Monday morning comes, and Shane and I arrive at work and ride the elevator to the lobby, him in a dark suit and red power tie, and me in a simple black skirt with a long-sleeved pale blue silk blouse, though there is nothing simple about the ring on my finger that I’m quite certain everyone will notice today. Starting with Jessica, who we are meeting with before heading upstairs.
We enter the coffee shop and find her already at a corner table, and the second she spots us, she stands up and points at the cups on the table.
“We need this woman in our lives,” I say, a statement that has nothing to do with the coffee she’s ordered for us and everything to do with her loyalty, skills, and friendship.
“She’s going to come with us,” he promises, aware of my worries, pulling a chair out of my path that was somehow left out of place.
“You can’t know that,” I say, noting how pretty she looks in a black dress, her newly extended blonde hair sleek and shiny. “What if there’s a secret man in her life?”
He laughs. “You mean Cody?”
He’s right. Those two flirt. Or she flirts and he tries not show his interest, but he does. And I really hate that his job makes her off-limits to him. My secret wish is that he breaks protocol and just grabs her and kisses her really well, and soon.
We join her at the table and she settles her hands on top. “So. What are we talking about that required a semi-secret rendezvous? Or as close to one as I’ll ever get?”
“We have big plans,” I say. “And we want you to be a big part of those big plans.”
“You have my attention,” she says. “Are designer clothes with the Brandon name on them involved?”
“How about a Jessica line?”
Her eyes go wide. “What? A Jessica line? I don’t understand.”
“Like there is Ralph Lauren Polo Sport and—”
“And you want there to be a Jessica line for Brandon Style?”
“With stock and profit incentives,” Shane adds.
She leans forward and stares at Shane, then taps two fingers on the table in front of him. “If I were to jump up and down and shout before hugging you and then Emily right here and now, you would not be pleased, correct?”
“No,” Shane agrees. “I would not be pleased.”
“That sucks,” she says. “Because I really want to jump up and down and—”
“The job will be in New York,” Shane says. “Emily and I are moving there, and we’re planning to relocate a portion of the company there as well.”
“I’ll need a cost of living raise to go with the incentives,” she says immediately.
“Done,” Shane says.
I laugh. “Well, that was very efficient and businesslike,” I say. “We’ll shout and jump for joy in his office later.” I reach for my coffee, and her eyes land on my ring.
“Oh my God.” She grabs my hand. “Is this—” She looks at Shane. “You did this without my help and you did it well.” She doesn’t give him time to reply. “You should leave before I start screaming now. You also have a conference call in”—she glances at her watch—“ten minutes.”
“Well, then,” Shane says. “Let the screaming begin.” He kisses me. “Come see me when you’re done.” He stands and leaves.
“To think I once threatened to hurt you if you hurt him,” she says. “Actually, that still stands.” She sobers. “He’s a good man in a bad family. I wanted him and me to be a thing once. Did I tell you that?” She doesn’t wait for a reply. “We just have zero chemistry. But you two. You were magic the moment I saw you together.” She sighs. “I almost believe in fairy tales again, but then I look at his family.”
I sip my coffee, feeling that dizzy, queasy feeling again.
“Why did you just turn green?” Jessica asks.
“I don’t know. I’m feeling strange.”
She leans forward. “Are you pregnant?”
“No. Of course not. I take precautions. I was in Manhattan with all those people. I probably just caught a bug.” My stomach starts to churn. “I think I need to get to my office.”
“Of course, sweetie,” she says, and we head for the door, then the elevator. “Have you talked about a date?” she asks once we’re inside.
I lean against the wall, feeling as green as she says I am. “Not yet.”
“Have you told his parents?”
“Not yet.”
“Have you thought about a dress?”
“Dress?”
“Yes. A dress. Guest list. And a location—”
Now I’m really sick, I think, tuning her out. Guests? I have no guests to invite. I have no family. The elevator dings and she says, “Have you considered having our new designer design you a Brandon Style original for your dress?”
For the wedding with a guest list and lots of people I don’t know. “I need to step into the ladies’ room,” I say, but as I exit the elevator, I come face-to-face with Shane’s mother.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Maggie says. “David wants tea. Can you get him that tea you know he likes? His throat hurts, probably from yelling at his new assistant.”
“Of course,” Jessica says, taking my coffee and handing it to her. “We were just bringing him a tea. And now we have a meeting.”
I take my coffee from Maggie. “They got the order wrong. He’ll be upset if you give him that.”
Maggie’s lips curve, and she takes the coffee from me and then turns and walks back to the office.
“What just happened?” Jessica asks.
“I’m going to contemplate that while staring at a porcelain bowl.” I start forward and into the bathroom, but as soon as I open the stall door, I’m no longer sick.
I turn around and walk to the sink as Jessica enters. “That’s the wrong porcelain bowl,” she says. “It doesn’t flush.”
“I’m oddly okay now,” I say, sitting down in the chair against the wall.
“Are you sure you can’t be pregnant?”
“I’m not,” I say. “And it would be bad if I were.”
“Why? You’d be amazing parents.”
“It’s a bad time, Jessica. Let us get married before you start planning our family.”
“Right. The wedding—”
“I have no one to invite.” I push to my feet.
“Emily—”
“I need to get to work.” I step around her and head for the door, making my way to my office, where I walk to my desk and sit down. My lashes lower, and I think of the wedding, but then I think of the possibility of being pregnant. I can’t be. But did they give me my meds in the hospital? I haven’t missed a period. This is ridiculous.
My intercom buzzes. “I need you, Ms. Stevens,” Brandon Senior says while Shane appears in my doorway, irritation sliding across his features at his father’s command. He holds up a finger and points, indicating he’s going to talk to him, and I hold up my hand and shake my head.
“Ms. Stevens,” Brandon senior says again. “I said I need you.”
“What you need,” I say, “is to be kinder to your assistants, of which I am not any longer. And your wife. And your son. Your tea order is on file at the register downstairs. And I have work to do other than fetch it for you.”
The line is quiet, and then his soft laughter fills the room. “You are a piece of work, Ms. Stevens.” He ends the connection.
Shane laughs and shuts the door, crossing to my side of the desk. I turn my chair to face him, and he leans in and rests his hands on either side of me. “I have no one to invite to the wedding either.”
“Jessica told you. I should have told her not to.”
“You should have talked to me.”
“I would have. You know I would have. That’s why she should have just let me talk to you. I didn’t even think about the guest list until she brought it up. And I don’t want to let this affect your ideal wedding.”
“My ideal wedding is the one where you say ‘I do.’ Men don’t dream of fancy weddings, sweetheart. We dream of our perfect woman, and you’re mine.”
My heart squeezes. “Shane,” I whisper. “I—”
The intercom buzzes. “Sorry, you two,” Jessica says. “But Seth says he needs to speak to you both urgently.”
My heart thunders with fear for my brother. “Send him in,” I say.
“Relax, sweetheart,” Shane says. “I’m sure Rick is fine.” He pushes off the chair and faces forward as Seth enters the room. And if Denver is danger, Seth in a suit, looking stone-faced and like he might kill someone at any moment, is most definitely at least a big dose of trouble.
“There’s nothing wrong,” he says, shutting the door behind him. “I just need to run something by you both.”
“Urgently?” I ask suspiciously. “And nothing is wrong?”
“When conversation comes before action,” Seth says, stepping between the two visitor chairs in front of my desk, “I consider conversation urgent. I’ll get to the point.” He looks at me. “Finding your brother wasn’t easy. He’s skilled. He’s smart. He chose Germany to disappear in because there’s an underground hacker society there that makes disappearing easy to do.”
Shane bristles beside me. “Did we lose him?”
“No,” Seth says. “As I said, we have a female hacker with him and she’s on our payroll. But that could change, and quickly. I can tell you from my years in the CIA that hackers are necessary evils. We pay them. Someone pays them more. Then they’re gone. Relying on hired help in another country indefinitely is not a realistic long-term plan.”
“A problem we obviously knew about when we took this route with Rick,” Shane points out.
“I knew when Nick set this up that I needed a solution that worked beyond this temporary fix, but I couldn’t act on a maybe. We had to have him in our sights first, which is why I went to the CIA and began a negotiation the minute we found him.”
“The CIA?” I ask. “What negotiation would you do for my brother with the CIA?”
“I informed them that I have a hacking asset connected to the Geminis, which I knew would get their attention. Bottom line here: if we, if I, hand over Rick to them, he becomes their asset, not mine, and they’ll keep him alive and out of jail.”
I inhale and let the breath out, trying to process the implications of this strange development. “So if you hand him over to them, he’s a prisoner or an agent?”
“Both, if you stretch the interpretations of those words,” Seth says, a perplexing answer.
I try the question another way. “How do we ensure he stays with the CIA once he’s with the CIA?”
“The division that would be managing Rick is well-equipped to manage lifelong assets.”
It’s yet another non-answer, but before I can push for more, Shane interjects, shutting down the idea altogether with, “This connects Emily to Rick. They will look at his history. He set up her Emily Stevens identification. If the CIA then looks for her, a leak to the Geminis about her could follow.” His voice firms. “I don’t like it. This doesn’t work.”
“Emily is dead to everyone, including the government. It does work. But if you want additional peace of mind, you’ve got it.” He eyes my hand on the counter, where the ring glistens, before his attention returns to Shane. “A last name change further dilutes her identity. But I’d do that sooner rather than later.”
Shane studies him several beats. “We’ll also be relocating to New York,” he says, the question seeming to suggest that he’s feeling better about this plan.
“Another smart move,” Seth confirms. “And distance from Martina is for the best. The more he sees and thinks about you, the more likely he thinks up another business proposition using you as a tool.”
“I’ll be taking a partner role in my old firm,” Shane explains, “while Brandon Enterprises takes a financial role. I’d like you to consider relocating as well.”
“You know I prefer New York.” He glances between us. “Are we moving forward with my plan?”
I glance at Shane. “Yes.”
He looks at Seth. “Yes. How soon will it be done?”
“Twenty-four hours.”
“Do it,” Shane says.
Seth’s response is his standard nod and exit. The minute the door shuts, Shane turns me to him and pulls me to my feet. The next moment I’m between him and the desk. “You’re good with this?”
“Yes. It feels like well-timed finality.”
“He said get married quickly. Let’s elope.”
“What? But don’t you—”
“Want to marry you as soon as possible? Yes. I do.”
“I … Elope where?”
“Wherever you want, but let’s get away for a week. There are laws and waiting times in other countries, but we can get married here and then fly out. Rome. Italy. Ireland.”
“Ireland,” I say. “I’d love to go to Ireland.”
“Ireland it is then. I’ll work on the arrangements, but let’s make it fast. Next weekend.”
“What about the firm in New York?”
“They’ll survive a week’s wait and so will anything here.” He cups my face. “I love you, Emily.” He kisses me. “Let’s go home and work. We’ll fly back to New York and plan next weekend from there.”
“I have interviews this afternoon.”
“Have them meet you at the hotel restaurant.” He releases me. “Grab your purse. What else do you need?”
“Nothing.”
“Good.” His jaw sets and he adds, “We have one last thing to do on the way out the door.” He takes my hand in his and leads me down the hall, and he doesn’t stop at the lobby. We pass the receptionist and enter the private lobby for his father, walking right past the new secretary. Shane opens his father’s door and we enter, shutting it behind us.
Maggie gasps as she pops out of his father’s lap. “Son!”
“A knock, Son,” Brandon Senior bites out, “would be respectful.”
“Emily and I are eloping,” Shane announces.
Brandon Senior arches a brow but says nothing.
“We’re also relocating to New York.”
“New York!” Maggie gasps. “What about the business?”
“It will be just fine,” Shane assures them, and I don’t miss that they haven’t asked about the elopement. Shane turns, opens the door, and we exit without Brandon Senior saying a word. Not one. And we don’t stop walking until we step onto an elevator car. And the instant the doors seal us inside, he pulls me to him, his forehead to mine. “It’s just you and me, sweetheart. It has been since the day we met.”
He’s right. It has been. And I realize now, more than ever, just how alone we are. How alone we both were before a cup of coffee, and some lipstick, ended up on the wrong lips and changed everything.