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I groaned as I looked out the window at the line of reporters across the street. People had gone completely insane when the news broke about Ryzen’s death.“Billionaire Burned to Death!”had been the first headline I had read. They had been relentless the first week, constantly calling or emailing, even showing up at our building trying to get an interview, but I’d refused to speak with them. I would not give it an inch of my attention anymore. As days passed and they must have realized I would not give an interview, most of them seemed to give up. Most, but not all.
My gaze flew to the dark-haired woman pacing back and forth in front of the crowd outside. Piper Lawless. Apparently, a restraining order didn’t mean shit to her. But that wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. Let her stand out there in the cold all damn day for all I cared.
“Oh, Stan said you have to come before four o’clock on Sunday to pick up the wedding cake. He also said he forgives you for not inviting him.” Juliet laughed and leaned back in her chair, propping her feet on her desk.
Damn, I bet he would never let me forget that one. It wasn’t that I didn’t love the guy, but I was trying to keep the wedding casual. Cian and I both agreed that we didn’t care to make a huge fuss, which was exactly why we’d chosen to do it at his cabin retreat in Montana. We were going to have the place to ourselves, with only a few staff members sticking around to help with the wedding. Besides that, it was just going to be our small group. Thora was going to bring the guy she was dating, Felix, and Valik said Milliani would probably make the trip.
She had come back to work last week and seemed in good spirits. More than good, she seemed great. I imagined the news of Ryzen being dead was the cause of that. She and Valik were spending a lot of time together, and he was walking around with a huge smile on his face twenty-four seven. I was happy for him, for both of them. I just hoped that the fact she was technically in a Mafia family didn’t break them apart at some point.
I hadn’t talked to Kaviathin since that day at Spazzianos, although I knew Sophie had been there once or twice since she brought leftovers to lunch and made the entire office smell like delicious Italian food. It had been hard to ignore his warning. All I wanted to do was tell Cian and have him put my fears to rest, but I couldn’t do it. The whole thing was so fucking ridiculous. Of course Ryzen was dead. Burnt to a damn crisp. Kaviathin didn’t know what he was talking about. All I knew was that I’d taken what he had said and buried it deep down inside of me in a box, locked it, and tossed the key away. And I would never open it again.
“Hey, Nova, you have a guest downstairs.” Owen hung up the phone with a grin. “It’s your Grams.”
My eyes widened, and I checked the security footage he pulled up on his computer. Sure enough, Grams was downstairs with an older gentleman. Archie, I presumed. They were chuckling and elbowing each other as they browsed the shelves. I thought my heart might explode from the cuteness.
I jogged down the stairs and into the store just as Grams turned around with a huge smile on her face. “There’s my little daredevil.” She threw her arms around me and squeezed tight.
“Oof, you’re so strong, Grams. Let a girl breathe,” I teased and stepped back and looked her up and down. She looked so vibrant and young, I almost couldn’t believe this was the same woman who had been in the hospital months ago with a heart scare.
“Archie, get those sugar buns over here and meet my granddaughter.” She tugged on his hand, and he turned, his cheeks rosy and eyes glistening with excitement.
“Nova.” He tugged me into his arms, and I chuckled as he rocked me back and forth. “I’ve heard so much about you, darling.”
I pulled back, and he instantly reached for Grams’ hand. “So happy to meet you finally, Mr…?”
“Oh, stop that, it’s just Archie.” He spun in a half circle and pointed at all the pleasure devices on the shelves. “Very impressive store. And so colorful. Just brilliant, darling, completely brilliant.” Grams tilted her head to the side and stared adoringly at him.
“So, Grams, what brings you by? Do you need some recommendations?” I winked at her.
“Oh, no, honey.” Her cheeks flushed. “We’re good in that department.”
“Damn straight, sugar.” Archie tickled the side of her stomach, and I almost couldn’t take it. They were as smitten as honeymooners. His eyes widened at the window display and he strolled over to it.
“We were passing through, and I just wanted to know if it was all right to bring Archie to the wedding?” She looped her arm through mine and patted my hand.
“Of course, Grams. I would love it if he came. Tell him to bring his dancing shoes.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she turned slightly, giving Archie a thumbs-up. “Thank you, sunshine.”
We spent the next half hour chatting and catching up, both of us avoiding the enormous elephant in the room regarding recent events. That was one reason I loved her so much. She never pushed or pried. She just let me be, because she knew that if I really wanted to talk to her about what had happened I would. But the last thing I would ever do was bring up something as morbid as Ryzen and ruin her honeymooner’s spirit. I didn’t ask about my parents or Grace, and she didn’t bring them up either. They weren’t my family anymore. The people who were my genuine family were mostly upstairs in my office, or with Cian. Those were the people who mattered.
I got through most of my to-do list early in the afternoon and then Juliet and I worked on our final mock-up for the R.L. Hemingway’s collaboration. The next time I looked up, it was close to six. Valik was downstairs with Milliani closing up shop when I went down a little later and she kissed him on the cheek on our way out.
“How’s she doing?” I asked as we walked to the SUV parked out back.
“Great, actually. She’s a trooper. Every time I try to ask her about what happened, she closes up, though. But I think she’s moving on from it.”
“That’s good.” I patted Valik’s arm and then climbed into the backseat. “Give her time.”
He nodded as he buckled his seatbelt. We pulled up to the security gate, and he entered the code, but before we could pull out past the gate, Piper jumped in front of the car with her hands raised over her head.
Fucking hell. This woman was going to drive me batshit crazy.
Valik put the car in park and groaned. “Should I just let the cops handle her?” He glanced over his shoulder at me.
“No.” I sighed and unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’ll take care of this once and for all.” I stepped out of the car and walked around to the front of the car. “I have a restraining order on you, Piper. What the hell do you want?” I narrowed my eyes on her.
“I need to talk to you,” she whined.
