Initiative (Suncoast Society #31)(30)

She finally opened her eyes. “Jack used to kiss John’s ass. John was about the only person who could keep Jack in line. But I talked to Ed last week about the provisions in the will. I didn’t have the mental or emotional strength to deal with getting rid of Jack before now. On Monday, I learned Jack had bitched out one of my service guys over the weekend, just to make himself look big in front of a friend of his. That was the last straw. I took away his company car and gave him a shitty trade-in to drive, and warned him his next step was a demotion to washing cars.”

“I bet that pissed him off,” Grant said.

“Yeah. A lot.”





Susie finally smiled a little, Grant was happy to see. “There’s an expiration date on the charity,” she continued. “And there’s a clause in the will that if Jack refuses to perform his job, or refuses to accept the position given to him, I can fire him. I didn’t have the energy to fight this fight before now. Because it’s not just a fight against him, but his parents, too. Now I feel strong enough to start pushing back for a change. The thirty-month window is nearly up. All I have to do is make him miserable enough to quit and I’m rid of him for good. After I buy his shares back.”

“He owns part of the business?” Grant wanted a whack at the f*cker himself.

“Sort of, but not really.” She explained the situation to him, which made sense. “The shares will be worth more to him cashed in with me. So I’m going to time it just right to make him want to walk for a buyout. Then he’s out of my hair for good.”

“What about his parents?”

She shrugged. “I’m finally at the ‘I don’t give a shit’ phase. The business is growing. I’ve done that. I took John’s plans and everything he taught me and I’ve kept things going. This is one fight I’m finally ready to face head-on.” She turned to look him in the eye. “Seems like my timing was perfect, now that I think of it.”

“Why’s that, sweetheart?”

“Because now I know I’m strong enough. With the two of you back in my life, I can do anything.”

“I want you to know we’re not after your money, either,” Grant said.

She smiled. “That wasn’t a worry I had. Not about you two.”

“And we need to talk to Ed,” Grant said.

In the light of day, yes, it spooked him a little how fast and well everything was going, but if they weren’t risking anything but their hearts right now, he damn sure was willing to let it play out. The worst-case scenario would be they had a fun weekend, or week, or whatever, and then went on with their lives if she decided to walk away.

Best-case?

The puzzle piece they’d never realized was missing had just fit herself perfectly into place in their lives.

“I guess I was pretty naive, huh?” she asked.

“Why?”

“That I didn’t realize Ed knew all of this. Hell, John had him as his attorney when we met. Before that. Ed must have known, now that I think of it. I mean, John left letters with Ed to give to me.”

“We’ll find that out from Ed when we talk to him. I’ll give him a call this week and see if he’ll be at dinner next Saturday.”

“Dinner?”

“A group from the Suncoast Society gets together nearly every Saturday night at Sigalo’s. Don’t worry, it’s a completely vanilla dining experience. And the monthly munch is this coming Sunday. You’re going with me. Darryl has to work, but I want you to meet people.”

“Yes, Sir.”

She didn’t sound convinced.

“You can even spend the whole weekend at our house next weekend. Kyle won’t be there.”

“He’ll be there this Monday and Tuesday nights,” Darryl said. “Chelsey has to work those nights.”

“If you want to wait to have him meet me, I understand.”

Grant left that decision up to Darryl. In that way, Grant had given Darryl absolute control. Kyle wasn’t his son, even though he loved the kid as if he was, and he was Kyle’s godfather. Grant looked at Darryl.

“Let’s play it by ear,” Darryl said. “I want you to meet him sooner rather than later, but he’s twelve. He’s smart. I don’t want to accidentally lock us into having to play a certain role. It’s hard enough now for me to remember not to call Grant ‘Sir’ when Kyle’s home.”

“Your ex sounds like a piece of work,” she said.

“She can be. She’s definitely not my favorite person. But during the last go-round, Ed pointed out to her that she’s making nearly twice as much money as me, so maybe it’s time I quit and became a stay-at-home dad again and took care of Kyle full time and she paid me alimony and child support. That backed her down really fast. So it’s been an uneasy truce for the past year and a half. I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t want to lose my job. There’s no guarantee a judge would reverse the standing arrangement and give me all of that if I did. But it was a strong enough bluff on Ed’s part to make her think twice.”

“I do love Ed,” she said. “He’s a pit bull.”

“Yes, he is,” Grant said. “That’s one of the reasons he’s got so many faithful clients in the kinky community. They know he’s one of them and he’ll fight for one of them without judging them in the process. He doesn’t need to advertise. He gets word-of-mouth referrals from all of us, all the time.”