TWENTY-SEVEN
“HE HASN’T CALLED,” Gia said to Roxie, phone tucked against her ear.
Sitting in her bedroom, she was doing a good job of feeling sorry for herself.
“You thought he’d call yesterday.” Yeah, and it was embarrassing just how intensely she convinced herself of that. “Don’t lose heart yet. Mondays can be busy. Work stuff piled up over the weekend, and he left the office early Friday.”
For their double date dinner with Roxie and Zairn. Things were right then. Fun. Optimistic. Everything could change in a flash, and her life was the evidence for it.
“It’s Tuesday night,” she said, unable to hide the misery from her voice. “I stupidly thought…” She closed her eyes. “We always had dinner on a Tuesday. He didn’t call but… Some part of me still thought… I expected a car to show up.”
“Did you get ready?” Roxie’s wince was audible and her lack of response was enough. “Oh, honey.”
“I didn’t get dressed or—” Who was she kidding? She’d done everything but put on the dress. “My mom usually releases my clothes and—the only thing I have is the dresses I wore the weekend we stayed for Bram’s birthday.”
Her mom apparently hadn’t secreted them away.
That didn’t mean she hadn’t come into the room to criticize.
Maybe her mom worried Brogan would sue for theft if she put them out of reach; they were purchased by him after all.
With their relationship now truly over, she should return everything paid for on his dime.
“Honey—”
“I’m such an idiot,” she said, squeezing her eyes closed. “I expected him to call. For a car to come get me. I even thought about showing up at his office.” Which would achieve what, exactly? “I convinced myself we… I’m completely delusional.”
“You’re not delusional. He was into you; he is into you. Guys are just stupid when it comes to this stuff. He probably got scared because he felt too much.”
Relaxing, a little, she found her smile. “Isn’t that what we tell each other to make ourselves feel better about getting dumped? Brogan is tenacious. If he wants something, nothing gets in his way. This proves definitively he doesn’t want me.”
“There’s still a chance.”
“You know guys like this, like Zairn, these high achievers. Zairn would never let you go.”
“Some guys are game players. They get off on screwing with us.”
“Brogan is not one of those guys.” Their game was of a different variety. And, damn, she missed it. “He doesn’t leave things to chance. He believes in hard work and straight shooting.”
Roxie’s sigh was an answer. “I won’t have you sitting over there all dressed up with nowhere to go.”
“I’m in a robe now, it’s after ten. I gave up. Gave in. He doesn’t want me, we’re done.”
“You and me will make a party of it.”
Of what? Her embarrassment? “No. Thank you. There’s no point you traipsing all the way out here from the city to—”
“Then I’m sending transport for you.”
“Rox—”
“No, you’re not sitting out there alone with only your parents and brothers for company.”
“Bram’s not back from the office and my parents are…” Couldn’t be less interested. “All they want to hear is that Brogan and I are finished. They won’t stop asking and… I don’t want to admit that… they were right all along.”
“They are not right. What you had was real and Brogan isn’t an asshole… isn’t much of an asshole. Okay, he has been completely shitty in the way he’s gone about it—we want me to go over there? I can kick his ass.”
“Zairn would thank me for that.”
“Don’t worry about him. I’ll take Ballard, he won’t let Spurn lay a finger on me.”
“You know Brogan’s security guy is his cousin, right?”
“Carver? That would be some showdown.”
Ballard would fight to defend Roxie and Carver would do the same for his cousin.
“I guess we could always try to pay Carver off,” she said.
“Carver Kavanagh?” Roxie asked. “Man’s got a trust fund bigger than my shoe allowance and that’s saying a lot.”
“He’s rich? So why does he…”
“BKS,” Roxie said. “It’s the security company he owns with the Breckenridge twins. I’d imagine Brogan gets personal attention when Carver’s in town because they’re related.”
And there wouldn’t be the opportunity to learn more or probe deeper because that link had been severed.
“Not a part of my life anymore.” Deep breath. “It’s over. Done.”
Facing that truth was important, cleansing. Obsessing wouldn’t be healthy. Time to refresh for the next phase of life. Except the last one wasn’t entirely over.
Shanna.
They didn’t have Jarrod back yet. She hadn’t told her friend about the relationship’s end.
About the drying up of the well. They’d talked.
On the phone. When Shanna gushed about cashing the check.
Her friend hadn’t known how that calmed her anxiety.
Not that she’d expect Brogan would put a stop on it.
He wouldn’t screw her friend. Others might claim, knowing him only by reputation, that he would.
She knew better. He wouldn’t. That was something.
A little something.
The consolation didn’t do much to solve the problem of what would happen when the PI asked for more green. The guy was on his way to Mexico. Was the plan just to strand him there and hope he never came knocking?
How could she let her friend down? They needed a new source of income and fast.
“Good,” Roxie said. “It’s over. That makes it time to move on. Got a favorite pair of shoes?”
“Not that my mother would let me near.”
“Grab some socks then and listen for your ride.”
“My ride? No, Rox—”
“Keep the robe on too. You’re safe with Crimson.”
“I can’t drive all the way into—”
“Who said anything about driving?” Roxie asked. “A chopper took off ten minutes ago.”
“Oh my God, Rox!” She bolted off her bed. “A helicopter?”
She’d have to tell her parents to expect it.
“You’ll be in Manhattan before the next round of drinks.”
“Rox—”
“And you’ll stay the night here too. You need to be around people not interested in sucking you dry—and…
” Roxie got in before she could say anything.
“You’ll have complete access to every closet in the building.
We’ll find you something amazing to wear and guys will line up to flirt with you all night. ”
Her friend’s adamance almost teared her eyes. “Roxie…”
“It’ll feel good. I know you might not be ready for the big seduction, but there’s nothing wrong with flirty fun. Nothing wrong with playing without playtime, you know?”
“What about Zairn?”
“He’s gone somewhere… somewhere.” Roxie dismissed the thought. “I can call him to come home, or you can go be with him, if he’s more your type. His life is extra exotic, I’d understand.”
A brief laugh escaped. “I meant you said I could stay over. Zairn may not want random women—”
“Oh, his whole life is random women, thanks to me. My guy’s used to people coming and going from our private floors. We have people move in and out all the time. He’s used to my girls in our bed too, with or without clothes. He’s seen pretty much everything.”
“I envy you,” she said, going into the closet to scrounge up what she could. “The security you have with him. Forever.”
“And he knows plenty of other guys who could be your forever. Tripp has a bunch of brothers; his mom would love any of them to settle down and start making babies.”
Okay, she maybe wasn’t quite ready for that next life stage. Maybe? For sure.
“Guess it’s better than sitting here alone trying not to think about Brogan.”
“That’s the spirit,” Roxie said, upbeat about her pathetic attempt at optimism. “Grab whatever you need. The chopper will be there in a few. Mwah.”
Roxie hung up first. Lowering the phone, Gia let out a long breath.
A helicopter? Was she that desperate? The distraction was needed and Roxie must’ve known that.
Although her friend had said the robe was okay, she wasn’t quite that bold.
Her father wouldn’t be wild about her fleeing in flannel either.
She let her hair down as Roxie once had and went into the closet to change.
Crimson was welcoming to all, no matter their outfit, but she went for the dress she’d worn for Bram’s birthday party.
Two events so close together shouldn’t feature the same frock.
The shame was her mother’s, maybe she could avoid her on the way out.
Purse in hand, she left her bedroom to—her father was there walking toward her. He slowed, his eyes scrutinizing her outfit.
“Where are you going?” he asked, stopping.
She went to him. “Into the city.”
“At this time?”
“Yes. I’ll stay the night there and won’t disturb you.”
“With him? Is that it? He snaps his fingers and you jump? When I spoke to Spurn on Sunday, he refused to meet me tonight because he said he always had dinner with his girlfriend on a Tuesday. Summoning you at this time is disrespectful. Have you been sitting around waiting for him? There’s no car outside.
Are you supposed to wait outside in the cold until he shows up? ”
The moment of reckoning was upon them. “No, it’s not Brogan. You and Mom are right,” she finally admitted, defusing some of her father’s bluster. “I’m not his girlfriend anymore.”
“You’re not…”
“No. We broke up. It’s over.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He didn’t mean that but laid a comforting hand on her arm. “Do you want to talk about it?”
In that moment, she really wanted to believe he was asking out of concern. Shaking her head, her lips stayed tight together in an attempt to subdue unwelcome tears. Why? Why did that have to be the time emotion suddenly confronted her hurt?
“If you’re not with him anymore, Bram and I don’t need to fly with him, we don’t need to meet.”
God, that was right, they’d made arrangements to—she couldn’t have forgotten. Except she did.
“Oh, God, Daddy, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve said something so you could make other arrangements to—”
“Don’t be silly,” he said, rubbing her arm. “Break-ups can be traumatic… There wasn’t anyone else involved… was there?”
Him and his obsession with a third party did nothing to allay her building emotion. It wasn’t that she thought Brogan had dumped her for someone else, but, wow, right then, she did not need that visual.
“Not as far as I know. He doesn’t want to be with me anymore.” Boy was that fun to say. “That’s it.”
It might actually be better if he had been overcome with passion and love for someone else.
That would be a reason outside her control.
All she knew right then was she wasn’t it; she wasn’t good enough.
Had she expected to be? Not out loud, but maybe in some secret recess of her wildest imagination. She’d been putting off admitting that.
“He broke up with you?” She nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “You’re worth ten of him. Man’s an idiot.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” she said, too tired to remind him that he’d never been Brogan’s biggest fan and probably would’ve said that last part from day one.
“I was coming to tell you Bram and I would like you to join us at Gault’s.”
Excuse her? Where had that come from?
She edged her arm away from his hand. “Why?”
“It’s time you got more involved in the business,” he said. “After all, it will be half yours when your mother and I aren’t around anymore.”
And he had never said that before. Ever. Not in the entire duration of her existence.
Something must’ve prompted it. “Is this about Brogan? He’ll be there and if you think my presence will—”
“No,” he said and smiled. “Though I would be proud if you showed him your strength, that you’re over him.”
She wasn’t that good a liar. Over him? Maybe not quite yet.
“I’m not sure, Daddy. It wouldn’t be right to leave Shanna right now. She’s worried about Jarrod and we might have a lead. We could run out of money before—”
“Money? You don’t have to worry about money,” he said, his hand finding her arm again. “Come with us and your friend will have whatever she needs to find Jarrod.”
Quid pro quo?
Ironic. And she might laugh if—no, too soon, that wasn’t funny yet.
When she’d first asked her father for financial help with the Jarrod search, he’d scoffed. That was how she’d ended up in Brogan’s office.
That deal didn’t exactly work out amazing for her. Did she have it in her to accept a second?
Dubious, she looked at her father but could only think of her friend. Shanna would be beyond disappointed when she learned Brogan had pulled out. If there was no contingency plan in place, she might have to tell her friend to bring the PI back empty-handed.
Unsure as she was, Gia sighed. She didn’t have any choice. Door number two was the only option.