“You’d do that for me?”
“Hell, yeah. You’re my sister. They hurt you, they hurt me.”
I smile. “You’re a good sister, Daisy, but I think we need to leave their balls intact.”
“Want me to pick you up? I can be there in less than ten minutes.”
“No.” I put my glasses back on. “Ryan and Grant are already waiting downstairs, I just needed to talk to you and calm down a little bit so I don’t go down there and strangle them.”
“You’re going to get in the car
with them? I know you’ve never done the whole angry girlfriend thing before, but normally, if a woman is mad at a man, she makes them sweat it out a bit.”
“I’m more disappointed than mad, but I love them, and as much as I hate what they did, I know they weren’t trying to hurt me.”
“You’re a great girlfriend, Em. Not many women could put up with two overprotective men. Just promise me you won’t give in too easily. Make them work for it a little.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
I toss my cell into my purse, yank the straps over my shoulder, and march toward the elevator. When I get to the main level, I take a fortifying breath and walk out the front doors of Hartford Group, unsure whether I’ll be returning on Monday.
Grant is behind the wheel. Ryan jumps out of the passenger seat and holds open the door for me. Instead of sliding into the seat he’s offering, I walk around to the opposite side of the car and climb into the back.
The men share a look, and Ryan gets in the back with me.
“Baby—”
Shaking my head, I hold up a hand and cut him off. “I’m not ready to talk to either of you right now.”
Ryan’s jaw ticks. Grant’s knuckles turn white where he grips the steering wheel as he pulls into traffic. I don’t live far from Hartford Group and traffic is light, which puts us in my driveway within five minutes.
Grant puts the car in park and turns in his seat to look at me. Ryan scoots closer and reaches for me, but I swat his hand away.
“Baby, you have to tell us what’s wrong,” he urges.
“How do you know Daniel?”
There’s complete silence for a solid thirty seconds, and then Grant says, “Daniel Hartford?”
“Yes, my boss, Daniel Hartford. How do you know him?”
“Shit,” Ryan hisses. “We should’ve told her.”
“Yeah. You should’ve.” I swallow past the thickness in my throat. “That night at Alfonzo’s, you promised no more secrets. You could’ve told me then what happened, and I would’ve been pissed but I would’ve gotten over it because you cared enough to tell me. Instead, I had to find out from my boss that my boyfriends practically bought my dream job.”
Grant frowns. “Emma—”
“I’m so pissed at you right now. At you both,” I say, fighting back tears. And then I climb out, slam the door shut and walk to the house, thankful that Daisy isn’t home.
I kick off my shoes, toss my purse onto the couch, and walk to my room. The front door opens at the same time I slam my bedroom door shut.
“Emma, open the door.” Ryan’s voice is surprisingly calm.
“Just give me a minute.” I pull the bobby pins from my bun and shake out my hair.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but we can’t do that. Stop being stubborn and open the door so we can talk about this,” he tries again.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You guys lied to me. Again.”