Page 19 of The Devil’s Detail (The Greystone Family: Greystone Brothers #2)
Jackson
Carter in Scotland was a breeze compared to Carter in LA.
I’m sure he’s acting up on purpose. I expected him to be high profile, but this high maintenance act?
No way. It’s as if LA affects his decision making.
Or maybe, as I suspect, it’s the men he’s allowed back to his detail from the old firm that are the issue.
We’ve had the biggest row yet, over superhero character dolls, for fuck’s sake. I slam myself back into my desk chair. Ash has turned up for the debrief. It was his day off.
“Do you think they waited til I was out of the way?” He’s spinning a pen around in frustration and annoyance.
I nod. “Absolutely. There’s no way in hell you would have let Carter get out of that car. What the fuck were they thinking making an unscheduled stop like that.” I’m shaking my head. “I’ve got a bit of digging to do, but I think I know what happened.”
He looks over at me and sighs. “I like Carter, he’s a good guy.
But do we really need all this?” He points to the reports and magazine covers with Carter’s face plastered all over them.
“He’s everywhere, and a loose cannon. Can’t you speak to Evie, get her to understand, and maybe put another firm on him. Someone a bit more old school.”
I huff a laugh at that. “I can try, but Carter is on the phone every week telling her how great he thinks we are. If I try and upend that, she’ll not be happy.” I hate disappointing my sister, but I fear it may get to that point.
“How great he thinks you are, you mean.”
I grin. He is very obvious, but he’s harmless. I bat Ash off. “Yeah well, him and the rest of the world.” I brush my fingers across the shoulders of my suit.
He chuckles. “You’re worse than him. But he’s like a badly behaved puppy—any attention is good attention, even if it’s not. You need to break the cycle. Stop coming when he calls.” Ash is all good advice today.
“I don’t come everytime. If I did, I’d be there more than you.
I come when he really fucks up. Which, at the minute, feels daily.
We’ve had a serious talk today. I think I’ve gotten through, but we’ll see.
If he doesn’t improve, I’ll put him on the transfer list and start to get a few options together. ”
He nods in agreement. “He was fine in Scotland. Chilled out, normal even. Here, he seems to go loco. Must be something in the water,” he muses.
“Or maybe in the country. Gary’s back. He was picked up at the airport.
Got a tip-off. So we’ll have to be extra vigilant.
I’m sure one of those fuckers Carter insists on keeping on payroll called him over.
” I pick up Carter's schedule and look it over. “We should be alright for a few days. There are no official appearances, just personal stuff, dinners etc. But we’ll keep going as we are. Next week looks like a nightmare, so I’ll draft a few more guys in.
I might even speak to his PR team—this looks excessive.
” I slap the pages in exasperation. This schedule is madness.
Even Carter will be going some to get through it all.
“Anyone would think you cared about him.” I look up into Ash’s grinning face, and I smirk at him.
“I do. He’s a friend.” I roll my eyes, shaking my head. “And I’m too scared of my sister to let him get hurt.” We both start to laugh, because neither of us are joking.