Chapter 13
RYAN
My apartment wasn’t a billionaire’s penthouse, but it had been so expensive that it’d made my head spin when I’d had to pay for it. Hell, I still occasionally experienced chest pain when I remembered the price tag.
On the other hand, there were places selling in the same building now for significantly more, so I kept telling myself it’d been a great investment. That eased the pain a little. The location was good, the view was great, and the building had a doorman and a gym.
Plus, the place was mine. That made the head spinning more than worth it.
“This is it.” I opened the door and waved for Maggie to precede me, stepping aside so she could go in. “I turned the second bedroom into a home office, so unfortunately, there’s no guest room. I do have a nice couch, though.”
Maggie wandered in and looked around as I put our things down by the door and shut it behind us.
For a second, I thought she might insult my pride and joy, but as I watched her take in the living room, the floor-to-ceiling windows, the kitchen, and the furniture I’d spent an embarrassing amount of time choosing, she didn’t seem too disappointed by her temporary digs.
“It’s nice.” She smiled at me over her shoulder, walking farther inside toward the open-concept living space. “This is much better than I was expecting. Honestly.”
“Thank you.”
She sent me another smile, following when I waved toward the hallway.
After showing her the bedroom and the home office, I turned to tell her I’d grab some pillows for the couch, but she walked straight past me into my bedroom, shut the door behind her, and not even a full minute later, I heard the shower running.
Wow. She’s made herself at home real fast, hasn’t she?
I sighed, but I could handle a woman helping herself to my shower.
What I couldn’t handle was letting Holden deal with my clients for even another minute longer, so I pulled my spare key out of the drawer where I kept it in my kitchen and dropped it on the counter. Then I headed back to my bedroom door.
“I left a key on the kitchen island for you,” I called, but it was more of a courtesy at this point.
If she didn’t hear me, then so be it. I’d more than done my part with this girl and it wasn’t like she’d given me time to tell her I had to get to work before she’d invaded my bedroom.
“I’ll be back later. Probably much later, but there’s food in the freezer! ”
With that, I figured I’d done what I could, so I took off to the small but mighty New York branch of Thayer Steelworks.
Before I’d taken a desk there, the office had mostly handled logistics, acting as a local hub for shipping, distribution, and the occasional meeting when one of the others had flown in from Chicago, but a bit of the finance operations had moved there after I’d taken up residence.
Weaving my way around pedestrians and glorious civilization on the sidewalk after I left my apartment building, I put in a call to Marcus. He answered almost immediately, the tension in his voice wound so tight that it sounded like he was minutes away from a stroke.
“Thayer,” he said curtly. “Please tell me you have good news. Please.”
“She’s back,” I replied. “Well, she’s in New York, but she’s currently taking over my apartment. She refused to let me take her home.”
He paused. “Yeah, okay. Thanks man, I’ll come get her.”
I almost wished him luck, but instead, I just said goodbye and hung up. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that Marcus would soon learn for himself that one needed superpowers to make his sister do anything she didn’t want to.
As I went to shove my phone back into my pocket, I realized there was one more call I had to make. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to make it.
Daniel was closer in age to Isaac than me, and by the time I’d been old enough to hang with the older kids, us Thayer boys had already been shoved out of the social circles we’d grown up in. All of which meant that while I knew him, I honestly didn’t know him that well.
It probably wasn’t my place to let him know his bride was back in the same zip code, but on the other hand, everything I remembered and knew about him was good.
Plus, Daniel lived here in New York. He worked here, and since he’d gotten left at the altar—whether he’d wanted to be standing there or not—he deserved to know that there had been progress.
For some reason, I felt like he should hear it from me rather than being left to read about it in a tabloid if she was spotted on the streets or to learn about it through the furious grapevine of the upper crust.
Finally, my internal debate came to an end and I made the call. On the fifth ring, just as I was about to hang up, Daniel suddenly answered. “Ryan, is that you?”
“How did you know?”
“Somehow, I still have your number,” he said absently. “Is this about Maggie?”
“Yeah, she’s back in the city.”
Complete silence met my statement and I frowned, wondering if the call had dropped, but when I pulled my phone away from my ear to check if he was still there, he finally spoke. “Is her family aware?”
“Yes, they are. I called Marcus just a minute ago.”
“Okay.”
I waited for him to say something else. Anything else. I expected relief or at the very least concern for her safety or location, but I got nothing.
“Thanks for letting me know, Ryan,” he said after another brief pause. “I appreciate the call.”
He hung up without another word and I shook my head and shoved my phone back into my pocket. That was weird. I swear, I’ve been happier than that to get the call that my dry cleaning is ready.
Either way, I tried to put the conversation out of my mind as I pushed through the revolving glass doors of Thayer’s New York branch. It was time to forget about the Pembrokes, the Hawthornes, the wedding, and even my own mother.
I had so much work to catch up on that I wasn’t convinced I’d be sleeping for the next month, so—
My thoughts were cut off by my phone buzzing in my pocket. Praying that it was work this time, I kept walking, so close to my office that I could already see my secretary, but nope.
When I checked the screen, I seriously considered just not taking the call.
I was so close to getting back to my own life that I could practically taste the coffee from my very own, fancy barista machine.
The call rang out, but before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, it started ringing again and I groaned, but it looked like he wouldn’t let up until he’d spoken to me.
“Hey, Marcus,” I said, blowing out a heavy breath through my nose. “What’s going on?”
“I’m at your apartment, but she won’t let me in.”
My eyes slammed shut. “She’d just gotten in the shower when I left. Maybe—”
“No, I mean, she’s yelling at me through the door, but she refuses to open it.”
I pressed my free hand over my face and silently screamed into it. For fuck’s sake. Seriously?
“I’ll be right there,” I said calmly once I’d managed to rein myself in. Then I shot my very confused secretary an apologetic smile before I turned and went back home.
Good Lord. Why am I still doing this? Why? I’m not even a good person. Let alone this good. I need Marcus to leave me the fuck out of this.
When I got back to my building, he was standing next to my doorman, Pat, who grinned when he saw me. “So you finally bring a lady home and she barricades you out of your own apartment? What did you do, Thayer?”
I groaned and shook my head. “Trust me, it’s not my fault this time. Let’s go, Pembroke.”
Without even breaking stride, I headed straight for the elevator, inclining my chin for Marcus to follow me.
It looked like he was trying very hard not to smile at Pat’s teasing, but fuck him.
Soon enough, I’d explain to Pat that Marcus was the one who was responsible for this—well, sort of—and then we’d see who was smiling.
Once we’d reached the elevator but before I could even press the call button, Marcus caught my arm and pulled me into the stairwell. “Wait. Let’s just talk for a minute before we go up there.”
“With all due respect, I really need to get back to work.”
“It’ll be quick,” he promised, shutting the door behind us but still looking around and keeping his voice down just in case. “Look, Ryan, I’ll level with you. The fact that she came back with you is a miracle.”
“You’re telling me,” I said dryly. “You have no idea what it took to get her into that car, so just land the plane, man. You don’t need to take me to dinner first. What do you want?”
His eyes searched mine for a beat and I saw the desperation shining in them, which was odd. I’d never seen a Pembroke—other than Maggie, to be fair—look desperate for anything before. I didn’t think they knew how to feel that emotion.
“I’ll give you a million dollars to get my sister back into that wedding dress and down the aisle.”
I laughed. “You’re kidding, but I was serious, Marcus. I really need to get back to wor—”
“Look into my eyes and tell me I’m not serious about this,” he interrupted urgently, his voice gruff. “I hate to ask. Seriously. I’d much rather deal with this myself, but Maggie won’t listen to me. So far, you’re the only person she’s let anywhere near her.”
“That should tell you how likely it is that she’s going to follow through with this marriage.”
“There’s no other way, man.” He shoved a hand through his hair before dragging both palms down his face. “That wedding has to happen and right now you’re our only hope.”
I stared back at him, realizing that he was, in fact, serious. “You’re offering me a million dollars to get your sister down the aisle?”
“Yes,” he said without any hesitation whatsoever, his gaze fixed on my own. “If you do this, I’ll personally sign the check for all your troubles. I’m good for it, Ryan. You know I am, so what’s it going to be?”