Call me a masochist, but that was what made this shit exciting, made it real and worth fighting for. We knew this worked because we fought for that shit. We didn’t give up, problems be damned.
I guided her chin to look at me, but she only ended up pressing her head to my chest. Her arms ensnared my waist, and I held her, warmed her. I kissed her head. “I wish you’d just give up on this.”
“What?”
My chin touched the top of her head. “Trying to run me off. Scare me away.”
I didn’t bend easy, and I made no exception when it came to her. If she wanted to end this, she’d have to do it herself.
Even if that possibility rattled me to hell.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ramses
A dumbbell clanked to the floor beside me, and at the sight of a familiar face, I shook my head. I curled my weight. “You know, you don’t have to pretend you just happened to be here when I am.” I smirked. “For December?”
Royal Prinze had a home gym. I knew because he rented from me. I’d obviously been over there, seen it, but in the past few days, I’d been doing nothing but seeing his mug here at the campus rec center with me.
The guy sent a familiar scowl in my direction, taking the weight bench beside mine. He extended two weights out of considerable size, possibly just to one up me. Today was weight day, but I’d tired myself the hell out in my runs lately.
I’d really been able to push them since they hadn’t been with Brielle.
Heavy shit the other night, and she’d been avoiding talking about it since. Of course, I still saw her, texted her. But I didn’t see her as much, and I think we both knew it had nothing to do with finals coming up for her and me and both our busy work schedules. She was doing her running, but just in a different way, and I hadn’t pushed again.
I mean, look what had happened in the past.
It was best I gave her space, so I did that. As much as it sucked. In the present, it left me with lonely runs and only seeing her actual face a couple nights this week. One of those had been virtually, but that’d been okay. I was a patient man, but with my freed-up time, I had been working out a lot.
Hence, this whole thing with Royal Prinze now.
“Don’t kid yourself, Mallick,” he grunted between repetitions. After a labored set, he dropped the dumbbells, smirking. “I happen to like this gym.”
“Sure.” Absolutely zero percent these little run-ins had nothing to do with the fact I’d broken down and finally asked my female friend for advice about my girlfriend.
I hadn’t given December many details about my conversation with Bri the other night. That was private, but I had said we’d had a talk, an emotional one that had left me unequipped to handle. I’d wanted a female perspective, I suppose.
Prinze’s visits started happening shortly after that. He never said anything to me, of course, a chin tip here and there, but no way in hell this guy’s expensive-ass gym wasn’t being used in exchange to rub elbows with his fellow Pembroke collegiate. If anything, he’d be working out with Knight Reed at his frat. I’d heard Reed and his fraternity brothers had a pretty nice setup.
Prinze shook his head before picking up his dumbbells and starting another set, and I allowed him to play his little game of checking up on me. One he played up when he followed me to the chin up bars before back to the weight press benches. The dude even offered to spot me. At this point, I believed I had a stalker, and after he did his set (which he legit asked me to help him with—what the fuck), I asked him yet again what his deal was. If he was sick and dying, his wife should probably know about that. Because that was the only reason I could come up with that he’d ever actually chose to share time with me without his wife around.
He tossed me a towel as we chugged water, the guy sitting next to me in his cut off tee. “I suppose I just wanted to have a discussion with you.”
“What about?” And subtlety was not this guy’s strong suit. It took him several gym sessions and some stalking just to come out with it. I smirked. “And don’t ask me how to help you with December if you fucked something up. I’m the wrong guy to go to.”
I was the fucking fuck-up of fucked-up situations, and hell, if I knew how to fix them. If I did, there’d be no tension between my girlfriend and me right now and I’d know how to fix things.
Royal tossed his towel over his shoulder. “I don’t need your help with Em, but I would like you to tone down some of your peoples’ more than aggressive business tactics as of late.” He frowned. “I’ve been told many of our clients at Prinze Financial are having to take out second and third mortgages just to deal with the recent Mallick Enterprises rent hikes on their businesses.” He shook his head. “I get it. This is business. You’re obviously trying to buy these people out for the land, but it’s poor form and not the precedent you wanna set this early in the game. Not when you just started and barely warmed your daddy’s seat.”
“Wait. Wait. Back up.” I was still messing with my seat belt and he’d already shot off in the car. I braced a knee. “You’re saying Mallick is raising rents?”
“I know they are, and they’re making Prinze’s small business owners bankrupt. It’s technically none of my business and it does make my company money, but it’s just not classy, man. Knight and his people aren’t even doing that kind of shit.”
I still had no idea what he was talking about, and when he saw that, his eyebrows narrowed. “You didn’t know?”
“No.” In fact, had I known, I would have had some talks with some people. That wasn’t cool, not at all.
I got out my phone, calling my secretary. Obviously, a meeting had to be had. My name was on this shit, but I had many people handling different facets of the business. Not everything went through me. It couldn’t. Impossible.
Leann picked up, and I made sure to have her get me a meeting with Duncan Salsbury. Odds were, he did know about this. Maybe even directed the plans, but with a word, he’d stop them if I requested. He’d have to since he answered to me.
Prinze was right. That wasn’t how I wanted to do business. Especially after meeting with LJ. He definitely opened my eyes to some stuff, how business should see people. Everyone was better because of it, and sometimes, it wasn’t just about the money.
Royal stayed next to me while I made the call for the meeting, and after finalizing it, I hung up. “Thanks for alerting me. Good looking out. You’re right. That’s not how I want to do things and wouldn’t, had I known.”
“No problem.” He tugged his towel off his shoulder, balling it. “And can I offer you some advice? For the future? I’m starting to take on some stuff too with my family business. Knight, too, with his, and I think we’re all kind of going through some of the same stuff. I’m noticing a trend.”
I shifted in his direction. “What kind?”
He frowned. “People thinking we’re going to run our fathers’, grandfathers’, and their fathers’ businesses. People used to doing things a certain way and believing we’re going to continue their work. Like we ever would. Like we ever could.”