All We Are (8th Sin Book 2) (12 page)

I have been sitting and enjoying the pleasant quiet of Sophie’s apartment all the way until she walks in ending it with the thud of her keys on the kitchen counter.

She slinks out of her sweater and removes her earrings and necklace before she takes the spot across from me.

“How was your day?” she asks, just like she always does when she gets home if we are in the same room at the same time.

I look up from the book in my hand. “It was alright.” Which isn’t true and for a few hours now I have immersed myself in a fictitious romance in hopes of forgetting about Nash and his problem with the warehouse. I’m trying not to go back on my word.

“Mine too. Are you hungry?” She groans and settles back against the pillows. “I could go for a bite to eat. Maybe we can try out that little restaurant by the river.”

I nod. “Yeah sounds good. I’ll jump in the shower.” I go to stand up and she jumps up.

“I almost forgot.” She rifles through her big purse and pulls out a magazine. “Look what I found today.” She hands it over.

I give her a look and then take it from her. “A magazine. You read these a lot.”

She takes it back rifling the pages and when she finds what she is looking for she hands it over. “Tell me you aren’t surprised.”

I feel like someone just kneed me in the gut. Right there in the paper is a picture of Ryker and a pretty blonde. “Wow.”

“Savy, the article says he is engaged. When did this happen?”

I shake my head, tossing the magazine on the coffee table. “I don’t know. Obviously from the looks of it it’s been going on for quite some time now. I hope he’s happy.”

“Are you okay?”

I scoff. “Ryker and I were never meant to be.” I go to the hall closet and take out a towel and return to throw in the last words before my shower. “And Jackson and I either. I think I am better off not trusting anyone at this point. It’s better this way.”

The words echo my thoughts; I shut the bathroom door and sigh.

It’s not that I am angry that Ryker found someone to marry. Or that he is in love. It would have been nice to get a warning before reading it in a tabloid. But if I mattered, he would have bothered to give me a call.

I slip out of my clothes and turn on the shower. I warn myself not to let this bother me. I vow not to cry as I slip into the mist and underneath the showerhead.

I close my eyes, giving all my problems to the hot water. But it only works for a few minutes before I am tensing up at the thought of other things going on in my mind—like Nash.

How can I sit by and let something bad happen to him after he saved me?

I cut the water and get out.

I have to do something.

Jackson is bent over his desk going over blueprints when I come through the door of his office. I don’t bother knocking. I called to confirm he was there before I even showed up. He’s expecting me.

He clears his throat before he says anything to me. It doesn’t take long before he takes his attention away from the blueprints and looks at me. “You look gorgeous.”

I accept the kiss on the cheek and let him help me out of my jacket. He looks me over, focusing in on my low cut shirt and the skinny jeans I have on. He’s always had a thing for my causal look.

I take a seat. “What’s all of this?”

“Ideas. Plans.” He sits on the edge of the desk.

I cross my legs. “For what?”

He smiles. “Did you come here to talk business with me?”

He pushes off the desk and straightens up.

“Maybe I did. What were you expecting?” I tilt my head, exposing my neck. It feels a little nice to flirt with him so innocently.

“Round two.” He arches an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that sound good to you?” He offers his hand, I take it and let him pull me up. I wrap my arms around his neck and look into his blue eyes.

“Yes it does.” I kiss him, when he goes for my mouth. “I was thinking about that warehouse. And what plans you and your family probably have for it.”

His grip loosens on me. “I never knew you cared about our expansions.”

“This one time I do. And I don’t want you to tear it down.” He lets me go and takes a seat on the edge of his desk again so he can get a better look at me.

He shakes his head finding it all amusing. “Can you give me a reason why you don’t want me to tear down an old abandoned warehouse?”

I have a lot of reasons, none that I can or will share with Jackson at the moment.

“I guess I just think it would be best if you stay away from the 8
th
sin.” There, at least I offered up some form of honesty.

“But you’re running around with them,” he points out. “He was up at the hospital with you, Savy. There has to be more to it.”

He watches me poke at his glass paperweight. I do my best to dodge the interrogation.

“If you can’t give me an answer, I can’t help you.” He pulls me close. “And you know how much I want to help you.”

“Sometimes you need to learn to just be here for me and not help me.” I tell him.

“You’re asking me to halt a major project. How do I just let that go and do what you want?” He touches my face. “Look at me. If there is something going on that you are trying to handle all by yourself with these people, you need to tell me.”

I pull away and sigh. “I’m going to go.” I collect my things and head for the door. “Clearly, me coming here was the wrong choice to make.”

“Savy,” Jackson says, looking down at the ground. He won’t look at me. And I’m not sure if that’s because he knows he is letting me down or that he hates not giving me what I want.

Either way, I am not sticking around to stroke his ego and pretend that everything is okay because I know that it’s not.

My cell rings and the thought of chucking it across the parking lot plays in my mind. But I rifle it free from my purse and sigh, it’s not Jackson calling me to apologize, it’s Ryker.

I hit ignore and open my car door but before I can even climb in my phone is ringing again. He’s not going to let me ignore him, but I try anyways.

I hit ignore again and immediately am bombarded with three text right in a row.

Don’t be an ass!

Sav, answer the phone!

We need to talk!

I stare at the phone screen unable to form a single word, my finger looms over the screen and my stomach ties into knots. The more that I think about Ryker the sadder I feel.

I didn’t realize until this moment how much the thought of not having Ryker around hurts.

I’m in town. Sitting outside of Sophie’s apartment.

What do you want Ryker?

I’m not leaving until I can talk to you.

I start my car and call him because my fingers will never be able to keep up with everything that I have to say to him.

“If you plan on telling me that you are sorry about your engagement you can save it,” I inform him as soon as I hear his voice. “This wouldn’t be the first time you went for another girl.”

“First off, asshole. I’m calling to give my condolences on your grandfather.”

“I barely knew him.”

“Way to put up the wall,” he says with a sigh. “Are you heading over here or not?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Unlike you, who is busy making headlines I have more important things to do.” I proceed to tell him about my plan to stop Jackson from buying a warehouse in hopes of keeping my life at least a little normal.

The weird part, I don’t even know why I think this would change any part of my life if the warehouse sold it wouldn’t change me, it would ruin Nash.

I know why I feel the way that I do. My secret is buried underneath that building and I would rather it stay buried.

“What if someone gave him a better offer?” Ryker asks.

I scoff. “You mean you want to buy the warehouse? For what?”

“For you? I have the money, and I want to do this for you.”

“Why? Because you feel guilty about your fiancé? Because you shouldn’t.”

“I only met her two weeks ago. I got drunk, said the wrong things in front of paparazzi, it’s nothing like what they are making it to be,” he promises me.

I believe him because I can’t see why he would lie about something that neither one of us ever cared about.

“And for someone who says they want no feelings involved in our arrangement you are acting very emotional.”

I roll my eyes and pull up next to him in the apartment parking lot. I turn my car off and hit end on my phone getting out.

Ryker welcomes me with open arms. I reluctantly give in and hug him. As much as he annoys the shit out of me, he also has this way of making me feel okay again.

“Long time no see,” he messes my hair and throws an arm around me as we walk to the doors of the apartment.

“What took you so long to come back?”

He shrugs. “I stay away from girls that don’t know what they are doing.”

“I don’t know what I am doing?”

“You’re running around chasing after ideas of what you think is going to make you feel better. And that night at the bar you did a really stupid thing. And it pissed me off.”

We go inside. I give him a look before I press the button on the elevator. “That stupid thing being going with Nash instead of you. I don’t know Ryker, you’re sounding emotional right now.”

“Emotional because I don’t want to see something happen to you,” he says, arching an eyebrow. He leans against the wall of the elevator and crosses his arms. “Forgive me for giving a fuck about you.”

“Watch your mouth,” I say, he smirks.

“I thought my mouth turned you on,” he steps forward, pinning me against the wall. He presses one finger against my bottom lip. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s hot when you’re pissed off,” he says. I lift my head, giving him access to my lips. He snags the back of my head grabbing a hold of my hair and lays it on thick.

The door opens and it takes a few seconds before we break apart and exit the elevator.

He inhales my hair, nuzzling against the space between my neck and ear. “You smell really good.”

“Did you miss me?” I smirk, letting the two of us into Sophie’s place. I toss down my purse and wait for him to shut the door.

“Is she home?” He waits for an answer and pulls off his t-shirt.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I watch him take a couple steps toward me.

“I’m going to bend you over this counter, have my way with you and then we are going to finish this argument we were having,” he informs me, undoing his jeans.

I’m already pulling my shirt over my head. The thought of Ryker after all of these weeks sounds more satisfying than ever. I tug my underwear down and undo my bra. “I think I am okay with that. We can call it a sexual pause.”

He smirks, backing me into the kitchen. He does just what he said he was going to do and bends me over the counter palming my ass roughly several times until he is hard and ready to go. “God damn, I’ve missed this ass.”

I yelp when he smacks it. He rubs his erection against me, pressing himself against my back. His warm skin turning my insides to an ooey gooey mush when he connect with mine.

A rush of heat crawls across my skin taking shelter in between my legs.

“Do you have something?”

“Always.” He hurriedly says, tossing the condom wrapper next to my hands on the counter. He thrust into me, letting out a groan of satisfaction as he pushes the rest of the way inside.

This is not the way I saw our meeting up working out but it’s a hell of a lot better than what I was feeling a couple of hours ago.

I wasn’t imagining waking up to Jackson’s glare the first thing I would see this morning, especially with Ryker beside me in the bed.

I sit up and cover myself with my bed sheet. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to figure out how it’s possible a transaction that was finished has now suddenly been retracted. And the first place I thought to come was here for answers,” he looks me over, rubbing at his forehead.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I just woke up. There is such things as a phone call,” I grumble, rolling to my side, I grab my phone from my nightstand. I regret my words when I see several missed calls from Jackson.

Ryker throws an arm behind his head and takes in the fireworks. I’m sure he is enjoying them since he is the one who set them in the first place.

“I’ve called you a few times this morning. You want to let me in on why Nash suddenly went back on his deal because of another offer?”

I open my mouth to say something but nothing makes it’s way out, so I go for my underwear on the floor by Ryker’s shoes. “I haven’t the slightest idea. He took another offer?”

“Someone offered him way more than what the place was worth. And a hell of a lot more than what he would have made through me.” He’s looking right at Ryker. “And now it all makes sense.”

“What does that mean?” I hop into my underwear and open my dresser, finding a t-shirt to throw on. “You think I talked Ryker into buying an old warehouse by getting him into bed?”

“I’d have bought the place regardless of what sexual acts went on all over this apartment last night,” he says, sitting up in bed.

Jackson stares him down, his jaw flexing under the stress but he doesn’t say anything to him.

I can’t believe he just said that. “Look. Jackson. He took another deal, you can’t come here and blame me for that. And besides, one warehouse isn’t the end of the world. There are plenty of other properties out there.”

“I don’t know, babe. My guy told me that location is the next big thing,” Ryker tells me.

I make a face. “Don’t ever call me that again. And stop trying to piss Jackson off. It’s clear he is pissed off enough already.”

I take Jackson by the arm and lead him out into the hallway. “I can’t control what Ryker chooses to do. But, if you must know it’s for the best. And I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”

“Is this for the best too?” He says, referring to who’s behind my bedroom door.

I shrug. “I don’t know. When I figure that out I will let you know.”

“Don’t bother, Savy. I’m over waiting around for a girl like you to figure out what she wants. If you wanted me you wouldn’t be laying in bed with someone else.” He sighs. “And fucking me over personally I can get over that. But when you mess with my career that’s different.”

I search his eyes for an explanation. “This has nothing to do with you, Jackson. Quit making it about you. This is about me and what I have been through, don’t try to threaten me.”

He pulls his gaze away from mine and heads for the door, I release a breath when the door slams shut.