His Forbidden Love (Manhattan Billionaires #2) - Ava Ryan Page 0,68

a fancy private university, for fuck’s sake. I guess it goes to show that book smarts don’t translate to emotional intelligence or self-awareness. I’m just grateful that Liam wasn’t here to witness my breakthrough moment. He would’ve laughed his ass off. “You don’t have to be so smug. Don’t act like you’ve had your shit together this whole time.”

“Not at all,” she says serenely. “The important thing to remember is that I got my shit together before you did.”

“Fair point,” I say, laughing.

“So you love her? You want to marry her?” she asks eagerly. “I’m ready for a super-cool sister-in-law. God knows I suffered enough with the snotty last one.”

We all did. “I’ll get back to you on that,” I say. Not because I don’t know. But because it seems inappropriate to share that kind of information with Mia before I’ve told Ally herself.

“What? You can’t clam up on me now. You can’t leave me hanging!”

“I absolutely can,” I say, digging into my waffle with gusto. All this emotional turmoil works up an appetite.

“Listen,” Liam says, hurrying back inside and probably sparing me from being murdered in broad daylight by my sister. He zeros in on me as he puts his phone back into his pocket and resumes his seat. “Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. You either love her, or you don’t. You know which one it is. If you love her, go get her. And stop bothering us with your bullshit. We’re busy people. We don’t want to be bothered running down to Greenwich Village to help you out all the time. Especially when we also have to talk Jake down from the ledge his sexy nanny’s got him on. I’ve only got so much energy for you two clowns. Okay? Okay.”

He tears into his Napoleon, leaving my sister and I to burst into laughter as we fist-bump each other across the table.

18

Ally

I endure an exhausting day at the hospital. I’m not sure which one keeps me busier—trying not to cry or trying to avoid Michael. The emotional strain on top of the complete lack of sleep last night makes me cranky. So I hurry home at the earliest opportunity, shower and throw on my cute summer jammies. I’m determined to unwind while huddled on the sofa watching the latest true crime documentary and eating pizza and leftover birthday cake.

I’ve just arranged my blanket and reached for the remote when someone knocks at the door.

I freeze and stifle a curse. Only one person ever knocks like that. So much for telling the doorman not to automatically let Michael up anymore.

I stay right where I am, thinking hard. I could wait him out and pretend I’m not here, but then I wouldn’t get to watch anything because he’d hear the TV. Plus, I have no idea how long he’d stick around if he’s got a bee in his bonnet about speaking with me—which he apparently does—and I can’t very well pretend not to be home when the pizza arrives. I’m not ready to speak with Michael and hear his lame excuses for not feeling the same way about me that I feel about him, but I’m unwilling to sacrifice my dinner to cowardice. I guess I could—

“I know you’re in there, Ally,” comes his voice through the door. “I can hear you avoiding me.”

I throw off the blanket and head for the door, furious that I’m trapped and therefore forced to deal with him at my own damn apartment, which should be a safe zone. Especially after I put so much effort into avoiding him earlier and barely emerged with my sanity intact. I deserve some relaxation. I deserve ten lousy seconds without thoughts of him eating away at every corner of my brain.

“What are you even doing up here?” I call. “I told the doorman not to let you up anymore.”

“He mentioned that. But when I gave him a large tip to thank him for taking such good care of you, he seemed to change his mind about the whole thing.”

“Oh my God,” I say, smacking my forehead and pacing in front of the door. Now, on top of everything else, I need to deal with a disloyal doorman. This is all hitting way too close to home. “What do you want, Dr. Jamison?”

“Dr. Jamison. That’s a step in the wrong direction,” he mutters. “I want to talk to you. We could have done it at the hospital if you hadn’t been avoiding me all day. Now I