Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(35)

And I saw why athletes throughout my gym gravitated toward her. She didn’t care about their job nor their status, just about helping them move forward and heal.

I rubbed my wrist thinking about her as I pulled at the collar of the dumbass suit I had to wear yet again for another meeting on the top floor.

Dom snickered when he saw me walking in and fell into stride with me. “How’s babysitting your wife coming?”

“Fuck off,” I grumbled.

My brother sobered for a minute. “Carl did want what was best for all of us in some way or another. Don’t think it’s actually best though.”

“I don’t know. Carl had a funny way of getting all the way to the edge of disaster and then turning it into a fucking dream instead.”

“What? Like he did with the HEAT empire?” Dom scoffed. “I loved Carl, Declan, but we worked our asses off to bring it back to life when it was near death. That’s why Carl had us invest.”

“He had great ideas,” I shot back.

He nodded and studied me like he was concerned, his dark eyebrows knitting together as we neared the elevators. “You okay? You were closest to him, even if he was an ass half the time.”

I nodded once. Mourning someone even when they weren’t the best human on the planet was confusing. You mourned them for what they could have been, not what they were. “Gonna miss the old man, but he’s still laughing at us from his grave so I get reminders of him that way instead, right?”

“Right.” Dom dragged out the word before he inquired, “So, you gonna be Everly’s caretaker for the rest of her life?”

The fucker loved to poke and prod. “You want to take her in?” I turned my gaze on him. “You, Dimitri, and Dex got off easy.”

“Did we? What the fuck you two doing over there anyway? You’re acting like her stay is a damn diary entry. Just be honest, that marriage isn’t even fucking that bad.”

My jaw worked as we got to the elevators, and I pressed the button. “Everly and I have to work through some stuff. Probate’s going to last all fucking year at this rate anyway.”

“The lawyers need to speed it along. I can’t continue working on the damn resort on the Pacific Coast until they do.” He grumbled a couple swears under his breath as the elevator doors closed with us in it. “Carl’s will is bullshit on my end. There’s no way to include that damn bakery in it, by the way.”

“Clara’s?” I couldn’t stop from laughing. Dominic had shared that Carl was giving him control of the renovations and design of the Pacific Coast Resort he’d been working on so long as Clara’s bakery would be included.

“Fuck you,” he spit and shoved my shoulder.

I shoved his back. “Come on, the chocolates are very good.” It was my turn to give him hell now.

“Who the fuck cares? She’s got blown glass of every damn color in the world through that whole damn shop, Declan. We have a sleek, world-renowned resort being built, and the design doesn’t allow for whimsical shit.”

We made our way off the elevator and into the conference room to sit down for our first call. We had meeting after meeting scheduled today regarding the shares of the company.

“We’re all dealing with our own hell,” I said as I looked out the glass window of the office. It overlooked the free weight area, and I saw her down there, explaining some stretching technique to Noah.

She bent over, and I found myself glaring as I readjusted myself in my slacks before a ring sounded from the phone. I slammed the answer button harder than I should have and let the lawyers start.

Hour one. Noah stretched his legs and supposed sore ankle with her. That shit was barely a sprain last year.

Hour two. Wes took her to the shake cafe. I contemplated how I could get him back on the field so I could tackle his bitch ass.

Hour three. I’d had enough.

“I’ve got to head to another meeting,” I said, cutting my lawyer off.

“Meeting or woman?” Dom lifted a brow as he chuckled on his way down the hall with me.

“Fuck off. She’s down there with a bunch of boys who can’t keep their dicks to themselves.”

“You sure she wants them to?”

“Carl would have wanted us to keep them in check.” I threw out the best reasoning I had.

“Is that right?” He pushed the elevator down button and waited for my answer.

“We’ve got a lot of nuances in this will that we have to work on together, Dom.”

“I’m sure you do. Work on those instead of the ones between her legs, huh?”

“Watch yourself, brother,” I warned.

He took in my stance for a second before he backed down and sighed. “She’s got some demons, Declan. I don’t know what they are, but I see it when I talk to her and when she lets me spar with her every now and then.”

“What the fuck are you doing sparring with her?”

He chuckled. “What? Am I not allowed to?”

“Go over to your hotel, asshole,” I grumbled as he walked away.

Instead of pacing over to the woman that was driving me insane, I checked the front desk, made another phone call, and tried to curb the fiery jealousy that had built in me. Of course, my phone pinged instead.

Dom: Declan’s about to start the downfall of the Hardy Empire, just making you all aware.