Chapter 3

The next morning when I woke up, I looked over and Tristan was still asleep. I climbed out of bed and threw my robe on making my way out to the kitchen. I started a pot of coffee before making my way to the living room and dialing the all too familiar number. "Lo?" He said answering the phone.

"Did you know?" I asked him.

"What? Ror? What time is it?" He asked.

"Is that why you kept encouraging me to break up with Charlie? Did you know that he was coming back to Hartford?" I asked. I needed to know.

I could hear Logan sigh on the other end of the phone. "He called me a month ago. He wanted to make sure that I was okay if you guys got together." He finally said.

"So that is why you encouraged me to break up with Charlie?" I asked him.

"No it's not. I encouraged you to break up with Charlie because you didn't need to be with someone who was like the old me." He said. "Charlie's a liar and a cheater. You dealt with that enough when we were together." He said.

"That's true." I admitted.

"What's going on?" He asked me.

"Tristan showed up at the reunion last night." I told him.

"I thought you said that you weren't going."

"Paris dragged me." I told him.

"Uh-huh. Then what happened?" He asked.

"He told me that my dad is making him a partner at the firm." I said.

"He mentioned something about that." Logan said.

"He hurt me when I left Boston, Lo. What if it happens again?" I asked.

"Then Colin, Finn, Steph and I will be there to pick up the pieces like always." He told me and I smiled.

"I'm glad I have you guys." I said.

"Me too. Go get some coffee. You probably haven't had much if any." He said and hung up.

I sat my phone on the coffee table and headed back to the kitchen to fix my coffee. Right as I took the first drink I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. "I thought you were asleep." I said sitting my cup on the counter so I could turn in his arms.

"You were gone and the bed was cold." He said.

"Couldn't sleep." I said.

"What's on your mind? I can see the gears turning." He said.

I sighed. "I don't want to get hurt again." I told him.

"You don't trust me." He said barely above a whisper.

"I want to. But Tris, the last time we saw each other you told me that my history complicated things because of Logan. What changed?" I asked him, thinking about my conversation with Logan.

He took a step back, giving me space. "I called Logan. I needed to know that if you and I were to give things a chance that he would be okay with it." Tris said.

"Why? Logan and I broke up years ago. He's happily married to one of my best friends. Tell me why?" I said.

"Ror, I told you. Logan's my cousin. When your Dad offered me the partnership, I called Logan. We talked and in the end he told me that if I could get you to forgive me that he would be okay with it." Tris said.

I ran a hand over my face and sighed. "Of course he would be okay with it!" I yelled. "Tris, he married my best friend Stephanie a year and a half ago." I turned back towards the counter and picked up my coffee. I took a couple more drinks of it.

I felt Tristan put his hands on my shoulders. "I know that. But I also know that you hold a very special place in his heart. He wasn't willing to grow up until he met you. You changed him. Everyone knows it. I also know how protective he is of you. I guess I needed his blessing, so to speak." He told me.

I sighed, releasing the breath that I hadn't realized that I had been holding. I turned around to face him once again. "So now what? Where do we go from here?" I asked him.

He kissed my forehead. "Well, I think that we should start by you letting me show you just how much I love you." Tris said.

I looked up at him through my doe eyes. "You do, do you?" I asked.

He nodded. "Mhmm. Yes." He said.

I looked at the clock behind him on the stove. I needed to get to the law firm. I had a board meeting. "Well, can we take a rain check? I have to get dressed. I have a board meeting to get to." I told him.

He wrapped his arms around me once again and kissed me. "I suppose so. I have to go see your dad anyway. Wanna car pool?" He asked me.

I laughed. "Might as well. It's not like he's gonna let you in the office without knowing anything." I said, casually.

"Good." He said.

45 minutes later, Tristan and I walked hand in hand into my family's law firm. We stopped at my dad's office first. "Morning." I said to my dad from the doorway. He looked up from the papers that he was looking at and smiled at us.

"Morning, you two. How are things?" He asked.

I looked at Tristan for a second before looking back at my dad. "We're working through it." I told him.

Dad nodded. "Good. The conference room is all ready for you, Ror." He told me.

"Good. I just have to get my itinerary and then I'll be in." I said and Dad nodded. "I'll leave you two to talk." I said, before letting go of Tristan's hand and making my way to my office. Lacey, my assistant was sitting at her desk.

"Morning, Ms. Hayden." She said.

"Morning, Lace. How's things?" I asked walking into my office.

"There good." She said, walking in behind me with a cup of coffee. "Your grandmother called this morning, to remind you about the benefit Friday night. She said if you need an escort to let her know." I rolled my eyes at that.

"That's Lace. She's driving me crazy." I told her and Lacey laughed.

"I can imagine. The last benefit, I remember she called everyday leading up to it." She reminded me.

"Yep." I said, as I sat in my chair. "I don't know what to do about her. Ever since my grandfather passed she's been insufferable." I said.

"I'm sure things will settle when the merger's done." She said.

"That's if it happens." I told her.

"You're doing a great job. I'm sure that it'll happen." Lacey said.

"Thanks. Can you make sure there's plenty of coffee in the conference room and let me know when everyone arrives?" I asked her and she nodded.

20 minutes later, I found myself walking into the conference room and sitting at the head of the table. Lacey poured me a cup of coffee and sat it in front of me. Dad started the board meeting while I sat there and gathered my thoughts. When Dad mentioned the merger, certain board members started protesting. "The merger will continue as planned." I said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started. "I have a meeting with the CEO this afternoon, where I plan to iron out the final details of the merger."

"And you're sure that this is the way you want to go?" Grandma Francine asked me.

I looked up from my coffee cup at my grandmother. "Absolutely. We've been planning this merger for over a year. Andrew has passed and Colin doesn't want the responsibility of being CEO. He is more than happy to leave that to me." I told her.

The rest of the board didn't seem too happy with the idea of me going after Colin's firm but they also didn't realize that Colin and I were friends. I'd decided to take Tris with me to the meeting. Colin was sure to get a laugh out of it. Hell, we weren't even meeting at his office. We'd decided to having a working dinner. Everything would be fine.

After the board meeting, I made my way back to my office where Tris was waiting for me. I walked around and sat at my desk. "How was your board meeting?" He asked me.

I sighed. "It was fine until Dad brought up the new merger. Then there were some protests." I told him.

"I'm sure once it's done everything will be okay." Tris said.

I gave him a weak smile. "Let's get out of here." I said and Tris looked at me confused.

We made our way through the office. I told Dad that I'd let him know how my meeting went. The only thing he did was nod. I knew that he still resented me for the fact that Grandpa had named me his heir, but there was nothing that either of us could do about that.

When Tris and I walked into my condo, I dropped my stuff on the bar in the kitchen before I turned to look at Tris. "Take a bath with me, before we have to go meet the other CEO?" I asked him.

He nodded. I grabbed his hand and led him back through my bedroom to the master bath. I started the bath and lit one of my scented candles. Tris and I both stripped before he climbed in the tub. I climbed in next and settled between his legs, leaning back against his chest. When the tub was full, I turned the water off. "This is nice." I said.

"I like being here, with you." He said as he pulled my hair to one side.

I leaned my head to side, to lean against his shoulder. "I like having you here." I said, as he started to kiss my neck.

"So who's the CEO you have to meet?" He asked me, a few minutes later.

"A friend from Yale. He inherited his father's law firm, when his father passed away last year. He doesn't like the idea of being a CEO, so when I approached him with the idea of merging our two law firms… he gladly took me up on it." I told him as he went back to kissing my neck.

"Uh-huh, and what am I supposed to do while you're gone to this meeting?" He asked me.

"You don't want to come with me?" I asked with a slight grin on my face.

"I mean, I'd love to. But how would he feel about that?" Tris asked me.

"He wouldn't mind. We decided to do a working dinner instead of meeting at the office. More relaxed that way." I told him.

"Oh well, I'm definitely coming then." He told me.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Well, we'd better get out then or else we're going to be late." I told him, leaning forward and draining the water from the tub.

45 minutes later, I'm dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a silky top with my black ankle boots. I grabbed my leather jacket, throwing my hair into a ponytail, I was ready to go. When I walked out of my closet Tristan was staring at me. "That's how you're going to the meeting?" He asked me shocked by my outfit.

I couldn't help but laugh. I nodded. "Yeah. When you meet him you'll understand." I said.

When Tristan and I arrived at the restaurant it didn't take me long to find him. Just like always he was sitting in a booth in the back corner, nursing a glass of scotch. They all drank it. "Damn you couldn't even wait on me?" I asked approaching the table.

He looked up at me and smiled. "Sorry. It's been a long day." He stood up and hugged me.

When he pulled back he looked beside me. "DuGrey?" He asked.

"Colin?"