Chapter 30
Maddie
“Ugh!” I aggressively scribble with my pencil over my drafting paper. My mind is so full of nerves that I can’t get anything right.
The Pink Tiger project has been approved, and we break ground next month. In the meantime, Leo has brought me on to a new project involving three identical residential buildings in three different cities.
The Triplets are what he’s calling them.
These are the buildings he’s working on with the very talented international interior designer, Evelyn Taylor.
The same woman I met at the gala, who bid on and won my decanter.
Before I was brought on to the project, an idea for some kind of green space, both indoors and out, was floated, but it wasn’t implemented, and I’m here to bring it back to life.
Something fresh and unique that can work with all three cities.
New York, Miami, and London.
But my creative block is on, in full force.
I throw my pencil down in frustration, and Addie laughs from where she lies on the couch. Her hand is thrown over her eyes, trying to nap while I wait for Nate to be done with his work call with Amara.
It’s Saturday, early morning, and Nate and I are having a day date before he leaves for London tonight.
Addie slept over last night. We watched movies and had too much wine, celebrating the new art studio that I signed a lease for yesterday.
Addie found it through another artist she knew, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity; it’s within walking distance from home. And next week, when Nate is back, I’m going to tell him all about Cherry, and I can’t wait to see his face.
Now that I have a space to call mine, it feels monumentally more real, rather than a hobby.
Plus, I now have the best manager in town, Adelaide Sinclair.
She’s slowly stepping back from her parents’ art business to make something of her own with me. I’ve given her free rein to handle business however she sees fit.
And I can’t wait to spend more time with her.
Life has been so crazy lately; talking on the phone and texting her just aren’t cutting it, and I miss our early-morning cuddle seshes when I would work at the studio at five in the morning.
Suddenly, I have an idea. “Do you want to go to London next month for the weekend?”
She lifts her arms, eyebrows raised, clearly interested.
“Leo and I need to go over to meet the new interior designer and check out the London space. And Sebastian is building a new hotel in London. Leo wants us to look at that, too. You can meet me for a girls’ weekend.”
“Mmm. Is Seb going to be there?” Her eyes widen excitedly.
“Ew, no, he’s like a brother to me, you can’t go there.” She bites her lip, and I know that face. I point to her and narrow my eyes. “Absolutely not, Ads. Seb is off-limits.”
“But he’s so hot. I’ve always had a crush on him.”
I scoff. “When you were eighteen. Get over it.”
I get up and walk down the hall in the front of the apartment, where the supply closet is. Nate keeps all extras stored here since Leo, and he often collaborate and work from home.
It’s also where the conjoined door is for Leo’s apartment, and at this very moment I’m regretting stepping in this direction.
My mouth gapes, and I’m frozen in place like someone witnessing a bad car crash and they can’t look away.
Two tall, billowy brunettes are naked, with their arms around Leo, simultaneously kissing him. His hand is on both of their butts, and one of the girls is grinding down on his leg.
Oh. My. God.
A second later, they all turn, and I scream out loud when Leo’s front and center, completely, freaking naked.
“Ahhhh.” I cover my eyes and start dry heaving. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”
Nate comes running down the hall. I can hear Skye behind him, and then Addie.
I peek through my hands, and I see Nate running toward me, also naked.
“Nathaniel,” I snap. “Go put clothes on!”
I turn back toward Leo, thankful that he’s covering himself up, but what I see next makes me murderous. “You two better turn the hell around.” I point toward the two bimbos gawking at Nate. “Now!”
They giggle, but they listen and turn, looking away.
Lucky for them.
Nate retreats and grabs a blanket to throw around himself, thankfully grabbing one for Leo too.
Addie is standing wide-eyed. “Holy shit. You two—”
“Shut up, Adelaide!”
She makes a motion pretending to zip her mouth but can’t control her laughter.
“Why are you naked?” I ask Nate.
He widens his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know because I was changing and then heard you scream bloody murder.”
I run my hands down my face. “I’m going to throw up, I think.”
“I know you’ve never seen anything so beautiful in your life, but it’s okay. Nate is a good runner-up,” Leo jokes. “And now we’re even.”
“What are you talking about?” I question when a memory comes to the forefront of my mind.
The brothers were all in Nate’s office, and they were talking about me like…
“Oh my god, you’ve seen me naked?” I squeal. The two girls, still hanging all over Leo, laugh. “Shut up, you two,” I shout.
“Having sex actually.” Leo chuckles when I scream out loud.
“Okay. Cherry Bomb mode has been fully activated.” Nate puts his arm around me and leads me in the direction of our penthouse. “You can close the door,” he calls back to Leo.
I plop down on the couch and gag a little on the inside.
“I’m going to get going.” Addie walks out with her overnight bag. “Love you.” She kisses the top of my head.
She points to Nate’s crotch that’s still barely covered. “One of your balls is hanging out.” His eyes shoot down in horror. “Gotcha.”
Nate shakes his head. “Your humor is still stuck in summer camp.”
She punches his arm, then leans down so he can kiss her cheek goodbye.
“Hey,” I call out as she’s about to leave. “Will you sleep over this week while Nate’s gone?”
She shrugs. “Let me check the calendar, but I don’t see why not.”
“We can invite Juliette one night.” I hesitate. “If Harrison lets her out of her sight. She’s about to pop. But you’ll love her.”
“Sounds good.”
When she leaves, I lean back onto the couch. “I’m going to have nightmares of Leo’s naked body for the rest of my life. It’s like seeing a full frontal of Mase. Ugh. Why is that door always open?”
Nate sits next to me and puts my feet in his lap, massaging them like a pro.
He lets out a breath and speaks quietly. “I never wanted to feel trapped when I was younger. Leaving the doors open between us was a coping mechanism growing up that turned into a habit.”
Our eyes lock, and it’s like it all suddenly makes sense.
A mirage of memories floods my mind, piecing together the bits that didn’t always add up.
Nate, sleeping on Mase and Leo’s couch in camp, never once slept in his bunk unless Leo crashed there.
In college, there were one or two occasions when he thought I couldn’t stay over, but plans changed, and I snuck in using my key.
His and Leo’s doors were open, and even on nights after we had sex, he’d open the door, and I never asked why.
Silly me.
When we stayed at Rosa’s, she insisted on leaving all the lights on in the hallway near the guys’ room, never allowing us to shut them off.
I knew they had money, but I thought it was wasteful when everyone would be sleeping.
And now he has a connecting door to his brother’s penthouse, which is unlocked or open at all times.
He needed to know he was free to escape if he wanted.
That no one was holding him back anymore, and someone would always be on the other side to free him.
Tears well up in my eyes.
My poor sweet Nate.
And our rough sex…him being in control. He might not know it, but I think that too plays a factor.
I go over the night he told me about his past, when something dawns on me. “I thought Leo didn’t know?”
“He doesn’t.”
“But then why does he go along with it all? The doors…the lights…”
He closes his eyes, as if replaying something in his mind. “He once told me that he didn’t know how, but he knew what I needed and wouldn’t ask why.” He opens his eyes, then picks up my foot and kisses my toes. “He’s a good brother.”
I nod. “The best. We’re both lucky to have such great support systems with our siblings.”
“Agreed.”
After a moment, I ask, “Do you think you’ll ever tell him?”
“I never planned on it.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in that sentence.”
He stares out the floor-to-ceiling window. “But I think soon I’ll be ready to. I’ve held it in for way too long, and I think maybe if I finally get it all off my chest, I can finally move on and live without the horror my life once was.”
I sit up and shimmy toward him. “It will, I know it.” I take his hand in mine. “Now are you ready to forget it all and have the best day ever?”
He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my fingertips. “Let’s go. Even if I’d rather stay home and fuck you all day.” He winks, then stands up to get dressed.
I throw my head back, laughing loudly at my filthy man, whom I love to pieces.
Today’s going to be a good day.
“Hey, asshole! Get out of the fucking bike lane!” A man barrels through the light, shouting at a tourist who’s blissfully unaware of his surroundings.
“Ahhh, I love New York,” I say, laughing.
Nate snorts. “Who can blame him? That guy’s a moron. Why is he standing in the street like that?”
I shrug. “No clue.”
A gust of wind cuts through the street, and I pull my jacket tighter, winding my scarf closer around my neck.
The surprise heatwave from a few weeks ago is a distant memory, reminding us winter is right around the corner. However, that hasn’t stopped New Yorkers from filling every inch of pavement with life.
The streets of the West Village are packed on this sunny Saturday afternoon, and the outdoor seating is full to capacity.
The bar across from us had outdoor TVs showing college football, where we watched the first half of the USC game; the electricity of a fall weekend has been truly magnetic.