Matchmaker (Empire High Book 4)

by Ivy Smoak

  I peered around the end of the island, but I couldn’t see anyone.

  “Matt,” Penny hissed.

  The footsteps stopped. “Is someone there?”

  Fuck. I made my way around the side of the counter and poked my head out. I could see high heeled boots through my vantage point beneath the kitchen stools. They weren’t the high heeled black ones the hitwoman had been wearing the other day. They were shorter with a thick heel and kind of beat up in an on-purpose kind of way that I’d never understand. But it had to be her. Who else could it be? I gripped the knife tighter.

  “Hello?” the hitwoman called again and made her way farther into the kitchen. Farther. Farther. Until her feet paused right next to my hiding spot. Before I could convince myself not to, I reached out, grabbed her ankle, and pulled as hard as I could.

  She yelped as her feet got pulled out from beneath her and her gun clattered to the ground. I climbed on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

  She screamed and started thrashing beneath me.

  “Penny, get the gun!” But when I reached out to knock the gun farther away from the woman, all I saw was a high-end camera. A very broken high-end camera. I looked down at the woman beneath me. And for just a second I lost my breath.

  Her dark hair was splayed out on the hardwood floors and she was staring at me like she wanted to kill me. Honestly, it wasn’t the first time she’d looked at me like that. And definitely not the only time I deserved that look of disdain. It had been years since I’d seen her. I’d asked Brooklyn for a sign at the graveyard the other day. And when I’d first seen the hitwoman there, I’d thought she was Brooklyn’s best friend, Kennedy. My sign was a few days late. But here she was. “Kennedy?”

  Just as her name left my mouth she kneed me hard in the balls.

  Fuck. I rolled off of her and tried not to start crying. Why did women keep trying to maim my member? Couldn’t they just slap me or something?

  “Don’t move,” Penny said. She’d grabbed a knife too and was holding the teakettle in her other hand like she was going to throw it at Kennedy’s face. It wasn’t a bad plan. The metal and boiling water would be enough to hurt her. But I didn’t want Penny or Kennedy to get hurt.

  “Stop,” I groaned, but it was barely a whisper.

  “Put your hands in the air,” Penny said.

  “Who the hell are you people?” Kennedy said. But she didn’t try to get off the ground. She just sat there, the look of anger replaced by fear. She slowly lifted up her hands.

  “Who the hell are you?!” Penny countered.

  “Stop,” I groaned again. I winced as I tried to sit back up.

  Penny took another step forward, waving the knife around. “If you don’t tell me in two seconds who you are, I’ll… I’ll stab you in the face,” Penny said with very little conviction.

  But Kennedy didn’t know that Penny wouldn’t hurt a fly. She looked as scared as Penny had a minute ago. There were even tears in her large brown eyes.

  “Penny, put the knife down,” I croaked. “I know her. Kennedy…Kennedy it’s me.” I gestured to my face, waiting for recognition to hit her.

  Kennedy blinked, the tears still pooling in her eyes. She didn’t seem to know who I was. Maybe because my face was distorted in pain.

  “It’s me. Matt,” I said.

  She searched my face. “Oh my God. Matthew freaking Caldwell? Oh my God.” She put her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.” She reached out like she was going to touch my nuts and then pulled back. “Do you need some ice or something?”

  “You two know each other?” Penny asked, her arm still outstretched with the knife.

  “Penny, would you put down the knife?” I asked again.

  I watched as Penny put the knife down on the counter. But she was still holding the teakettle, like she was worried I was reading the situation wrong.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said to Kennedy. “I didn’t know you were coming…wait, why are you in my house?”

  “I had no idea this was your place. I’m here to take pictures for a listing.” She looked over at her broken camera.

  Oh. Oh! Bill had said he’d send someone over. I never asked him for details because I assumed it would be during the day when I wasn’t home. Not that I was supposed to be home now either.

  Kennedy tried to stand up and winced. “Ow. I think I may have twisted my ankle.”

  More like I had twisted it when I pulled her to the ground. She’d offered to get me ice a second ago when she was the one that was actually hurt. “Don’t move. We need to get your ankle elevated before it starts to swell. Penny, get me some ice from the freezer.” I bent down and lifted Kennedy into my arms.

  She inhaled sharply. And I wasn’t sure if it was because her ankle hurt or because for just a second she felt like she’d been transported back 16 years too.

  She smelled like her mother’s cooking. Mrs. Alcaraz’s famous empanadas. She smelled just like Brooklyn had when she’d lived with her uncle and then with the Alcaraz’s. And in the weirdest way, it smelled like home.

  I held her like that in the kitchen for a beat too long.

  She looked up at me, her eyes no longer filled with unshed tears. “Um…you can put me down now,” she said with a smile.

  “Right.” I carried her into the family room and laid her down on my couch. I grabbed a few pillows to prop her ankle up. And then I unzipped her boots…boots that were perfect for Kennedy. The distressed leather was artsy and stylish on her. I let her boots fall to the ground and ran my thumb down the inside of her ankle. “Does that hurt?”

  She nodded.

  For a few seconds we just stared at each other. The scent of her skin made me feel at ease for the first time in years. Did she feel it too?

  “Here’s some ice,” Penny said, rushing into the room. “I’m so sorry I threatened to stab you in the face. I thought you were someone else.” She finished wrapping a towel around the ice pack and gently placed it on Kennedy’s ankle, somehow knowing exactly what to do. I guess it was the mother in her.

  Kennedy reached down to hold the ice in place. “Who did you think I was?”

  “A murderer,” Penny said at the same time I said, “no one.”

  Kennedy glanced back and forth between us. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself to your wife. I’m Kennedy.” She held her free hand out to Penny.

  Penny looked at me and laughed. “Matt’s not my husband.”

  It’s not that funny.

  “We’re just friends,” Penny clarified. “Matt practically grew up with my husband, James.”

  “James Hunter?” Kennedy’s eyebrows both raised.

  I knew what she was thinking. James hadn’t exactly been the kind of guy to settle down in high school. He was high or drunk more than half the time.

  “Mhm,” Penny said. “Do you know him too?”

  “Um, yeah. I mean, I used to in high school,” Kennedy said.

  “Wait, you all went to high school together?”

  “Yeah, we were all friends because Brooklyn…”

  “We used to hang out in Brooklyn,” I quickly corrected. I didn’t mean for it to sound so dirty though.

  Kennedy opened her mouth, probably to call me out on my bullshit, but I cut her off.

  “Penny, could you grab some more ice?” I asked. “We definitely need more. I think there’s another pack somewhere in the back of the freezer.” It was a total lie. But sending Penny on a wild goose chase was the only way I could think to buy time to bring Kennedy up to speed on everything.

  “Sure thing,” she said and stood up. As soon as Penny was out of earshot, I started talking.

  “Penny doesn’t know about Brooklyn. Please don’t tell her. She’s one of the only people in my life who doesn’t stare at me like I’m broken. Kind of like you are right now.”

  Kennedy put her hand to her chest like it hurt. Maybe it did. Because mine physically ached. “I’ve never looked at you like you were broken.
I looked at you like you were grieving.” She searched my face. “You’re still grieving.” She didn’t ask it like a question. She said it like a statement. Like I was that easy to read. Was I really that transparent?

  “Matt!” Penny called from the kitchen. “I can’t find it. Where did you say it was?”

  “I’ll be right back.” I left Kennedy alone and joined Penny in the kitchen. “Sorry, Penny, I must only have the one.”

  She kept the freezer door open and leaned in a little closer to me. “She’s pretty,” Penny said. “And I didn’t see a ring on her finger.”

  I glanced back toward the living room. “Yeah.”

  “Maybe it’s just me, but I can practically feel the chemistry between you two. And now she’s hurt and has to spend the night?” Penny shrugged her shoulders. “Seems like fate to me.”

  “Would you stop being a nosy matchmaker for five seconds? She’s not going to spend the night.”

  “Why not? You’re always spending the night with random women.”

  Exactly. Random women. Not women like Kennedy. She deserved more than that. And I couldn’t give that to her. I glanced back into the other room.

  “I should probably get going,” Penny said loudly enough for Kennedy to hear. “I don’t want to be late for dinner.” She winked at me. “Ask her out.” She left me alone in the kitchen and went back into the living room. “Need anything else before I head out?” Penny asked. “Do you want me to call a doctor?”

  “No, I think the ice is enough,” Kennedy said. She reached down to readjust it.

  “It was really nice meeting you. Hopefully I’ll see you around again soon.” Penny turned to me. “Don’t forget to call James.” She patted my chest and was out the door before I could even say goodbye.

  The door closed behind her and the silence settling around me was unnerving. The last time I’d been alone with Kennedy was at Brooklyn’s gravesite. It had been right before we both went off to college. And we didn’t know how to say goodbye to the person that couldn’t come with us.

  We promised we’d keep coming back to visit Brooklyn. I’d kept my promise. But I didn’t think Kennedy had. Not that I blamed her. I was the only one who seemed keen on staying stuck in the past. Losing a best friend was hard. But losing the love of your life? There was no healing from that.

  And as much as I wished Kennedy understood what I was going through, she didn’t. I glanced up the stairs. And it was a good thing that I was here. Because I couldn’t let Kennedy see the paintings upstairs during her picture taking. She’d think I’d completely lost it.

  Chapter 27

  Tuesday

  “Penny seems nice,” Kennedy said as I made my way back into the family room.

  “Yeah. She is.” Even if she is a dirty little meddler. I sat down next to Kennedy on the couch. I thought the silence stretching between us would feel awkward. But it didn’t.

  “I’m glad James remarried. When I heard he tied the knot with Isabella?” She shook her head. “What was he thinking?”

  “He wasn’t.” I didn’t need to elaborate. Kennedy knew what James had been like when he was a teenager. He was rarely sober enough to think anything through.

  “You know, sound really carries in this house,” Kennedy said. “So do you often spend the night with random women? Don’t tell me you’ve become Mason?”

  I laughed. “You’ll be happy to know that Mason has settled down. Rob too.”

  Kennedy smiled. “The woman married to Rob must have all the patience in the world.”

  “She does. They somehow balance each other out perfectly.” Daphne also somehow never got mad when Rob was a flirtatious fool.

  “So all the Untouchables are hitched? Except you.”

  I laughed. “No one calls us that anymore.” I looked over at the TV and wished it was on to distract us. The last thing I needed was anyone else obsessed with my love life. Or lack of one. “Penny’s been trying to set me up. She has a whole dating profile for me and everything.”

  “Wow, I cannot imagine you on a dating app. Any matches yet?”

  I thought about Ash throwing a ball of fire at my dick. “No, not yet.”

  “I’m really surprised you’re the only one who hasn’t settled down. I mean, you were ready to all the way back in high school.”

  We were both quiet for a minute.

  She rested her chin in her hand as she stared at me. “It’s been 16 years, Matt. I kind of just figured…”

  “Brooklyn was endgame for me, Kennedy.”

  It looked like Kennedy wanted to cry. “I miss her too,” Kennedy said. “You expect that hole to fill up with something, anything. But she left a damn big hole.”

  “She really did.”

  Kennedy pressed her lips together. “All those things you said at her funeral. They were supposed to be your vows. Not promises to someone whose life was cut short.”

  “Kennedy…”

  “You can’t just go through the rest of your life missing her. Keeping her a secret from one of your good friends? Pretending she didn’t exist, yet letting her death dictate everything you do? Matt, that’s not living.”

  She didn’t have to tell me that. I knew it wasn’t living. Because I was fucking drowning. “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Like I’m sure you overheard Penny say in the kitchen. You don’t have a ring on your finger.”

  “I’ve been focused on growing my business.”

  “Taking pictures?”

  She frowned. “I’m a professional photographer, Matt. I’m taking these photos because I have a very lucrative partnership with one of the top real estate firms in the city. I own my own company and it’s doing great, for the record. And I won’t let people like you look at me like I’m nothing anymore.” She sat up and shoved the ice at me.

  “Kennedy, I didn’t…”

  “Yes you did. I’m not the same poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks that you had to hang out with just because I was friends with Brooklyn.” She pulled on one of her boots. Boots that I hadn’t noticed before had royal blue soles. They were Odegaards. And anyone that could afford $3,000 Odegaards was pretty well off.

  “Hey.” I grabbed her hand. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I really didn’t. I used the wrong term. I meant photographer. You followed your passion. I think that’s amazing.”

  “Really?” Her eyes softened.

  “Yes, really. You went out and did your own thing. And you’re clearly killing it.”

  She smiled. “I’m sorry I got so defensive. I think maybe I still have a little chip on my shoulder from going to Empire High. Especially being back in the city after all this time. I almost feel like the old me, if that makes any sense. And I’ve tried so hard to leave that person behind.”

  I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth rising. “I always liked that person.”

  Her face flushed.

  “When did you move back to the city?” I asked.

  “A few weeks ago. I’ve been wanting to expand my business for a while and there’s just more opportunities here. I tried my best to stay away. But then there was this vacancy in the perfect location in Manhattan for my offices. I couldn’t say no.”

  “Are you living in Manhattan too?”

  “Actually, I moved in with my mom temporarily. Just until I have time to search for a new place.”

  That explained the delicious smell of empanadas. “How is your mom?”

  “The same.” Kennedy smiled. “It’s so weird being home and having to live with her rules again.” She laughed.

  “I bet.”

  “She treats me like I’m still a kid. I could really use a night out.”

  Was she asking me to ask her out? I didn’t know what to say. I was drawn to her, that was undeniable. But I think it had more to do with our shared past. I couldn’t deny that she was attractive though. She had all the same beauty she did when she was younger, but her curves had filled out. In any
other circumstance, she’d be someone I’d hit on. But she was Kennedy. My fiancée’s best friend. She was older, sure. But she was still just as off-limits.

  “Do you know the weirdest part about being back here?” Kennedy asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Every now and then, I see a blonde walking on the street and I completely freeze, thinking it’s her. I so badly wish it was her. But it never is.” Kennedy sighed. “It was easier to be off somewhere I never knew her, you know? God, I can’t even imagine if she was still alive after all this time? What I would say to her? Honestly, I’d be so pissed. I’d probably curse up a storm and make my mom furious.” She laughed. “Pull out a few of my favorite Spanish expletives.”

  “Sounds about right.” I never let my mind venture there. To the possibility of Brooklyn still being alive. Not after all the private investigators I’d hired came back without any information. She was gone. Brooklyn was dead.

  “So what have you been up to all these years?”

  “Taking over MAC International.”

  “Really?” She smiled. “I know you wanted that. Wasn’t Mason supposed to take over though?”

  “He followed his passion, just like you did. He started his own marketing firm. With his wife, actually.”

  “That’s amazing. But you followed your passion too, right? Isn’t running that company what you always wanted?”

  What I always wanted? No, being married to my job wasn’t what I always wanted. What I wanted was Brooklyn as my wife and a house full of kids. A house full of happiness. “Yeah,” I lied.

  “It’s amazing that the four of you guys are still friends. I wish I had a group of friends like that. I basically know no one in the entire city.”

  Brooklyn had been one of Kennedy’s only friends in high school. She’d been kind of a loner before Brooklyn moved to town. But I hadn’t let her feel that way after Brooklyn’s death. I still sat with her at lunch every day. She’d been one of the Untouchables just as much as I had. But I guess we’d all lost touch with her.

  “I’ll let you know next time we all hang out. You’re more than welcome to come.” It wasn’t a date. But it was the best I could do. And it would be a little while before that invite came. I needed to apologize to James first.