Page 91 of Violent Little Thing

“What about Black’s reputation?”

I was touched by Charleigh’s question.

She had a huge heart, and she was horrified by what had happened with Chris at that funeral.

Black didn’t deserve the shit that he was now being put through because of a false accusation.

“I don’t think he needs to worry about anything. That Jessamy girl is doing a fantastic job playing damage control. She’s ripping Chris’s reputation to shreds. Have you seen the drop in Great Dane stock lately?”

I shook my head.

“It’s tanking,” she said. “And, from what I’ve heard, the other owner is forcing a sale. There was a provision in their contract when they agreed to partner. There’s a ‘bad press’ clause that pretty much says if one of the partners does something really bad, garnering enough bad press for the company, the wronged party gets to buy the other out without a fight.”

“Good,” I grumbled.

I was worried about Birdee there, but hopefully Herschel and the rest of the crew could force Chris’s hand.

I would hate for the company to go down when the majority of them did nothing wrong.

At least Charleigh was out, and I didn’t have to worry about her there anymore.

I’d keep her glued to my side if it didn’t come off as controlling.

And Charleigh needed her wings.

She was a free spirit, and I would never put her in a position where she felt suffocated.

Dottie, finished with the meeting, gathered up her things and said, “I’ll keep an eye on everything, but I think we’re good. Plus, with the family giving Seraphina’s shares to Charleigh, it looks good.”

Only after she left did I get up and close the door, my gaze focused on the woman who hadn’t had much to say about anything for the last hour.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as the door closed.

She scrubbed at her face, her fingers pressing in hard to her eyeballs. “I’m just…pissed, I guess. I’m mad that Chris did that. I’m mad that I didn’t leave before it got too bad with Chris, because somehow I feel like this was all really directed at me. I feel like possibly this whole entire situation could’ve been prevented had I left at the first sign of something being wrong. I mean, it’s not normal to have to deal with what I had to deal with. Plus, I think the two of them were using each other to get back at me. Seraphina, because she knew that seeing her with Chris would piss me off. Not because I liked him, but because I just hated seeing her period. And Chris started seeing Seraphina because he felt like it would provoke me. And it did. But on top of it all, I think that they deserved each other. Both of them were and are awful people. Now Black is in the middle of this mess, and this crazy bitch of a reporter is coming up with stuff in our backgrounds that is exhausting. I’m just sick of it all.”

I agreed with her.

However…

“There’s nothing that reporter is digging up that isn’t already public knowledge,” I explained. “At least not when it comes to you and me. As for Black, he’s a big boy, and the club has some great lawyers. Plus, I think that this is a good thing.”

She blinked. “What? Why?”

I grinned. “Because it’s finally forcing some feelings between Jessamy and Black out in the open.”

Charleigh gasped. “What? You think that they like each other like that?”

I walked forward, and she spun in her office chair until she was facing toward me.

I leaned forward, placing both of my hands on the chair arms on either side of her, and looked her dead in the eyes when I said, “They’ve had a thing for each other for a long time, according to Denver and the others. It’s just always been right person, wrong time. Now, will you kiss me?”

She grinned. “We’re at the office, Court. That’s highly inappropriate.”

I moved until my lips hovered over hers. “Oh, yeah?”

She batted her eyes at me. “Yeah.”

The good thing about the office chair she was in was that it leaned all the way back.