“Okay.”
I spent the remainder of the drive listening to Jonathan recount how many years he’d worked for Max and how he loved this kind of work. It paid handsomely and granted him and his wife the ability to pay off their mortgage and buy an RV, which they took with them for a whole month of travel in June before the weather got too hot. Before working for Max, he’d been an attendant at a luxury hotel in Silicon Valley and Max recruited him into his employ.
“He’s a good man, that Mr. Fisher,” Jonathan said as we came to a stop outside a thirty-story apartment building of shiny glass, large balconies, and a grand entrance with marble pillars. “This is you, Miss Clarke.”
I gazed up at the amazing structure. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” Jonathan got out and began unloading my bags.
I sat in the front seat paralyzed by the splendor of the building.
Jonathan came around and opened my door for me with a chuckle. “Max warned me you might be overwhelmed by it. This is one of the best apartments in Silicon Valley. It’s resort-style living at its finest. There’s a rooftop pool and bar for your leisure, as well as an indoor gym, library, dance room, and conference rooms.” Jonathan handed me a key that he fished out of his pocket. “You’re on the top floor, room thirty twenty-four. Would you like help up?”
I shook my head but no words came out of me.
Jonathan gave me a slight bow. “Enjoy your evening, Miss Clarke. Remember you have my number if you need anything at all.”
It took me a minute to get myself going, but eventually I made my way through the doors into the lobby of the building. People milled around on polished white floors beneath a crystal chandelier. I made my way to the elevators and rode to the top floor, where I wandered down a wide, well-lit hallway to my place at the end.
A corner unit, of course.
I pushed through the door and dragged my bags in behind me.
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
The door latched closed behind me as I scanned the apartment. Max had downplayed my accommodations significantly. This place was beautiful.
Like the lobby, it had glossy white floors, but they were broken up by plush carpets in shades of white or soft gray. There was hardly any furniture in the place and I was glad for that because it let me soak in all the details of the embossed wallpaper, stone fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling black-trimmed windows. Down below, about a mile to the south, was Apple headquarters.
I burst outside onto my balcony and rushed to the railing. The sun beat down on my shoulders and top of my head as I gazed out at the impressive structure. I’d only ever seen pictures of the round building, designed to reduce earthquake shaking by eighty percent. It was almost a mile in circumference and was often referred to as the Spaceship because of the earthquake tech.
I couldn’t believe I was going to be working there. The butterflies in my stomach were now swirling with excitement. I found my phone and held it up to the view as I dialed Piper.
This was going to knock her on her ass.
Chapter 6
Max
Pregnant. She’s pregnant. With my baby.
Shawn scampered along beside me. “At one o’clock, you have a tour with one of the design teams. I can push that back to two o’clock if your meeting at noon runs late.”
This isn’t how I was supposed to become a father.
Shawn and I hooked a right and made our way down the hall toward my office.
My assistant’s eyes flicked from me to the calendar he referred to in his hands. “Do you want to take lunch before or after the meeting? It’s going to be hard to squeeze it in with the tour booked so close to the meeting. That was an oversight on my part. Sorry, boss. I mean Max.”
How was this even possible? How far along was she? How long had it been since Sienna and I had—
“Max?”
I blinked at my assistant. “Sorry, what?”
Shawn frowned. “We can do this later.”
“No, no, I’m listening.”
“When do you want to have lunch?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, and we continued making our way to my office.
“Of course it matters. Here, how about we…”
I didn’t hear the rest of what Shawn said, but I nodded along anyway because he was always capable of making my schedule work better than I was.
My heart hadn’t stopped racing all week. Ever since that call with Sienna, I’d felt like someone stuck a knife in my gut and left it there just for kicks.
I hadn’t told a soul about this new development and didn’t intend to until it was absolutely necessary. My grandmother wanted great-grandchildren desperately but she wouldn’t want them this way. And Holly?
I grimaced. Holly couldn’t stand Sienna.
She’s going to kill me.
“Janie should be here any minute,” Shawn said, his attention on his calendar.
I stopped walking again. Shit.
“Right,” I breathed.
I’d completely forgotten that Janie started today. Hell, I’d forgotten she landed yesterday, even though she texted me. I meant to give her a call last night and check in and see how she was feeling but I was too busy trying to wrap my head around what my future was going to look like now that I was going to be a father.
I’d always wanted to have children of my own. I’d just been starting to wonder if that would ever be in the cards for me and now, here I was, on my way to fatherhood.
With the wrong woman.
This wasn’t what I wanted. What was it going to cost to have Sienna in my life forever now?
Too much.
The thought made my skin itch.
But I couldn’t abandon her and the baby. I would stand by Sienna and make sure our child had everything they needed. Sienna might be crazy, but I would damn well make sure I was there to guarantee the child was loved, safe, and given every chance in this unfair world to succeed. With a mother like Sienna, they’d need all the help they could get, and I could give that.
My entire future was shifting before my eyes.
“Max, what’s going on with you?” Shawn asked, putting a hand on my arm.
I blinked. “What?”
“You’ve been somewhere else all morning. Are you sleeping?”
“Yes,” I lied. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
Shawn licked his lips. “I’m just… I’m starting to worry, sir.”
I arched an eyebrow.
Shawn swallowed. “I’m starting to worry, Max.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Shawn rubbed the back of his neck and looked around to make sure we were alone. We were. “Forgive me but I don’t believe you.”
I narrowed my eyes at my assistant.
Shawn cleared his throat. “You’re falling asleep at your desk. You showed up late three times this week. You’ve missed meetings. You’re hardly ever actually present when you are here, and half the time, you’re not listening to me. Something is up. I’m not the only one who’s noticed. If you need something, just tell me. It’s my job to help.”
“Everything is fine, Shawn. It’s personal. I’m handling it.”