by Ella Brooke
I opened my eyes wide. “Wait, what do you mean after I ‘make it up’ to Savannah? I can’t even get her to take my emails and calls!”
Mel brought a hand to her chest and gasped. “Oh my goodness. You’re telling little old me that an email isn’t sweeping Savannah off her feet? That’s just too surprising!”
“I sent flowers and chocolates and lots of other presents to her place too. It’s all been returned.”
“And did you go over yourself, jackass?”
“No,” I added sheepishly. “As mad as she was at me, I figured if I showed up at her place and just begged, she’d call the cops on me. I wasn’t sure if it was too much.”
“Men,” Mel huffed. “It’s not even enough. Girls are all waiting for that John Cusack-Say Anything moment where he has the boom box on the lawn and he’ll love her forever.”
I almost choked on my beer. Sometimes, I swore my sister needed to come with her own translator. “I don’t get the reference.”
“Doesn’t matter. Try this, genius. Women want to have Prince Charming slay the dragon for them, feel safe and know that they’ll be protected and cared for no matter what. You need to channel that inner caveman.”
“But the flowers!”
“Yeah, that says ‘I’ll so slay a dragon for you.’” Mel shook her head and pointed to the guest room where Ian was still playing, oblivious to all of this. “I haven’t seen him as happy as he’s been over the last few weeks. When I sit with him, he talks all the time about going out to museums and the Grand Canyon and special places with you and Savannah. He has that full sense of family again that as hard as we try, we can’t create alone. He can’t lose someone like a mom again, not for something as dumb as Bella trying to mark her territory like the bitch she is. You can’t either. Fight for her, Ryker. Please.”
Standing, I balled my hands into fists at my side. I still had a good bit of rage for my brother. Whether he’d meant well or not or been some weird social climbing snob…who knew. He’d ruined a lot for me, but Mel was right. I had to fight to get it back. I’d go and see Savannah right away, beg her, make her understand everything that had happened with me and Bella. Exactly how much emotionally and financially that bitch had stolen from me. Then I could show Savannah exactly how much she meant to me.
She had to see that, had to.
“Well, looks like you’re ready to go, brother.”
“I am and also to kick Davis’s ass for good measure next time I see him.”
Mel smiled and drained her drink. “Good, I have Ian as long as you need me to. You fix this mess. We’re all rooting for you.”
***
The apartment was almost empty.
That didn’t compute. It was batshit crazy, in fact. Savannah and I had seen each other eight days ago. I’d tried to call and email her and the works for a week. That couldn’t possibly be enough time to have an empty apartment that only contained a few racks of costumes and boas for her act at The Bacchanal. As I walked through the cleared out place, I found one person rummaging through what must have been Savannah’s closet.
It had all the corsets there as well.
“Who are you?” I barked.
The woman who looked like Savannah—at least had the same measurements and dark hair but her eyes were the wrong shade, a hazel that couldn’t compare to my siren’s—startled and eyed me warily. “I’m Lilah. I…aren’t you The Ryker Eden?”
I laughed because it was all so ridiculous, and because I hadn’t felt so important in all my life. Maybe that was how the gossip pages had built me up, but today? Today, I felt lower than whale shit at the bottom of the damn ocean.
“What?”
“I’m Ryker. Who are you, and how do you know me? Lemme guess, the tabloids?”
“Some,” she admitted, biting her lower lip. “I was Savannah’s understudy at the club. I mean, now that she’s moved to New York, I’m the actual headliner. She had old wardrobe she couldn’t use and had no reason to take with her. We’re the same size. I guess all the Green Fairies kind of have to be.”
“And?”
“Anyway, she gave me a spare key and said I could take whatever I wanted and leave the rest for trash. Why are you here?”
“I…we had a fight, and I came to try and make it up to her.”
Lilah’s eyes got wide. “Oh, you didn’t know she moved in with her aunt in New York? I mean, wow, it was this whole big thing. She gained weight or something, and Alan was his usual jerk self and fired her. It’s why I basically chew ice and eat lettuce all week. Anyway, she’s in Manhattan now at her Aunt Ellen Riley’s place. She gave me a forwarding address in case I felt like sending any letters. She liked the cast, and we liked her. Alan just sucks.”
I wanted to punch a wall. Alan and my brother and Bella…all these pieces of crap getting in the way of what should have been a happy ending for me and Savannah. Well, they weren’t going to win. I’d get on my jet right now and get to NYC. Then, I’d get her back, and we’d both come back and make Alan sorry. Maybe I’d finally buy the whole sorry club out from under his nose.
God, that would be so fucking satisfying.
“Okay, well, that helps. If you can give me the address, I can get to New York today still. There’s been a huge misunderstanding.”
Lilah nodded. “I’ll say if she didn’t even tell you she was leaving. I…oh man.”
“What?” My heart quickened. So far, the former understudy hadn’t been bearing anything but shit news. “What now?”
“Ryker…Mr. Eden, I hate to tell you this, but Savannah’s in the ICU.”
***
I raced through the hallways of St. Mary’s Memorial until I found the nurses’ station. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t related to Savannah, was hardly her next of kin, but people had a way of bending over for the rich and famous. Unlike Davis, I tried not to use that to my advantage, but if it took a flash of a smile and a promise of an exclusive, all expenses paid trip to anywhere the nurse on duty wanted, I could do that. Hell, I had five grand in cash in my wallet right now. It was all so much Monopoly money if I couldn’t see Savannah, couldn’t make sure she was alright and safe.
That I hadn’t caused whatever was ailing her.
“Hello,” I said. “My name’s Ryker Eden, and I’m looking for Savannah Riley. I heard she was here.”
The nurse before me was about sixty-five, maybe a year or two away from retirement, and eyed me like I was dog shit on her shoe. Perfect. “Are you her designated next of kin? There are privacy laws and protocols we have to follow, sir.”
I leaned over the desk and slipped the five grand from my wallet. “Now, look, Nurse…” I squinted at her tag. “Uh, Nurse Reynolds, I’m her boyfriend, so we don’t have a legal relationship, but if you could just help me out, I’ll make it worth your while.”
Christ, like I didn’t sound like some mobster doing all this, but I was desperate.
The nurse scowled at me and shoved the money back at me. “Rules are rules. I’m too close to retirement to mess up and get fired now.”
“You don’t understand. I’m Ryker Eden.”
“And I’m Louise Reynolds. I don’t care, sonny. You’re just like every other hedge fund bastard off Wall Street, but rules are rules. If you’re not family or her legal next of kin, then you get out of here and wait till she calls for you.”
“But she’s in the ICU! How likely is it that she’s even talking? Please, Nurse, my whole life is practically in there. That’s the woman I love.”
“Like I said, rules are rules.”
Growling, I spun on my heel and grabbed for my cell phone. There had to be someone I could have my lawyers call. But that would all take time, and I was terrified that Savannah didn’t have much left. I had no idea what was wrong with her.
A soft hand was on my shoulder, and I looked down into sympathetic green eyes. The woman who reached out to me was older with a smart gray pixie cut and a tall frame. She also seemed to be studying
me like she was trying to figure out a Rubik’s cube.
“Ryker?”
“Do I know you?”
“I’m Ellen Riley, and I believe you know my niece, Savannah, in the biblical sense.”
I swallowed and, for probably only the third time in my life, felt my cheeks flare red with warmth. “Oh.”
“Yes, ‘oh.’”
I gripped her by the shoulders even as the panic about Savannah’s situation flooded over and pushed aside my shame. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, she had some bleeding, and she seems to already have elevated blood pressure. They’ll be wanting her on a lot of bed rest now, but we got her here in time. She’s safe.”
“I…what happened?”
“That’s something the two of you need to discuss together. But I won’t help you get through to see her unless I know you’re not just some love ‘em and leave ‘em type who’s here to lie to her.”
“I’m not.”
“Savannah and Mary both told me about you and that other woman.”
“She ambushed me! She came into my apartment when I was with my son for a quiet evening and then assaulted me, getting up on my lap. I swear, Bella and I have been done for years.”
Ellen studied my face closely, spending a long time staring into my eyes. “I believe you, Ryker, but I’m not the only one you have to convince. Go to her. Win her back. So much depends on it.”
I nodded as she explained everything to the nurses and then walked beside me as I was ushered into Savannah’s room. She was sleeping, hooked up to far too many beeping monitors, and looking scary pale. I swore the sheet she was wrapped up under had more color in it than her cheeks did.
Jesus Christ, how much blood did she lose?
Mary snapped her head up from her book and glared at me like she could set me on fire where I stood. It was a very good thing I’d run into Ellen in the hall. There was no way Mary would have let me see my siren, let me say my piece to Savannah.
“What is he doing here?”
Ellen shook her head. “Mary Anne, he needs to speak with your sister, and you know he has a right to. That there are things they need to get out in the open between them.”
“He had a chance and he—”
“Mary Anne, now,” Ellen said firmly.
Mary still glared at me, but she conceded to what her aunt wanted. Soon, it was just me and Savannah alone in the room. Her breath was coming in a regular rhythm, and the machines beeped all around us. The slight smell of antiseptic burned my nose. She didn’t deserve this—not any of this. If any of the stress I’d caused her, the pain, was the reason, then I’d never forgive myself.
Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and reached over to wake her up.
Chapter Fifteen
Savannah
I woke up gasping for breath after dreams of blood. “How are the babies?”
Ryker was sitting next to me, his face torn in anguish and his blue eyes racked with pain. “Babies?” he asked.
Crying, I reached up and touched his cheek. This all had to be a dream. My imagination was trying to compensate for losing the triplets by conjuring images of the man I loved. Damn it, the man I still loved, despite what he’d done to me.
“You’re not real. You’re not even here.”
He took my hand in his, and it felt warm. I’d never hallucinated before. Who knew it could feel so real? “Savannah, I’m here. I flew all the way out from Vegas. I promise. Lilah told me where you were.”
“But I can’t…I don’t deserve you back.” I was crying now. If I’d lost the babies and never even told the real Ryker about them, then I was way worse than he’d been to me. He’d deserved to know…and now there’d been so much blood.
He kissed me then, his tongue hot and hungry for mine, and I realized with a start that he was real.
“Ryker!”
He grinned at me despite the seriousness of me being stuck in a hospital bed and under a million damn monitors. “In the flesh, darling. I talked with your aunt before I came in here. She said that you were going to be okay, that they wanted you on bedrest for a while, but that everything was still all right. Now, it’s my turn. Did you say babies?”
I swallowed hard. Relief was flooding through me no matter what happened next, even if Ryker rejected me, that my children…no, our children were safe. “Yes.”
He reached out and touched my stomach, and I let him. “When? How? I thought you were taking shots.”
“My doctor called a bit ago to tell me they were a faulty batch and my OB/GYN confirmed I was having triplets.”
His eyes grew so wide it would be comical, if I weren’t still afraid he’d reject me. Reject all of us. “Triplets?”
I nodded and put my hand over his on my stomach. “Now you know why I have to be on bedrest apparently. I guess at least for me, carrying triplets isn’t going to be easy.”
“Well, no matter what, we’ll face it together. I’m not letting anything bad happen to you or my children. If you need every specialist from here to fucking Jakarta, you can have them.”
“Us?” I sighed and wanted to cry too, but I forced myself to stay calm. “Is there going to be an us after this? I ran away without telling you, and Bella’s back in your life. I…the night I caught you cheating on me, I was coming to not just go to the museum but tell you about the triplets.”
“Bella came onto me. My damn brother Davis was trying to play matchmaker and gave her the door code. She let herself in and ambushed me. What you saw was her forcing a kiss on me. I’m bigger, sure, but I was brought up by my parents to never use that against a woman. I was trying to get her out without hurting her, and she was using that against me.”
I shook my head. I wanted to believe that. I did…
“But how can I be sure? Samson betrayed me. It wasn’t just the affair. He chatted up an agent who came into The Bacchanal looking for me. I’d almost had a deal signed to move to New York a few years ago and be a star on a TV show. He conned his way into the slot and took the lead of the The Bacchanal at the time with him. They’d been having an affair. So I lost the love of my life and my career. Then, I find you and Bella so close…and I know you. I know she was the only one you seriously dated after Penelope. How can two months compare to over a year with a damn model?”
He held my hand tightly. “Because she never loved me. Because she betrayed me. And definitely because she embezzled from me since she was a money grubbing bitch. You’re a million times the woman she could ever be. And now you’re the mother of my children. Savannah, it’s not that you can’t compare to Bella. It’s that Bella could never—even in a hundred years—compare to you.”
“I want to trust you. I do.”
He pulled me as close to him as he could around the leads that were tangled around my body. “You fall in love for a reason, darling. It’s that leap of faith that I’ll be there to catch you. I made a mistake. Should have known when Bella came sniffing around that she’d try crazier things, and I wasn’t ready. Because I got complacent, you got hurt.” He kissed my lips again, and God, how I’d missed that comforting scent of cinnamon. “But you have to trust me. I’d do anything, give my life for you and the babies just the way I’d protect my sister Melanie or Ian. You’re an Eden now too, and I’m going to keep you all safe.”
“I’m just a Riley,” I finished, hiccoughing.
He pulled away from me and got to one knee. “Not for long, I hope.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a velvet box, and my heart stopped. My breath caught in my throat, and my palms were sweaty with excitement. “Savannah Riley, I grabbed this from my drawer before I came out here. It was my mother’s. I wanted to marry you when I just thought you were sick and dying. I couldn’t live alone in the world without you. Now that I know you’ll be the mother of my children, I’m never letting you go. Will you make me the happiest man in the world?”
I glanced down at the diamond. I’d never seen anything like it in person. It had to be a doze
n carats, something so big that J. Lo would want to show it around everywhere. It was beautiful and antique and like nothing I’d ever hoped to have in my whole life.
“I…you can’t mean that.”
Still down on one knee, Ryker laughed. “Savannah, darling, I’ve never had an easier choice to make in my life. Now, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I said, thrusting my hand out to him. Now the tears came again, but for the first time in over a week, they were happy tears, ones that made me feel I could do anything, take on any challenge because my children were safe and the man I loved was at my side.
The ring slid on easily, and he grinned as he sat back down in his chair. “It looks amazing on you.”
“It fits so well.”
“Maybe it was fate,” he said. “All of this sure feels like it. My mom wore this every day of her life. When she got sick, she gave it to me to give to anyone I was going to marry. Penelope had passed on by then, and I swore I’d never get married again. But Mom said I was a romantic at heart and when I found the right person, I’d know.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry about her, that you’ve suffered so much. That Ian has lost so much too. Neither of you deserved it.”
“And I’m not asking you to be a replacement for her. What we have is our own thing. I loved Penelope, and part of me still will, but she would have wanted me and Ian to be happy.” He kissed me, and I relished the feel of his scruff against my chin. “I know I can be.”
I smiled and patted the hand that had joined mine again over my belly. “I do too.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ryker
Two Weeks Later
It took a while to get Savannah stable enough to go back to Vegas. We all agreed that she’d do best in New York with her aunt and sister, but first, I needed to get things squared up with Ian’s school and get him ready for the move to New York for at least a while. It was close to the end of the year, and one month of closely-watched rest in Las Vegas for Savannah would still be all right. She’d need to be back and on full bedrest in New York by the end of her first trimester, but we still had a few weeks’ time before that was an issue.
