Eventually, Eliza rushed to the kitchen and made quick work of uncorking the champagne she had on hand for New Years, all the while scolding Till for having bought the cheap stuff. Ash went to work passing glasses to everyone, and Flint made a toast, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to hear what he was saying.
I was in a state of absolute shock while staring down at Liv James tucked under my arm, admiring her engagement ring—my ring.
I was right. The ring changed nothing.
That one simple syllable in the word yes though?
Changed my entire life.
“YOU HAVE A GOOD NIGHT,” Rich, the night guard, said.
“You too.” I smiled warmly and drove out of the parking lot.
At the first stoplight, I dug my phone out of my purse in order to type out a text to Quarry, letting him know I was on my way home. But I realized my phone must have died somewhere over the last three hours, and my charger was connected to the wall in my office.
“Shit.” I breathed, debating the merits of circling back around to get it versus just driving all the way to the new house without a phone.
It had just started snowing, and the roads were bound to be icy. Quarry would probably have a shit-fit if he knew I was even considering driving without a phone. I groaned to myself then pulled a U-turn.
The parking lot was empty, and the building was dark. It scared the crap out of me, but I sucked it up and managed to get through the front door, immediately clicking the Christmas music on over the new intercom.
Less than a minute later, I was once again arming the alarm when a sudden pounding on the glass door made me jump.
“Shit!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
My heart was pounding as I took in the large shadow lurking outside the door. It took me a second, but I smiled when I recognized the bright-blue eyes staring through the glass.
“Sorry,” he mouthed, lifting his hands in apology before shoving them into the pockets of his heavy coat.
I twisted the lock and pushed the door wide. “Jesus, Don. You scared me to death.”
“I knocked quietly at first, but I guess you didn’t hear me.” He looked up at the speakers on the ceiling. “I see the intercom system got fixed.”
I sighed and locked the door behind him. “Yeah. A lot of things have changed around here.” I took a giant step back and dramatically lifted my arms.
The room instantly illuminated with lights.
Don laughed and nodded approvingly. “Motion sensors. Nice.”
“Oh, you have no idea. My dad and Quarry got their hands on this place right after you left. New security system. New lights. New intercoms. Guard at the door.”
He leaned away and frowned. “Is the guard imaginary?”
“Ha! No. Rich just left. I circled back around to grab my charger.” I lifted the cord as evidence when his frowned deepened.
“You shouldn’t be here alone, Liv. It’s dangerous.”
“Well, so is driving in the snow with no cell phone.”
He gave me a you-should-know-better glare that made me roll my eyes then smile.
“Okay, Pops. I’ll be more careful next time. But I’m glad I came back. What are you doing here?”
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rocked onto his toes. “I was on my way home and saw your car. Decided to stop in and see if you’d already replaced me.”
“Replace you? Are you kidding me? No way.” I playfully slapped his arm.
He immediately grabbed my hand. “Holy shit. Look at that rock.”
My cheeks heated. “Quarry proposed last night.”
“Uh, yeah. I noticed.” He lifted my hand to inspect my ring. “Christ. I bet the astronauts on the space station have probably noticed too.”
“Quarry isn’t exactly a simple and understated kind of guy.”
“I’d say not.” He smiled tenderly. “You got a minute? How about you plug in your phone and catch me up on the last month while it charges.”
“Well…” I drawled, glancing down at my watch.
My parents and the Page family would already be waiting for me at our house, but if it meant I got Don back, Quarry would happily keep them entertained.
“Only if you being here means you’re back.”
He patted his stomach. “I don’t know. Are there any Christmas cookies left? I’ve lost five pounds over the last month. I’m borderline emaciated.”
“You happen to be in luck. I brought in a batch tonight.”
Ten minutes of catching up with Don wouldn’t hurt anyone.
It hurt everyone.
“We need to talk,” Flint said when I opened the front door.
Leo and Slate were stoking the fire, and Sarah and Erica were cooking in the kitchen.
“Hey, Q.” Ash pushed to her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “Where’s Liv?”
I held Flint’s troubled gaze as I replied, “She should be here any minute. She had a class to teach tonight.”
“Babe, can you go call the babysitter and check on the boys?” Flint asked.
She huffed. “We’ve been gone ten minutes. I’m sure they are fine.”
“Humor me,” he ordered dryly.
She rolled her eyes and flittered away.
“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
“This is not public yet, but I just heard from my guy at the boxing administration that Davenport is being stripped of his belt.”