Emergency Exit (The Valkyrie Brothers #3)

1 AsherThe Smith Tower

Asher

The Smith Tower

Asher Valkyrie slipped into the back hallway of Smith Tower, relieved not to have seen anyone.

The Smith Tower was a vintage art deco beauty, and even the back of house areas featured architectural fretwork and an extravaganza of décor, but it was the front-of-house, anachronistically hand-operated elevator that Ash wanted to avoid.

Or rather the elevator operator that went with it.

The operator, Stanley, was an over-sixty gentleman who believed in taking an interest in the people he brought up and down the thirty-eight-story building and had ferried Asher up to the penthouse suite on many occasions.

So many, in fact, that there was no way Stanley wouldn’t remember who Asher usually arrived with and Ash was in no mood to answer the question of where his girlfriend was one more time.

Ash had barely been convinced to come tonight because Mason had sworn himself blue in the face that Emma would not be in attendance.

Ash didn’t want to be anywhere near the same building as his ex, but people were starting to talk and investors were getting nervous. Ash had to show up.

Ash rounded the corner, his spirits lifting, as he approached the service elevator and nearly stopped dead at the sight of a knock-out brunette in a little black dress that fit her like a glove.

Her near-black hair formed a charming little curl on her forehead while she frowned at her phone.

As he punched the button for the elevator, he saw her lift her head and look around, confusion written all over her face.

The ancient HVAC system kicked on with a whoosh as the service elevator arrived with a ding, the doors creaking open with the speed of an antique.

For a moment, Asher debated saying anything.

He really didn’t want to interact with any of the other guests.

His goal was to say hi to Mason and then ditch out before anyone asked him about Emma.

But on the other hand, he wasn’t blind. The girl in the hallway was gorgeous.

And she looked lost. Saying something was the gentlemanly thing to do.

He put one foot into the elevator and turned to look at the girl. “Richland party?” he called over the loud hum of the vents.

She immediately looked relieved and hurried to get in the elevator with him.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed as the elevator doors chugged closed. “I was so not sure I was in the right place or even the right building.”

“You were confused about the building?” he asked, bemused that anyone could mistake the Smith Tower for anything other than itself.

It had once been the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

Asher knew fuck all about architecture, but his brother was currently building two of the new skyscrapers that looked down on the Smith Tower.

The last family gathering had included an enthusiastic ramble from Forest about the awesomeness of the Smith Tower.

But architectural expert or not, everyone could recognize the pyramid-topped building in Seattle’s skyline.

The unique building housed a penthouse apartment in the pyramid—currently owned by Stephanie and Mason Richland—and a speakeasy-style cocktail bar on the thirty-fifth floor below it.

The girl paused, her eyes narrowing, and then sighed. “This is one of those buildings, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Which buildings?”

“I moved here two months ago, and everyone has been very helpful.”

Ash was sure that they had been. With her looks, he was willing to bet that she had people falling over themselves to help her.

“But they keep forgetting to tell me all the things that everybody knows .” She made air quotes around the phrase. “I’m only good at faking like I belong somewhere. People still need to tell me things.”

He chuckled at her exasperation. He understood faking like he belonged somewhere all too well. He felt like he’d been doing it all his life.

“What sort of things have they failed to tell you about?” he asked.

“Dick’s burgers. How to say Puyallup.” She sounded as if she were still carefully walking through that one. “Or that when someone says look at the mountain , I should not ask which one? ”

He laughed again. “There’s really only one.”

“Well, I know that now ,” she said. “Also, I have to say that there is an utter failure to mention that Rainier is an active volcano.”

“Oh. Huh. Yeah. It is.”

“It’s like it just slips everyone’s memories.”

“It doesn’t do much, so I think everyone tends to ignore it,” he said, amused at her outrage.

“That is how volcanoes work. They don’t do much until they do. And then they do a lot.” She paused and shook her head, looking embarrassed. “Sorry, occupational hazard. I’m a consultant in Emergency Management.”

“You tell people how to manage their emergencies?”

It was her turn to laugh. “I tell people how to prepare for their emergencies. Like, maybe, not ignoring the giant volcano you all live next to. But I will stop talking about that because it makes people not like me.”

“You have a basement full of canned food, don’t you?”

“Tiny apartment—no basement. But I do have thirty gallons of potable water.”

“Oh, well, next emergency I’m showering with you then.”

“I don’t believe you were invited,” she said tartly.

“That came out way worse than I meant it to,” he said, feeling awkward. “I really just meant… You know what? I’m going to say sorry and stop talking.”

She giggled. “That’s all right. I’m Harper Smoak,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Asher Valkyrie,” he said, shaking her hand. He found himself smiling down into her dark-fringed blue eyes. His face felt funny, and he realized it was the first time he’d really smiled at anyone in weeks. “My friends call me Ash.”

“Heh,” she said, her head tilting back in amusement. “We need to fight crime together.”

“What?”

“We could be Smoak and Ash!”

“Why not Ash and Smoak?” he demanded.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as the elevator slowed and then stopped with a bounce. “Smoke always comes before ash.”

There was a long silence, and Asher tried not to laugh as Harper flushed bright red.

“That didn’t come out right,” she said.

“I’m familiar with the feeling,” he said, grinning. Harper laughed and shook her head as the elevator doors opened.

Ash walked them through the service area and to the Chinese Room, where the party was in full swing. The coffered ceiling with gilt paint and ornate art deco, Asian inspired moldings gave everything an exotic vibe.

“Oh. Wow. This is bigger than I thought it would be,” said Harper as they stood on the sidelines of the party.

It was precisely what Ash had been expecting.

Mason and Stephanie were extroverted socialites who never did anything by half-measures.

Harper cast a nervous look up at Ash, and he smiled sympathetically.

He was about to suggest she stick with him when an older woman rocking the Coastal Grandma aesthetic pinballed out of the crowd and spun toward them.

“Look at you!” the woman exclaimed, hugging Harper with one arm while nearly sloshing her martini onto Asher. Harper looked surprised at the sudden onslaught of affection.

“And look at you!” Harper replied cheerfully, trying to disentangle herself.

“And who is this guy?” demanded the woman scrutinizing Asher.

“Asher Valkyrie,” said Asher, trying not to laugh at Harper’s attempts to slide free.

“Well, you be nice to our little sweetie!” chirped the older woman, literally pinching Harper’s cheek.

“I have every intention of it,” said Asher.

“Ooh! There’s Benson! Find me later, sweetie! We’ll catch up.”

The woman bustled off, and Harper grabbed Ash’s arm and pushed him in the opposite direction. “I have no memory of meeting that woman!” she hissed, grimacing and pulling him further into the crowd.

“But sweetie ,” he said, chuckling, “she remembers you.”

At the sound of Ash’s voice, Colin Kwayana turned from his conversation in a knot of Amazon bros, and Ash groaned inwardly. Colin handled a lot of the financing for Ash’s business, and Ash could see he was giving Harper the once over and trying not to look surprised.

“Ash! I wasn’t sure you were coming.”

“It’s the big four-oh,” said Ash, feeling a knot of tension re-form in his neck. He hadn’t been aware it was gone until it came back. “Couldn’t miss that.”

“Of course not. Hi, I’m Colin. I work with Ash occasionally.” He held out his hand, and Harper shook it.

“Nice to meet you,” said Harper, smiling. “Harper Smoak.”

“Harper works in Emergency Management,” said Ash, hoping to forestall any awkward questions.

“I have no idea what that means,” said Colin.

“My firm provides safety planning and training for companies and municipalities on preparing for emergencies. Basically, how to safeguard your data and infrastructure, as well as continuity of operations planning—how to get back up and running as quickly as possible after an emergency. I do risk assessments and run workshops on working with federal emergency response organizations.”

“Oh.” Colin blinked, and Ash felt like laughing. He knew damn well that Colin had taken one look at Harper and pegged her for a fluff job like marketing.

“I just moved here a couple of months ago,” added Harper, looking like she thought Colin’s silence needed filling.

“Oh!” said Colin, more cheerfully this time, but Ash caught the side-long glance Colin cast his direction. He realized Colin was taking the two-month timeline of Ash and Emma’s break up and matching it incorrectly with Harper’s arrival.

“How are you liking the Northwest?” asked Colin.

“It’s great. Although, you all seem unprepared for climate change.”

“Or volcanoes,” said Ash.

“Oh,” said Colin, speechless for the third time.

“We’re going to get a drink now,” said Ash, putting an arm around Harper and guiding her away. He would probably have to correct Colin at some point, but he didn’t see any way to do it now without embarrassing everyone involved.

“Why did you let me do that?” demanded Harper. “I’m such an EM nerd. Don’t let me talk to people about work. It makes everyone think I’m a weirdo.”

Ash couldn’t help laughing. “I thought it was great. I haven’t seen Colin at a loss for words since one of the VPs at his bank announced he was going to Africa to help Africans and center himself.”

“That seems… strange.”

Ash spotted a waiter and managed to snag a glass of champagne for Harper, but by the time he turned back to get his own, the sharks had descended, and the tray was empty. Ash set course for the bar and continued his explanation.

“Colin is from South Africa. I believe his general feeling was that, one, Africa is not a country. You can’t just go visit Africa—you have to go to a specific place.

Two, the entire continent does not exist for white people to resolve their existential crises.

And three, if the VP wanted to help Africans, he could start by giving Colin a promotion. ”

Harper chuckled. “Those are all reasonable points.”

Ash felt the knot in his neck relax again. Harper was easy to be around. Maybe this party wouldn’t be too bad if he stuck with her. He was sick of being treated like he was suffering from an early midlife crisis, and Harper acted like he was a normal human being.

A half-hour later, they were barely any closer to the bar, but Ash was seriously considering asking Harper out on a real date.

She was funny, literate, sweetly goofy, and just plain beautiful.

And she seemed genuinely interested in everyone he introduced her to—an enormous change from being with Emma, who would talk non-stop about herself at parties.

“Harper seems nice,” said Jill Last-Name-Completely-Lost-But-Who-Ran-a-Bank.

“Harper’s great,” said Ash confidently, but he could see the wrinkle almost forming between Jill’s eyebrows as she looked at Harper.

“It’s none of my business, but from talking to Steph, I thought your breakup was a hiccup over wanting kids or something.”

“Uh... No,” said Ash, floundering for what to say. Leave it to a sixty-something grandma to plop the topic out into the open. “We had some foundational differences about how we wanted to run our lives.” It sounded stilted and bitter even to him.

Jill nodded. “Well, it’s better to recognize that now than after you’re married. And Harper seems like she has your interest in weird topics and philanthropy.”

“I don’t have an interest in weird... OK, yes, I do, but in my defense...” He couldn’t think of a defense, and his brain was also throwing up red flags—Jill also thought he was dating Harper.

“It’s usually incredibly lucrative? Yes, I know.” She chuckled. “Anyway, good for you for moving on. Harper’s sweet.”

“Thanks,” he said numbly as she moved off. They had arrived together. He’d introduced her to everyone. Ash looked around the party and realized that everyone in the room probably thought he was dating Harper. And everything had been pleasant. He looked like he’d moved on.

Ash turned to where Harper was talking to some of Mason and Steph’s friends.

He wasn’t sure how to break the news to her that he was now her boyfriend.

Harper smiled at him, but she had a concerned arch to her eyebrows.

As the friends moved on, he approached, and Harper finished her champagne in one long gulp.

She dropped the glass onto the tray of a passing waiter and turned back to him, her pleasantly polite smile sliding into panic.

“Ash,” she gasped, grasping his lapel, “whose party is this?”

Ash frowned. “Mason’s.” He pointed to where Mason and Stephanie were holding court on the gilt dragon bench known as the Wishing Chair. Harper looked at Mason and then turned back to him, her eyes wide.

“You said it was Rich’s party!”

“No, I said, Richland, as in Mason Richland. It’s his fortieth birthday. Whose party did you think it was?”

“Rich Landers! It’s his fortieth anniversary at the firm!”

Ash burst out laughing.