Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
Nash
I remembered nothing of the drive home from Stephanie’s.
Just found myself sitting in the parking lot of my quiet apartment.
Did I even stop at the stoplights? No clue.
My chest ached with the swirling tension of our conversation.
I hated seeing Stephanie cry, even if it felt so right having her in my arms. I’d put my heart on the line.
I was all in to prove to her I wasn’t a flake like her dad.
But then she lifted those hazel eyes to mine, pooling with liquid and regret.
I don’t know if I can stay. Talk about a sucker punch to the gut. She held my heart, and those seven words were a crushing weight against my sternum.
She’s not Alexis. I ran a hand through my hair, shoving my glasses back up my nose before plunging outside into the nippy cold.
She was hurting. Scared, even. And I didn’t blame her for that.
But Hiram’s threat didn’t scare me. No. What scared me most was losing his daughter.
Because of that, I was going to prove myself to her.
I’d sort this out exactly as I promised.
I wasn’t imagining the connection between us, the way she’d become an important part of my world.
If holding onto her meant exerting more patience and self-control than I thought humanly possible, so be it.
Once I reached the third floor, thankfully without bumping into any of my neighbours, I slipped the key into the door and stashed my suitcase in the laundry room to take care of later.
I studied the apartment I’d called home for the last nine years with fresh eyes, and it was cold and empty after the warmth of Stephanie’s cozy room and the nostalgia of the cabin. Look at me, calling that monstrosity a mere cabin.
My place had few personal touches. A stack of books on my nightstand and another on my coffee table.
A few photos of Emmett's and Ryan’s kids and several of their drawings littered the front of the fridge.
The pops of colour from the Christmassy throw pillows on the couch and the navy rug on my bedroom floor were Stephanie’s doing.
She’d offered to spruce my place up when she first started working for me after taking one look at what she called my “jailhouse chic” style.
Steph.
For years, women had chased after me for my wealth.
Never had I had to pursue a woman so deeply to give me a chance because of it.
Now that I’d gotten a chance at forever with Stephanie, I couldn’t go back to just being friends or boss and assistant.
Not after kissing her. Not after holding her together while she fell apart.
I’d pursue the heck out of her.
First, I needed to run despite the late hour.
Because I was still human, and the upheaval of the last twenty-four hours had me jacked up on adrenaline and more than a little anger.
There would be no sleeping in my current state.
Trading my jeans and sweater for sweats and a Henley, I hurried back outside, letting my feet pull me towards the center of town.
I had no direction or destination in mind.
Just me, the open air, and the rhythmic whoosh of blood in my ears
Before I got too far, I shot a text to THE WISE GUYS chat.
If I was going to go head-to-head with a business tycoon like Hiram and not lose Stephanie in the process, I needed help.
Thank the Lord, I had two friends I trusted with both my business and my love life…
as reluctant as I was about the latter point at times.
ME
Dynamite
Meet me at Maisie’s in an hour?
The use of our codeword was a rarity—almost sacred because it was a cry for help, no questions asked. Two thumbs-up popped up on the screen before I shut my phone off and started running, letting the cold air bathe my skin, cleansing my lungs as my arms pumped, my legs propelling me forward.
By the time I passed the clock tower in Riverfront Park and jogged farther along the river to the waterfall opposite the Monroe Street Bridge, I was feeling marginally better.
A lack of oxygen replaced the pressure in my chest. I braced my hands on my knees, panting.
Spokane in the post-Christmas haze was quietly beautiful.
Like most of the world, that week between Christmas and New Year’s was something of a twilight zone, but that didn’t keep the holiday magic from the streets of our city.
Setting up shop in Spokane had been something of an accident but not one I regretted.
This was Emmett’s hometown, and he was the one to lobby the location idea after college.
We might have had better success in a bigger city like Seattle or Vancouver, but I didn’t want to live in a rat race of never-ending bustle.
Spokane offered us the best of both worlds—the busy hub between eastern Washington and the rest of the western states while retaining a quieter feel.
It held a small-town charm without being a small town.
I made it back to the apartment with twenty minutes to spare. Sweaty, gross, and desperately in need of a shower. But less stressed.
My phone chimed as I jumped into my Jeep.
Pathetically, I wondered if it was Stephanie.
But I knew it wasn’t. She’d looked exhausted and lost when I left her earlier.
Hopefully she was getting some rest. But when I pulled my phone out, I did a double take.
Because Gabe Carson’s name was the last name I expected to see at this moment.
“Gabe,” I said as the phone paired over my wireless speaker, and I backed out of the parking stall. “To what do I owe this surprise?”
“How are you holding up?”
I frowned, even though he couldn’t see me. We’d traded numbers before I’d left, but I thought it more of a courtesy thing because I was dating his sister. Not that he’d actually phone me up for a chat. “Me? You mean Stephanie?”
“No, I mean you. I’ve got a good handle on how my sister is right now.”
I huffed. “Liz call you?”
He gave a noncommittal grunt. Smart man. I couldn’t see Stephanie being appreciative of Gabe probing her friends for updates, but my guess was she wasn’t answering her phone, and this was a last resort. “My question stands.”
I blew out a breath, turning into traffic and navigating the mostly deserted streets. “You were there. You saw what Hiram did.”
“Mm-hmm. And I know what Steph did about it. Now I’m wondering how you’re holding up.”
I wasn’t used to this big-brother routine.
Gabe didn’t just care about Stephanie, but he was calling to check in with me.
Not threatening me not to hurt her—though I had no doubt he was capable of that.
No, he was asking about me. “I’m royally annoyed with Hiram at the moment,” I confessed.
“As majorly as this messes me up from a business perspective, I’m more concerned with how it’s impacted us.
Me and Stephanie.” I cleared my throat as her words skipped in my mind like a broken record: I’m not sure I can stay.
“I’m not giving up on her. I’m just hoping she can hold on long enough for me to prove it. ”
Gabe was eerily silent. So much so, I had to check my phone to make sure we hadn’t lost connection when I stopped at a red light.
“My sister loves you,” he said, breaking the silence. “She’s loyal to the point of martyrdom, which isn’t her finest quality, and doesn’t make smart life decisions when she’s running high on stress and a lack of sleep. She’s told you about her childhood?”
“Yeah.”
“Trust doesn’t come easy for her. But you’re a good man, Nash.
I saw the way she looked at you, opened up to you.
” He blew out a breath. “I doubt it feels that way right now, but she loves you. Problem being, she’s convinced herself she’s the problem and that the noble thing is to try talking herself out of her feelings.
And she’s a dang good negotiator.” He chuckled mirthlessly.
“Any advice for me? Besides patience?”
“You love her.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Pretty sure I should tell her that before I tell you,” I said wryly. But would I get the chance?
“That’s answer enough. Stability is the one thing Steph’s always wanted. And yet she runs scared when it looks her in the face. All I can say is prove you’re there and not leaving. Like you’ve already done.”
“Pursue her.”
“I knew you were a smart man.”
Maisie’s comforting blue building appeared in a sea of red and ivory brick, and I parallel parked in a rare front parking space.
“Thanks,” I said, leaning my head back on the headrest. I’d spent the majority of my life alone with a few trusted friends.
Having Gabe call just to check in did something to my insides.
My circle was expanding. I wasn’t so alone.
There were people who genuinely cared about me as a person, not just my wealth.
Stephanie had given me that. “But aren’t you supposed to be warning me off your sister?
You know, threatening to bury my body where no one will find it after you feed my guts to the gators? ”
Gabe chuckled, catching my lighter drift.
“Guess it’s a good thing I like you then.
And the Marines tend to frown on homicide.
Semper fi and all that. Now, go get your girl, Nash.
We’re all rooting for you,” he said warmly.
Well, warmly for him. “Take care of yourself and we’re just a call away, okay? Don’t forget that.”
“Thanks.” It took me a second to clear my throat of the clogging emotion. “Enjoy the game tomorrow night.” Before I hung up, I had one more burning question. “Hey, Gabe, what’s your actual military ranking? Or would you have to kill me if you told me?”
He laughed, loud and long. “I’m a First Sergeant, not James Bond.”
“Good to know.” We said our goodbyes and hung up.
Inside the coffee shop, only a few patrons lingered around tables, and the soothing hum of the machines blanketed the space. I found my friends at a booth in the back corner. Maisie’s was only open for another hour, but it would be enough.
Ryan slid an Americano and a chocolate croissant across the table as I sat down opposite them. “Fortitude. You used the sacred word. What are your orders, O great one?”
Emmett flicked the back of Ryan’s head. “Be normal for once, why don’t you?”
Ryan shoved at him, but his face was solemn when he faced me. “Em told me about Hiram.”
Emmett’s eye twitched at the use of “Em,” but he let it go. True tribute to how seriously he was taking this, and I appreciated it.
I told them everything—well, except for Stephanie’s past since that wasn’t my story. The Christmas shenanigans, the kiss—both of them, only because they were ridiculously nosy—Hiram’s announcement. Getting it off my chest removed the weight even if it didn’t remove the sting.
Per the rules of Code Dynamite, neither said a word until I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. “That’s all I got.” My world was imploding, but I had good men on my side to keep me grounded.
I might not get answers, but that was okay. For now, the burden was split three ways, letting me breathe more deeply than before.
“Sounds like we need a plan,” Emmett said, sipping his frou-frou Frappuccino. The man was an anomaly, I tell you.
I grunted. “Maybe. Tonight, though…” I glanced between them and lifted my cup in a sort of toast. “Tonight, this is enough.”
The next morning, I stepped out on Genesis’s floor, the elevator doors whooshing closed behind me.
Quietness bathed the office given the early hour and several staff still being on holidays.
But I had a meeting with my legal team within the hour, and I needed some quiet moments to collect my thoughts.
The time with Emmett and Ryan had settled the rising dread in my gut last night.
I had a clearer head today, but the battle was still all uphill from here. With Nova and with Stephanie.
I paused a minute at Stephanie’s empty desk. Should I text her? Maybe after the meeting, providing I had news. With thoughts still on my fake-real-maybe-nothing-at-all girlfriend as I pushed my office door open, I froze.
My office chair was pushed away from the desk, facing the window. Definitely not how I left it. I flicked the light on. “Hello?”
The chair swiveled, and my jaw dropped when Stephanie smiled softly at me. “Good morning,” she said quietly. Redness rimmed her eyes, and her cheeks were extra pale. She looked… exhausted and broken. She lifted a to-go cup from Maisie’s and a small pastry bag, holding them out to me.
“Steph,” I whispered. Please don’t let this be a dream.