Page 123 of The Broker

“You’re going to be busy,” Ardy commented. “You two going to have any time to plan that wedding?”

Erika chuckled. “Maybe we’ll just elope.”

Troy lifted an eyebrow, like that would never fly with him, before turning and noticing me in the doorway. “Hey, man.”

We’d met twice before, and he seemed like a good guy. I liked how he was still humble, despite his recent fame. My gaze shifted over to Erika, who I hadn’t seen in the office, or even in our neighborhood, since the proposal—but that wasn’t surprising.

The bigger Troy got, the busier she, as his manager, became.

“Congrats on the engagement,” I said.

“Thanks,” they answered in unison.

Ardy waved them off and set his unreadable gaze on me. “Come on in, kid. Close the door and take a seat.”

The first time he’d called me ‘kid,’ I’d thought it was strange, but today I found it oddly comforting. It was a hell of a lot better than him calling me an asshole, so I’d take this as a win.

I’d barely lowered into the seat when he spoke. “If this is to ask for your job back, Noah, let me save you the trouble.”

“No, I’m not here for that. I wanted to meet with you because I have two things I need to do.”

He hesitated, caught off guard. “What?”

“The first is, I want to apologize for keeping my relationship with Charlotte a secret from you. I know it was unprofessional. I promise I tried really hard not to get involved, and when we did... well, then I tried again not to fall for her. But it was all futile. It’s probably as surprising to you as it is to me, but she’s my best friend,” I said it with my whole chest, “and I love her.”

It was like I’d just told him I was from Mars.

He blinked at me, neither accepting nor rejecting what I’d said, unable to process. The tension in the room was so taut, it felt like the air between us was compressed, making it difficult to pull into my lungs. My body was on alert, though, prepared for him to spring into action at any moment and come at me.

Would he climb over the desk? Take a swing at me like he’d threatened to do the last time we’d been together?

He didn’t move. Ardy sat in his chair, locking me under his intimidating gaze, and for half a second, I wondered if this was worse than getting punched in the face. His expression was cryptic, and his eyes were skeptical, evaluating me like he was searching for a lie.

But I was telling the goddamn truth, and I hoped he could see that.

“What’s the other thing?” His tone gave nothing away.

I’d expected him to be mad and was totally unprepared for this stoic version of him. Was this reaction... good? Did it mean he believed me? I chose to press on, like that matter was settled.

“Did Charlotte tell you she was paying me brokerage fees for the deals I negotiated for her?”

Again, he revealed nothing. “No.”

“I didn’t want them, but she insisted,” I explained. “So anything I made off these deals, I looked at as ‘play’ money. ‘Fun’ money. I put it in a separate account and used it for high-risk trades. If I made any profit off it, the plan was to give it to her.” The tension in my chest eased a degree, probably because I weirdly found comfort in playing the market. “Most of the investments lost money, but I had a hunch last week... and it paid off big.”

He gave me a direct look.Get to the point.

“After I sold and took back my investment, there’s still more than ten grand in that fund. I want to give it to her to invest in her business because as far as I’m concerned, it’s her money.”

He shook his head. “You earned that money.”

“Mostly by luck, and I wouldn’t have, without her hard work.” I leaned forward in my chair. “It’s amazing how fast she’s grown her business. You must be so proud.”

Finally, some emotion.

Was that embarrassment or guilt? It made me think he didn’t know how well she’d been doing. Was he too busy to notice, or had she been keeping it from him? Maybe it had exploded so quickly, she wasn’t sure it had staying power and didn’t want to tell anyone until she was sure it wasn’t a flash in the pan.

“I know this cash would be a big help,” I said. “The web design quote she got would eat a significant chunk of it, but she could use the rest for an advertising boost while she has all this momentum.”

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