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Chapter 13
Brady
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Excuse me?” I turned my office chair to find Liam standing outside of my office.
The usually suave, almost overly polished man looked haggard, unshaken, and more than a little nervous. I wondered briefly if I looked as rough as he did.
“I said, what the hell are you doing here?” he repeated, his voice lower but no less demanding.
I raised a brow at him. “Work. I work here, Liam. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Even to me, my voice was dry, humorless.
Liam sneered, stepping into the room and then shutting my door loudly behind him.
“Hey, hey, hey. Easy with the door, kid. You’re going to scare off half my people slamming shit like that.”
“I just spent half the night watching my fiancée pace and panic, pace and panic,” Liam said. He leveled me with a steely glare, which I met head-on.
Under my desk, my fists clenched. “Is Cici okay?”Is the baby okay?My lips clamped down before the question could escape. The baby.Mybaby.
“What do you think? She’s a mess. And therefore, Ashlyn is.” Liam paced the short distance around my office. “Brady, do you know what I really hate?”
“Boundaries? Driving somewhere new?”
“No, you pig. I hate when my fiancée is upset.” He paused, facing me. “So I’m going to need you to fix this. We both know you are infatuated with the women. And now she’s carrying your baby.”
“It was a one-time thing,” I said carefully. I didn't want him to think less of Cici. “And she told me to leave her alone.”
Liam glared at me. “Have you ever been around women? I thought you had a sister. They always say that.”
“I have two. And I’m respecting her wishes.”
“Fuck that. You know just as well as I do that there’s only one place in the world you need to be right now.” He leaned on my desk, his suit tight across his shoulders. “And that isnothere.”
“You want me to just go over there…”
“Yes,a hundred timesyes.”
“And do what? She said—”
“Cici Grove is a force unto herself. But this is equally as chaotic. You need to get your ass over there, tell your woman that you want to be there. Then, if she kicks you out, which she probably will, she will kick you out knowing that you tried.”
I learned back in my chair, my heart beginning to thunder. “You’re serious?”
“Go, Brady. You’re about twelve hours behind already.” Liam straightened, crossing his arms. “I’ll cover for you with our internal initiatives meeting at one.”
“Thanks,” I threw at him as I hurtled past him. One moment, I was simply hurrying, and then I hit the hallway, sprinting down, bypassing the elevator to take the stairs at a rate that would send OSHA into a death spiral.
But if Liam was right, then every second that I was apart from her was another second she might be doubting where I stood. Even if I had to tell her a hundred times, or perhaps if she locked me out of her apartment, I would still be there. Just in case.
Not just for her. For our baby too. Adrenaline surged through my body as I jogged to the car, praying to the gods of transportation that the San Francisco traffic would move fast.
It must’ve worked, because I pulled up in front of Cici’s apartment in record time. I threw my car into park near Cici’s bright red convertible and went jogging up the path to her apartment. Forgoing the doorbell, I knocked firmly on the door.
“Cici,” I called, “it’s me.” Nothing. Not even the creak of a footstep on the other side. I knocked again.
“Cecelia, please. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. But I’m here now.” I slammed my hand against the cool wood, my palm itching at the sharp pain.
