CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

RYDER

Monday morning, I find myself sitting in the conference room with my father drinking a strong cup of coffee to try to wake myself up when the door opens and my sister walks in.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in surprise.

“I called her in,” my father says in answer to my question.

She sits down next to me and looks over at him. “Is this a family meeting?” I ask. After what happened at the wedding, I wouldn’t be surprised if he chewed our asses out. It came back to me last night, and I wished it hadn’t. Not knowing what had happened was much better than remembering it.

“No, this is a business meeting.”

Just as he says that, the door opens again, and Jaycent walks in. “I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m gonna make this quick,” my father says, getting to the point.

“Jaycent, do you have what I asked for?”

“Yes, sir,” he tells him, pulling a USB drive out of his pocket. He hands it to my father who places it in the computer that sits in front of him. Then he spins it around to face all three of us.

“What is this?” I ask as a set of blue prints pop up.

“This is what I’m going to put in place of Hahn’s restaurant.”

“A clothing store?” I ask. I’ve seen enough blueprints to know what certain stores look like.

My father nods. “Becca’s clothing store.”

“What?” I ask, looking at her.

Her eyes are wide as she looks between Jaycent and our father. “What?” she repeats my question breathlessly.

My father speaks. “Jaycent and I have been working together on getting this done for you, Becca. It’s a rough draft, and if you want to change anything, just let us know, and we can make it happen.”

I lift my hand. “You’re opening a clothing store?” I feel stupid for asking, but I don’t like feeling lost.

“Yes,” she says excitedly, nodding her head. “I want to open a clothing store. And for every article sold, we donate to a homeless shelter,” she informs me as tears come to her eyes. “I can’t believe you guys have been working on this.”

I smile as Jaycent leans over and hugs her. I have never been prouder of my sister.

We finish up our meeting, and as I go to walk out, my father stops me. “Ryder?”

“I’ll see you guys later,” I call out to Jaycent and Becca as they continue. I turn to face my father. “Yes, sir?”

“We need to talk.” He gestures to one of the empty seats at the conference table.

“So much for not having a family meeting,” I mumble, but I know he heard me.

“This is about business,” he says, clearing his throat.

Oh. “Carry on.”

“I did some research on the Anderson file and spoke to the company who bought it.”

“And?”

“They’re willing to sell for the right price.”

I smile, wanting that property, and say, “Give me their number.”

**

I walk into the apartment and place my briefcase on the kitchen counter, listening to the silence. It’s dark. I had to work late tonight, as usual, and I’m exhausted.

I remove my suit jacket and place it on the back of the chair at the dining table. I hear Harry meow as he comes down the hall.

I reach down and pick him up. He wears a shirt that says friendly pussy across his back, and I chuckle. The little rat is growing on me. Setting him down, I push the already cracked bedroom door open to find Ashlyn already asleep in bed. She’s naked, tangled in the sheets. Her back faces me with her laptop open. I walk over to the bed and pick it up, placing it on my lap.

She has employment for the Manhattan area pulled up. They vary from waitress to businesses needing a receptionist.

I look over at her when she stirs, but she stays facing away from me. I go to her browser history and see where Talia’s is selling all their current artwork due to closing. Running my hand through my hair, I sigh. Not sure what to do. I want her to do what she loves, but Ashlyn is also not the type of woman to sit around. She’ll take a job anywhere, and I hate that. I’ve come close to telling her several times not to worry, that she doesn’t even need a job, but she’s not like my mother. She doesn’t want to spend her days at the country club catching up on the latest gossip. She wants a job, a career. She wants to be independent. And although that won’t be the case as long as she’s with me, I can respect it.

I close the laptop and lie back, resting my head against the headboard. Closing my eyes, I run my hand down my face, letting out a frustrated sigh. My mother has literally pissed me off for the last time.

My eyes spring open when I feel a hand on my arm. Looking over, I see a set of very sleepy blue eyes staring up at me. “Hey,” I say softly.

She closes them and yawns. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven,” I tell her.

She sighs heavily. I sit up and lean over, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “Go back to sleep, baby.” She’s back to sleep before I even pull away.

The following morning, I was up and out of the apartment before Ashlyn was awake. I had an early meeting with Jaycent and a project manager on location. It ran an hour longer than it should have, and by the time I reached the office, I was in a pissed-off mood. My usual attitude lately. I should be getting used to it by now.

I sit in a board meeting, listening to these men discuss their golf game when my assistant comes barging through.

“Kelly?”

Her eyes are wide with fear. “Ashlyn has been in an accident …”

**

I rush into the hospital “Ryder?” I see my sister sitting in the waiting room.

“How is she?” I ask, my heart pounding when she stands, and I see tears in her eyes.

“They won’t tell me anything. I’m not family …”

I turn to the nurses’ station. “Ashlyn Whitaker?”

“Are you family?” she asks.

“Her husband,” I lie.

She looks down at her screen. “Room 138 …”

I take off in a mad dash down the hallway, looking for her. I almost pass it in my haste. I yank the curtain back and let out a sigh of relief when I see her sitting up with her legs hanging over the side of the bed. Two police officers stand on the other side of her.

“Ryder?” she asks wide-eyed. “What are you doing here?”

A nurse writes something down on her tablet. “Do you still feel nauseous?” she asks.

“No. I’m better.”

The nurse nods. “The Phenergan is working. I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes.”

As she leaves, I make my way over to her. She looks up at me with her blue eyes, and I place my hands on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. What are you doing here?” She licks her lips nervously.

“Why do you keep asking me that? Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“I called Becca,” she explains.

I frown. “Why didn’t you call me?”

She sighs. “You were busy at work. I didn’t wanna bother you.”

My jaw tightens at the thought of her thinking that calling me at work would be a bother. Instead of telling her that, I ask, “What happened?”

She sighs heavily. “I was on my way to meet her for lunch when my cab was rear ended … A woman hit us—”

“Why didn’t you call Milton to take you?” I interrupt her.

“Why would I call Milton?” she snaps then her face falls. “I’m sorry. It’s just been …”

“I know. No need to apologize.”

“Excuse me, miss, but we have everything that we need,” the officer says, and she nods. “I have all your information and will contact you if I have any more questions.”

They exit her room, and not long after, the nurse returns with the doctor, and I watch her stiffen as if he was going to give us bad news. But he told her everything checked out, and that she would be discharged in the next hour. I made some phone calls to Kelly and told her I wasn’t going to be coming back in for the rest of the day and was taking the following day off as well. Even though he assured me she was fine, I still had a feeling she was hiding something. Either from me or the doctor, I didn’t know.

ASHLYN

I lie in bed wide-eyed, staring up at the ceiling. My heart racing and my mind wandering. Ryder breathes deeply beside me, his body turned away from me.

Unable to fall asleep, I listen to the sound of silence. The curtains are pulled shut, and it’s pitch black. My head is pounding, and I feel sick to my stomach. For more reasons than one.

I’m pregnant!

They told me today at the hospital when I arrived after the incident with the cab. They were taking me for X-rays and asked about the possibility of pregnancy. I started to say no when I realized I never had my period last month, and that wasn’t like me. My body is always like clockwork. They took my urine sample and sure enough.

I had just finished my ultrasound when Ryder walked in. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do or say. I prayed that the doctor didn’t congratulate me because, in all honesty, I didn’t know what to say to Ryder. How could I let this happen? We’ve had unprotected sex so many times. They said I was about eight weeks, yet I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.

I just couldn’t seem to put two and two together all day until I was in the back of the Escalade while Milton drove us home from the hospital, and Vicki popped in my mind. Suddenly, the words Vicki had said to me in the bathroom at the wedding started to make sense. Only they didn’t. She had mentioned Bradley’s name, not Ryder’s … And she kept mentioning me drinking and stared at my stomach. Did she know something?

There was only one way to find out, and I needed to know. Very slowly, I lean over Ryder, careful not to touch him, and grab his phone off the nightstand. I unplug his charger and the cord falls to the floor with a soft thud.

I slide it to the right, looking at him while quickly going through his recent messages. I pray I don’t see they have been talking, but a part of me needs to know.

I see her name, and my heart stops. Opening it up, I let out a long breath. She’s been texting him, but he hasn’t been responding. Her messages all read the same.

I need to see you.

Please call me

I’m sorry, Ryder. Please talk to me.

Then the last one she was back to I need to see you.

I responded to it with a time and place.

I hold his phone to my chest as I wait for her response. This is gonna screw me in the long run, but I can’t think that far ahead right now.

His phone dings, and I bite my lower lip nervously as I look over at him. Still no movement. Very slowly, I pull his phone away from my chest and open her message.

Vicki: Can’t wait to see you :)

I hate how enthusiastic she is to see him. But then again, that’s what I was hoping for.

**

Ryder spent two days at home with me, and although it was nice that he cared about me, it also put me on edge. His phone went off nonstop yesterday, and every time, I wondered if it was Vicki. Is she reminding him of their lunch date? Thankfully, she never text him back.

I could tell this morning when he left that he didn’t want to. He thought about calling in again, and I had to assure him I was fine. But I really just wanted to run to the bathroom and puke. Morning sickness is a bitch.

Now I sit in a little coffee shop on the Upper West Side waiting for Vicki to show up. Ryder has been blowing up my phone all day to check on me, and although it’s sweet, it’s also annoying. I’ve needed silence to think about what I’m going to say, and with him messaging me, I’m not getting it.

I stand when I see her get out of the back of a black Town Car. She is dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, black silk blouse, and black pumps to match. It makes me sick how pretty she is. Too bad she’s an evil person. Not wanting to make a scene inside the coffee shop, I meet her outside. She comes to a stop when she looks up and sees me.

“What are you …” She trails off and then crosses her arms over her chest. “I should have known.”

“I need to talk to you,” I say sternly.

“I’m not doing this.” She spins around and starts to walk back to her car.

“I’m pregnant,” I call out.

She comes to a stop and turns back to face me, and a smile slowly spreads across her face in satisfaction. “You sound surprised.”

“I am,” I say honestly. “But you do not.”

She flips her brown hair over her shoulder. “I expected as much.”

It doesn’t make sense. Why would she think I am pregnant? “And what would make you think that?” I ask with an arch of my brow.

She takes a step toward me. “Have you told Ryder yet?”

I say nothing.

She laughs. “Yeah. I’m guessing you wouldn’t want to tell him. Since he’s going to leave you the moment he finds out.”

Shaking my head, I say, “Ryder isn’t that type of guy.”

“Oh, honey, you think he’s gonna raise another man’s child?” she asks still laughing happily.

I take a step closer to her. “Who said it isn’t his?”