“You’re so beautiful,” Levi said dreamily, staring into the screen. “I can’t think of anything but you.”
“Thank you,” she told him politely. Then she bit her lip in dramatic fashion and set out the bait. “Levi . . . I’m troubled. I don’t know who else to turn to.”
His eyes widened. “What do you need?”
“I’m just . . . troubled about my sister. Has Magnus said anything about the time she spent at your place?”
Levi tilted his head like a dog, curious. “What do you mean? She was at the convention this week.”
“Convention?” Bianca kept the prettily confused look on her face, even though she wanted to seethe. Someone was lying to her. Her! After everything she’d done for her sister. She selflessly looked after Edie and drove her everywhere. It felt a bit like betrayal, but she squashed that feeling down. “What convention?”
“She was with Magnus at FanBoy Con this last week. Wearing cat ears and everything. He said he hired her as a consultant for a new project.” Levi shook his head. “They were holding hands. He’s really got her fooled.”
Bianca gasped. “He’s still stringing her along? That’s . . . that’s not called for. He’s only supposed to distract her while we go out.” And since she wasn’t all that interested in Levi at the moment, deceit wasn’t necessary. “Doesn’t he realize he doesn’t have to do it all the time?”
“Magnus likes to go whole hog when it comes to projects,” Levi said ruefully. “You should see how much he’s hounding me to work on this new game. Just the other day—”
She held a hand up, indicating that he should be quiet, and he did. “Levi, sweetie, don’t you think this is cruel? Edie’s my sister. She’s fragile. She’s going to be devastated when she finds out all this is a lie.” She fluttered her lashes and then shook her head sadly. “You’re going to have to tell your brother to back off for now. We don’t want my sister getting too badly hurt. Her last boyfriend . . .” she trailed off, then changed tactics. No need to talk about that. “I am Edie’s caretaker, Levi. If she suffers, it affects me. It hurts me. Do you understand?”
“I do! I’ll tell Magnus to back off. But what about us?”
“We’ll figure something out.” She gave him a sad smile. “I don’t like the thought of our happiness at my sister’s expense.”
“I’ll fix this,” Levi swore.
“Thanks, sugar,” Bianca said. She blew him a kiss and then cut off the Skype chat. Oooh, Cooper was on. Maybe she’d say hello to him.
***
Magnus pulled up to Buchanan Manor in his Maserati. He’d been expecting to have a private conversation with his friend, hopefully about a new cat-friendly apartment he could ensconce Edie into. But when he parked, he noticed that there were several other cars lining the long, curving driveway, and all of them were shiny with wax and read like the auto section of the Robb Report : Tesla, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, and his brother’s Aston Martin were all parked. Okay, so there was a meeting here today.
What the hell was Levi doing here, though? Unless it was something to do with the wedding? Surely it hadn’t been called off? He pocketed his keys and headed to the door. The butler let him inside, and into the mazelike house.
The other men were waiting in Hunter’s stark office. He knew from dealing with Hunter in the past that the man preferred to do most of his work from his home office, though he knew Hunter had an office in the city as well. As he entered the room, he saw the other men in the room were the other groomsmen, with the exception of Reese and Logan. Asher, Cooper, Sebastian, and his brother, who sat in the back with his arms crossed, a sullen expression on his face.
Magnus took a seat with the others, feeling a bit like a guilty schoolboy. The grim look on Hunter’s face didn’t help. “Hello, boys,” Magnus said, keeping his tone easy. “Surprised to see all of you here.”
Asher didn’t make eye contact with Magnus, but that didn’t surprise him. Sebastian glanced over, but he seemed preoccupied. Only Cooper gave Magnus a friendly smile. Everyone else looked too damn uncomfortable.
“Good, you’re here,” Hunter said, tone curt. He folded his hands on his desk. “I asked you all to come here today because you are all good friends and business associates of mine. I’ve asked you to be in my wedding. I trust all of you. And you know that Gretchen is the woman I love and intend to marry, and she has her heart set on a big wedding with lots of pomp and circumstance. And because I can’t refuse her anything, I’m going to give her the big wedding she wants. Which is what brings me to today’s meeting.” He dragged a hand over one cheek, as if rubbing a scar. Then, he glared at them. “Quit sticking your dicks in the bridesmaids.”
Sebastian snorted.
Asher just grinned.
Magnus said nothing, but his fists clenched at his side. Is that what this was about?
Hunter spoke again. “One of the women is dropping from the bridal party, and my wife-to-be is extremely upset. Gretchen has been frantic all day, and I told her I’d take care of it.”
“Guilty as charged,” Asher said. “I’m fucking Greer, and I’m not going to stop. And no, it’s none of your business.” He adjusted his cufflinks, and then added, “I’ll talk to her. I didn’t know she was threatening to drop out of the wedding.”
Magnus’s eyebrows rose. He vaguely remembered the small, plain woman that he’d seen Asher with in the gardens at the party. Was that Greer? If so, poor woman. Asher had hang-ups by the dozen and he was a good man to party with, but a lousy relationship, Magnus would imagine. The man struggled with lots of demons.