All It Takes (Romancing Manhattan 2)

“You’re not the only one who caused it,” she interrupts. “It’s turned into a shitty week.”

“That might be the understatement of the century. You said yesterday that you’re done.”

“I’m not done with us.” Her voice catches and my gut clenches. Jesus, I want to pull her into my arms and crush her to me. “I meant that I was done for the moment. That I need some time. I’m dealing with the arrest of my father and uncle, and my mom’s a mess. So Lou and I are taking care of things, while also trying to keep our own professional lives afloat.”

“I understand. Can I come help?”

“No, thank you.” There’s that catch again. “I need a little time, Quinn. Some space. I’m not done with us, I mean that, but the trust is bruised for me right now, even though the attorney in me understands what you did and why you did it. The woman in me needs a little time to catch up.”

“Hurting you, deliberately hurting you, is never an option for me,” I stress. “I tried so many times to think of a way to tell you without breaking the law.”

“I don’t think you could have,” she whispers.

“Are you still going to Finn and London’s engagement party with me on Friday?”

There’s a long pause.

“I don’t know. I’m not saying that to hurt you, Quinn. I’m not built like that.”

I know she’s not.

“But with my family falling apart, trying to catch up at work so I can take next week off, and everything else going on right now, I just don’t think I can commit to anything. Not to mention, I’m not exactly wonderful company right now, and Finn and London’s party should be full of excitement and love.”

“They’ll want you there,” I reply. “I will want you there, so please think about it.”

“I will.”

“Sienna, I miss you. I love you so much, and I’m here whenever you need me and are ready for me to prove to you that something like this will never happen again.”

She sniffles, and it breaks me.

“Baby, don’t cry.”

“I love you too.” Her voice is breaking. “Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon, okay, Quinn?”

“Okay.”

She hangs up, and I’m left in my huge office, wondering how in the ever-loving fuck I’m going to fix this.

And then an idea starts to form.

I text Finn and Carter and ask them to come to my office ASAP.

I’m not disappointed when they both appear in less than two minutes.

“What’s up?” Carter asks as they both have a seat.

“As you both know, yesterday was a shit show.”

They nod in unison.

“Have you talked to her?” Finn asks.

“I just called her. The good news is, she hasn’t written me off, but she also isn’t ready to see me. She has a lot going on.”

“I’m sure, what with half her family currently sitting in jail.”

I push my hands through my hair in agitation.

“They deserve to be there,” I retort, and Carter holds his hands up in surrender.

“I’m not saying they don’t. But can you imagine if it were your parents in there?” We all shake our heads. “So what do you need?”

“I need to make it right. I know that I did the right thing for my career. But I did the wrong thing for Sienna.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Finn argues.

“I agree, and I hate to admit it, but I’d do it again. In a heartbeat. And because of that, I need to make sure that I never have to do it again.”

“Agreed,” Finn says.

“There are a few things going through my head right now,” I continue, leaning forward to rest my elbows on the desk. “First, I know we’ve talked about bringing in another partner to help shoulder some of the load.”

Both of their eyebrows go up, and I hold my hands up.

“Just hear me out. Sienna is more than qualified, and we wouldn’t offer her a partnership to start. But I would like to offer her a job. If she’s working for the firm, I don’t ever have to worry about keeping something from her professionally again.”

“I understand,” Carter says. “And if she wants to join the firm, I’m okay with that, but I’d like to hold off on a partnership until after she’s been here for no less than three years.”

“I agree,” Finn says, and I nod.

“I can live with that. She may not want it, but I’d like to offer it to her. I hope I can talk her into it.”

“Why wouldn’t she want it? She’d be making a hell of a lot more money than she does for the city.”

“She likes bankers’ hours,” I reply. “She paints and cooks and dedicates time to her family, so the city job has been perfect for her.”

“That could be tough,” Finn says. “We all work long hours.”

“I get it, but again, I want to offer it to her. Hell, she could work part-time if she wants to. If she worked here, she could afford to.”