by Tijan
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to know something? Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be at those stables? I didn’t know, but I knew I couldn’t say anything. Whatever was going on, it was between Carter and Cole.
“It’s done, Carter.”
“You could’ve kept her in the dark.”
Cole snorted. “Right. The next time I have to…” He hesitated. “…do what we do sometimes, I’ll lock her in a bathroom or something.”
Carter didn’t reply. He looked to me before returning to Cole.
“They came in. We were there. It’s done,” Cole said.
They were talking half in code. I could follow because of what I’d seen at the stables. I wondered if the servers could guess. I glanced over my shoulder, saw the server coming back with a pitcher of water, and coughed, clearing my throat. “Water, anyone?”
The conversation was dropped, but I had a feeling it was over anyway. Once the water was poured, Carter ordered for himself and Emma. Cole made sure I was okay with what he ordered for us, and once the server was gone again, Emma took charge.
She leaned forward, reaching for her wine glass. “So, Addison, Cole said you two met because you live in his building?”
That was her signal. Whatever Carter and Cole were arguing about, it wasn’t to be brought back up. She gave both of them pointed looks, and they nodded in response. After that, the conversation was smoother. I told them all about the other residents. Emma’s eyes got bigger and bigger, especially when I mentioned Dawn and her affection for Jake.
“And that’s the guy your best friend is dating now?”
I nodded, finishing my second glass of wine. I was done eating as well. My plate was still a third full. The chicken, scallops, and asparagus would’ve made my taste buds dance on a normal night, but this wasn’t normal. The nerves had lessened when Emma took charge, but they were still there, and that kept my appetite at bay. Carter didn’t approve of me, or he didn’t approve of something about me, and Cole didn’t care. The undercurrents had been tucked down, way down, but I knew I was reading them right.
Once Cole finished eating, his arm rested behind me again, and his hand never left my shoulder. I was thankful. That tiny touch helped assuage some of the tension.
I leaned back into his hand now. His fingers splayed out, and his palm rested on my skin. A small tingle coursed through me, helping to ease a bit more of the knot in my stomach.
“Yes,” I said to Emma. “Jake’s the one. I haven’t told Sia about Dawn yet. I should.”
“Don’t.” Emma sounded sure.
“Don’t?”
“Tell him what happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell him Dawn took the phone. The friendship is between him and Dawn. It will be easier on Sia if he puts a stop to it; then she won’t be in the middle. He should protect both of them. It’s his friend and his girlfriend, so it’s his job. Not yours, not your friend’s.”
I’d never thought of telling Jake. I was floored. “Thank you. I think I will.”
“Shit, Emma. When’d you get all wise on me?” Cole teased.
She laughed, sinking into Carter’s side, slipping her hand through his. “It’s all because of this guy. Once you go Carter, you always become smarter.” She held her laugh, raising her eyes to wait for Carter’s reaction.
When he heard the rhyme, he groaned, shaking his head. “You didn’t just say that.”
“I did, and it’s true, but—” She held up her glass of wine. “It’s probably more because of this. I think this is my third glass. I’m officially a lush.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “We might need to fly Theresa and Amanda out here. I’m feeling in the Octave mood. Surely there’s something like that around here?”
“Octave?”
“The club Carter owns back home. Speaking of,” he said to Carter, “when are you going to open one here? I took Emma to Octavia in New York, but I think doing another one here would be smart. That’s one of your best business ventures.”
Carter lifted his arm so there was no barrier between him and Emma. She sank farther into his side, and he held her close, his hand resting on her other arm. “When you’ll open it with me.”
“I’ll put in money.”
“I don’t need money.”
This was another conversation for just the two of them. Emma seemed content to listen, so I did the same. I wasn’t nestled into Cole’s side, but his hand was still on the back of my shoulder, like he was silently holding me up. As he talked with Carter, his hand went back to drawing circles.
In the end, Cole remarked, “I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see.”
“Good enough for me.” Carter’s smile was much less strained than in the beginning. He glanced down, and his smile grew even softer. “Emma’s about to fall asleep if we don’t head out.”
“I’m up.” She yawned. “I’m totally awake.” Her eyes closed…and didn’t open. “See. I’m ready to dance. Nightclub, anyone?”
“Right.” Carter shifted and swept Emma into his arms.
She squealed. “What are you doing?”
“You were falling asleep.”
“Put me down. I can walk. I promise.”
“You sure?”
The two were talking, but they were laughing at the same time. Carter carried her toward the stairs.
As he did, Cole turned to me. He pulled me into his side now that they had gone downstairs. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Your friend is intense. I feel like I just ran a marathon, backward.” My legs felt like lead. Even my arms were heavy.
“Don’t worry. Carter’s just protective. I’m a little less cautious than he is, but he’ll relax. He knows a good thing when he sees it.”
“Really?” I scoffed.
Cole nodded, his eyes warming as he held my gaze. “Really.” He pressed a light kiss to my lips. “You ready to head back?”
“God, yes.” I groaned. “But don’t pick me up.” I stood, seeing a mischievous glint in his eyes.
This was a new side to Cole—a Cole that poked at his friend, trying to get a reaction. I knew the dark and silent Cole. I knew the dangerous side of him, and when we were at my home together, I’d started to see his joking side, but this one was altogether new and unpredictable. I was cautious, learning new terrain, until he leaned in close and dropped his voice low.
“When I pick you up, it’s not going to be because you’re sleepy from too much wine.” Cole stood behind me, his body brushing against mine. “It’s going to be because your legs don’t work for a whole other reason.” As he spoke, he trailed a finger down my spine.
I caught my breath. One touch was all it took to awaken my body.
I murmured, huskily, “Yes. Let’s go home.”
His eyes darkened at my response, and his hand fell to the small of my back. He urged me forward. “Yes, let’s.”
I was surprised to learn Carter and Emma were staying at The Mauricio, so we all rode back together. Emma and I got out first, while Carter waited for Cole. Ken held the door open for Emma and me as we stepped inside the lobby.
“We stay here sometimes,” she told me. “The first was a year ago. We used the fourth floor, and Carter said Cole had residents here as well. I was told not to talk to them, because he keeps his presence here a mystery, so it’s nice knowing you’re here.”
“Yeah. Same here. You know, if you’re here long, we could have lunch together or something?”
Interest sparked in her gaze. “Your days are free?”
I nodded. We were alone in the lobby. I turned to glance behind us, but Ken had closed the door.
“Carter’s nervous about you,” Emma said. “You’re close to Cole. It’s obvious how much he cares about you.” She glanced sideways at me, a lingering look. “Cole’s not as guarded as he is. I think he wanted to hash some stuff out before we go up for a nightcap.”
I nodded. That made sense.
My gaze lingered on the closed door, though.
Emma touched my hand lightly, drawing my attention. “We’re here for another few days. After what happened at the stables, Carter wants to make sure everything is fine. So if your offer is genuine, I’d love to meet for lunch one day.”
“It is, and my days are wide open. I’m not working.”
“Yeah?”
I was sure she and Carter knew about Liam, and about his death, but I was about to explain my lack of day job anyway when I heard the elevator ping its arrival. I’d just started to explain to Emma when I heard my name—and I turned to see Sia standing there.
The world tilted sideways for a moment.
Jake came up behind Sia, and they looked between Emma and me.
Sia said again, “Addison?”
I was frozen. My two worlds were colliding, and I couldn’t say a damned thing.
“I—” I choked out. That was it.
Emma looked between us and understanding dawned over her face. She swung around, holding her hand out to Sia. “Hello. I’m Emma. You’ll have to excuse me. I was coming in and saw—” She pretended to ask me, “Addison?”
I nodded, grateful.
“I saw Addison’s shoes and stopped to ask her where she got them. I’m so sorry if I held your friend up. We started talking about restaurants around here. I asked her for a recommendation.”
“Oh.” Sia drew closer, some of her curiosity satisfied. “Did she mention Gianni’s?”
“Gianni’s.” Emma’s eyes lit up again. We could hear Carter and Cole coming in from outside, and she said hurriedly, “Yes. Actually I knew about Gianni’s already. My friend owns the restaurant.”
“Your friend?” The door opened and her gaze passed over us to the two coming in. Sia’s eyes widened dramatically. So did Jake’s.
Emma jumped in, raising her voice. “Yes, my friend Cole.” She turned to them. “You guys are here. I’ve been entertaining myself. I ran into Addison, and she recommended your restaurant, Cole, for us to eat at tomorrow.” She paused. “Have you met Addison or her friends?”
Cole didn’t skip a beat. He held out his hand. “Hello, Addison.” After we shook, my grip a little shaky, he held his hand out to Sia and Jake. “The both of you look familiar.” He pretended to mull it over before he gestured to Jake. “You were at the fundraiser a while ago. That was almost a month and a half ago, I think? Carter, you were with me.”
Carter sidled up next to him, shaking Sia and Jake’s hands as well as they stood there, slack-jawed.
“I don’t think we were introduced, but I remember,” Carter said. “You were with Mahler.”
“Yeah.” Jake blinked a few times, closing his mouth. “I, uh, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Carter.” He pointed to Cole. “And this is Cole.” Emma moved next to him. “And you already met Emma.”
“Yes.” She clasped his arm, pulling him toward the elevator. “It was nice to meet you all.”
Cole lingered as the other two stepped inside the elevator. He was waiting for my signal. With Jake and Sia’s attention still focused on them and not me, I nodded briefly. Cole nodded back and followed his friends.
In silence, we all watched as the elevator went up. It stopped on the fourth floor.
“Whoa. Carter Reed stays there,” Jake exclaimed. “That was, wow. I mean, maybe Carter Reed owns this building? You think? He was in the Mauricio family, too.”
Sia didn’t respond. She’d turned back to me. “You look pale. Are you okay?”
“Huh?” Jake frowned.
She ignored him. “Addison?”
“Oh.” Jake shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. He stepped back to give us space.
Sia asked again. “I called you earlier. We’re going to a get-together. One of Jake’s colleagues is celebrating his birthday. Do you want to come with?”
She asked me to come along.
Because I was alone.
Because they ran into me in the lobby.
All the guilt from yesterday rushed back to me, doubling because, yet again, I’d lied to her face. I couldn’t do it, not anymore. Sia deserved better, and I let out a deep sigh.
“Sia,” I started.
“Yeah?”
Please, don’t hate me. “I’ve been an asshole friend.”
A half laugh came from her. She shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been lying to you.” The words were hard to say. I felt like I’d swallowed bark, and it was coming back up, scraping the insides of my throat.
“Okay.” She cocked her head to the side. “What are you talking about, though?”
I looked to Jake. “Can I talk to her? It might take some time. I have a lot of groveling to do.”
He glanced between us and asked, “Do you want me to wait?”
“No.” She waved toward the door, adjusting her hold on her purse. “You go ahead. This could take a while. Is that okay?”
“You’ll call me?”
“I will. Go and have fun. I’ll let you know if I get a car to come on my own.”
He bent down, giving her a quick kiss. “Okay.” He gave me a confused look. “This will take a while, huh?”
“I’m afraid so.”
And it did.
When we got to my floor, we sat down, and I told her almost everything: The first time I met Cole. The night she stood me up, how I went to the running track to find him again. How I’d been scared, but how I’d wanted to see him for an entire week, and that night, I finally had the courage to try. I told her about seeing him in the back elevator, and that I’d slept with him the first time we had dinner.
“I didn’t care, Sia.” My hands twisted together, pushing down on my lap. The harder I pushed down, the more the words poured out of me. “I was so beyond caring. I wanted to feel something other than grief. He made me feel better. For that night, I was alive. That was the first night I didn’t have a nightmare.”
I kept going. I told her how he’d come late the next night, how his friend had died and he’d flown out the next morning for the funeral preparations and business. That I didn’t see him for another month, and I’d thought it was over until I saw him again at the event with Jake.
Once I was done, she sat, quiet. I waited. A heavy cloud hung between us. I couldn’t say a thing. I could only hope she understood in some small way. I prayed for it.
“I see.”
I winced. Her voice was quiet.
“The night your house was broken into?”
“I was with him.”
“Okay. That’s the only part I wasn’t sure about.”
I heard her wrong. I must’ve. “Huh?”
And she floored me when she shrugged. “Hate to break your illusion that I’m completely oblivious and an idiot, but I knew something was going on long ago. A best friend would have to be daft not to know something’s up. I knew you lied to me. Hello. You told me you were going to be at your house, then I’m the one telling you it got broken into? I was more relieved to know you weren’t hurt than pissed you lied to me at that moment.”
I could only blink at her.
“And all the other stuff?” She snorted. “Like I’m not going to notice that every time we go to Gianni’s, we don’t get a bill if you’re with us. Even Jake stopped talking about it. He knew it was you, but we just hadn’t asked about the connection. Or that suddenly you always order the car when we go out, and it’s always the same car, always the same driver. I have to be observant for my job,” she said with a shrug. “I thought you were seeing the driver, not Cole Mauricio himself. That’s the only part I didn’t pick up right away.”
I sat up in my seat. “You thought I was seeing Carl?”
“There were two guys, right? I knew it was one of them. I
