Chapter 19

"Fuck!" Fitz curses, slamming the laptop shut. "Get Huck in here."

Rebekah takes a few steps back, shocked by Fitz's sudden rage. She raises her watch to her mouth and informs Huck to come over right away. Within moments, he appears at the office door. "Sir, I saw the news. I'm attempting to hack into their system as we speak." Huck responds quickly, opening his laptop and typing with haste.

"No more trying—DO IT!" Fitz shouts, his booming voice filling the entire room with sound.

Rebecca flinches. "What would you like me to do, Mr. Grant?"

"Call someone from that website and get their name. Tell them if they don't take down the article, I'll bring down their whole company."

"Yes sir…okay." Rebekah scurries out of the room.

Mellie strides into the office almost being pushed aside by Rebekah's sudden exit. "He's upset, Mellie." Rebekah mutters as she sprints away. Mellie turns away from Rebekah and makes her way over to Fitz, who is pouring a drink from his makeshift bar. Mellie takes the glass from him and lets out a sigh – "it's too early for alcohol." His eyes focus on her with anger in them. "I'm an adult, what do you want?"

Mellie knows how to handle an upset Fitz. Distract him with work. She brings her wrist up to his nose and asks, "what do you think of this scent?"

He grunts, not wanting to be bothered by her antics. Stepping away from her, he gulps down the scotch and heads toward his desk.

Mellie forces her wrist onto him again. "If Olivia wore this scent would you rip off her panties or puke?"

He smirks at her question and pushes his chair away from her. "What?"

"I'm testing my new fragrance line," she explains before glancing at Huck sitting on the couch. "What is he doing here?"

Fitz responds with a sharp tone, "Someone leaked a photo of me and Olivia to the Daily Beat."

Mellie approaches Huck, putting her wrist close to his nose for him to smell, "What do you think?"

Huck leans back on the couch without responding.

Mellie settles down on the arm of the couch and glances at the article over his shoulder. "Do you even like women?"

Huck remains silent.

Mellie crosses one leg over the other and pokes Huck's shoulder. "Stop your investigating. I sent the photo."

Fitz looks up from his desk with a jolt and Huck slams his laptop shut.

"You did WHAT?!" Fitz shouts, moving toward Mellie in a rush.

Mellie stands with finesse, pressing her finger into Fitz's chest. "Calm down, Fitzgerald. No need to get your panties in a bunch."

"Fuck off, Mellie. I thought you had my back." Fitz walks to the long window in his office, anger suffusing his face.

Mellie follows him. "I do and you know it. I leaked the picture for the benefit of the company, Fitzgerald." She crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I wasn't aware we started making decisions for Grant Industries without each other. I saved your ass in London and this is just a little payback to remind you that we're a team. I hate being kept out of the loop."

Fitz glares at her, "The name on the door is Grant Industries, Mellie. I…MAKE…THE…DECISIONS!"

Mellie responds with a snort of derision. "Oh please, Fitzgerald. Don't pull that high and mighty shit with me. The board isn't happy you ended those deals with Edgar. You need to be seen in a favorable light. Thanks to me, I informed them you were finally in love and was planning on announcing your relationship soon. Their tired of hearing the rumors about your escapades with every woman you come across. A heartwarming love story will change their minds."

He turns from the window, shaking his head. "I invested my own money and created brand-new deals with Edgar's rivals. The business is safe."

"Financially, yes. In notoriety, no. You've made a few poor decisions when it comes to women and now it's time you fix up your act." Mellie states.

He steps away from her, swallowing hard. "Victoria was becoming a problem. I needed to end my relationship with her and Edgar for the sake of my relationship with Olivia."

Mellie moves toward his desk, picking up one of his stress balls and squeezes it tightly. "And you didn't think to include me until the very end, when you needed me the most?" She sighs, placing the soft ball back on his desk then turns to face him; tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "The things I've done for your happiness...a thank you would be nice." Her expression softens. "I acted impulsively when I sent the picture to The Daily Beat. I didn't think about the repercussions. I'm sorry, Fitz. I didn't mean to put your relationship with Olivia in jeopardy."

"Mellie," he walks over and hugs her gently. "Thank you. You're right; we're a team." Mellie pulls away from him and glances up at him sadly. "That's all I want, Fitz."

X

Gregory slams his gavel down, finishing up the case he's just presided over. He wearily strides to his office and goes straight for the bar, pouring himself a generous glass of bourbon. He places his black robe on the hook before planting himself in his chair. Leaning back in the seat, he lifts his feet onto the desktop and savors the drink while taking stock of his life. A successful career as a judge, a loving wife, and a mansion—he has it all. Still, he knows mistakes have been made. But before he can ponder further on it, the door swings open and he quickly sits up straighter, downing the rest of his bourbon in one gulp.

"It's five o'clock somewhere," the voice remarks with a chuckle.

Hollis Doyle stands before him, a ghost from Gregory's past—a mistake he never should have made. "What do you want, Hollis?" Gregory groans, sliding his chair under the desk.

Hollis grins and takes a seat in front of Gregory's desk. "Not happy to see me, are you Gregory?"

"I asked what you wanted." Gregory replies.

Pointing to the phone in his hand, Hollis states, "A new development has come up."

Gregory slides his glasses onto his nose and peers down at the phone display. It's a picture of Olivia and Fitz kissing. He curses under his breath.

Hollis leans back in the chair, then forward, tapping the phone. "Is this your niece?"

"Why?" Gregory smirks.

Hollis swipes the phone away and drops it into his jacket pocket. "I do my research, Gregory. I know all about you and your family. It appears she's cozying up with Grant."

Gregory pours himself another drink without glancing away from Hollis. "I'm not aware that she's 'cozying up' with anyone."

Hollis laughs heartily at the statement; then responds seriously, "Find out for sure; she can be an asset."

"What are you talking about?" Gregory questions while taking a sip from the glass in his hand.

"I still haven't found my son's killer. I think Grant was involved," explains Hollis.

Gregory frowns deeply as he recalls how long ago he'd done Hollis' bidding, when he knew Hollis' son was guilty of killing Jerry Grant and his business partner. "I did your dirty work years ago Hollis, against my better judgment, I gave your son a free get out of jail card even though I knew he was guilty."

"Grant murdered my son!" Hollis shouts, pounding his fist on the desk.

"There's no evidence of that."

"You can get it for me through your niece."

Gregory laughs. "Olivia is off limits. Can't you use one of your thugs?"

"My men can't penetrate Grant Industries, he's too well guarded."

"I'm not helping you with this." Gregory declares sternly.

Hollis narrows his eyes at Gregory. "Don't forget who helped you get your job here. I made sure the votes were in your favor so you could hold this position."

Gregory stares hard at Hollis. "It was the biggest mistake of my life to ever help you. I should convince Grant to work with me so we can bring your ass down."

Hollis glares at him menacingly. "You might be regretting those words soon enough."

"I've sold my soul to the devil by working with you; Hell will welcome me." Gregory watches the door slam as Hollis leaves. He quickly dials his wife's number. "Monica, we need to talk."

X

Fitz nervously tosses the small blue ball up and down in his hand. Anxiety washes over him as he thinks of Olivia and what her response will be to the news of their relationship being leaked. They'd talked about revealing their relationship, but on their terms; when he was ready. He glances at his vibrating phone. It's his mother. He sends the call to voicemail. It vibrates again and he turns the phone over on his desk. He doesn't have the strength to deal with his mother's questions at the moment. His concern is Olivia. As much as he wanted to rush down to her office and tell her about the photo being leaked, he decided against it. He's called her a few times and his call has gone unanswered. This is the first time he's been photographed with another woman other than Mellie. His bachelor status has always been the talk of the city, despite trying to cover up his rendezvous'' with NDA's or secret locations. The door clicks open as his eyes drift upward. It's Olivia. He's unsure if he should meet her halfway or just remain in his chair.

"Josh showed me the photo online." Olivia keeps her back firmly against the door, distancing herself from him. "And I got a call from Mellie too. She was apologetic."

He takes a deep breath, standing and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry, love."

Olivia shrugs her shoulders. "We were going to make our relationship public at some point, weren't we?" She says hesitantly, afraid of what his answer might be. She was aware Fitz wanted to keep their relationship hidden for as long as he could.

"At some point…yes," he responds.

She approaches two steps closer. "I know this isn't the way we wanted to tell the public about our relationship, but I think we might be able to make it work…together. Is that something you want?"

He struggles for a moment before responding. "Declaring our relationship would bring on certain risks, especially for me."

"It's us, Fitz; not only you. I haven't told my parents about you - and I'm sure they won't be overjoyed when they find out."

He combs through his wavy curls with his fingers. "Why won't they be pleased to meet me?"

Olivia chuckles. "You're a billionaire from New York. My parents want me to end up with a nice Southern man who is content with the South's laid-back lifestyle." She lowers her eyes to the floor, unable to look at him. "My mother adores my ex and would prefer I reconcile my relationship with him."

Fitz scrunches up his face.

"I'm never going back to Georgia. My life is here. You're here. I've finally been able to learn who the real Olivia is and I like her…a lot. I'm no longer under my parents thumb and living out their desires for me. I'm finally living for me."

He takes the last few steps, facing her. "How did I get so lucky?" He asks, softly running his hand down her cheek before planting a tender kiss on her lips.

She stands on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck, gently kissing him. "We're both lucky."

He smiles, kissing her forehead.

"I don't want us to keep our relationship a secret anymore. I want to be able to be together openly."

He hears her and wants to tell her that all will turn out okay, but he doesn't know if it will. It scares him that confirming their relationship to the public could potentially be detrimental. He presses a kiss to her soft lips, then to each of her cheeks, as he murmurs three meaningful words. "I. Love. You." They exchange a gentle, lingering kiss, before he pulls away slightly and she responds, "I love you too." Smiling, he leans in once more giving her another kiss as he reassures her, "We're in this together."

X

The bus glides down the road, Edison scrolls through his phone, occasionally glancing at his sleeping sister, Gracie and the Popes who are comfortably asleep in their seats. Twirling a small black ring box in his hand, he croons the tune of the new song he composed for Olivia. Flipping the lid open he stares at the shiny diamond. It's the one she picked out when they talked about marriage. His phone dings, he glances at the screen, it's a text message from his realtor, 'the house is yours.' He smiles, thinking about his plan to win Olivia back. He purchased the house she's always wanted. The five-carat diamond ring. He desperately wants her back. Edison leans against his seat and resumes scrolling through his phone. Suddenly sitting up straight, his eyes open wide as he stares at a photo of Olivia locked in an embrace with another man.