She turned to him with excited eyes. “How is your game coming?”
“Incredible,” he told her, and for the next few minutes, he bored her with detail after detail of the game that was unfolding into something spectacular at every level. It was like now that he was past the one thing blocking him, all the other chips were falling into place. He could practically see scenarios in his head and couldn’t work out his plans fast enough.
Best of all? He didn’t even need Levi.
Which was good, because after the meeting at Hunter’s house? The brothers had a blowout fight. Levi had told him to back off of Edie because he was taking things too far. Magnus, already furious at his brother’s laziness, fired him from The World project and told him to go fuck himself. Now, they weren’t speaking and things at the art house were more than a bit tense.
And Magnus found that he . . . didn’t care. Levi would get over it, and he could choose to work with Magnus, or he could go spend his money. Either way, Magnus was fine with it. He was tired of being held back because Levi didn’t feel like working, or Levi was fascinated by a girl. This time, Magnus was flying solo . . . and he was enjoying the hell out of it.
When they pulled up in front of the townhouse, Edie gave him a curious look. “What’s here?”
“I’ll show you,” he said, feeling a burst of excitement. He wanted to do this for Edie, wanted to see the awe on her face when she saw the apartment he’d gotten just for her. He’d deliberately held back on buying a place that was a little more ridiculous (and more his wavelength) out of respect for her feelings. In the future, when they officially moved in together, it’d be something entirely different, he told himself. Maybe that wouldn’t be so far off. Then they could just install Bianca in the Park Slope house . . . and he’d make sure they got an upscale place all the way across the city. Then Bianca could be Levi’s problem.
Edie’s brow crinkled as they walked up the four steps and Magnus produced a key for the door. He pushed it open, and then gestured. “After you.”
She tilted her head at him, curious, then walked inside. He flipped on a light switch as she did, and waited for her reaction.
The apartment was cleaned from floor to ceiling, and the walls had been recently painted. The windows leading out to the tiny back patio were open, letting sunlight stream in. One wall was an empty bookshelf, and a small nook in the back led to the kitchen and the bedroom. Edie stepped farther inside, studied the place, and looked at him.
“Are you moving?”
“Not exactly,” Magnus said, grinning. “I bought this place for you.”
Her eyes went wide. “You . . . what?”
“I want you to be closer to me. I know you can’t move in with me because the place is all wrong for you and your knee. And with Levi there, things would just be really awkward for all three of us. And I know you can’t leave your cats, but you want someplace away from Bianca. I thought this would be the perfect solution.” He gestured. “It’s one floor, central to all public transportation, has lots of cat-friendly spaces, and room for your boyfriend, who has entirely too much money to spend and doesn’t want to have to go back and forth four hours when he wants to hold you.”
A smile slowly spread across her face. She took a few steps into the apartment and ran her fingers along one of the shelves. “It’s a really great apartment,” she agreed, a wistful note in her voice. “You’ve thought of everything. I can’t even be upset about the money, because I know it’s not much to you.”
“It’s not,” he agreed, glad they weren’t going to argue about it.
“But I can’t take it.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
She gazed out one of the windows, and he heard her give a heavy sigh. “This place is so perfect.” She looked back at him, a rueful smile on her face. “You’re so perfect, too. But Bianca will have a fit.”
Bianca? Was she serious? “All the people who give a fuck about Bianca, raise your hand.” He made an exaggerated show of glancing around the empty apartment, and then looked over at Edie.
With an apologetic look at him, she raised her hand.
Magnus made an exasperated noise. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” she agreed. “I’m so sorry. I know it isn’t what you want to hear. It isn’t what I want to tell you, either. But . . . I owe Bianca. I really do. She’s been so good to me, taking care of me since I hurt my knee.”
“Forcing you to depend on her, you mean.”
Edie shook her head. “No, it’s not like that.”
“It’s exactly like that. Your relationship with your sister is as needy and codependent as mine is with Levi,” he exclaimed. “Only thing is, I’m starting to figure that out about Levi, and you’re still defending Bianca. You don’t need her. You can live somewhere where you can have free rein of the house instead of the small portion that you can manage with your bad knee. You can take public transportation instead of waiting for her to drive you somewhere. You can have your own life.”
“I know,” Edie said, and she wrung her hands, looking distressed and unhappy. “And I want that. I want this place, and I want you, but I . . . can’t yet. For the last few years, Bianca has made her entire life about me. Helping me recover. Helping me with my business. Being at my side day and night if I needed her. She would view this as an utter betrayal, and I can’t do that to her.”
“So you’re choosing your sister over me?”
“Of course not,” Edie said, moving toward him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. “I’m just choosing to ease her into things instead of surprising her overnight. Give me time to let her know we’re dating and we’re serious? Maybe she’ll get the hint and start exploring things on her own. You know if I move three hours away, she can’t be my assistant anymore.”
Good, he thought, but didn’t say it aloud. He wanted her disentangled from Bianca and her scheming. The less she knew about his part in their stupid games, the better. Because he’d started out willing to be duplicitous in order to get what he wanted . . .
Now? He wanted nothing but Edie, and he wasn’t about to let anyone stand in the way of that. Magnus put his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head. “So what do you propose I do with a cat-friendly sixteen-hundred-square-foot flat in Park Slope?”
“Move in?”
Magnus considered that. It wasn’t a bad idea after all.
Chapter Fifteen
“So what do you think of this color?” Gretchen asked, picking through a ring of swatches and then holding up one in particular. “This is called Venetian Mustard.”
“I think I will punch you in the face if you make me wear that color,” Edie said, dabbing her mouth with her napkin.
Gretchen beamed at her. “See, this is why I wanted to meet with you over colors instead of Chelsea or Greer. They’d just tell me that they loved it and whatever makes me happy, they love, too. They’re too nice.”
“So you needed a bitch to give you a real opinion?”
“Exactly,” Gretchen agreed, and held out her glass for the waiter, rattling the ice. “This mojito isn’t going to refill itself, you know.”
Edie sipped her cosmopolitan, reaching out to brush her fingers over the mustard-yellow swatch of fabric. Taffeta. Shudder. She shook her head again. “Absolutely not that color. Not if you value our friendship.”
“You know I do,” she sang out, pleased.
The two friends were having lunch at a small bistro near Hunter’s office. Gretchen had insisted on meeting in person instead of picking out colors online, and it had been a while since Edie had had lunch with her friend. Bianca hadn’t minded the drive, claiming she had shopping to do in the city, so here she was, having lunch with Gretchen and trying not to daydream about that wonderful little apartment Magnus was moving into even as she lunched.
Well,
not little, she admitted to herself. Maybe little by Magnus’s standards, but sixteen hundred square feet was pleasant by New York City standards.
The waiter dropped off new drinks for both Edie and Gretchen, and they flipped through the ring of fabric samples for a few minutes, trying to decide on good color combinations. Gretchen had decided that she wanted a main color and a contrasting color, and their tastes were wildly different. And since Edie had been recruited for her opinions, she made sure that Gretchen knew them. As Edie batted away Gretchen’s newest suggestion of teal and pink, Gretchen took another swig of her drink. “All this bridal shit is beating me down and the wedding’s still a damn year away. By the time I finally go down the aisle, all you bitches are going to be knocked up. Did you know that Sebastian and Chelsea are hooking up? And Asher and Greer are fucking.” She shook her head. “I am either the world’s most fantastic matchmaker or you ladies are harder up than I thought. Speaking of, how are things with Magnus?
Edie blushed. “Going well.”
“Ooooh,” Gretchen purred, leaning forward with interest. “Look at that completely awkward stare on your face. Things must be going well indeed. Didn’t he adopt a cat to be around you?”
“Two, actually,” Edie said, feeling warm at the thought. Magnus came across as this total alpha businessman, but he was really a big softy, wasn’t he? She loved that. Then, the sad twinge that had been plaguing her for days set in. “He asked me to move in with him. Sort of. He bought a place in Park Slope that he wanted me to move into so we could be closer and I’d have room for my cats.”
“Aw! That is so totally adorable and utterly controlling of him,” Gretchen teased. “Sounds like something Hunter would do. So when is the moving day?”
Edie stared down at her drink. “I can’t. I have Bianca to think about.”
Gretchen’s eyes widened. “Why, are you guys in a threesome?”
“What? No!”
“Oh, good. Cause that’s kinda fucked up considering she’s your sister.” She sucked on her mixing straw for a moment, then gave Edie a curious look. “So why’s she stopping you guys from moving in together?”
Edie rubbed her forehead. Gretchen wouldn’t understand, either. She couldn’t stand Bianca, who she viewed as a moocher and a waste of oxygen. No one knew Bianca like Edie did. Selfless Bianca, who’d given up all her free time to tenderly care for Edie as her leg recovered, to drive her to endless hours of physical therapy and went to the store when Edie hurt too much to walk. Bianca, who had stuck by her side like glue ever since the accident. She wouldn’t repay that by ditching her sister the moment she fell in love . . .
She blinked, startled at the realization. She was in love?
Of course she was. It made sense. Magnus was perfect for her in every way she could imagine. He was thoughtful, funny, loved cats, didn’t mind Edie’s bitchy moments (and there were a lot of them), didn’t make her feel like an invalid, and gave her great orgasms. It didn’t hurt that the guy was her every girly fantasy wrapped into one smoking-hot package.
She was really damn lucky. She—
“Edie?”
The familiar male voice made her stomach clench with dread. She looked up in surprise as a tanned, perfectly sculpted man with pale blond hair and a crisp white smile approached their table.
“Oh, shit,” Gretchen said. “Drake. You want me to scare him away?”
Edie’s ex. Damn it. “No, it’s all right.” She forced a smile to her face as her ex from six years ago approached their table. “Hi, Drake. You look well.” She was proud of herself for how calm and unaffected her voice sounded. Truth was, she still hurt from Drake’s retreat all those years ago. He’d caused her endless amounts of mental anguish when he dumped her after the accident with her leg. She’d thought it was her disability, her limp, that caused him to dump her.
Now, looking at his overly careful appearance, she figured he was just a jerk.
“Thanks,” he said, flashing her another over-whitened grin. “New workout regimen. CrossFit.”
“Gee, Edie,” Gretchen mocked. “You look fabulous, too.”
Drake flushed. “I . . . Of course you do. I was just, you know, trying to help. CrossFit is great. You should try it some time. I can hook you up with a trainer—”
“Why, so she can make her goddamn knee fall off entirely?” Gretchen snapped.
“It’s okay,” Edie interrupted, watching Drake’s expression turn deer-in-headlights. “I’ll pass, Drake, but thank you for thinking of me. What brings you to this part of town?” It was a good question to ask, so she’d never lunch in this direction again.
“I’m meeting a personal-training client,” Drake told her. His smile faltered a little. “How . . . how’s Bianca?”
Edie kept the smile on her face, though the warning bells went off in her head. “Bianca’s doing just fine. She’s working as my assistant now.”
“For the cat thing? That’s so cute. I can’t believe you make money doing that.”
Her smile grew tight. “Yes, the cat ‘thing.’”
“Ah.” An awkward silence fell, then he glanced around again. “So, um. I know that we parted because I was selfish.”
“We did.” She sounded so calm. That was good.
“I regret that. I really do.”
Edie softened a bit. Drake was a good guy. Just a bit . . . thoughtless. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
“I just want you to know that she never returned my calls . . . after.”
She processed this for a moment. Surely it sounded worse than it really was. “After?”
“After . . . you know. The skiing thing.” He looked uncomfortable. “We ended it.”
Ended it? Drake and Bianca had something that ended? Her entire body went cold. “Thanks,” she said automatically, voice hard. “You should leave now.”
“But I—”
“Jesus Christ, you fucking idiot,” Gretchen said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Can you just go already? We’re trying to have lunch here and you’re trying to absolve your guilty conscience and neither one of us gives a shit.”
“Oh. All right.” Drake looked at Edie again. “I’m sorry. It was good to see you again. I just . . . Yeah. Good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too,” she said woodenly, not able to meet his gaze. She felt frozen in place. She didn’t look up as he left, staring at her glass. She felt sick. Her knee throbbed in response, and she just wanted to run away.
“He’s gone,” Gretchen whispered in a low voice. “Did he just admit what I think he did?”
“Yeah,” Edie said. She . . . didn’t know what to think. She felt helpless. Utterly betrayed. Furious. Hurt. Her sister had been fucking Drake behind her back? And all this time, no one had said anything to her? For six long years?
Instead, Bianca had become incredibly devoted. She’d given up her free time, her friends, and her own personal space so she could wait on Edie. She’d turned Edie into her life. And all Edie could think was, What a lucky person I am to have such a wonderful sister in my life. A sister who’s so devoted. I can’t hurt her.
What a fucking, colossal joke.
All this time, she thought it was her knee. She thought that Drake, poor, stupid, sport-obsessed Drake couldn’t stand to have a girlfriend that limped and could no longer rock climb or run marathons. Had he just been waiting for an excuse to get rid of her and be with Bianca?
Of course Bianca had turned devoted and clingy. Edie imagined the guilt was killing her. She slammed back her drink, chugging it down.
Gretchen gave her a worried look. “You okay, Eeeds?”
“I’m not sure,” Edie admitted. “But I think I’m going to go, if it’s okay with you?”
“Of course,” Gretchen said. “I’ll pay for the bill. You just go ahead and leave if you need to. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
Edie nodded, and the two women hugged. She murmured her thank-you to Gretchen, who patted her on the back sympathetically. Then, even though she was twenty blocks away from the Park Slope apartment, she headed there.
She couldn’t go home.
Not home to Bianca, who would gush over Edie, get her an ice pack, and yammer about how she needed to be more careful with herself. As if Bianca cared. She’d always known Bianca was a little selfish from time to time, but her devotion to Edie after her accident just seemed to be contradictory to those selfish leanings. That Bianca had a good heart despite things.
Utter horseshit.
In a daze, she walked.
At some point, she realized that she’d made it to the apartment. She watched as movers lifted a sofa up the doorway steps and into the apartment, along with furniture. Edie stood near a tree and watched, her hands in her pockets. She didn’t go in. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk to anyone yet.
She was still processing.
Edie wasn’t sure how long she stood there, watching movers unload furniture into the new apartment. All she could see was Drake and Bianca. Her then-boyfriend Drake, sleeping with her younger sister. Bianca, who fluttered her hands over her hair, gave men a coquettish smile, and then wrapped them around her finger. Bianca, who swore she didn’t sleep with her boyfriends unless things were committed.
Of course she didn’t. She was too busy fucking Edie’s boyfriend.
It wasn’t Drake’s betrayal that hurt. She’d long since gotten over Drake, and now was thankful that things had ended. If she’d been with Drake, she’d have never met Magnus, after all. But Bianca’s betrayal? That fucking ripped her apart. Bianca was her sister. She was the person Edie trusted the most in the world, the person Edie leaned on more than anyone else. She’d always thought Bianca would have her back. Wasn’t that what sisters did?