3. Leah
LEAH
I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe that I am in a top-floor penthouse with Kian’s brothers instead of sitting in my own little apartment waiting for my boyfriend to come home.
“Do you have any more champagne?” I ask, desperate for something to numb this night. “Don’t worry, I won’t kiss the wrong man again.”
My sarcasm is a defense mechanism, meant to keep my true feelings hidden, just like the champagne is meant to keep me from feeling them.
“Sure,” Emmett says with a smile that tries to comfort me. “I’ll grab a bottle, and it’ll be a good bottle—the kind Declan usually saves for hostile takeovers or when he’s made grown men cry in boardrooms.”
Declan rolls his eyes, and then focuses his attention on me, motioning for me to sit.
“Where to even begin?” he asks.
“How about with the truth,” I suggest as Emmett hands me another glass.
Declan sighs. He stands in front of the wall-length windows in his expensive-looking suit, and the brow above his brown eyes furrows.
I can see the family resemblance, though he’s a couple of years older than his brothers.
The muscular build, the dark hair—these brothers are all incredibly attractive.
Emmett is the only one with golden-brown hair, but he has the same blue eyes as Rowan and Kian do.
“Alright, that’s fair,” Declan says. “You already met our brother’s wife. Madeline and Kian are expecting, and I can swear to you that none of us knew Kian had a girlfriend on the side.”
“Ha,” I snort bitterly as I take another sip of my champagne. “On the side. That makes me sound like a round of cheap fries.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Declan frowns. “What I meant was that Kian is an adept liar, even with his own brothers. If any of us had known about you, we wouldn’t have let this continue.”
There’s a tone of protectiveness in Declan’s voice that’s difficult to ignore. Kian never had that tone—possessiveness, perhaps, but not protectiveness. There’s a difference.
I sink against the back of the couch and prepare to learn everything.
“We took the liberty of pulling Kian aside for a moment at the gala,” Declan continues. “To get his side of the story and find out what his intentions were with you.”
“And?” I ask, unsure whether or not I actually want to hear the excuse.
“He planned to keep you around for a while, which is why he got you an apartment.” He looks up at the ceiling and exhales deeply before looking back at me. “But he doesn’t actually have the money to pay for it.”
My face drops in an instant. “What? But that means—oh my god, what am I going to do now?”
“Relax,” Emmett says as he sits down on the couch beside me. His smile seems far too calm for the moment. “Kian doesn’t have money. He lives off his wife’s fortune. But we have money. We’ll take care of it.”
“You will? How?”
“We own a lot of real estate. This is an easy fix,” he says to reassure me that my world isn’t crashing down around me.
“It was smart of Kian to move you into a building across town,” Declan says, more aggravated than impressed. “At least he knew better than to move you into one of the buildings we own, where meeting one of us would blow his whole lie apart.”
“I’m so confused,” I say, putting my hand to my head. My head hurts, but not because of the champagne.
“Since Kian lied about pretty much everything, let me start from the beginning.” Declan stands, his muscular frame filling my view.
I can see Rowan around his shoulder, though, standing at the window and looking out as if he’d rather be anywhere but listening to his brother talk about their family drama.
“Our family, the Oliver family, owns a major real estate dynasty,” Declan continues. “My brothers and I own this building, Koi Tower, where we all live. Rowan designed it for us.”
I glance back over at Rowan.
“You made this luxury high-rise yourself?”
“I designed it,” he says humbly. “I’m what you might call the creative black sheep of the family.”
“No, he’s not.” Emmett laughs from beside me. “Kian is definitely the black sheep of the family. Rowan is just the creative, quiet one, and the principal architect.”
“You’re too kind.” Rowan rolls his eyes sarcastically. “Declan is the brains of the operation.”
“Well, I’m the CEO of Oliver Development Group,” Declan clarifies. “Not necessarily the brains, but I’ve been managing the family business ever since I was a teenager.”
“The family business and the family,” Emmett adds. “Our mom died when we were kids, and our dad sort of… retired from parenting. Declan decided he was in charge. And here we are.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I say, frowning. “And what do you do?”
“Me? I’m the pretty public face of the family. It’s a pretty demanding position. Lots of smiling. Occasionally pretending I understand spreadsheets.” Emmett laughs. “But seriously, I run the hospitality end of things and the Oliver Foundation.”
“And Kian?” I ask, pained to even say his name right now. “What is he in charge of?”
“Apparently nothing but causing trouble,” Rowan huffs.
“Kian has a bit of a diminished role in our company,” Declan says carefully. “He’s had some trouble with theft, lies, things that wouldn’t reflect well on the family name.”
“And he’s married.” I bury my face in my hands. “How in the world could I have been so blind? How did I not know about any of this? But in my defense, I had no idea that he was connected to your family at all. He gave me a different last name.”
“Yes, we discovered that as well. Kian used a fake surname on the apartment application, and with you. It’s not your fault, Leah.”
“I walked out on my old lease, tied myself to a new one that Kian promised to pay, and changed my whole life around. Hell, I still owe my landlord money from my last apartment—all for nothing,” I say, fighting the tears that threaten to come.
The three brothers glance at each other as if sharing a silent thought.
“Come on.” Emmett stands up from the couch and offers me his hand to take. “You must be hungry. You didn’t get anything to eat at the gala. I just so happen to make a mean mac and cheese.”
“It’s after midnight,” I say in surprise.
“So? Mac and cheese doesn’t have a curfew.”
I am actually hungry, despite the pit in my stomach, so I take his hand and let Emmett lead me into their state-of-the-art kitchen. While he goes about making mac and cheese, Declan and Rowan both sit down at the table with me.
“Leah, there’s another layer to this that you don’t know yet,” Rowan says quietly. “It’s part of the reason why I jumped in so quickly at the gala before the situation escalated.”
“What is it?” I can’t imagine how any of this could get worse.
“Kian’s wife, Madeline, is in a high-risk pregnancy,” Declan explains. “The doctor insists that she be kept away from any stressful events, because of the risks.”
I pause to think about that for a moment. I can’t imagine a more high-stress event than learning your husband has been secretly cheating on you while you’re carrying his child.
“If she learns the truth—”
“She can’t learn the truth,” Rowan interrupts. “At least not until the baby is born. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for Kian to get exactly what he deserves for once in his fucking life. But Madeline doesn’t deserve that, and neither does the baby.”
As much as I want to hate Kian’s wife, I can’t. And I can’t help but agree that she shouldn’t find out the truth until after her baby is safely brought into the world.
“I’m just not sure what to do about all of this,” I say.
Emmett sets a plate of warm and gooey mac and cheese down in front of me. Admittedly, the aroma wafting up into my nostrils is divine.
I don’t realize how hungry I am until I take the first bite. It’s delicious.
“We can offer you six months of rent-free living in a condo here at Koi Tower,” Declan says.
“I can’t take charity from you.” I frown. “I’m not the kind of woman who asks for handouts.”
“It’s not a handout. Think of it more as the Oliver family’s official apology,” Emmett insists. “All three of us are absolutely disgusted by what Kian has done. And none of this is your fault. We’re giving you six months of rent-free living to get back on your feet. Take the offer, Leah.”
“Fine, thank you,” I say as I shovel another forkful of cheesy goodness into my mouth. “But I’m going to pay every cent of it back to you.”
None of them respond to that.
“There’s one more thing that we need to sort,” Declan says. This time, he looks at both Rowan and me. “Madeline can’t know about any of this. I hate to ask this of you, but I think it’s wise to keep up the fake relationship that you two started tonight.”
“You want me to keep pretending to be Rowan’s girlfriend?” I ask in surprise.
“Yes, if you would. I know it’s a lot to ask, especially since—” Declan doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t have to. I already know what he was going to say.
Especially since Rowan looks exactly like the man who just broke my heart.
“Fine,” I agree again. “But after she has the baby, I’m done playing this game.”
“Agreed,” Rowan nods. “Trust me, I’m even more sick of cleaning up Kian’s messes than you are; I can assure you. I’ve been doing it my entire life.”
Declan’s phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and sighs.
“And apparently we have another reason to keep this going.” He turns the phone toward us.
Someone posted a photo from the gala of Rowan holding my hand, and it’s already making the rounds online. The caption calls me Rowan Oliver’s mysterious new girlfriend.
“Wonderful,” I mutter.
“If you two suddenly break up tomorrow, people might start asking why,” Declan says. “Keeping the story boring for a while is probably our best option.”
It’s not exactly an enthusiastic response to this agreement, but I don’t blame Rowan one bit.
This is going to be extremely awkward for both of us.
And the fact that Rowan’s gaze sets my heart racing anytime he actually looks me in the eyes is going to make all of this even more difficult to handle.
“Great,” Declan says as if making a pronouncement. “It’s settled then. We’ll hire movers and get you moved into your new condo tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? I guess there’s no reason for me to say no. It’s not like I have a boyfriend waiting for me to get back to him anymore.