Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
M arius
I look out at the long driveway up to the house and don’t see Eden’s car. Ava told me she’d be here right after seven, but it’s already nearly seven-thirty.
Behind me, Ronan says, “I’m sure she’s on her way. Don’t worry. Your Juliet will arrive, Romeo.”
Turning around, I throw my youngest brother a nasty look. “I think this version of you irritates me.”
“Which version?” he asks with a chuckle.
“Ever since you and Kate got back together, you’ve been practically insufferable.”
Ronan rolls his eyes. “God forbid I should be happy. Would you like me to go back to being miserable?”
“Hell no! How about you find a happy medium between miserable bastard and insufferably happy? That could work.”
He looks out the door and then at me. “This isn’t your routine for tonight, is it? If it is, I think you need to change it up. You’re never going to get anyone back acting like a cranky shit.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I say as I stare out the door looking for Eden’s car. “It’s in the bag. She loves me.”
My brother chucks me on the shoulder as he walks away. “I’m off to find someone to explain to me how the hell a woman like her ends up with you.”
“Good! I don’t need your nonsense right now anyway.”
Leave it to one of my brothers to bust my balls when I’m stressed out. The woman I love is half an hour late, and I’m starting to worry she’s not coming.
My Duck wouldn’t do that. At least I don’t think she would.
For ten minutes more, I watch for her like a child on Christmas Eve looking for Santa Claus. She never shows. By quarter to eight, I’m worried. I wish I could say I’m scared she got into an accident, but my gut is telling me something else.
She changed her mind. She doesn’t want us to get back together. I fucked up too much, and she can’t forgive me.
“Don’t worry. She’ll be here.”
I turn around and see Ava smiling at me. “Eden’s never late. You know that. She hates when people are late. It’s one of her biggest pet peeves.”
Taking my hand, my sister-in-law gives it a supportive squeeze.
“I do know her. She’s been my best friend for most of my life, so I know her as well as she knows herself.
She’ll be here, Marius. She’s crazy about you.
She’s just giving you a hard time because her feelings got hurt when you brought Sam to the party.
You watch. Eden will be here any moment. ”
“Thanks, Ava.”
When I turn back toward the road, I still don’t see any cars. Where could she be?
“Want to hear a story?”
I shrug, understanding what Ava’s trying to do but not sure it’s going to work. Looking back at her, I nod. “Sure.”
“When we were fifteen, I slept over at Eden’s house one Saturday night.
We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, gossiping and eating so much pizza and junk food that we both had stomach aches.
She ended up feeling like she was going to be sick, so she ran to the bathroom, but her brother Adam wouldn’t let her in.
He was a bust ass, always teasing her, so he kept blocking the door.
She threw up right outside the bathroom door and was furious with him for that.
She wouldn’t talk to Adam for three months, even when her parents told her she had to.
Nope. She refused. No matter what they said, she wouldn’t talk to him.
The only reason she finally forgave him is he convinced her he was sorry.
When Eden is upset with someone, she doesn’t care who says she should forgive them.
So you see, the very fact that she said she’d come here tonight means she’s okay with what’s happened and forgives you. ”
“Then where is she?” I ask, growing more worried by the moment.
Ava steps closer and wraps her arms around me. “She’ll be here. I know her. Just give her a few more minutes.”
As if I have a choice.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I fish it out of my pants and see it’s a text from Eden. My spirits soar at seeing her name. Quickly, I read it, but I don’t understand.
decided to stay in tonight why don’t you come here instead of me coming there
I read it twice and shake my head. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“What is it?” Ava asks, now her voice full of concern.
Turning my phone, I show her the message. As she reads it, I say, “Something’s off about this text.”
Ava looks up at me with pure worry in her eyes and points at my phone.
“Eden would never send a text like that. You know her. She punctuates everything and correctly too. And she’d never write anything that sounds like this.
I had to read it three times to figure out what it was trying to say.
And no capitalization? No way. This wasn’t the person I’ve known for most of my life texting this. What could be happening, Marius?”
My blood runs cold as Ava says that. If Eden didn’t write that message, then who did? Something is very wrong.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but I need to get back to the penthouse right now.”
Before Ava can say another word, I race up the stairs to grab my keys and bolt back downstairs as my heart races. I can’t imagine what’s wrong, but the woman I love would never send me a text like that.
I nearly run into Matthias at the bottom of the stairs. “Whoa! What’s the matter? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Something’s wrong with Eden. I’m driving to the penthouse to see what’s going on,” I answer as I push past him.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asks as Ava joins us.
When I don’t answer, she nods and kisses him. “Yes, go with Marius. He’ll tell you about the text on the way. Bring Eden back here so I can know she’s safe, okay?”
My brother promises her he will, but he looks baffled, like he isn’t sure what he’s getting himself into. After they say their goodbyes, he walks over to where I’m waiting at the door.
“Okay, let’s do this! I have no idea what this is, but it’ll be like old times when you, Theo, and me used to cause trouble.”
I smile at the memory of those days. “Let’s hope it is. I’m driving, so get ready because we’re going to be getting there as fast as possible.”
The two of us look back at Ava and then head out to my car. My stomach’s in knots, and my chest hurts just thinking of Eden in trouble.
She better be okay when I find her, or I swear to God someone’s going to pay dearly.
Matthias and I practically run through the lobby of my building, but then I remember the doorman would have to let someone upstairs if they wanted to see Eden. I stop my brother and point at the desk just inside the front door.
“Hang on. I need to talk to him for a second.”
The doorman on tonight is Conrad, the one I like the most. An older man with white hair and a mouth full of the nicest teeth I’ve ever seen, he never fails to smile and say something nice whenever he sees me.
“Conrad, I need to know if anyone is upstairs with my wife,” I say nearly breathlessly.
He shakes his head immediately. “I didn’t let anyone upstairs, but I just came on, Mr. King. Are you expecting someone?”
I crane my neck to scan his desk for any hint about what may be happening to Eden. “No, but my wife sent me a very strange text, and she didn’t show up at my brother’s house like she was supposed to. Is there any way of knowing if she’s still up there?”
Again, he shakes his head. “No, we don’t track tenants that way here. I can check the logbook to see if Ernest let anyone up. Give me a second.”
My patience is practically null right now as I watch him flip through pages. Matthias pats me on the shoulder and quietly whispers, “It’s going to be okay. I’m sure we’ll find her upstairs and fine.”
Conrad looks up from his logbook and nods.
“Yes, there was someone who asked to be let up. Ernest wrote down that a young woman named Samantha McCann requested permission to be allowed up to the penthouse at just before half past six tonight. Mrs. King approved her, and the young woman rode up in the elevator. He doesn’t note anything about the woman leaving, and since we do track visitors, he would have written down when she left if it occurred on his shift.
I haven’t seen anyone leave since I got on. ”
Samantha? My assistant? My mind races for a few moments as I try to imagine why she would have come here for anything. Then I remember Eden’s text.
“Okay, thanks, Conrad. I appreciate it.”
I hurry over to the elevator and punch in my code. As I wait, I pull out my phone and search through my messages to find the last one Sam sent me.
“What’s going on? Is Samantha the same girl you brought to the party?” Matthias asks as the elevator doors open.
We hurry inside, and I press the button for the penthouse as I search through my messages. I finally find the last one Sam sent me and turn my phone toward my brother.
“Same thing. No punctuation. No capitalization like Eden always uses. But if Sam used my wife’s phone to send me a text, the question is why?”
“My guess is we’re about to find out.”
Just as he utters that ominous sentence, we stop on the top floor and the elevator doors open.
We step out into the entryway and look around, but nothing seems out of the ordinary.
The wrought iron table with the glass top and huge flower arrangement with those white calla lilies Eden loves still sits right in front of the elevator as we walk out, and those two fake trees she claims give the place some life are still flanking that table.
I look down at the floor, not really sure what I’m looking for, but it seems fine.
Same white marble as usual. The entire entry with the white walls Eden always corrects me about look the same as always (they’re not white—they’re white smoke, although I’d bet you wouldn’t know the difference either).
The place is deathly quiet, but that’s nothing abnormal for this place. We can be watching TV upstairs in the bedroom, and if I come down to the kitchen to get a snack, I can’t hear a sound from up there.