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The second I hang up, I open the attachments.
A slow smile spreads across my face. Then a big one. I race out of my room, take the stairs three at a time, and nearly skid into the study, where Pascal and Jarek are still sulking.
“Why are you smiling?” Jarek asks the second he sees me. “Did Nina call?”
“No. Something better. My attorney did.”
Pascal frowns. “On what planet is your lawyer better than Nina?”
Instead of answering, I hand him my phone. Jarek leans over his shoulder as I hit play on one of the videos. Within minutes, all three of us are grinning.
Looks like my lawyer and his wife are getting those plane tickets after all.
“Nina needs to see this,” Jarek says. “This changes everything.”
“It does.” I grab my coat off the back of a chair. “Let’s go.”
Pascal hesitates. “Right now? I think we should wait.”
Jarek stares at him. “What? Why would we wait?”
“If you’re worried about whether it’s real, it’s been verified,” I say. “My lawyers are thorough.”
“It’s not that.” Pascal shakes his head. “I just don’t want to ambush her late at night after the day she’s had. I think we can do better than that. Maybe even make it special.”
“What do you have in mind?”
Pascal looks at the calendar on the wall. Today is December 20th. Three days from now is the Beaumont Charity Gala, circled in red in Nina’s handwriting.
“She was so excited about the gala,” he says. “More than I was. And she put so much work into it.”
I already know where he’s going, and I like it.
“I’ll cancel the replacement and pay her fee, anyway.” I drop my coat back on the chair. “You get her another dress.”
“A grand gesture!” Jarek says. “It’s perfect. We show her what your lawyer found, bring her back, and sweep her off her feet at the gala.”
“I hope this works,” Pascal says. “She deserves to be there. And I want her there. Next to me, where she belongs. I’m done waiting for my mother and the board to decide whether I’m good enough. I know I am. If they can’t see it, to hell with them.”
Jarek lets out a long breath. “Fuck, she better say yes.”
“Only one way to find out,” I say. “First thing tomorrow, we get to work.”
CHAPTER 32
NINA
It’s been two days since I left the house in the mountains and returned to Denver.
I’m miserable.
I’ve tried to pick up where I left off before I met them, but I can’t. Everything has fallen apart. In a matter of weeks, I’ve lost my boyfriend (granted, Reid sucked), been caught in two viral scandals that have my business on life support, and, worst of all, dragged down three men I somehow fell in love with.
Love.
It’s the first time I’ve let myself say it, even in my own head. But there’s no pretending anymore. I’m hopelessly, completely in love with Jarek, Zander, and Pascal. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop.
I thought leaving was the right thing to do. I thought putting distance between us would make it easier to throw myself back into rebuilding my career. I thought they’d get over me quickly once I was gone.
