"Riley, this is our sister, Avery."
Riley smiled at the other woman.
"Nice to meet you!" she said in return.
"Av, I think it"s time we all get going." Olivia gave both Riley and Ian a pointed stare.
"Do I look like I"m leaving?" a tall, gorgeous man with dark hair strode in, raising his burger in his hand. "I"m just getting started."
"Take it to go," Avery said, obviously having picked up on her sister"s meaning.
Riley appreciated the girls" attempts to give her and Ian some privacy.
Ignoring his sisters" request to leave, the taller brother stepped closer to Riley.
"What"s up?" another man asked. He carried a beer.
Avery and Olivia let out a joint sigh.
If Riley weren"t so upset, she"d laugh at the dynamics between these siblings. She only wished she had a close family like this.
"These two Neanderthals are our brothers, Scott and Tyler," Olivia said.
Riley studied them. Although they resembled Ian, they each had more playful qualities that were evident immediately by the twinkle in their gazes and the warmth in their faces. Ian at his most relaxed always looked tightly wound. His siblings had dark hair, but their eyes were bluer, and each was drop-dead good-looking. d.a.m.n, their parents made gorgeous kids, she thought.
"Nice to meet you," Riley said to them.
"Sorry to say hi and run," Olivia said, nudging one of her brothers in the ribs.
"Hi, Riley. I"m Tyler," he said, ignoring his sister. "And it"s always nice to meet one of my brother"s-"
"Shut up, Ty," Ian warned in a tone that Riley had never heard from him before.
Scott grinned, unfazed by his brother"s anger. "I told you he was serious about this one."
Riley"s gaze shot to Ian, whose expression remained pa.s.sive and expressionless, at odds with the strain in every word he spoke.
"I"m sorry, but all my brothers can be such a.s.ses," Avery said. "It"s nice to meet you, Riley. I just wish it was under more fun circ.u.mstances."
"I feel the same way," Riley murmured, liking this sister as well.
Ty walked up to Riley with a swagger that reminded her more of Alex than Ian. "I wish I"d met you first," he said with a charming grin.
Ian"s growl told Riley he didn"t like the attention his brother paid her even if he was still upset with her.
"Even if we"d have met first, I still think Ian"s more my type."
Tyler let out a loud laugh, as did Scott.
"I like her," Scott called over his shoulder to Ian.
Riley managed a smile despite Ian"s continued glare.
"Come on, guys. I"ll make you doggie bags," Avery said to her brothers.
Olivia chatted with Riley while Ian bored holes into her with his hurt gaze. Her stomach churned at the thought of being alone with him, but if nothing else, she wanted the chance to explain.
A few minutes later, the sisters shepherded the grumbling men, packed-up burgers with them, out of Ian"s apartment.
Before getting into the elevator with her siblings, Olivia paused by Riley"s side. "He"s hurting," she said softly.
"I didn"t know they wouldn"t show up." Riley spoke equally quietly.
Olivia studied her face. "I want to believe you-because I think you"re the only one who can get through to him."
"What do you mean? You"re all so close."
The other woman frowned.
"If you"re going, then go," Ian said before Olivia could reply.
Olivia leaned in closer. "If you hurt my brother, I"m going to have to fire you, and that means we"ll lose a d.a.m.ned good a.s.sistant."
"Is that my new t.i.tle?" Riley asked, joking out loud when, deep down, she appreciated the other woman"s protective nature. In fact, it reminded her of how she and Alex took care of each other.
Olivia laughed. "Actually your new t.i.tle might be a.s.sistant Travel Secretary, but we"ll talk on Monday. Good luck here," she said, sobering, before she turned and walked into the elevator.
Riley waited until the doors shut behind them before turning to face Ian.
Alone.
He didn"t look at her, and his rejection stung.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
She swallowed hard. "To explain why I didn"t come earlier. I knew if I were here, I would only be a point of contention between you and Alex, so I stayed home. I thought if you got a chance to know each other, it would be easier for us to be together."
"But it didn"t happen, did it?" he asked bitterly.
She"d had it with his att.i.tude. She strode over to him, getting into his personal s.p.a.ce. "I didn"t know Alex wouldn"t show," she said, her voice rising with her frustration.
He gritted his teeth. "I all but begged you to come today."
"I told you I"d talk to Alex, and I did. He was upset and distrustful. I thought things would go more smoothly if I wasn"t here."
"You thought wrong."
She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Her palm burned on contact. She wanted to get through to him. She needed him to understand.
"Ian, please."
When he didn"t crack, she glanced away, her gaze falling on the mirror on the nearby wall. She saw herself, hand on his arm, pleading with him to forgive her for something she hadn"t done intentionally. Suddenly the sight transformed, replaced in her mind by her mother on her knees, begging her father to forgive her for some minor transgression that wasn"t worth the anger or emotion invested.
It always ended the same way. He"d backhand her hard, sending her sprawling-into the wall, onto the floor.
Nausea and panic swamped Riley, and she ripped her hand away from his arm. "You know what? Screw you, Ian." She took another step back, tremors shaking her body. "You obviously don"t want me here, and I sure as h.e.l.l don"t need to beg you for anything."
She beat a hasty retreat for the elevator, pressing on the b.u.t.ton over and over, willing the car to come faster. "Come on, come on," she muttered, unwilling to look over her shoulder at the man behind her.
EIGHT.
Riley"s outburst popped the bubble of anger that had been surrounding Ian all day. She stood at the elevator, pounding at the b.u.t.ton in a panic, and his anger, which should never have been directed at her, dissipated, replaced by concern.
"Riley."
She ignored him.
The elevator door opened, and Ian bolted forward, grabbing her around the waist and yanking her back before she could step inside.
"Put me down!" She struggled, but he waited until the elevator door slid shut to do as she asked.
She spun to face him, fury on her expressive face.
"What the h.e.l.l was that all about?" he asked.
"You tell me! I came here to check on you, and you treated me like persona non grata in front of your family."
Yes, he had. He"d never been so angry or hurt, and it made no sense. Why the h.e.l.l did he care if his half siblings showed up or not when he hadn"t wanted to invite them in the first place? He"d only done it to get Riley"s address and phone number, and when she"d bailed too, he"d taken it as her choosing Alex over him. Which clarified his blinding anger, to camouflage the hurt.
But none of that explained why she"d suddenly freaked-because that"s what she"d done. Yeah, he"d been an a.s.s, but not enough for her to react that way. He knew she wouldn"t budge until he gave in first.
"I"m sorry," he said.
Her eyes opened wide.
He was just as shocked by the words that came out of his mouth. Words he never used, because in his experience, they made him weak. With this woman, it seemed there was nothing he wouldn"t do or say.
Needing s.p.a.ce, he stalked over to the wet bar in the living room and poured himself a drink. Pausing for a long sip as the liquor burned down his throat, he studied her, seeing her for the first time tonight.
She wore a white, strappy dress that clung to her generous curves, her curls falling over her shoulders and down her back. Now that he"d regained his sanity, he wanted nothing more than to grab hold of all that gorgeous hair, pull her hard against him, lose himself in her warm, wet body, and forget that he"d allowed his half brother to get to him. Make her forget that he"d treated her so badly, but that wouldn"t solve anything between them.
They"d both overreacted. He understood his own reactions, at least when it came to her. He still didn"t understand hers, and the mystery of Riley remained.
"Are you okay?" he asked from his place across the room.
Riley drew a deep breath and nodded, still attempting to calm down, to a.s.sure herself that what she"d seen in the mirror hadn"t been reality. She"d sworn she"d never be that woman, the one who needed a man so desperately she"d accept anything and everything he dished out.
She replayed the events of the last few minutes in her mind. He"d been cold and unforgiving, but she was the one who"d flipped out. He"d grabbed her, yes, but the minute she"d told him to take his hands off her, he had.
And he"d apologized.
Two things she"d never seen her father do.
Rationally she knew that people could argue and get past it, and that"s all they"d done. Had an argument.
She swallowed hard and slowly crossed the room to where Ian stood. "I don"t understand everything that just happened between us," she said truthfully.
He met her gaze, equal confusion in the gray depths. "I"m not so sure I get all of it myself." He gestured to the sofa, and she joined him, settling in with just a few inches of s.p.a.ce between them.
They sat in silence for long minutes until Ian finally spoke. "I"ve been telling myself for years I want nothing to do with them."
She knew he was referring to his father"s other children, and she nodded, wanting him to continue without interruption.
His chiseled features were hard as he spoke. "When my father offered your address and phone number in exchange for me reaching out to my half siblings, I grabbed the opportunity. I let him bribe me, and the why has been eating at me ever since."
"Maybe you really wanted an excuse to get to know them?" she suggested, thinking that deep down, Alex and Ian wanted the same thing.
He exhaled a harsh breath. "Yeah. And that"s what"s been bothering me. I don"t want to want anything from them," he said, running a hand through his short hair.
"Why do you hate them so much?" she asked hesitantly. "The resentment for your father I understand. But Alex and his siblings are as much victims of circ.u.mstance as you and your sisters were."
"Because he chose them." Each word came out sharp and punctuated with pain. "And before you say it, I"m fully aware these aren"t the thoughts of a rational adult."
Unable not to respond, she inched closer, clasping his hand in hers. "No, but they are the feelings of a wounded child."
He frowned at that. "I was an adult when we found out about them."
"About eighteen, right?"
He nodded.
"If you ask me, eighteen is very much an in-between age. You were ent.i.tled to the resentment."
He looked away, and she sensed him sorting through his thoughts.
"Graduations, birthdays, a broken arm, a burst appendix. We didn"t have a father for any of those events. We thought he was too busy working, and not that it made it okay to miss out on so much, but it made sense. And I looked up to him because he had this strong work ethic, so he could provide for his family. For us."
She saw the child he"d been, idolizing his father, and her heart softened even more.
"It turns out," he went on, "even if he"d been working, he was living with them while he did. Because he loved Savannah, while my mother was just the marriage his parents had forced on him to keep the business running." He leaned his head back against the sofa, his emotions running high.