“We have that in common, then,” Grey said. He leaned forward and rested one forearm on the table. “Would they believe we got together when I was in the process of taking over York? I find that hard to believe.”
He was right. It was implausible. Besides, getting together and being serious enough to bring him to a family event less than a week later was hardly believable either.
“You’re right,” I said. “He’ll think I’m a terrible person for dating the man who acquired York against my father’s wishes, and he’ll blame you for corrupting me.”
“Surely we can come up with a plausible explanation. We’ll think on it. In the meantime, I need you to make us dinner reservations. It seems Ben Aldeen enjoyed our meeting this morning and would like to discuss the offer in more detail.”
“Really? He wants to discuss the offer?” I asked, unable to hold back a snicker.
Grey frowned. “You seem surprised.”
“Not at all. I saw the way he looked at you. But you have to admit it was an awfully fast turnaround, especially if he was already set on declining you.”
The haughty businessman returned. “He was never set on declining me. He was set on declining York.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for my phone to find a restaurant. “He mentioned being vegetarian, so I’ll try Avant Garden. I think he’d like it.”
I felt Grey’s eyes on me as I searched up the reservation app. It was unnerving to feel that stare on me all the time. I couldn’t figure out if he was looking at me with active dislike or if he was simply trying to figure me out. Either way, it left me itchy and restless.
Being in the room with Grey made every hair follicle on my skin tighten. I was aware of him in a way I’d never felt about anyone else before. I tried to suppress my reaction to his presence, even though my brain had been spinning nonstop since coming into contact with him yesterday after a long, fifteen-year absence.
How many times had I thought of him—dreamed of him—in those intervening years? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?
As cornball as it was, Grey Blackwood was the one who got away. No, I didn’t know him well enough to claim he was my perfect match or any kind of soul mate. That would be absurd. But he was the one I’d wanted with a desperation at the time and the one I wanted still, for good or bad.
I made the reservation with heat crawling up my neck, and when I was done, I discovered Grey had begun talking on the phone to someone about technical performance reports related to one of his investments. Assuming I wasn’t needed for the moment, I took the opportunity to slip out and make my way to the men’s room.
The dim, cool space was quiet and peaceful. Quite a change from the night before. The faint scent of cleanser filled the air, and light sparkled off the clean fixtures. I leaned my hands on the counter and glanced at myself in the mirror, wondering how Grey saw me now compared to all those years ago.
I had little wrinkles next to my eyes I hadn’t had back then. My hair was longer, but only because I’d been so busy over the summer wrapping up my work at York. I’d worked nights and weekends transitioning my projects over to other members of the legal team. When I hadn’t been at work, I’d been preparing my apartment to sell and packing my things for the move to Vermont.
My phone rang, and I answered it without thinking. “Ellison.”
“Finally. You haven’t answered my calls,” my father whined. “That asshole has you running around like crazy.”
“How do you know that?” I wondered out loud. Grey had banned him from the building, but clearly he still had spies. “I would have thought you’d be busy meeting with your attorneys.”
He let out a humorless chuckle. “You are my attorney. Or have you forgotten?”
I rolled my eyes. I was his attorney first and his son only when he wanted something. “I can’t see a way out of this, Dad. You might want to consider early retirement. What does Mom think?”
“I’m not about to let that pissant force me into early retirement, and your mother is too busy planning her trip to the Hamptons to pay much attention to what’s going on. I assured her you would find a way to reverse Mark’s stock sale.”
“That’s not possible,” I said baldly, leaning against the counter. “The only thing we can hope for now is to convince Grey to leave us the company and just take the assets.”
“He’s not taking my life’s work from me. If you can’t find us a way out of this mess, I have some other people who will.”
“What does that mean?” I asked impatiently.
“I have people looking into Blackwood’s business practices. He can’t have gotten to where he is as quickly as he did without cutting some legal corners. I’m going to find them and threaten to turn him in if he doesn’t give us back the company.”
“I’m going to pretend like you didn’t just confess intent to blackmail,” I said with a sigh. “You’re angry, and I get that. But this isn’t the way to go about it.”
“Then find me another way,” he growled before disconnecting.
I sighed and looked back at the mirror. I’d been this close to freedom, this close to a cozy life in Vermont away from the unethical and aggressive business practices here in the city. I didn’t love this industry, but I’d stayed in it for the purpose of funding the academy.
Since finding out about the takeover yesterday, I hadn’t let myself think about how this change in ownership and management would affect the York Foundation and its charitable efforts. What would Grey do to the future of it? I’d worked so fucking hard to grow that part of York Capital, and after bringing Nessa on, the two of us had made sure a healthy portion of York’s profits had gone to good causes.
And now this.
I hadn’t even thought to check in with Nessa since this happened. After quickly finishing up in the men’s room, I made my way down the hall to Nessa’s office. “Hey, you free?” I asked after knocking on her open door.
She turned around and shot me a wide smile. “For you? Always. How was Vermont? I heard you got called back early.”
I sat in her guest chair and slumped down. “That’s putting it mildly. What’s the word down here about the takeover?”
Her office was part of the Human Resources and support staff office block, which meant she usually had the best gossip around.
She glanced past me to make sure no one was in earshot. “Honestly? Most people are happy about it. Blackwood has a good reputation. And you know how people feel about your dad.”
It was true. My dad treated non-executive-level employees like furniture. To him, they were a line item on an expense list. His goal was to keep profits high by keeping expenses down, so he was not known for treating employees particularly well.
“How does Grey have a good reputation? I haven’t heard anything about him besides his acquisitions.”
She rested her chin on her hand. “Did you know Grey Blackwood is one of the largest donors to Robin Hood here in the city? Supposedly, poverty and homelessness are two of his biggest charitable causes. Miranda says she thinks he’s an even bigger donor under anonymous donations.”
Miranda Cho was the director of HR. Her husband was the director of a youth arts foundation and sat on the board of a couple of other charity organizations in the city as well. If anyone would know about Grey’s involvement in good causes, it was Martin Cho.