3. Ransom
3
RANSOM
" B lair-fucking-McKenna is a woman! That's a pretty big fucking detail to leave out, Ransom!" Nick's all fury and drama as he storms into my place. Maverick, following right behind, is a little more subdued, but not by much.
I put my coffee down on the island and flatten my palms on the counter. I knew this day would come. They're too damn persistent to have left it alone forever, but I didn't expect it this soon. I'm not ready for it. "I asked you not to go there." Did I hope they would respect my wishes? Yeah. Did I know that was delusional?
Also yeah.
Maverick crosses his arms over his chest. "You did, but this shit was going south really fucking fast, Ran. You know that. You were asking us to bang our heads on the wall repeatedly. My assistant is on an all-expense-paid vacation in Hawaii thanks to this Blair woman. She is a little unhinged. You realize that, right?"
Long dark hair, flashing eyes, and that head tilt flash through my mind. "Yeah, I realize." Blair McKenna has always been a little unhinged. A little different.
She doesn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks of her.
Not even me.
Nick drops onto the stool across the island and pins me with a glare. "Don't you think it would have been helpful to have that information?"
He's asking about our history, I know he is. But I take one last crack at playing dumb, hoping they'll give me a pass. "The homemade glitter bomb didn't tip you off?"
Nick and Maverick trade glances, and I sigh. "Don't do that. Don't try to handle me. I shared what I needed to. Nothing more."
"We need more now," Nick says flatly. He's trying for firm, but it still comes out like a question. They never push back. They don't pry. They keep a respectful distance that I hate as much as I take advantage of. I could put them off again. But I know exactly how that will go. They're too fucking curious, and they'll stew over it. Then they'll get Declan involved, and before I know it, they will have pried into my whole past.
Maybe they have already. I can't know for sure. But they've never talked to me about it, and I'm grateful.
I'm not ready to share everything about my past. Everything I've lost. Everything I've done.
But I can give them some of it.
"What do you want to know?"
Another look. Then Maverick sits, resting his folded hands on the counter. "She seemed a little upset when we talked to her. She wanted to make it very clear that she wasn't going to sell under any circumstances."
"Made it clear how?"
"She said something to the effect of having to pry her cold dead body out from under a car when she's eighty. She sounded pretty damn convincing."
She said those exact words to me when she was seventeen, parked under the cover of a willow tree, head on my shoulder. When I met with Robert a year ago, after not seeing him for twenty-four years, I told him the same thing, yet, like a fucking idiot, I agreed to buy the garage. Key word is buy. Not offer, not annoy her with paperwork. Buy. Why the fuck did I do that? Why am I putting us both through this? "How… how did she look? Was she okay?"
Nick's eyes widen. "Okay? The woman is a fucking knockout. I was both turned on and a little afraid for my life." His gaze turns hazy. "It was really confusing."
Confusing. That's exactly how I felt about her when we were teenagers. Confused and fucking horny. Then, things got even more complicated. "That sounds about right."
"Did… fuck. How did you know her? Why did she seem ready to murder you if you showed your face?"
"Probably because the last time I saw her, she told me she'd stab me in the throat if she ever saw me again."
Maverick whistles. "Shit. She seems pretty fucking capable of doing it too."
"Yeah. She is. She's always been really fucking tough. And totally no bullshit."
"How do you know her?" Nick asks.
There are a lot of ways I could answer that. She's the daughter of the man that saved my life. She's the person I most wanted to fuck when I was fifteen. She's the woman I'm still in love with. I settle on, "She's my foster sister. I haven't seen her in twenty-five years."
"Fuck," Nick breathes, eyes bulging a little. "And she still hates you? What the fuck did you do to her?"
Broke her heart. Lied to her. Destroyed everything we could have had. Everything I dreamed of.
Saved her.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is, I need her to sell me that garage."
"Why?"
"Because I made a promise to her father. And I won't fucking break it." I don't break my promises, ever. I'm sure as fuck not going to break this one. The man's dying wish was for me to buy the garage, and I'm going to fucking do it.
Yeah, I knew she would be difficult about it. But I had no clue she'd be making glitter bombs.
That's a fucking lie.
I did know. Robert was convinced that she would sell. But the girl I knew back then never would have. I should have trusted my fucking gut and insisted he just take the money. It would have made everything so much easier. He could have passed it off like a nest egg that he'd been saving for years. She would have bought it. Maybe.
Grabbing my coffee off the counter, I pour it down the drain, then load the mug in the dishwasher next to all the other mugs. The housekeeping team comes in once a week, or sooner if everyone comes over. My family is messy as fuck, but in between cleans, I load it with military precision. My life is chaotic, but this one thing is completely controllable.
"It really seems like she doesn't want to sell. The only way to make this happen is to get Declan involved and go less legit. Do you want us to go that route?"
A shiver of fear snakes up my back. "No. That's not a good idea. She's liable to build a bomb and level this building."
Maverick scrubs his hands over his face. "Then I don't know what to do, Ran. What do you want us to do?"
These men are so fucking good. Both of them are ready to support my fucking delusional plan. Because it is delusional. I'm well aware. But I'm not willing to go to fucking Badger Falls and deal with her myself. I can't.
Because if I do, I'm afraid I'll never be able to leave.
I'll never be able to leave her.
Course, she'll probably murder me and bury me in the middle of the woods. Either way, I'm a goner.
"I appreciate everything both of you have done up to this point. I know it hasn't been easy. Why don't we back off for a bit? Just let things settle, and in the spring, we'll try again."
"It's October. You want to wait more than six months? What do you think will change?"
I shrug because I know damn well that time isn't going to change anything. But I'm not ready to take the next step. Or any step toward her. It was too hard to walk away last time.
I just need some time to get my head on straight. To let her go. To cleanse her from my system. Twenty-five years hasn't been long enough, but who knows what I could accomplish in the next six months.
Yep, I'm delusional.
"Sometimes," I say, "people just need to sit with things. So we'll give her that time and see where we are in the new year."
Neither man looks convinced, but thankfully they let it drop. As they stand, I clear my throat. "I would appreciate it if you didn't discuss this with anyone else." It's a big ask. We share everything, almost all the time. But I'm not ready for the whole fucking family to start asking me about Blair.
That wound is still too raw.
"No problem," Nick says. Maverick nods, too, and some of the tension in my back releases. I trust both of them completely. They won't discuss this with anyone else.
I've bought myself some time.
They make their excuses and head out, back to their apartments and their women. When they're gone, I scan my massive penthouse. It's so fucking lonely. My brothers have everything I ever hoped they'd have. They have love and futures, and I'm so glad.
But I never imagined being this alone. It's something I didn't let myself think about years ago. But now, I have nothing but time to think. And fucking think some more.
Enough.
I head up the spiral stairs to the upper level, unsettled. The whole weekend stretches out in front of me, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with myself. Something will come up, I'm sure. I'll get a call to babysit Mia or get some snuggles with Noah. Maybe one of the guys will wander up to watch a movie or we'll head out to the club. It'll end up full.
I'll end up full.
But right now, there's no one waiting to make plans with me. No soft laugh, flashing eyes, and wide, luscious mouth. As always, I'm hard as a fucking rock the second I start thinking about her. Blair. The woman I've been in love with since I was fourteen years old. You'd think after twenty-five years, the feelings would fade, but no. If anything, they're more vivid than ever.
So are the memories.
At first, they were all I had. I clung to them, pulling them out at night, letting myself drown in the feel of her skin, the way her breath hitched as I ran my nose along her neck. Everything about her was magic to me.
Still is.
I'm not stupid enough to think I could have all of that again. I broke it, and I did it decisively, making sure that there would be no question in her mind. We were done and it was final.
Only it's never been done for me. It never will be. Because Blair McKenna is it for me. Twenty-five years ago, today, and fifty years from now, too.
Memories riding me, I do the only thing I can do.
Go looking for a distraction.