—I might as well be happy about it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Taylor
“Damn it…” I stared at my phone. “Bryant’s in the city and won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“We need him.” Bolt looked up at me. “I’m almost there—I just need access to her phone.”
“Are you sure about this?” Victoria leaned forward. “If we steal her phone and this doesn’t get us what we want, then she’s going to know we’re up to something—she’ll lock everything down.”
“He’s sure.” Anna nodded. “That link you sent—it goes to a cloud.”
“I’ve been trying to crack it for two weeks now,” Bolt sighed. “I called my brother, and he said there’s a way, but you need a device that’s connected to it—we won’t be able to unlock her phone since it’s bound to her fingerprint, but he sent me a program that can get around the security.”
“Maybe I can steal it…” Victoria shrugged. “Or—Taylor?”
“Me?” I blinked in surprise.
“You’re her Maid of Honor.” Victoria grinned. “That should make her open the door for you.”
“That could work…” I nodded. “Fuck, if we get caught, she’s going to ruin us all.”
“I’ve got a plan.” Anna pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. “This is going to work.”
* * *
A few hours later
I played on Alexis’ narcissism to get her to agree to meet me. Outside of my tryst with Bryant when we tried on four dresses, I had held up my end of the bargain as her Maid of Honor—and the one thing we hadn’t figured out was the bachelorette party. She didn’t deserve one, but she wanted all of the boxes checked—that was on the list. I had Victoria help me with an agenda, and since the wedding was two weeks away, Alexis said I could stop by Benson Estate and go over it with her. Bryant wasn’t there—she shouldn’t have been—but I didn’t think it was my place to tell her that. Victoria had been avoiding the place like the plague and rented a room at on local bed and breakfast just to avoid having to see her stepmother-to-be.
“Taylor! Welcome…” Alexis flashed me a plastic smile and stepped to the side so I could enter.
“Hey…” I walked in.
“You have an agenda for my party? Come, let’s review it.” She motioned for me to follow her. “Honestly, I thought you were going to forget…”
“I told you I would do everything I’m supposed as Maid of Honor,” I sighed as I followed her into the living room.
“Yes, well.” Her smile faded as she sat down. “If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, then I would be forced to call my friend Dean Richart—and neither of us wants this to get ugly, do we?”
“No.” I tensed up immediately.