Page 13 of Tell Me You Need Me

“Screw it. This calls for reinforcements. I love the sweet treats, Romy, but we need sustenance. I’m ordering food, and we may as well make it a full buffet. As soon as the guys realize where we are and get so much as a whiff of food, they’ll come running down here like starved animals.” Alex pulls out her phone, swiping through the screen with warp speed.

“Count me in,” Romy says, her eyes lighting up as she reaches for the pastry bag. “Order everything on the menu. Seriously, every single appetizer and every main dish. This baby has me eating non-stop lately. I swear this boy will be built like a linebacker, exactly like his father.”

We all laugh as Romy rubs her bump affectionally. The mood in the room shifts from dread to an easy comfort. Cory lets out a soft, dreamy sigh. A bright pink flush creeps up her neck, staining her cheeks a bright crimson. She quickly looks down at her hands, smoothing the fabric of her dress, but our eyes don’t miss a thing.

Every single head snaps her way.

“Hold on.” Gennie eyes widen into saucers as she leans forward on the table. Our girl has worked on her self-esteem and with Gavin’s help has really come into herself in a confident womanly way. Damn, am I proud of her. “Cory, why are you blushing like that?”

“Well… we’re trying.” She tucks a stray lock of golden blonde hair behind her ear, avoiding our gazes for a brief second before meeting them one after the one. A collective gasp echoes off the walls of the room.

“Oh my god!” Gennie squeals, clapping her hands together wildly. “Congratulations. That’s amazing!” Cory grins, and Gennie continues on. “Samesies, by the way. Well… we’re not, like, actively tracking app cycles or talking temperature charts, but we’re definitely not stopping, either. I’m not on birth control and he refuses to have anything come between us. So, if it happens, it happens.”

“Yay!” Jett shouts from the phone, throwing her hands in the air from on Chicago hotel bed, dancing in her seat. “I can be an auntie over and over again, because we are definitely not there yet. My man is still trying to figure out how not to get penalized for high-sticking every other game, so raising a child is not in the cards right now.” The room bursts into laughter, and the thick, suffocating tension that had been crushing my chest since Nolan told me he was talking to Maxim finally dissolves into dust.

I look around the table at these fierce, stunning women—women who have tamed some of the wealthiest, powerful, and unyielding men in this city. And I realize I’m surrounded by the only people on earth who truly understand what it means to love a man like Nolan Cross.

“So.” Alex elongates the O, leaning her elbows on the mahogany surface after finishing what I’m sure is a massive food order. She gives me a slow, all-too-knowing smile. “While we wait for our feast, and while Nolan slays dragons in the form of your overprotective brother, tell us everything, every single filthy detail about how he finally broke.”

“Well,” I murmur, feeling heat settling in my lower abdomen as I think about our first time together, and contemplating just how in depth I want to go. I decide to keep his hand necklace tendencies as well as how much he likes me to be his pillow princess and stay still to myself and instead give them a small tease. “It all started on his marble desk in his office,” I start, then give them the Cliff Notes.

CHAPTER TEN

nolan

Istand in front of the windows of Maxim’s office, my hands thrust deep into the pockets of my suit trousers, watching the rain slick the streets of Seattle fifteen stories below. The air in the room is charged with the weight of a long-lasting brotherhood, a billion-dollar empire, and the one truth that’s about to change everything between us. And Max is completely oblivious.

He’s sitting behind his oak desk, leaning back in his leather chair, tapping a pen against a thick stack of Singapore contracts. We’ve spent the last ten minutes running through the numbers, waivers, and other bullshit, yet I haven’t heard a single word he’s said.

“Max,” I turn slowly, interrupting him. My tone cuts through his train of thought. “Put the paperwork down for a minute.” My posture locks into an unyielding, immovable frame that built Cross Enterprises.

“What’s going, Nolan? You look like shit is about to hit the fan.” Maxim freezes, and the pen drops from his fingers onto the stack of papers. He squints at me, his eyes narrowing as he reads between the lines on my face.

“I fell for you sister.” I rip the Band-Aid clean off, and the silence that greets me is something else. The ticking of the wall clock sounds like gunfire while I wait for him to respond. Maxim doesn’t move, he doesn’t blink. For five seconds, I watch as his brain tries to process my words, probably searching for a punchline that isn’t coming.

“I fell for Mischa,” I repeat, stepping closer to his desk. My jaw twitches with how tight it’s been locked since I walked into his office. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, Max. I tried like hell to fight it. I kept away for as long as I could. Locked it down behind the corporate bullshit. But it happened anyway, and now that I have her, I’m not letting her go. Not fucking ever.”

Maxim sits still, his face entirely blank, his eyes tracking my features, searching for a crack in my resolve. He knows me better than almost anyone on the planet. He knows when I’m bluffing, when I’m negotiating, and when I’m laying claim to something I’m willing to burn any billion-dollar deal to protect.

Right now, he sees the ruthless side of me. Slowly, Maxim lets out a long, heavy breath, leaning his head against the headrest of his chair and staring up at the ceiling.

“Yeah,” Max mutters, his voice shockingly quiet. “I’m really not surprised.”

“You’re not?” I blink, my shoulders bracing for a punch that suddenly isn’t coming.

“Nolan, you look at her like she hangs the damn moon. You’ve looked at her like that for six months. I thought I was just imagining things because I didn’t want to accept that my best friend was thirsting after my little sister.” He lowers his head, looking at me with a mixture of sheer disbelief and exasperation. Then his eyes go wide. A sudden, horrifying realization hits him like a runaway train, and his jaw drops open. “Wait…” He sits up straight, pointing a finger at me as his face turns a shade of pale white. “Oh, Jesus, fuck. Man, that means when I called you yesterday morning, when you said you were on the treadmill…”

I don’t say a word, only hold his stare, keeping my face an unreadable mask of granite.

“Oh, Jesus, fuck!” Max groans out loud, slapping both hands over his face and rubbing his eyes aggressively. “I need bleach for my eyes and the same for my ears. That is something a brother does not want to hear, not fucking ever. I should beat your ass for that alone!”

“You’re welcome to try, brother.” A subtle smirk touches the corner of my lips.

“Shut the fuck up.” He laughs dryly, dropping his hands and shaking his head in total defeat. He sighs before resting his elbows on the arms of his chair. “Honestly, man. I’m glad it’s you.” I tilt my head, listening. “I’m glad it’s you instead of some stodgy hedge-fund type of guy or some fake, gold-digging board member.” His tone softens into genuine sincerity. “I know how you operate, Nolan. You’re a ruthless bastard to the rest of the world, but you’d bleed yourself dry before you ever let a single hair on her head get hurt. If anyone’s going to be with her, I’m glad it’s you who will keep her safe.”

The thick knot of tension in my chest finally uncoils, replaced by the deep, unspoken respect that has kept us as partners for years. I step up to the desk and extend my hand. Max looks at it, grins, stands up, walks around the desk, and shakes my hand with a hard, single grip before pulling me in for a rough, brotherly embrace.

“If you break her heart,” he warns, clapping my back, “I’ll take half the company in the settlement.”