All the Way (Romancing Manhattan 1)

“Thank you. So is yours.” I hug her tightly. “You’ve been quite the hostess, talking with everyone.”

“It’s a fun party,” she says with a shrug. “And Grandma says that to be a good hostess, you have to make everyone feel welcome.”

“That’s my girl,” Maggie says, wrapping her arm around Gabby’s shoulders.

“Oh, London, you brought the man from the playhouse.” Gabby smiles and I feel everything in me go still. “I thought you said you didn’t know him? He’s nice. Oh, there’s my cousin Josie!” And just like that, she skips away.

My phone rings in my clutch.

“Excuse me.” I walk around the corner to the foyer and see Kyle’s name on the display. “Hello?”

“London?” he asks, and sniffs. “Is this a bad time?”

Yes. What the fuck is this game you’re playing? “No, it’s okay. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry.” He sniffs again. “I know you’re counting on me this time, but I’m just so scared. I wish you could have come down with me to check in. I just couldn’t do it.”

“Kyle.” I rub my fingertips against my forehead. He has to be here. He has to be the man from the playhouse. That’s the only explanation, but I play along. “Take a deep breath. It’s okay. I understand feeling scared.”

“I knew you would,” he says. “I know you’ve been through hell, and I’m just adding to your stress. I hate that. But I just don’t have anyone else.”

“I know. Talk to me. What are you afraid of?”

“Failing and disappointing you again.”

“I’ll only be disappointed if you don’t try,” I reply. “Just do your best.”

“I can’t.” He starts to cry in earnest now. “I can’t go down there.”

“Wait.” I frown at the first mistake he’s made. “If you’re not down there, where are you?”

“I’m at your place.”

A chill runs through me.

“My place? Like, inside?”

“Yeah, your doorman let me in.”

“I’m on my way.” I hang up and hurry back to the party to find Finn, but he’s nowhere to be found, so I rush over to Quinn. “I have to go to my condo for a minute.”

“Okay.” He frowns. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. Where’s Finn?”

“I think he just ran to the bathroom. Do you want to wait for him?”

“No.” I shake my head and offer him a smile. “I won’t be long. Just let him know that I ran home.”

He nods and I hurry out, walking to my building, which is only three blocks away. It’ll take longer to hail a cab.

Roger the doorman is working today, and smiles when I approach. “Hello, Miss Watson. Your brother is waiting for you inside.”

“Yes, I know.” He can see that I’m not smiling.

“Do you need me to call for help?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I hurry past without smiling, and wait impatiently for the elevator. What the fuck is Kyle doing in New York?

Why isn’t he in North Carolina?

He was within inches of Gabby, and there’s no scenario in the world where that’s okay.

I open the door to my apartment, and don’t see him at first. But my eyes immediately go to the kitchen island and the floppy-eared bunny from my playhouse that’s sitting there.

“Hi,” Kyle says as he walks out of my bedroom. He’s dressed in a nice white button-down shirt, black slacks, and a red tie.

“I did see you at the party.”

“Oh yeah,” he says with a smile. “Great little shindig. But I wanted to have a little talk with you while everyone else is busy.”

“Okay.” I frown. “You’re not crying.”

He smirks, and then his face crumples and he starts to act. “I’m so sorry, London. I’m sooooo scared.” He stops and rolls his eyes. “That whole act was getting old. You’re not the only performer in the family, you know.”

“I guess not.” I clear my throat, and try to think of the nearest weapon. My heels would leave a mark if need be. “Why are you here?”

“Well, if I tell you that, I’ll skip all of the good parts, and I don’t want to do that.” He smiles widely, showing me his teeth. Teeth that used to be rotten.

“So, I guess this means that you won’t be going to rehab? That you’re not clean?”

“Oh, London. I’ve been clean for years. This is just who I am.” He holds his hands out at his sides and then shrugs.

“What, an asshole?”

“Yeah, that’s a good word.” He nods happily. “At least, I’m an asshole where you’re concerned. Because you always got everything you ever wanted, and Dad always treated me like I was an imposition.”

You were an imposition.

But I don’t say it. I want to know where this is going.

“Okay, start from the beginning, then. What’s up, Kyle?”

“This is the best story,” he says, and does a little dance of excitement. “Okay, first of all, you’re supposed to be dead. And the fact that you aren’t really pisses me off.”