Skyscrapers & Camelot (Renovate Book 1) (30 page)

Liam extends his hand. “Thanks for having me. This is a great place you have.”

Keegan straightens his back and offers his hand. “Thank you. Soon, it will be Aimee’s, too.”

He did not just say that!

Reese looks at me and whispers a “What the hell?” I’m a little embarrassed by this pissing contest. This is not like either of them.

“Keegan, can I talk to you?” says a mean voice.

He turns around, looking at Gretchen. Seriously, what does she want with him now, and where did she come from?

He kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll be back.” He walks away, following Gretchen.

Once Keegan is out of earshot, Reese speaks up.

“Liam, what the hell?”

He looks at her. “What do you mean, ‘what the hell’? Her boyfriend just left with another woman.” He looks at me. “You cannot be seriously thinking of moving in with him?” He’s upset and I get it—he’s being protective—but this isn’t any of his business.

“Liam, that woman works for him,” Reese points out.

I go to walk away from him, but he grabs my arm. “Aimee, you didn’t answer the question.”

I know he isn’t going to let this go, so I answer. “Yes, he asked me to move in with him, and I agreed. Liam, this is none of your business, so let it go.”

He keeps ahold of my arm. “What about my sister? What is she going to do? You’re her roommate, and she’s not going to be able to afford to live alone.”

He’s really mad, and his grip on me is starting to hurt.

Reese places a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Liam, she’s right. It’s none of your business, so let this go.”

Liam looks around, realizing people are staring, and let’s go. Then he steps closer, whispering in my ear, “I don’t even know you anymore, Aimee. The woman I left wouldn’t have done this to her best friend.” He looks at me with hate in his eyes.

The tears start to flow from my eyes. I’m ashamed and embarrassed all at the same time.

Reese grabs him. “Liam, stop it, now. You ruin everything. I’m pregnant. Kaleb and I are having a baby. I’m not going to be alone, okay?”

The cats out of the bag, and I have just ruined this moment for her. I feel sick to my stomach.

Liam turns his head toward Reese, his eyes no longer fixed on me.

“Reese, did I hear you right? You’re pregnant again?”

“Yes, asshole, I am. We were going to tell everyone tonight, but your display of jealousy over your ex-girlfriend has ruined it all, so thanks for that.” She starts to cry, and Liam pulls her into a hug.

“Reese, God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

I take the opportunity to flee from them since neither is paying attention to me anymore. I head toward Keegan’s bedroom, but I catch Keegan and Gretchen sitting on the bed in a tight embrace. I back away, right into someone. I must watch where I’m going.

“Easy, Aimee.” Kaleb grabs me, steadying me. His smile falls when I turn around, and he looks at me with concern. “What’s wrong? What happened?” he asks.

When I grab on to him for dear life and cry into his chest, he ushers me into a room and holds me, rubbing my back. I’m not sure how long I cry, but I feel like I’m falling into a black hole.

I open my eyes and lift my head up. Looking at my surroundings, I see we are in Keegan’s office.

Kaleb looks down at me. “What did my stupid brother do now?”

I laugh, even though it’s not at all funny, because that’s one of the reasons I’m such a mess right now.

I smile at him and he smiles back. He still looks concerned about me, so I lie. “I’m fine, just being a girl and all.”

I can tell by the look he gives me that he in no way believes me.

“Can I get you anything? Chocolate or a strong shot of tequila?”

“Thank you. I’m really fine.” I have stopped crying and controlled my breathing.

“Are you sure? This is a one-time opportunity. I can get you anything you want.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

“Actually, would you mind grabbing my purse from Keegan’s room and getting me a glass of water?” My nausea has turned into a full on migraine. I have aspirin in my purse, but there is no way I’m going near that room.

“I’ll be right back.” Kaleb shuts the door behind him.

I sit down in a nearby chair. Closing my eyes, I rub my fingertips in a circular motion on my temples. This day went from zero to crap in sixty seconds. I just want to take some aspirin and get out of this hell.

I hear the door open, and my eyes flutter open to spot Reese, the one person I need right now. She looks surprisingly chipper.

“Hi, hon’. Here you go.” Reese hands me a glass of water and an aspirin from my purse. I take it and throw the pill in my mouth, gulping a long swig of water and swallowing the pill.

“How did you know I needed the aspirin?”

“Best friend telepathy.” She smiles.

“Are you all right? I’m so sorry about earlier,” I apologize.

She looks at me with sympathy. “Ugh, just stop. It wasn’t your fault, okay?”

“I know, but I ruined a special moment for you.”

“Aimee, nothing could ever ruin this for me, not even my stupid, jealous brother.”

As we grow silent, I tilt my head back and close my eyes.

“He’s still in love with you. That’s why Liam is so upset. He didn’t mean what he said.”

I leave my eyes closed, and the tears I thought were gone start again.

“Aimee, I know there is no one else for you but Keegan. I see it. Everyone sees it. Liam see’s it. I think he knows you never gave your heart to him fully, but he’ll get over it. You two will go back to being friends again.”

She’s so optimistic when I know now, without a doubt, that will never happen. Liam will never be my friend again. Regardless, I open my eyes and look at her, nodding in agreement.

“Kaleb was supposed to grab my purse. It’s in Keegan’s room, next to his bed.”

“I’ll get it. Do you want me to find Keegan?”

I shake my head. She doesn’t question me, only turns around and walks out of the room.

My headache suddenly has gotten worse in the last few minutes. I feel like my head is in a vice grip. I close my eyes, praying for the aspirin to kick in.

I hear someone walk in, and my body stiffens at the strong perfume that assaults my nose. I leave my eyes closed, hoping she will notice me and walk right out the door.

“Poor, poor Aimee,” says her shrill voice.

Fuck, she’s not leaving.

I open my eyes, and the smile on her face tells me she’s definitely here for a while.

“Out with it, Gretchen. We both know you aren’t concerned about me.”

She laughs at me like I amuse her, the laugh reminding me of the wicked witch of the west from
The Wizard of Oz
. I hate that damn witch.

“Did you think I was going to let you take him away from me?”

This woman is mental.

“I assume you’re talking about Keegan, and let’s get something straight: you work for him; that’s all. I’m his girlfriend. He’s not yours.” I realize I’m yelling at her, but I have finally hit my limit for the evening.

“Stupid, stupid, clueless girl. You have no idea, do you?”

I stare at her blankly. “Well, please tell me what I have no idea about.”

“I had him; he was mine, and we were perfect together.” She says this in such a seductive way that all I can picture is them in bed together. “I see you still don’t quite understand.”

What is there to understand? She slept with him. She’s drawing this out to hurt me. She gets off on it.

“I understand perfectly. You had sex. You don’t have to spell it out.” I’m too sick for this right now.

She walks over to me now, and I don’t like being beneath this woman. I need to stand tall. I’m not going to let her tear me down.

“Yes, we had sex, a lot actually, in all kinds of places. But we were together for a very long time, all through college, actually, and for some time afterward. You see, when I met Keegan, I knew he was going places. With his talent and my brains, we were the perfect couple. The only thing was that he was so hung up on you.

“He got drunk one night and told me all about you, how he was in love with you, but he didn’t think he was good enough. He wanted to be worthy of you.

“When I met you, I thought, ‘This is the girl who had him tied up in knots?’ You are pathetic. You couldn’t even hold on to him. It was so easy for me; you made it so easy. I should be thanking you right now for being so stupid.”

I guess I didn’t get it.

I have no words right now. I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. There is no way this could be true. Keegan wouldn’t keep a relationship like this from me, especially working so closely with her.

“Shut the fuck up. You're lying.”

She smiles and moves in closer. “You wish, but no, he was all ready to run back to you and take you to your precious prom. How ridiculous that he would want to leave college just to take you to a stupid dance. So the night before he was going to go back to you, I made sure to get us nice and drunk, and you know what happened? We fucked all night long. He didn’t think of you once.”

She kept him from the promise he had made me when we were teenagers—that even though he was going to be away at college, he would come home to take me to my prom. I thought he wanted nothing to do with me, and that was why I never heard from him.

Now I’m going to be sick, but I should have seen this coming. She’s right about one thing, though—I am stupid for trusting him, for loving him.

“You must be proud of yourself for taking advantage of him when he was weak. You are the worst kind of woman, Gretchen. You think your shit doesn’t stink, but look at you. I feel sorry for you. Keegan will never love you. His heart is too pure.”

“Love? I don’t give a fuck about love, Aimee. This isn’t about love. I built this all with him.” She waves her hands around like she has some claim on everything that surrounds us. “He would be nothing without me.”

“Gretchen? What are you doing?”

I turn my head toward Keegan’s voice, seeing Reese right behind him.

“She’s telling me all about how you two fucked.”

Keegan rushes to me, looking me in the eyes. He tries to pull me to him, but I push him away. I don’t want him touching me, especially now. A look of panic spreads across his face.

“Keegan, you were going to make a huge mistake by having her move in with you. She’s a distraction, and I needed to put a stop to it. You are going to risk everything for her.”

“I don’t care, Gretchen. I told you Aimee isn’t negotiable.”

“Sweetheart, have I taught you nothing? Everything is negotiable for the right price. This girl thinks you’re that weak and sympathetic boy she fell in love with, but you’re not him, and I made sure of that, didn’t I?”

Keegan stands in front of me, blocking my view of Gretchen. “Aimee, look at me. I love you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, but there is no one more important to me than you. It’s always been you. It will
always
be you.”

I almost cave because I love him so much.

“You didn’t come back to me because you were fucking her. You broke my heart, Keegan, and you’re doing it all over again, but this time, I know better. I know what you are capable of.” I walk away from him and this shit storm of a night, grabbing my purse from Reese who is standing as still as a statue.

“I’ll be all right. I just need to leave.” I give her a kiss on the cheek and walk out the door.

Once in the hallway, I back into the wall, starting to have trouble breathing, so I try calming myself down by taking a deep breath. I can hear Keegan yelling in the other room as my phone rings, and although I don’t want to answer, my gut tells me that I need to.

“Hello,” I answer, not recognizing the number.

“I’m looking for Aimee Brennan…”

“I’m her.”

“I’m a nurse at the Indiana Regional Medical Center. Your father was just brought in. He appears to have suffered a heart attack.”

No, this can’t be happening.

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask.

“The doctors are working on him now.”

I interrupt her. “I’m in New York City, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I disconnect the call.

“Aimee? What’s wrong? You’re as white as a ghost,” Kate asks as she walks out of the bathroom.

I’m trembling. I need to get ahold of myself so I can get to my dad.

“I just got a call. My dad had a heart attack, and he’s in the hospital.”

“Your dad is in the hospital?” Keegan picks that moment to appear.

I ignore him. He’s doesn’t get to save me this time.

“I’ve got to get to the airport,” I say to Kate.

She looks between Keegan and me.

When no one says anything, she speaks up, “I can take you. I have a car.”

“Thank you.” I try walking away, but Keegan grabs me.