“Protect? From what? Are they killing people?” Instead of dying from cancer, I was going to die from this. I just knew it.
“You’re being dramatic. I didn’t take you for so much drama when I met you.”
“When you met me, we were on a sunny beach with no stress,” I pointed out for the idiot of a man standing in front of me.
“The Armanellis haven’t killed anyone in decades.” He rounded back to the subject at hand.
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” I shouted. Then, I took a breath and said with as much disdain as I could muster. “You’re a lunatic. I’m not working on this contract.”
“You already started, and I need Stonewood Enterprises protected.”
“Well, with what is already written, it won’t be.” My words were jackhammers of truth we both needed to hear. “What are you thinking, Jett? Even if I were to come up with perfect sentences, it doesn’t mean anything. They can’t be trusted.”
“Cade and Bastian have always been trustworthy.”
“Then why the contract?”
“Because their father and mine had an understanding. Without my father at the helm, we need to have something concrete, something in writing.”
“As if the law will stop someone in the mob.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag, so ready to be done with the day. “You’re wading into waters no business should be swimming through.”
“Coming from you, that’s pretty epic.” One dark eyebrow raised in surprise. “Where’s the silver lining, Pix?”
I blew a puff of air toward the ceiling. “I get that my positivity is somewhat frustrating at times, Jett. I know I’m a lot, okay?”
His eyes widened in shock at my admission. I knew the truth though. My peppy attitude could be a turnoff. Sometimes, I couldn’t even handle my own cheerfulness. Some days I wanted to curl up in a ball and wallow in self-pity.
Tomorrow, I could be out of remission though. When you’re contemplating death knocking at your door, it's hard to enjoy anything. So, I couldn’t live any other way now. This was living life to the fullest every damn day, even when it got tiring, because I’d come very close to not having a life to live.
“I never claimed to be anything different, Jett. But I’m not stupid either. I like to avoid completely avoidable dangerous situations.”
“Could have fooled me on vacation.”
“Why? Because I wanted to go on a hike or two?”
“You went gallivanting around that island looking for ways to die. You always do. You talk about wanting to feel alive and now you’re cowering in the damn corner without even trying to negotiate a contract.”
“This isn’t cowering,” I seethed, poking his hard chest.
“Then you’ll be at the meeting tomorrow when we discuss this further?”
“Meeting?”
“Yes. I invited the Armanellis here to see if we can come to a compromise.”
“Jett, shouldn’t we think about what this means for the company?"
“Bob can come if you don’t want to. Jax and Brey will be at the meeting as well.”
What an immature way of getting someone to do something.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Send the invite to my Outlook. I’ll make sure my schedule is clear.”
“Fantastic. Now, since that’s out of the way, are we fucking in my office or here at your desk?”
“Are you insane?”
“Not yet, though I might be on the verge after watching you all day in that outfit. What the hell are you wearing?”