Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (22 page)

We take a couple of
different cabs since we’re going to different places. Quinn had
called them for us while Zane was giving Yasmin her care
instructions. Yasmin and I hug and then go to the separate
apartments. Ryan is waiting for me, naked on his bed, when I arrive
at his apartment.

“My beautiful cock
and I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

I undress as I walk
towards the bed. “Yum,” I tell him as I climb over him and take
him in my mouth. It’s going to be another fun night.

* * *

Ryan

Chloe has a secret
meeting at the W today. She wouldn’t tell me what it was, saying
that she wanted to be sure before saying anything. I’m very
curious, but keep myself busy visiting my old friends at the
construction site they’re currently working on. I hear that the
Richards’ are really going after us, and that they have some
support behind them.

The guys here know that
my family is completely ethical, and that we don’t need to steal
anyone’s ideas. It’s great to know that they have my back. We
have a great time, and I join them for lunch, which brings back great
memories of working with them. I really want the Chicago project to
get the go ahead. I would love to work side by side with these guys
again.

I say my goodbyes to
everyone and head to the W to pick up Chloe. I’m anxious to hear
about her meeting. As I valet my Jag, I see Adam Richards exiting the
hotel. He sees me, and a smirk crosses his face as his approaches.

“Chloe is still as
good as ever, Griffin. Thanks for keeping her flexible for me.”

Rage fills my mind, but
I don’t act on it. I know if I hit him it will only hurt our case
tomorrow. He knows it, too, or he wouldn’t have baited me. He gets
into a waiting limo and takes off as I stand there. I turn to the
hotel, walking in to the lobby and dropping into the nearest chair.

I don’t want to
believe that Chloe was in the hotel with him. But she wouldn’t tell
me who she was meeting. She said that she had to see how it went.
What if she was seeing if they could get back together? She said that
the news reports of her cheating were lies, so maybe she thought she
could convince him and he would take her back.

Was she just biding her
time with me? No, I know that she wasn’t faking it. But I believed
that three years ago, and then she left me for him. Is he better in
bed than I am? Does he make her scream louder? I can’t do this
again.

“Ryan? Are you okay?”

Chloe’s standing
before me in the same black and white sleeveless dress that I dropped
her off in. It has some fans or starburst or something on it. Her
hair is still in its tight bun. I look down and see her sexy black
strappy shoes. Did she dig those heels into his ass the way she does
to me when I ask her to keep her shoes on?

“Ry? You’re scaring
me a little.”

I make myself answer
her as I stand. “I’m fine. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I am. You don’t
look fine to me, though.” She reaches for me, and I step back.

“Maybe you don’t
know me as well as you think.”

I see her flinch at my
words and actions, but right now I don’t care. I walk outside to
the valet desk, not even holding the door for her. I get in the car
when it pulls up, leaving the valet guy to open Chloe’s door. I can
tell that she’s surprised, but she doesn’t say anything.

Neither of us says
anything as I drive to my parents’ house. We’re all meeting there
to go over our strategy for tomorrow morning. The meeting will be
taking place at the house, and when we get there, delivery trucks are
dropping off chairs and whatever else is needed. I get out of the car
and walk inside without looking back.

Chloe comes inside a
few minutes later, her eyes red. Dammit! It hurts me to see her like
that, knowing that I caused it. But I need to protect myself if she’s
going back to Adam. That’s a big “if” though, and I need to man
up and confront her instead of acting so passive aggressive. I walk
over to her and take her hand, leading her outside. I pull her to the
treehouse, and we climb up.

“Are you going to
tell me why you’re mad at me now, Ryan?”

“How was your
meeting, Chloe?”

“It was actually
pretty wonderful. Is that what this is about? Are you upset that I
didn’t tell you the details? I couldn’t wait to see you to tell
you after it was over, but you’ve been so cold.”

“Did Adam make you
scream louder than I do?”

“Adam? What are you
talking about?”

“I saw him at the
hotel, Chlo. He told me that you were as good as ever.”

“And you believed
him? You thought that I would cheat on you? I never saw Adam at the
hotel. I was in the restaurant, having my meeting.” She is angry
now, her eyes flashing.

“What about the texts
from him?”

“Texts?”

“I saw his name come
up on your phone a few times. You always hid the screen so I couldn’t
see the messages, but I saw his name.”

“You think I was
sending him love messages?”

“What do you expect
me to think? You’re texting with him and then he’s at the hotel.
You thought I’d cheat on you with that chick in Orlando, but now
here you are. Fucking Adam while I wait around for you. I’m such an
idiot.”

“Yeah, Ryan. You
really are. Especially if you think I’d sleep with Adam.”

“What was this
supposed meeting of yours for then, Chloe?”

“It’s no longer any
of your business, but I was asked to design the interiors for a new
hotel in London. I accepted the job.”

“You’re going to
London? And what do you mean that it’s no longer my business?”

“Yes, I’m going to
London. I was hoping that you could come visit me and we could have
our London trip,” she spits out. “It’s not your business
because as of right now, we are no longer together.”

“Wh-what?”

“Did you seriously
think that you could accuse me of cheating on you, and everything
would be fine after that? That we’d still be together? I’ve been
working on getting past the fact that you slept with everything that
moved while we were apart. It’s been hard when I’ve had it thrown
in my face over and over again, but I knew I needed to do it because
I wanted a future with you.”

“I want a future with
you too, sweetheart.” I reach for her, but she moves away from me.
This is bad. Very bad. I can fix it, though. I always fix it.

“If you wanted a
future with me, you would’ve asked me if I was with Adam instead of
accusing me. You would’ve known that I won’t cheat on you. I have
never cheated on you. You can’t get past my relationship with him,
and I can’t be with you if you don’t trust me.”

“I just went a little
crazy, Chlo. I trust you. I do.”

Her eyes soften. “No,
Ry, you don’t. I understand I deserved that in the beginning, but
by now, you should know that it’s only you. My actions and my words
should have shown you that by now.”

“I’ll do anything
to prove it to you. Don’t leave me again, Chloe. I can’t survive
it.”

“How many times can
we hurt each other and then get back together? My heart is barely
holding on, and I can’t keep going back and forth. I love you so
much, Ryan. More than I did before, and more than I will ever love
anyone else, ever. But I can’t keep do this over and over again.”

“I don’t want to
hurt you. I should have talked to you calmly instead of accusing you.
But, in my defense, you did leave me before for Adam, so seeing him
at the same hotel where you were was pretty hard. I won’t let it
happen again, Chloe. I’ll control my emotions.”

“You shouldn’t have
to control your emotions, Ryan. And you shouldn’t have to worry
that I’m going to leave you. The fact that you did proves that what
we have is not good for either of us. For tomorrow, it’s important
that we look like we’re together, so I’ll play along. We need to
pretend in front of everyone tonight, too, so that they aren’t
stressed. I’ll clear out my desk when we get back to Vegas, and you
won’t have to see me again.”

“I love you, Chloe.”

“I know. And for the
record, I never screamed for Adam. Ever.”

We walk back into my
parents’ house, holding hands. We pretend that everything is okay.
I see my parents and brothers exchanging looks. They know me well
enough to know that something’s wrong. Chloe’s right. They don’t
need the stress, so I continue with the charade, while I die a little
inside with every minute that passes. We go back to my apartment to
keep up appearances, and Chloe insists on sleeping on the couch.

I’ve lost her,and I
don’t know what to do. I’m not the 22 year old boy with stars in
his eyes. I’m the 25 year old man who just lost the only woman he’s
ever loved. Again. I want to fight, but she pretty much told me not
to. How can I not fight for her, though, when she’s my everything?

Chloe

I woke up this morning
without Ryan’s arms around me. It’s the first time in months, and
I hate it. But I know I was right in breaking up with him. Especially
when he gave up without much of a fight. If his love for me was as
strong as he says it is, he would fight for me. What am I saying? I
should be fighting for him, too. I just don’t know how anymore. I
thought I showed him that he could trust me, but one stupid lie from
Adam proved that he doesn’t.

I carefully picked my
outfit for today. It’s a blue, black, and white dress that has
abstract flowers that look like brush strokes all over it. There are
two little flaps on top that serve as short sleeves. I’m pairing it
with Fendi shoes in shades of blue, black, and white that are a made
of leather and plastic. I want to show Annette Richards that she
can’t control my clothes choices anymore.

“You look beautiful
as always, Chloe.”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

“Are you ready to
go?”

I nod, and he takes my
hand as we leave the apartment. I feel a piece of paper slip into my
hand, and I look up at Ryan, but he keeps his face looking impassive.
We meet up with Scott and Yasmin in the lobby. As we hug them, I hold
the paper tight in my hand. Yasmin pulls me aside.

“Scott and I went to
the university yesterday. There will be a surprise at the meeting
that should make everything okay for you.”

“What kind of
surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be a
surprise if I told you, now would it?”

“No, I guess not,”
I tell her with a smile.

Ryan drives us to the
house in his car as Scott had his shipped to Vegas last year. He
comes around and opens my door for me, taking my hand to help me out
and not letting it go as we walk in. The room is filling up already,
and we take our seats with everyone else in the front of the room.
The Richards family is across the aisle, sneering at us as we walk
in. I glare back. I can’t speak out publicly, but they can’t
control me anymore either.

Right before the
proceedings start, I see the president of my alma mater enter with
another man and slide into an aisle seat a couple of rows back.
Yasmin reaches out and squeezes my shoulder with a smile. Things
start and the Richards family begins their attack. Deanna testifies
about me being a slut, and the newspaper articles are brought up.
Since this is not a court of law, anything goes. Ryan’s squeezing
my hand tight, and I can feel the tension coming off of the Griffin
family as the accusations against them and me fly. Then, Andrew
Richards says that all of his “proof” shows how unethical the
Griffins are, and Yasmin rockets out of her seat.

“You want to talk
about ethical? How about blackmailing an 18 year old into dating your
son?”

“You fucking cunt,”
Adam yells, advancing on me with a murderous look on his face as I
let go of Ryan’s hand and stand up to face him. I feel Ryan stand
as well. Candi steps in front of me before Adam can reach me.

“Let him hit me,
Candi. I’ve always wanted to own my own company.” I look
pointedly at Andrew.

“That agreement is
that I can’t touch you sexually, and besides, public touching is
okay.” Adam is looking haughty, and I’m happy to burst his
bubble. He’s the one who brought up the agreement.

“The agreement did
not specify the type of touching that was prohibited, and the public
touching was only allowed for three years. That was specified.”

Andrew and Adam turn to
their lawyer, who looks pale as he confirms what I’ve just said.
“You wanted her to call Griffin and break it off so bad that you
told me to write down exactly what she said so you could sign it and
have her make the call. That’s exactly what she said.”

Adam turns back to me.
“You’re still a slut, though. Are you going to dispute the fact
that you cheated on me?”

“It’s not a fact,
but she can’t dispute it, and you know it?” Sam is standing next
to me now as well.

“You told your
friend? Well, now I can touch you sexually. I expect you at my place
tonight to pay up. You’re not as smart as you think, Chloe.”

“Actually, I am. That
part of the agreement was that I couldn’t say anything publicly,
which I haven’t. It didn’t say that I couldn’t tell anyone
privately.”

Again the lawyer
confirms what I say. Andrew promptly fires him, and he rushes from
the room. Then he starts trying to cover, saying that any agreement
that Adam and I made has nothing to do with what’s going on. The
university president stands up to speak.

“I have a video that
will show how it relates to what is going on. We don’t normally
allow video from the school to be shown publicly, but after viewing
it, both our chief counsel and I have agreed to make an exception.
Mr. and Mrs. Richards, what you and your son did to this girl is
inexcusable and frankly, very disturbing.” He walks forward and
hands the disk to the men at the table. The one in the middle motions
for someone to put it in the DVD player that’s attached to the
projector behind them. Andrew starts to panic.