Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
AVA
“What do you mean you’re going to New York?” Sophie asks, her voice echoing through my phone speaker as I pointlessly dab concealer on the dark shadows under my eyes. “How long are you going for?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her, putting the concealer stick back in my makeup bag. It’s only making me look worse.
“Why are you going anyway?”
I shake my head at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. “I don’t know that either.”
“And Myles’ brother is driving you?” she asks.
“Yes. His name’s Liam.”
“What if they’re trying to kidnap you and sell you as a sex slave?”
I try not to laugh because Sophie always thinks of the worst case scenario. Now that she’s revealed her anxiety-reducing methods to me it all makes sense.
“I don’t think they’re going to do that. Myles said something about saving Liam’s money.”
“By them selling you!” Sophie squeaks. “Oh God, I should come with. Just let me call work and tell them I’m sick.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Please don’t do that. It’s fine, I’ll go see what’s happening in New York and then I’ll come home. We’ll meet up this weekend, the weather’s going to be beautiful. Maybe the three of us can go for a picnic on Sunday.”
“If they set you free by then,” Sophie says grimly. “Listen, are you sure this is a good idea? Yesterday proves that Myles can’t be trusted. And you’re hurt and vulnerable and almost certainly still high from all that sugar.”
I’ve been asking myself the same thing. I’m not really sure why I’m going to New York, to be honest. Myles and Liam weren’t exactly forthcoming about their reasons for needing me. But there’s something in my head that’s telling me I need to go.
That, and the fact I like to be needed.
By eight, I’m standing at my front door with my overnight bag at my feet.
I’ve already called Catherine and asked her to hold down the fort for the day.
I promise to call in later, and she let me know not to worry because half the staff will be out with hangovers anyway.
To be honest, she doesn’t sound too hot herself.
But then neither do I.
A car stops outside of my house and through the frosted window in my front door I see a blurry shadow walk up the steps. My heart starts beating wildly in my chest and I have to give it a stern talking to.
I wait for him to knock, because there’s no way I want him to think I’m eager to see him. Then I slowly unlatch the top lock and press down on the handle, basking in the knowledge that last night he looked as shitty as I did. And hopefully today he’s still the same.
But. He. Is. Not.
He looks breathtaking in a dark gray suit and crisp white shirt, his pale blue tie perfectly knotted. I look down at my jeans and t-shirt and frown.
“Am I supposed to be wearing something professional?” I ask.
“No. It’s fine.”
Actually, it isn’t. “But you look all charming businessman and I look a mess.”
His eyes catch mine. “You look beautiful.” The way he says it makes my thighs quiver.
“I have some business clothes in my bag if I need them,” I say, reaching down to pick up my overnight case. Myles goes to take it at exactly the same time and our fingers brush, making me a hormonal mess.
Seriously, my body needs to get the memo. He’s back to being Myles the enemy, or at least something close to it. Not a love interest.
“Thank you for doing this,” he says as I lock up my front door.
“I don’t know what I’m doing yet,” I point out. “Or if I’m going to do it.”
“But you’re coming with us to New York. That’s more than I thought you’d agree to.” He gently untangles my fingers from the handle of my bag and hoists it over his shoulder. “And you packed light for a change.”
“I’ve only packed for one night. If I stay longer Sophie’s going to launch a rescue mission. She thinks you’re going to traffic me.”
His lips twitch. “Would you like me to call and reassure her?”
“No. She’ll probably bite your head off. You’re not her favorite person right now.” I get a grim sense of satisfaction from that.
He says nothing, just walks down the step with my bag and opens Liam’s trunk, sliding it inside. Then he opens the passenger side front and back doors.
“Front or back?” he asks.
The nice girl inside of me screams that I should take the back. I have little legs and he has long ones, and the backs of expensive cars like Liam’s rarely have enough leg space.
“The front,” I say.
He doesn’t blink. “Okay.” He steps aside to let me in.
“I’ll move the seat forward.” Ah there’s the nice girl. “To give you some more room.”
“It’s fine, Ava.”
When I climb inside, Liam’s watching me with amusement. “Good morning,” he says. “There’s a coffee for you there.”
“Morning.” I smile at him because he isn’t the one who lied to me. “Did you sleep well?”
“As well as I could, considering that asshole just paced the floor all night.” He inclines his head at the backseat, where Myles has just about managed to wedge himself in.
“I was making a plan,” Myles protests.
“You were muttering. Loudly.”
“You’ll thank me later.” Myles shakes his head. “We also got you some fruit and water. And we can stop whenever you need us to.”
“Okay.” I pick up the coffee cup. “Um, is this decaf?”
“Naturally.” Liam rolls his eyes. “Myles reminded me ten times.”
I lift the cup to my lips and Liam pulls from the curb, weaving through the treelined street and taking a right so he can head toward the highway.
The city is just waking up – we don’t do early here – and it looks beautiful in the morning sunlight.
My heart clenches as we leave the historic district and weave our way to the river’s edge.
When we cross the river, the sun sparkling like diamonds on the surface, I can’t keep it in any longer.
“Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on?” I ask.
Liam looks into the rear view mirror and raises a brow. I can only assume he’s caught Myles’ gaze.
“We’re trying to save Liam’s ass,” Myles says.
“No we’re not. We’re trying to save yours,” Liam replies, shaking his head. “Because you persuaded me that this whole thing was a good idea.”
“It is a good idea,” Myles replies. It would be funny watching the two of them bicker if I actually had an idea what they were bickering about. “Or it would have been. If Jean-Baptiste hadn’t found out.”
“Um, hello?” I wave my hand. “You two are only making things more confusing.”
“Myles is trying to buy Smith and Carson,” Liam says. “And I’ve been raising the capital for it. Finding investors, hedge funds, that kind of thing.”
I twist in my seat. “You’re buying Smith and Carson?” I ask him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I didn’t want you to have to lie to the rest of your team. Or your friends. Or New York. I know you’re not very good at it. I was trying to protect you, or I thought I was.”
“I can lie,” I respond, feeling annoyed. How could he have been doing this without me noticing? But then I remember the way he was always disappearing for a day. The calls he took while we were away. His discussions with Liam. I assumed it was family business.
And it was. Just not the way I imagined.
“I know,” Myles says. “And I should have told you. I’m just trying to explain my faulty reasoning.”
“Why are you buying Smith and Carson?” I ask, feeling slightly mollified by his confession.
“I wanted to buy it because I knew Mediatech was going to close you down eventually. And when I heard rumors that they were in direct discussion with Naomi about moving Dandy over, I had to accelerate things.”
“And then they jumped the gun and announced early so if we buy Smith and Carson now we’re pretty much buying a business with no tangible assets,” Liam says, shaking his head. “Basically, we’re fucked.”
“How much money is invested in this?” I ask, my stomach twisting.
“A lot,” Liam says grimly.
“A million?” I venture.
“More.”
“Two?”
Liam shakes his head. “More. Myles had a lot of plans for expansion. We needed to fund those as well as buy the business from Mediatech. And when I say buy, I mean do a hostile bid because Jean-Baptiste wouldn’t want the shareholders to sell with Dandy there.”
“So you stand to lose millions?” I ask quietly.
“Me and my investors, yes.” Liam nods.
“And me,” Myles says quietly. “I’m about to lose it all, too.”
“How long have you been planning this?” Because this isn’t something you cook up overnight.
“For six months,” he tells me.
I blink. “Six months? But Richard was still chief editor then.”
“I know,” Myles says. “But the writing has been on the wall for Smith and Carson for a long time.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you want to save it?”
“Because it’s a good publisher. It has good staff.” He exhales softly. “And it has you.”
My heart clenches. I don’t know how much more the poor organ can take. I feel like I’m on some kind of hallucinogenic trip where everything I thought I knew was wrong.
“I thought you hated us. Hated being here.”
“It was never in my plan to move to Charleston,” he tells me. “The idea was for Liam’s investors to take over and I’d be the silent partner. But when Richard was shown the door, I needed to step in. Make sure Smith and Carson was still a going concern until we were ready to take over.”
“But how can I help?” I ask. “I’m not good with numbers. And I certainly don’t know any investors.”
“We need you to talk to Naomi,” Myles says. “We’ve asked for a meeting with her and she’ll only do it if you come.”
I swallow. “Naomi wants me there?” I thought she’d turned her back on me completely.
“She’s your biggest fan. She’s only just discovered that you knew nothing about the Dandy move. They’d told her you were on board with it. She’s pissed.”
“But she’s already signed the contract, hasn’t she?” I ask. “With New York?”
Myles nods. “We want you to persuade her to break it. That’s the only way we can save this deal and save Smith and Carson. Otherwise…”
“It’s goodnight, Vienna,” Liam says.