I checked my watch automatically, more out of habit than anything else. “Where is ‘here’ exactly?”
“The house. That big, historical one I told you about. On Astor.”
My stomach dropped. “Are you safe?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, then hesitated. “I mean, physically, yeah, I’m probably safe. Emotionally? Well, that’s undetermined.”
I was already grabbing my keys. “What’s going on, Killer? Why does it sound like you’re being held at knifepoint?”
“I had an appointment to tour this place today and I…” She trailed off for a beat. “I just need you to get here.”
I exhaled, relief and affection tangling in my chest. “I’m on my way.”
“Thank you, and Alex?”
“Yeah.”
“I want it on record that this kitchen is incredible. I wouldn’t be asking you to drop everything and come if it wasn’t worth it.”
The line went dead, but I smiled to myself as I headed for the elevator, already texting my driver and Deborah to let her know to cancel my next meeting. A few months ago, a call like that would’ve sent me straight into damage-control mode, worst-case scenarios lining up in my head like dominoes.
Now, it just made me move faster. If Jane needed me, I was there. Always. No matter what I had to cancel or postpone to make it happen.
It had been a good couple of months since we’d been back in Chicago. Better than good, actually. Fucking amazing.
The buyout had gone through cleanly, easier and faster than anyone had expected, and Jane had stepped into the CEO role at Thayer like she’d been born for it. Which, I supposed, she had been, but still.
Watching her take control of that first meeting had been something else. She’d been calm, precise, and relentless in a waythat made people lean forward instead of pushing back. I’d never been more turned on than I had been in that moment.
Quarter Two numbers were already turning around, with new contracts in place, smarter manufacturing timelines, and confidence in the company slowly being restored, both internally and on the street. People listened when she spoke, not because of her last name, but because she knew exactly what she was doing and it showed.
We’d restructured the board, too. Isaac, Jane’s eldest brother who had been finishing his engineering degree at Baylor when everything had gone down with Thayer, had come on first. Sterling had formally joined us, which had surprised exactly no one, and Jameson had followed not long after, bringing his usual mix of charm and sharp instincts to the table.
Trent had taken a seat as well, turning it into the strangest version of a family affair I’d ever seen, but somehow, also the most functional. Board meetings had turned into excuses for reunions, with Laney, Sadie, and Charlotte usually flying in with their husbands—and their kids—when they needed to be here in person.
Jane thrived on it. All of it, but especially having Isaac back in town and by her side, on her board, where they’d both always hoped he would be. She’d also enjoyed bonding with my sister and my cousins’ wives, and these days, I swore she was closer to them than I was.
I pulled up outside the mansion less than twenty minutes later. It was massive with a stone façade and iron gates, the kind of place with history baked into its bones, but somehow, it was also warm. It didn’t look like a historic landmark as much as a place where someone could actually live. Wherewecould actually live.
It wasn’t far from the St. Regis, but this wasn’t about square footage, or resale value, or whether the windows were original.It was aboutus,building something that wasn’t transactional or strategic.
Busy didn’t stop. It never would. My days were still packed with meetings, calls, and contracts that needed my name at the bottom. Jane worked just as hard, if not harder, her calendar a masterpiece of color-coded chaos, but somewhere between it all, we’d found balance.
I stood in front of the place for a second longer than necessary, my hands on my hips as I took it all in. Jane had been right about this house. It wasn’t just nice, it wasright.
Grand without being cold. Old without feeling stuck in the past. Homey and ready for us to move in but majestic in a way that made it demand respect. It was everything we’d talked about in fragments between meetings and late-night takeout. I was already planning on calling Nate and finding out how fast I could close when I stepped inside.
“Jane?” I called, looking around the spacious foyer, but there was no sign of her.
Her voice floated down from somewhere above instead. “Alex? I’m upstairs.”
Something in her tone slowed me down before it sped me up. It wasn’t that same panic I’d heard on the phone, but it wasn’t quite right either. My heart tripped over itself and I raced toward the sweeping staircase just off the foyer, grabbing the banister and taking the stairs two at a time, my shoes echoing softly against the wood.
At the top of the stairs, the hallway stretched out, doors on either side, but most of them were empty rooms waiting to be claimed. One was clearly a library. Bare shelves lined the walls with a huge fireplace in the center of one, and I nearly smiled at the memory of telling her on our honeymoon that we’d have one of these one day.
But my heart was still hammering just a little too hard to smile, unease snaking through my gut. “Jane?”
“I’m here.” She appeared out of a room at the far end, one hand resting on the doorframe as she smiled at me.
