Page 84 of How Not to Date a Griffin

The crowd gasped as a whole, and oh, this was so climactic, and his father was vibrating in place, rage pouring off of him in waves. He nudged Chance, who picked his mouth up off the floor and stomped over to Reid.

Nolan spoke faster. “Oh, yes, yes, the owners signed on the dotted line, accepted the plainly awful, unfair terms. They really had no choice. You see, leading up to each deal were months and months of bad luck. Broken windows.” On the screen, multiple photos flashed of the businesses his father had hired someone to damage, their windows shattered. “Vandalism, break-ins, robberies, ruined produce, power outages. Even doctored health inspections.” As he spoke, Reid progressed through the slideshow, even as Chance tried to fight him for the controls.

His mic went dead with a click, the cord hanging from Chance’s fist, and Nolan spoke louder, practically shouting to be heard in the back as voices rose around them. Then John was there, holding Chance back and helping Reid, who bounded to the stage.

Nolan frowned, setting the mic down.

At the back, police officers paused at the entrance, taking stock of the goings-on, then hurried to the struggling duo by the controls. The crowd parted like the sea for them, living for the drama.

Reid stepped up onto the stage with Nolan, and handed him a… megaphone.

Reid winked. “Mine’s bigger.”

God, Nolan loved this man.

He flicked the megaphone on and held it to his mouth to be heard, then paused and waited for Reid to arrive back at the controls, giving the officers and a pissed-off Chance a wide berth.

When the slideshow moved to the next slide, photos of Reid’s broken window splashed across the wall. “And don’t think it ends there.” His voice echoed around the room, over the chaos.

Nolan let his gaze fall to his father as he spoke and watched the realization strike across his features, inspiring anger in its wake. “Your city hasn’t been spared his collusion. That pizza you’re all enjoying? From Crustworthy’s, a business standing in my father’s way. The ice cream at the back? Chippy’s, who last month lost all of their stock in a freak power outage, setting them back months in costs.

Those were no accidents, I assure you, and I have the proof.”

He wasn’t going to post the details of the bank statements on the screen, but the damage had been done anyway. He’d save them for the lawyers.

The gasps around the room were the perfect backdrop to the extra officers arriving, parting the crowd again as they headed for their colleagues and Chance.

“I do offer my apologies for the dramatics and for wasting your time this week. It seems your city is better off without Whittier Hotels, after all.”

Nolan turned off the megaphone and set it on the side of the stage before exiting. Where was Reid—

His father’s curse of outrage was lost amongst the discord, but Nolan knew the sound of anger in that voice, had heard it all his life. And yet, he’d never heard it quite this angry. He turned his head toward the crowd as his foot met the last stair, his father barreling for him, a snarl on his face.

George Whittier fisted the lapels of Nolan’s suit, shaking him roughly. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he shrieked, spittle flying.

His face was dark red with fury, a vein in his forehead standing out in stark relief.

Nolan lifted his hands palm out and tried to remain calm, his father’s rage palpable. “Isn’t Chance embarrassing himself enough?” Nolan asked. “Surely you’re not going to make a scene as well?”

“I spent my whole life—” he began with a growl, but Nolan interrupted him.

“Yes, I know! And I’m glad I don’t have to waste mine, too!”

His father’s eyes widened, and Reid saw the notion cross his face, knew what was going to happen before he released Nolan’s collar to crank his arm back, fist tearing toward—

Nolan blinked at the fist stopped inches from his face, the tail wrapped around his father’s wrist, and an infuriated Reid standing next to them.

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Reid said sharply.

He’d brought the officers with him, and they stepped up, speaking softly to George.

“You sure you wanna do that, pal? You might want to take a breather.”

His father’s fist loosened from Nolan’s lapel, and he shook Reid’s tail off. Reid winced, flicking his tail away as it curled behind his back in that irritated manner.

“Alright, alright,” come on, one of the officers said, placing a hand on George’s shoulder.

George huffed, and spun on the officer, smacking his arm away. “Get your hands off me!” he shouted. He slowly advanced on the officer, lifted finger pointed in his face. “Do you have any idea what he’s just done? I have every right to be—what are you—ow!”