For herself? She went down to the convention a few more times, but it wasn’t her sort of thing, and her knee didn’t care for all the walking, so she ended up hanging out in the room with Magnus. She read a book on her phone, watched a few movies, and just snuggled with him in bed while he worked, and it was pretty much perfect.
The only thing she missed were her cats. If she’d had a few of them curled up in bed with them? Heaven. Magnus called his assistant and checked on his two “ladies” and she’d talked to Jenna about her cats, too, because she was weird like that.
Bianca sent her a few inquisitive little texts, but she ignored those. Oh, Edie wasn’t totally heartless. She sent a chirpy Having fun! Busy! XO text to shut her up, but she didn’t want to have Bianca and the real world intruding on their little interlude.
Soon enough, she’d have to go back to her tiny townhouse and her tiny life. Right now, it was just her and Magnus in a happy bubble, and she wanted to enjoy it.
Eventually, though, the con ended, and they checked out and drove back to Edie’s townhouse. For some reason, she felt vaguely sad to see the car pull up in front of her place. She looked over at Magnus and gave him a smile. “Thanks for inviting me. I had a lot of fun.”
She opened the door to get out, only to be dragged backward. “Is that all I get?” he teased. “No good-bye kiss?”
And of course she smiled and kissed him. The kiss turned into a make-out session, and the next thing she knew, she was clinging to his shirt, dazed, as he tongued the hell out of her mouth. Then he gave her a lazy, satisfied smile, and one last, soft kiss. “I’m going to miss you this week.”
She melted a little at that. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
“Say hi to Spanky for me.”
Edie giggled. “There isn’t a cat named Spanky.”
“There should be. It’s a great cat name.”
“Then name one of yours Spanky!”
He pretended to consider it. “Lady Spanky just doesn’t have the right ring to it.”
Edie rolled her eyes. “You are the worst, you know that?”
“Naw, baby. I’m the best and you love it.” He kissed her again. “I’m probably going to be in a work bubble for the next few days, though. You want to come stay at my place with me?”
“I wish I could,” she said wistfully. “The cats need me, though, and I have a few clients to visit this week.” Business was light, but she had her repeat customers and she didn’t want to disappoint them. “Maybe this next weekend?”
“Just text me,” he told her.
“I will.” Reluctantly, she left his embrace, and the car.
It was hard not to feel a little down after leaving Magnus behind, but the moment she opened the door, a chorus of meows greeted her. “Hi, babies!” Edie set down her bag and moved to the couch, petting heads and scratching backs as the cats clustered near. They looked good, she was pleased to see, and as Tripod jumped into her lap, she felt relaxed and happy. The only thing missing was Magnus, who’d just driven away. But she’d see him again this weekend. Hopefully. Edie closed her eyes and petted the cats, relaxing and thinking of the wonderful time she’d just had.
Footsteps thumped down the stairs and inwardly, she winced.
“You’re home,” Bianca said, voice accusing.
Edie cracked open an eye. “I am. Did you miss me?”
“Of course.” Her sister wore a hurt look. “I worried about you.”
“Why?” She stroked her hand along Tripod’s back. “I was fine.”
“Because Magnus has a lot of stairs and you were at the house by yourself. Of course I’d worry. What if your knee gave out on you? I’d never forgive myself.”
Now Bianca was making her feel bad. Edie hated lying—she’d told Bianca that she was staying with Magnus’s cats while he went to the convention—but she wasn’t sure how her sister would take the news. “I can handle a few sets of stairs, Bianca. No big deal. I’m not completely incompetent.”
“Of course not.” Bianca sounded offended that Edie would think it. “Excuse me if I worry about my sister after not seeing you for a few days. I’ll just . . . leave you alone.”
Edie sighed. At this point, she was probably supposed to apologize to Bianca for being bitchy and soothe her hurt feelings. But she didn’t feel like it. Being with Magnus had been nice, because he’d accommodated her knee without making her feel like she was broken. Bianca always made her feel like . . . less. And she hadn’t realized it until just now. “Can we do this later? I’m kind of tired and I’d just like to snuggle with the cats for now, if that’s all right.”
“Sorry if I’m bothering you.” Bianca turned and headed back up the stairs. “I’ll just go upstairs by myself, then. Like I have been for the last few days.”
Edie rolled her eyes.
***
Bianca nibbled on a delicately painted fingernail. She didn’t like this. Not at all. Why was Edie blowing her off? Edie normally needed her. She needed Bianca to drive, and to help her with the business. She relied on Bianca and couldn’t get things done without her. Edie leaving for four days and not even asking Bianca to take care of the cats?
It made her unsettled and unhappy. Of course she was concerned about Edie. Her sister tended to overextend herself when it came to helping people and their cats, to the point that she usually had to ice her knee at the end of the day. She always put herself last and needed someone like Bianca to think about her. Because that was who Bianca was—a selfless, devoted sister and assistant.
She frowned at her reflection in the mirror and smoothed her hair, then put on a bit of lip gloss. Her eyes looked tired today, so she carefully put on a pair of fake lashes, added some mascara, and fluttered in the mirror. Better. Now prepared, she shut the door to her room and turned to her computer, then dialed Levi on Skype.
He answered right away. “Bianca! I’ve missed you.”
She gave him a tiny, coquettish smile. “I’ve missed you, too.” Actually, she hadn’t. Levi was clingy to the point of being irritating, and he wanted sex all the time, and Bianca was a firm believer in not putting out unless there was a ring on her finger. The only redeeming thing in his favor at the moment was that he had a lot of money. Then again, she’d met a lovely man named Cooper at Gretchen’s engagement party, and while he wasn’t the greatest to look at, he owned a chain of coffee shops and seemed content to worship her from afar, which was better than Levi’s grating handsiness and constant texting.
“You’re so beautiful,” Levi said dreamily, staring into the screen. “I can’t think of anything but you.”
“Thank you,” she told him politely. Then she bit her lip in dramatic fashion and set out the bait. “Levi . . . I’m troubled. I don’t know who else to turn to.”
His eyes widened. “What do you need?”
“I’m just . . . troubled about my sister. Has Magnus said anything about the time she spent at your place?”
Levi tilted his head like a dog, curious. “What do you mean? She was at the convention this week.”
“Convention?” Bianca kept the prettily confused look on her face, even though she wanted to seethe. Someone was lying to her. Her! After everything she’d done for her sister. She selflessly looked after Edie and drove her everywhere. It felt a bit like betrayal, but she squashed that feeling down. “What convention?”
“She was with Magnus at FanBoy Con this last week. Wearing cat ears and everything. He said he hired her as a consultant for a new project.” Levi shook his head. “They were holding hands. He’s really got her fooled.”
Bianca gasped. “He’s still stringing her along? That’s . . . that’s not called for. He’s only supposed to distract her while we go out.” And since she wasn’t all that interested in Levi at the moment, deceit wasn’t necessary. “Doesn’t he realize he doesn’t have to do it all the time?”
<
br /> “Magnus likes to go whole hog when it comes to projects,” Levi said ruefully. “You should see how much he’s hounding me to work on this new game. Just the other day—”
She held a hand up, indicating that he should be quiet, and he did. “Levi, sweetie, don’t you think this is cruel? Edie’s my sister. She’s fragile. She’s going to be devastated when she finds out all this is a lie.” She fluttered her lashes and then shook her head sadly. “You’re going to have to tell your brother to back off for now. We don’t want my sister getting too badly hurt. Her last boyfriend . . .” she trailed off, then changed tactics. No need to talk about that. “I am Edie’s caretaker, Levi. If she suffers, it affects me. It hurts me. Do you understand?”
“I do! I’ll tell Magnus to back off. But what about us?”
“We’ll figure something out.” She gave him a sad smile. “I don’t like the thought of our happiness at my sister’s expense.”
“I’ll fix this,” Levi swore.
“Thanks, sugar,” Bianca said. She blew him a kiss and then cut off the Skype chat. Oooh, Cooper was on. Maybe she’d say hello to him.
***
Magnus pulled up to Buchanan Manor in his Maserati. He’d been expecting to have a private conversation with his friend, hopefully about a new cat-friendly apartment he could ensconce Edie into. But when he parked, he noticed that there were several other cars lining the long, curving driveway, and all of them were shiny with wax and read like the auto section of the Robb Report: Tesla, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, and his brother’s Aston Martin were all parked. Okay, so there was a meeting here today.
What the hell was Levi doing here, though? Unless it was something to do with the wedding? Surely it hadn’t been called off? He pocketed his keys and headed to the door. The butler let him inside, and into the mazelike house.
The other men were waiting in Hunter’s stark office. He knew from dealing with Hunter in the past that the man preferred to do most of his work from his home office, though he knew Hunter had an office in the city as well. As he entered the room, he saw the other men in the room were the other groomsmen, with the exception of Reese and Logan. Asher, Cooper, Sebastian, and his brother, who sat in the back with his arms crossed, a sullen expression on his face.
Magnus took a seat with the others, feeling a bit like a guilty schoolboy. The grim look on Hunter’s face didn’t help. “Hello, boys,” Magnus said, keeping his tone easy. “Surprised to see all of you here.”
Asher didn’t make eye contact with Magnus, but that didn’t surprise him. Sebastian glanced over, but he seemed preoccupied. Only Cooper gave Magnus a friendly smile. Everyone else looked too damn uncomfortable.
“Good, you’re here,” Hunter said, tone curt. He folded his hands on his desk. “I asked you all to come here today because you are all good friends and business associates of mine. I’ve asked you to be in my wedding. I trust all of you. And you know that Gretchen is the woman I love and intend to marry, and she has her heart set on a big wedding with lots of pomp and circumstance. And because I can’t refuse her anything, I’m going to give her the big wedding she wants. Which is what brings me to today’s meeting.” He dragged a hand over one cheek, as if rubbing a scar. Then, he glared at them. “Quit sticking your dicks in the bridesmaids.”
Sebastian snorted.
Asher just grinned.
Magnus said nothing, but his fists clenched at his side. Is that what this was about?
Hunter spoke again. “One of the women is dropping from the bridal party, and my wife-to-be is extremely upset. Gretchen has been frantic all day, and I told her I’d take care of it.”
“Guilty as charged,” Asher said. “I’m fucking Greer, and I’m not going to stop. And no, it’s none of your business.” He adjusted his cufflinks, and then added, “I’ll talk to her. I didn’t know she was threatening to drop out of the wedding.”
Magnus’s eyebrows rose. He vaguely remembered the small, plain woman that he’d seen Asher with in the gardens at the party. Was that Greer? If so, poor woman. Asher had hang-ups by the dozen and he was a good man to party with, but a lousy relationship, Magnus would imagine. The man struggled with lots of demons.
“Greer’s not the one threatening to drop,” Hunter said drily. “Though now I see we have another problem. Chelsea is the one wanting to leave the wedding.”
“What?” Sebastian stiffened, his body becoming alert. His cold expression flicked with surprise. “Chelsea?”
“Et tu, Brute?” Hunter said, voice gruff. “Both of you, either make those women happy or break it off cleanly so Gretchen’s plans aren’t spoiled. Understand?”
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a phone call,” Sebastian said, rising to his feet in a fluid motion. He gave Hunter a stiff nod and disappeared out of the room.
“Anyone else have any confessions to make?”
Asher crossed his arms and looked over at Magnus.
“Edie’s mine,” Magnus said simply.
Hunter nodded. He looked over at Asher again. “Keep your goddamn dick in your pants. Greer’s a nice girl and deserves better than your sorry ass.”
“Wow,” Asher drawled. “What happened to brotherhood and friendship and all that bullshit you were spouting a moment ago?”
“Brotherhood is one thing,” Hunter said. “But now you’re making my woman unhappy, and I can’t have that.”
“I can handle Greer,” Asher said, getting to his feet. “Don’t you fucking worry about her.” He looked over at Magnus, then at Hunter. “You’re not going to lecture him?”
Hunter lifted one scarred eyebrow and eyed Magnus. “Do I need to?”
“Nope,” Magnus said.
“All right, then.”
Asher threw his hands up and stormed out of the room.
“How is it everyone’s fucking a bridesmaid but me?” Levi asked.
“I’m not,” Cooper said.
“That was all I had,” Hunter said, rifling through a few papers on his desk. “Thank you for coming today, men. Oh, and please send your tuxedo measurements to Gretchen’s wedding assistant.”
The remaining men stood.
“A word with you, Magnus,” Hunter said as they turned to leave. Levi gave Magnus a questioning look, but Magnus waved his brother on. After a few moments, he was alone in the room with Hunter and sat back down in his chair. Hunter pulled out a few papers and offered them to Magnus. “I’ve sent an email of listings to your personal inbox. These two just came open and are going to come off the market fast. There’s also a pop artist looking at these particular places, but I wanted to give you first dibs if you have time this afternoon.”
Magnus looked at the apartment listings and grinned at his friend. “When can we go?”
“First,” Hunter said. “Do we need to talk about Edie? The dicks-out-of-bridesmaids warning wasn’t for you per se, but now that you mention it, I should warn you that if you break Edie’s heart, Gretchen is going to come after you with a carving knife. She’s very protective of her friends, Edie especially.”
“I don’t plan on hurting Edie,” Magnus said, a little offended at the conversation. No wonder the others had stormed out. This felt a bit like being chided by his father, and Hunter was a friend and peer, not his dad. “She’s an adult, and I’m an adult, and we’re going to handle whatever happens like adults.”
“Fair enough,” Hunter said. “Shall we take your car?”
***
Two days later, Magnus had signed the preliminary paperwork for a lovely little apartment in a Park Slope townhouse. The entire first floor of the townhouse had been redone as a private apartment, and with sixteen-hundred square feet, large rooms, and a spacious bathroom to call her own, he suspected Edie would love it. There were lots of nooks and crannies and several windows that would be perfect for cat perches. He paid a cash retainer on the place to
ensure he could move in right away, and once he had the keys in hand, he texted Edie.
Magnus: When can I see you again? I have a surprise for you.
Oh boy, she sent back almost immediately. I have two more client visits today and Bianca won’t get off my ass lately. What if I meet you tomorrow around lunch? Can you send your driver to come get me? I’ll need to be back in time for medication and feedings.
Magnus: Whatever’s most convenient for you, he told her. But don’t delay too much. I need you in my bed.
Edie: Is this a booty call, Magnus Sullivan? Because your technique needs work.
Magnus: You weren’t saying that when you were whimpering like a puppy last weekend.
Edie: Okay, okay. Fine. You win. Tomorrow.
Wear something easy to tear off, he told her.
Edie: One Velcro dress coming up!
***
She didn’t wear Velcro, of course, but Edie was wearing a dress when he saw her. She smiled at him in greeting, the long skirt blowing around her legs, a dark sweater thrown over her shoulders. Her hair was in her two little braids and she beamed at the sight of him.
Magnus pulled her into his arms and gave her a long, intense kiss. He’d missed her during the last few days.
“Let’s go up and see your cats,” she said, smiling. “I’ve missed them.”
“Not me?”
She just laughed. “I always miss you.”
He tugged her toward the car instead. “Actually, I want to give you your present first.”
“Or we can do that,” she agreed. “Is it breathing? Because while I love cats, I really can’t squeeze another into the place, and a dog would upset the delicate ecosystem in my townhouse.”
“Better than a cat,” he told her, getting into the back seat of the car with her. He passed the driver the address and settled into his seat, then pulled Edie’s slim body against him so he could touch her again. Touching Edie was quickly becoming an addiction for him.