“Ally, I want you to leave her alone, and I mean it.”
“I’ve left her alone, except for when you bring her around me. As far as I’m concerned, when she’s on my turf, she’s fair game.”
“Why are you doing this to her? I thought you were my friend.” “I am your friend,” she spit out.
“Then, why can’t you respect me enough to trust me to decide who I want to be with?”
“You’re so much better than she is. I just don’t understand why you can’t see that. Is it because she has money? Or because she is kind of pretty? Or maybe because she has that whole damsel-in-distress thing going on? Help me understand your reasoning.”
“You don’t have to understand what it is about her. As my friend, you should simply be happy for me and respect my decisions.”
“I can’t respect your decisions when it comes to her. She’ll break you one day, Jesse.
And when she does, I’ll be the one here to help you pick up the pieces.”
I was getting nowhere fast, and I knew it. I had always admired Ally for her refusal to back down, but right now, it was more annoying than anything. I had no clue how to get through to her.
“Look, let’s make a deal. I’ll try to keep Emma away from you as much as I can, but when I do bring her around you, you’ll play nice, or you’ll just ignore her. Can you do that?”
She looked at me as she debated on whether or not to agree to my deal. “I don’t want to see her ever.”
“I can’t promise that. She’s a part of my life now.”
She sighed as she leaned against the door. “Fine. I’ll try to ignore her when you bring her around, but you have to try to keep her away from me most of the time.” “I can agree to that,” I said as I smiled.
“I don’t want to lose you over some sk—”
I raised an eyebrow, and she stopped mid-sentence.
“Fine. I don’t want to lose you over some girl. Happy?”
“Delirious.”
“Yay,” she said sarcastically as she waved her hands in the air. “Now, leave me alone.
My bed is calling my name.”
“Night, kid,” I said as I walked off her porch.
“Stop calling me that!” she shouted.
I ignored her. She was my kid sister as far as I was concerned, and there was no way that I was going to change her nickname after all these years.
I slept on and off with Emma next to me as we flew over the Atlantic. As we were landing in London, I woke up with her head on my shoulder. I shook her gently to wake her up. She groaned as she opened her eyes.
“We’re here,” I said as I felt the plane coming to a stop.
“What time is it?” she asked as the stewardess was walking by.
“Just after midnight, London time.”
“So, we basically just spent an entire day on a plane,” I said.
“I guess so. I’m exhausted. I just want to get off of this thing and check into our hotel.”
“Me, too,” I said as I stood and pulled her up with me.
The stewardess wished us a good evening as we exited the plane.
Despite the late hour, a car was waiting outside of the airport for us. The driver loaded our bags into the back before driving us to The Connaught. My mouth dropped open as we pulled up in front of the building. It was massive with lights shining everywhere. A doorman helped the driver unload our bags while Emma and I walked to the front desk to checkin.
The place was as spectacular inside as it was outside. The floors were a black marble. The entire lobby was made out of dark wood with white trim. Two carpeted staircases led to the upstairs floors. I sincerely hoped that they had an elevator or that we were on a lower floor. This place was several stories high, and I didn’t want to drag our luggage all the way to the top floor.
“Can I help you?” a man in a tailored suit asked from behind the counter. “Yes, we need to checkin. My father left a room under his name here for me.”
I waited as she provided her father’s name. As soon as she’d said it, the man’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.
“Of course, Miss Preston. We were told that you might be arriving late. Your father reserved the Grosvenor Suite for you and your guest. Jace will show you to your room and help with your bags. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you,” Emma said politely as she took the two key cards from him.
We followed a man who I assumed was Jace as he led us down the hall to a line of elevators. We were silent as we rode the elevator up to the floor where our suite was located. Jesus, we don’t have a room. We have a suite. I didn’t care if Emma took me to every continent on the planet. I would never get used to this.