Chapter 37

"I need something from you,"I say to Griz as I stalk up their front porch.

He studies me. I feel like a wreck and I must look like it too, because he hesitantly asks, "You okay?"

"You want the truth, or will you please just get me what I want?" My tone is gruff, but I don't have it in me to sugarcoat anything right now.

Ace comes out the front door. "Grant, you alright?"

I drag my hands from my forehead and back to the nape of my neck. "I messed up."

"Well, that's fucking obvious," Griz chimes in.

Ace points to him. "Not helping."

"If I asked you not to ask questions, can you respect that?"

Ace nods as Griz folds his arms over his chest. Good enough.

"How quickly can we move some money around so I can cash out of my share of the business?" I avoid making eye contact with Griz when he grunts and mumbles something that sounds like disapproval. I don't want to see what this question does to him. I know it's a panicked move, but I have to know my options. If Laney needs to move quickly, then I'll know what I'm working with.

I'm not letting her leave alone. I'm going with her.

Ace stares at me, working out what's going on with me in his head. "A few days—probably. Are you talking about cash, or can we move to offshore accounts?"

"You tell me. The numbers from the last quarterly meeting put our gross at just over 1.2 billion. I know that's not a complete split of assets if you include the properties, but I'll leave that alone."

Ace puts his hands in his pockets. "You're sure about this?"

I tilt my head back, taking in the slotted wood that lines the porch ceiling. I helped him design that. "There isn't much I've been sure about in my life. But this..." I look my older brother in the eye and quietly plead for him to see how much I mean it. "This is the only thing I'm sure about. What I'm asking here is a precaution. Or maybe it's inevitable, but I'm not clear on that part just yet."

Ace thumbs over his phone, working out what I'm asking. "We'll make it work. I'll get it as even of a split as I can. Any increases later, we'll put aside just in case."

"You don't need to do that. If I'm cashing out, I'm selling you my cut."

"Your last name is Foxx, which means you have a third of everything. Always," Ace says with a finality in his tone. "And then we'll figure it out again when Griz decides to finally lose his faculties or head to that deserted island I have set up for him."

Griz barks back, "Hadn't realized I was raising such assholes. The two of you, shit..."

It's hard not to laugh at them, always at each other"s throats, but one would be lost without the other. It doesn't sit lightly with me what I'm leaving behind by choosing Laney.

The consistent breeze that's moved around the humidity today is the only reprieve to the heaviness of this moment. I fix my attention on Griz and hand him a note. I don't want to discuss it with my brothers ahead of time. I need this to be mine and Laney's first before anyone else can interject. "That's only for you to see. But it would mean a lot to me."

He unfolds the note and reads it, his eyes watering as he looks up, giving me a curt nod. His thick mustache covers his pursed lips. "She would have wanted her to have it." Clapping his hand over my shoulder, he squeezes.

Lincoln comes out the front door, almost out of breath. "Those maniacs just fell asleep. It's past my bedtime, for fuck's sake." But that's where he clips his words. He looks at me, and then down at Griz's hand. "What did I miss?"

An unspoken understanding passes between us. Instead of a thousand questions, I'm sure he wants to ask, Lincoln comes to my side and only asks one: "Does she love you back?"

She hasn't said the words, but I feel it. Even despite what my digging into her past may have done, the way Laney looks at me was her tell. Biting back the emotions creeping up my throat, I give him another nod yes. "She's really fucking pissed off at me right now, but yeah, she does."

But it's Ace who surprises me. "Then you go where she goes."

Lincoln grips my other shoulder as Ace takes a step forward and does the same to his. "No matter what."

"Doesn't matter where you are," Griz says as he looks around at each of us, "you're my bourbon boys. And I'm fuckin' proud."

A creakof the floorboards wakes me, and I know right away that it's not Julep. The movements are too quiet for her. The bed dips to my front and I feel Laney settle in next to me.

I open my eyes and slowly blink away the haze as she runs her fingers through the side of my hair. Neither one of us says anything. Just looks at the other. The way her fingers touch my neck feels so good. I knew if she didn't find her way to me tonight that I would be back on her porch by the time dawn broke in the morning. I waited up for her as long as I could. I sat on that porch past midnight, but she didn't come back out. I could see her moving around inside, blaring music, working through what was likely going to happen next. But she made it clear she wanted space. I gave her as much as I could. And I made plans.

GRANT

I'm right here when you're ready.

Don't shut me out, baby.

She didn't answer. I sat and waited until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

I close my eyes as she drags her fingernails along my hairline. I know there needs to be words between us. Explanations and truths. But I'm content to feel this. Her warmth, her body so close. As her lips brush mine softly, I wrap my arm around her and pull her against me. "Tell me what's going on," I whisper, pinching my eyes closed.

She starts to say, "I'm sorry?—"

"Don't." I open my eyes and find her pretty blues staring back at me. "Don't do that. You don't apologize here. I messed up. I was so hung up on what you weren't telling me that I didn't think about setting off some alarms. I didn't think it through."

I'm not a cop anymore, but I should know better.

She stretches her body, and her fingers press against mine. I search her eyes for understanding, or maybe forgiveness. "You left things out about your past, but the truth is, I was looking for a reason not to trust you." With a rough swallow, I take a second before continuing. "A reason why I shouldn't want you." I reach my hand out, curling a piece of hair behind her ear. My thumb trails the movement and draws a soft line across her jaw. "Then none of that mattered."

Her eyes are blurry, my voice raw with emotion.

Leaning forward, she kisses my lips, and I can feel every emotion within it. I don't want her going anywhere. I know that's what she's saying here. That she can't stay. But there isn't a single part of me that will hear it. To feel this deeply for her, to want something so badly, and then to let her walk away? It isn't going to happen unless that's what she wants.

When she pulls away slowly, eyes on mine again, I bring her palm to my mouth and kiss it lightly. "I'm in love with you."

She lets out a small gasping exhale as her face squints up hearing those words. Tears track across the bridge of her nose.

I kiss her palm again and soften my voice. "I'm pretty sure I started falling for you the moment you flipped me off." I try to smile, but it's labored. My chest is heavy and adrenaline pumps through me, making my hands shake as I tell this beautiful woman exactly who she is to me. "But I am, honey. I'm so fucking in love with you. This is it for me."