Page 31 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Chapter Fifteen

Lexington

G ive her space.

Give her space.

Those were the three words that Brooklyn had whispered to me when I had gone over to Mercy’s place right after the ball had dropped. Because I was such a fucking idiot, that I had waited too long.

And that meant I couldn’t see Mercy. She didn’t want to see me. Because Brooklyn had opened the door, shook her head, and said to give Mercy space. So I hadn’t walked back over there. And she wasn’t answering my calls.

Fuck.

I paced my office, trying to pretend I could focus on work, but nothing was coming to me.

Not only had we lost out on the estate with the Arnaults, but I had also been avoiding my family and their most likely obvious displeasure about the fact that I had lost such a potentially huge contract for us.

All because I hadn’t been able to stand up for myself. Or keep my personal business out of what the hell was going on at work.

Or even stand up for Mercy.

I ran my hands over my face and looked down at my work board. My desk, usually pristine and organized, was a mess. Crumpled up pieces of paper, charcoal pens, everything was sprawled about, and not just in my workspace.

My gaze landed on the leather binder that Mercy had given me for Christmas, and I let out a breath. I needed to fix this.

Only I didn’t know how.

I had always been the one who watched as others walked away from me.

Or broke me.

Never the other way around. And yet, here I was, making mistake after mistake when it came to the person that I hadn’t even realized mattered the most. I was falling in love with Mercy, and in the end, it wouldn’t matter because she wouldn’t be able to love me back. Not when I had hurt her.

Why had I said those things? It was my fault. I was an adult.

I hadn’t even thought about the words escaping my mouth until it was too late.

“How am I supposed to fix this?” I asked myself.

“Lex?”

I turned to see Jamie standing there, her face void of expression.

She had her hair pulled back, her sweater buttoned up to her neck, and her outfit looking far different than she usually did.

I wasn’t sure what was going on with Jamie, but it wasn’t as if I was allowed to ask.

Because I would probably be the one who fucked it up. It wasn’t my place. Right?

“Jamie? What’s going on?” I asked, stiffening.

Was that my voice? That hollow excuse for whatever the hell I was thinking?

There were so many things wrong with this.

And I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to fix it.

Let alone move on. Because I did not want to move on.

I just didn’t know what I wanted. And that was the crux of the situation.

“There’s someone here to talk to you. They don’t have an appointment, but I figured you might want a distraction.”

“Oh. You know who it is?” My heart beat rapidly in my chest, and part of me hoped it was Mercy. Maybe she would come back. And I wouldn’t feel like I was such a fucking idiot for ruining everything.

“A man named Mr. Burson? He said he met you at the resort.”

My stomach fell, and I swallowed hard. “Oh. Send him back.”

“I can do that.” She paused, studying my face.

“What is it, Jamie?” I asked.

“I know this isn’t a great time, but I might have to leave for a little bit.”

I blinked. “What? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I moved forward, unsure of what to do. Jamie was always the steady one of us. Of course, that’s what they used to say about me. So what did I know?

Jamie just smiled softly. “Everything’s okay. I just need to do a few things.”

“Do you want me to call Leif?” I asked, speaking of her eldest brother.

My cousin snorted before throwing up her hands.

“For the love of God, every time that I need to do something that might seem out of character doesn’t mean you have to call my big brother to save me.

Seriously, I just need to take care of something.

Okay?” she asked, her voice a little more energetic than it had been all morning.

“Okay. If you need anything from me, I’m here, though.”

Her face softened. “I know that. Just like I know you have a lot more on your plate. We love you, you know.”

“Jamie,” I began.

“No. Yes, this is a place of business, but a lot of us are family. You’re just going to have to deal with it. Now, I am going to let Mr. Burson back, and I will talk to you later.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and left, leaving me confused as hell.

Maybe I would talk to Leif about his little sister.

But she might hate me for it. Maybe I’d talk to Cullen, one of her other older brothers.

He and I hung out the most whenever he was in town.

Because if something was wrong with Jamie, they would want to know.

Or maybe I was just thinking too hard on it.

A Black man with wide shoulders, a wide smile, and an expensive suit walked into my office. I held back a frown for a moment, until his name finally clicked with the face and when we’d spoken last. My brain clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders if it had taken this long.

“Mr. Burson. It’s good to see you.” I held out my hand, and he shook it, nodding.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Call me Lexington. There’s more than one Montgomery underneath this roof and it gets confusing.”

“So I hear. We’re a family business, as well. Well, we have been for the past one hundred years.”

“You guys do great work in the furniture building sector. And well, every other sector you’ve moved into in the past few years.”

“My grandmother wanted to take over the world, and we’re just trying to follow through.” He grinned as he said it, but I had a feeling he wasn’t being too hyperbolic.

“My family was the same way. We’re just following along in their footsteps.”

“And you’re doing a damn good job.” After a moment, the other man shook his head. “I’m going to be blunt with you. I am not a fan of Mr. Arnault.”

I blinked and gestured towards the couch on the other side of my office. “Here, take a seat, that way we’re not on opposite sides of a desk while we talk. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m okay. But I will take you up on sitting down. We went skiing for New Year’s, and I’ve found out that being forty means your body starts to wear down over time. Who knew?”

My lips twitched. “My cousins and parents have said the same thing.”

He pointed at me. “Mark my words, as soon as you hit thirty, it’s all downhill, and then you go uphill and downhill.

Or you fall on your face skiing as I did most of the weekend.

” He shook his head. “Like I was saying, I know you were gunning for the old Arnault estate. A lot of people were, and you would’ve been the best for the job.

I’m not surprised, though, that Arnault went another way. ”

I winced. “What’s he saying around town?”

He raised a brow. “He likes to badmouth everybody. Even if he’s doing it with a Cheshire cat smile. So most of us don’t tend to believe a word he says. So it doesn’t matter what lies he’s telling. Even if some of them might be true. Because he doesn’t matter in the end.”

I sighed. “I have a problem believing that his opinion wouldn’t matter in our field.”

“ He believes his opinion matters. And he owns a lot of strong businesses that I know overlap with both of ours. But he’s not the only one in the game.

I have four estates that are of historical reverence that I had been waiting to work on for a while now.

And I want to work with you. We talked a little bit at the JW, but I want to talk more. ”

My whole body stiffened for a moment, wondering how the hell this windfall had just fallen on my lap.

Because Mr. Burson’s properties were legendary.

And nobody outside of their family was allowed to work on them.

I hadn’t even bothered to put in a proposal because I hadn’t known they were on the table.

“I wasn’t aware that you were searching for a company. I’m sorry that I didn’t know.”

“We’re always searching, we just don’t tell anyone.” The older man smiled softly. “But I like your family business. And well, I like Mercy.”

My throat went dry. “She doesn’t work with us. She’s a family friend.” And that was a damn lie. She was so much more and yet I wasn’t sure how to make sure she understood that. So it wasn’t as if I was going to mention that to this near stranger in my office.

The other man just raised a brow. “Yes, I know she’s a family friend.

Whatever happens in your personal life is not my business.

Just like what happens in our personal lives is not your business.

But she made my wife laugh hysterically when others were ignoring her, and I know your work.

You’re one of the best in the business. And I want to see what you and your family can do with my family business. ”

I rolled my shoulders back, knowing I once again owed Mercy everything. Just like I owed my family everything. “I’m honored. Now what can I do for you?”

“Let’s talk.”

“I’m all yours.”

If I couldn’t fix anything else in my life, I could at least fix this.

I hoped.

* * *

By the time the other man had left, Dash, Brooklyn, and Reece were in my office, shaking their heads at me.

“Can you believe that just happened?” Brooklyn asked. “Fuck the Arnault estate. This is a huge thing.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. If anyone ever needed a moment to breathe and find joy, it would be Brooklyn. “It is. I can’t believe he just walked in and offered it.”

Dash grinned. “We’re going to have to work our asses off, but dammit, Lex. This is brilliant.”

And it sure as hell didn’t feel real. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

“And if you don’t stop blaming yourself for whatever happened with Arnault, you can just fuck right off,” Brooklyn said so politely, that I blinked when her words finally caught up to me.