I laugh at her comment. “You have no idea.”
“Alexa is out of a sugar daddy, and from what I hear, Carl and his wife are getting a divorce. And you still got the girl, Little King. Would you look at that?”
“Harley is in LA and not even answering my emails.”
“She will eventually. If she wanted to ditch your ass, she would have filed the annulment already.”
“You have such a way with words, Danika. Did I ever tell you that?”
She chuckles. “Save it, kid. Your dad pays me by the hour, and unless you have something else you need to discuss, I have to run.”
“Thanks, Danika.”
“Anytime.”
Five days after the news about Carl Voss breaks and he’s removed from the Queen Takes King board, I’m still waiting on a response from Harley. I even sent her the link to The Gossip Queen site, thinking she would be happy about the news and at least write one line to indulge me. Nope, I got nada from Harley.
So, here I am, once again writing an email to myself, basically. What else do you call it? Harley has opened and read my messages. She’s well aware of my stalkerish ways and knows I will check. I know she still cares, so I write something from the heart, short and to the point.
Dear Wife,
I’m lost. Help me find my way. I love you.
- Nate
An hour later, after weeks of waiting, she finally replies, which gives me hope.
Be my knight, Sir Nathan. Finish your quest, and The Holy Grail is yours.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Harley
After a month back in my old job, I’m bored, annoyed, and wishing I hadn’t resigned as Lead Creative Director. That was a bold but stupid move. My position in Los Angeles is far from glamorous, and now that we’re in the post-launch phase for Ashborn, I work more hours than I sleep. I have to sit on conference calls with the marketing teams, listening to them whine about the bad reviews from customers. Like I can do anything about it. We’re all struggling to salvage this game so we can get our investors off our backs.
Nate created the initial idea for Ashborn, but whatever Stefan added afterward is not sitting well with our customers. This game has been nothing but a headache, and with Nate refusing to speak to anyone in the office, his team is struggling to get by. I know it’s because of me. Nate is probably locked in his office, coding for hours on end. When he’s in the creative zone, he gets nasty if anyone interrupts him. I feel bad for everyone who has to deal with him since I left.
My desk phone beeps and Connie’s flowery voice comes through the intercom. “Mrs. King,” she says, and I shudder at my new last name. “I have Mr. King on the phone for you.”
“Tell Nate to finish his quest. He’ll know what that means.”
“Stefan King,” she corrects.
What does he want?
I let out a frustrated groan and shove my keyboard back into place. “Patch him through.”
“Hey, Stef,” I say. “What’s up?”
He blows a deep breath into the phone. “I need to talk to you about Nate.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah… I guess. Define okay,” he deadpans. “He hasn’t been himself since you left. Everything is falling apart over here, and now he’s refusing to come into the office. He’s not taking any of our calls. His doorman won’t let anyone up to the penthouse.”
“He’s not coming into work?”
“No. About a week ago he took off and hasn’t come back since. He hasn’t said a word to anyone, not even Parker. We’re all worried about him. His team needs him.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Talk to him,” he groans. “Please. You’re the only person who can get through to him.”
“What do you want me to tell him?”
“We need him to call us back at the very least. He can’t just go fuck off whenever he wants because he’s messed up over your breakup.”
“We’re not broken up.”
“You’re not?” Stefan sounds confused. “Then, what the fuck is his problem?”
“If he doesn’t finish Project X in one month, I’m getting an annulment.”
“Fuck,” he grunts. “Could you have picked a better time to give him an ultimatum?”
“Are you kidding me right now? Let’s not forget that you knew about everything before I got back to Philly. All of you were in on the plan to force me to marry Nate.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he challenges. “Nate and I had nothing to do with that. It was our dads. They cooked that plan up with Danika, and we just went along with it. Don’t blame us for what they did. And you willingly married my brother. I was the best man at your wedding. It’s not like anyone dragged you down the aisle.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Stefan. This conversation isn’t exactly making me want to help you out. Tell you what—I’ll message Nate for you, and in return, I want you to promise me that Nate won’t fail. He has to finish this game.”