Page 17 of Risk It All

Anthony’s head whips my way, a scowl on his face and I hold my hands up in a don’t shoot gesture.

“Not like that!I just meant that he was nice.”

“Uh huh,” Anthony says suspiciously, buckling up as I back out of the spot and head toward the highway.

“Are you ready for the last six-hour stretch?”I ask as we hit the highway.

I laugh as Anthony groans in the passenger seat next to me.

It’s just after one o’clock in the morning when we pull into the underground parking beneath his brother’s penthouse.He directs me over to one of his parking spots and we both climb out, groaning as we stretch.

“Maybe you should have called your brother.So he was expecting us, you know?”

“He’s going to be so happy to see me, the time won’t matter.”

“Somehow I don’t think that you’re telling the truth about that.”

Anthony just gives me a cocky grin as we both grab our bags from the trunk and then head over to the private elevator.Anthony punches in some numbers on the keypad before we start to move up, up, up.

We hit the top floor and the doors slide open.Anthony walks in like he owns the place, and I can’t help but smile as he swaggers into the living room.

There’s a woman in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water, and her eyes widen when she sees us walk in.She grins, ripping the earbuds out of her ears and runs toward us.

“Anthony!”She hugs him, grinning from ear to ear.“What are you doing here?Alexander didn’t tell me that you were coming for a visit.”

“He didn’t?”Anthony asks, acting surprised as a man who looks like a younger version of Anthony joins us in the kitchen.

“That’s because I didn’t know.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Anthony says and his brother gives him a dry look.

“Remind me to change the code to the elevator tomorrow,” he whispers to his wife, who elbows him.

“We’re so happy that you’re here!And you brought someone with you!”

“This is Emerson.Emerson, this charming asshole is my brother, Alexander, and this is hismuchbetter half, Eden.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” I tell them, hugging Eden back when she steps toward me.

“Can we crash here for a couple nights?”Anthony asks them.

“Yes.”

“No,” Alexander says at the same time but then he rolls his eyes.

“The guest rooms are made up,” Eden says, as she starts to lead us up a set of stairs.

She shows us to a room and I set my bags down next to the dresser.

“Anthony knows his way around and we’ll be right downstairs if you need anything.It’s late, so we’ll catch up in the morning,” she says, stifling a yawn as she heads out the door and back toward the stairs.

“‘Night!”I call after her.

Anthony closes the door and points out the attached bathroom.

This whole penthouse is huge.I think the guest room is bigger than Layla’s and my apartment back home.

“This place is awesome,” I say, poking my head into the walk-in closet before I head into the bathroom.

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