Chapter 327
Chapter 327
Avery’s POV
We sat on the sofa with the wine between us and the rest of the house quiet around us. I poured two glasses and sat back in the cushions, letting out a breath.
“Okay,” Claire said, hooking one foot under her opposite leg and turning to face me. “Tell me everything p>
So I did.
I told her about the Hartwell meeting and Bjorn fake-snoring in the corner. I told her about the copy room and the jammed machine and the error code that maintenance was going to bill me for. I told her about finding Bjorn around the corner by the elevators, talking to a stranger of his own accord for the first time, like he just immediately understood his own kind.
“I see,” Claire slowly said when I was finished. “So he did show up after all p>
I nearly spat out my wine. “You knew he was coming?” I asked.
“He may or may have mentioned his plan to come talk to you in person.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“Claire p>
“I know. I’m sorry.” She took a sip of her wine. “But for what it’s worth, I’ve done a lot of research on him and Evergreen Pack, and he seems legitimate. His pack has actually got a really strong reputation p>
“I don’t care,” I said. “You know my history. You know why I can’t go back there p>
“I know it’s hard.” She set her glass down. “But Avery, I really think you should go to that event p>
“No, I won’t go p>
“Listen to reason here, Avery!” she insisted “The Hartwell deal is shaky now, whether you want to admit it or not. And the Evergreen partnership would more than make up for it if it fell through! Sebastian is offering you distribution access to every major pack territory. Do you understand what that would do for the business p>
“I understand perfectly what it would mean for the business,” I said curtly. “I also understand what it would mean for me and for my son p>
Claire was quiet for a moment before she said softly, “You’ve been here for ten years.
WIL
1/3
+25 flonus
Ten years! And Gideon has never found you
I took a big swig of my wine, polishing it off then refilled my glass rather than answering.
“Furthermore,” Claire continued, “Evergreen is nowhere near Nightwolf territory. You wouldn’t be anywhere near Gideon. You just need to go, tour the pack, smile and shake hands and make a decision about the partnership, and then come home. Everything after that could be done remotely p>
“You make it sound so simple,” I said, laughing bitterly.
“It is simple. You’re the only one who’s making things more complicated than they need to other, who knew the whole story of what happened to me. She had known me before the business, before any of it, when I was just a woman who had shown up in her fishing village in the human lands with nothing and slowly figured out how to build something. We hadbe p>
I shot her a withering glare, but she held my gaze firmly.
Claire had always been like this-brutally honest, sometimes to a fault. It was why I had hired her. It was why she was sitting at my kitchen table at nine o’clock on a Wednesday instead of anyone else.
She was the only person in this world, aside from my m quickly become friends, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Furthermore, she knew about Gideon and our sordid past. She knew about Asher, and the greenhouse, and the river, and the finger, all of it. And she had never once used any of it against me or let it change the way she treated me.
So when she said I should go, I knew she meant it. And I also knew that she wasn’t just insisting from a business perspective.
“Bjorn deserves more than what you’ve been able to give him here,” she said. “And I’m not saying that to be cruel, because you have given him so much. But he’s clearly struggling, Avery. He doesn’t fit in here, and he knows it, and he’s going to keep fighting you on it until your relationship is totally destroyed.” She paused. “You’ve spent ten years protecting him from the packs. But I’m not sure the packs are what he needs protecting from anymore p>
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