“And this is yours, you idiot!” she exploded. “Or, basically, it is. So, yeah, my boss can suck it. I’m taking my best friend’s husband’s private jet so I can toast to their wedding and hobnob with the rich and famous. Big hardship for me.”
I giggled. She had a point. “God, I’m glad you’re coming. I need at least one familiar face in all this madness. Speaking of which…” I looked up to where the style team was following Ruth into the living room and switched my phone’s view so that Megan could see them. “Meet my glam squad. Everyone, this is my best friend, Megan. She’ll be joining us for at least part of the afternoon. And I would really appreciate it if you could take her measurements and help her find a dress for tomorrow too.”
29
ONE BREAKING POINT AFTER ANOTHER
RONAN
You’d think after a month, this gig would get easier. You’d think the old man would let up a little. You’d think I’d grow a thicker skin.
Instead, I was slinking out of the office just before five o’clock like a kid with the worst case of senioritis ever recorded, desperately hoping to avoid yet another round of detention.
Ever since the board had decided to wait on my appointment, I’d been putting in the extra effort. Late nights. Reviewing profit margins. Getting up to speed on the thousands of decisions the CEO of Blackguard had to make every day in between meeting after meeting after meeting.
I hated it. Even though I’d accepted it. Even though, as a child of Niall Black, there was some part of me that had always wanted it. I hated it more every day.
My house in Charlestown became a sanctuary in a way it had never been before, a port in this storm of my own making. And its light, guiding me home every night, was Laney.
The sex was one thing. After Seattle, I expected it to be great, though I didn’t think it would get progressively better everytime. But even more surprising was the way Laney challenged and excited me one minute while also providing a refuge the next. How could one person provoke and calm at the same time?
I couldn’t even make it to the end of the workday without talking to her.
Sliding into the back of the Rover, I sent her a quick text.
OMW home. Expecting you naked and waiting within fifteen minutes with a prop of your choice.
When she hadn’t answered after ten minutes, I called. It rang to voicemail, so my next call was to Ruth.
I was becoming a needy little shit, wasn’t I?
“Hello, Mr. Black. How can I help?”
“Where’s Laney? She’s not answering her phone.”
I knew Ruth had organized the styling session this morning and was also going to be working with Laney on some other housekeeping necessities of being married to a Black. I’d seen the way everyone looked at her when she met them for the first time. Honestly, given the way I’d led previous hazings of my siblings’ significant others, I was lucky Laney got away with only Dad’s comments about her jewelry.
Still, I knew exactly what kind of verbal abuse my family was capable of, which was why I begrudgingly had Ruth set everything up before the reception.
“She’s still here at the penthouse with the styling team, sir. I believe she might be FaceTiming again with a Megan?”
I scowled. “They’re still working on her? She’s already perfect. How much did they have to do?”
“I couldn’t say, sir. Would you like me to convey a message?”
I huffed. I should let her be. I hated the penthouse and tended to avoid it at all costs, and the sooner Laney finished, the sooner she could come home.
Where I would have to wait alone.
Yeah, no thanks.
“I’ll be there myself in a minute.” I ended the call and looked at Mac in the driver’s seat. “Change of plans. We’re stopping at the penthouse.”
As Mac signaled for a turn in that direction, I felt another distinct vibration.
As the assumed CEO of Blackguard, I shouldn’t have needed to carry a burner phone with me anymore. I should have been looking for my own fixer to take care of these issues or finding ways of doing business that didn’t involve blood in the desert and dealings with crooked gangsters.
Unfortunately, neither of those had been accomplished yet. And old habits, as they say, die very hard.
