“Julianne.”
She whipped around, and her heart leaped as she once again found herself peering past Roscoe in search of Will. But he was nowhere to be found. She pulled in a deep, calming breath, forcing her gaze back to Will’s agent.
“I owe you an apology,” Roscoe said, sheepishly. “It seems I jumped to some very wrong conclusions about you.”
Julianne was too stunned to reply.
“Your brother set Will straight today, though. And he, in turn, set me straight. The assumptions I made were totally off base. Even under the defense of protecting a client and friend. I sincerely apologize.”
Julianne hadn’t heard a word past the part about Stephen setting Will straight. “Stephen spoke to Will today?” she repeated.
“Thank goodness for miracles,” Annabeth said from somewhere behind Roscoe.
“Yeah.” Roscoe stepped back to include Annabeth, Hank, Carly, and Shane in the conversation. “Right after the hearing was canceled. He explained that you didn’t know anything about the hearing. You were simply defending Will, and your brother took advantage.” He looked around, confused. “Will didn’t tell you your brother spoke to him?”
“I haven’t seen Will.”
Julianne’s heart was pounding as if she’d raced up ten flights of stairs. Will knew the truth. Could this possibly mean they could start again? Her knees began to shake and she reached out a hand to steady herself on something. Brody appeared at her side, propping her up.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” he asked.
She was definitely not okay. Instead, she was a quivering mass of nerves as she searched the crowded room for any sign of her husband.
“Will didn’t bring you here?” Roscoe asked, a touch of concern in his voice.
“No,” Annabeth answered for her. “Carly and I brought her.”
“I don’t understand. I dropped Will off at his car an hour ago. He was on his way to talk to you.”
The bottom fell out of Julianne’s stomach, and she gripped more tightly onto Brody’s arm.
“We just left there,” Annabeth said, reaching for her cell phone. “Maybe we crossed paths.”
“No. Like I said, he would have been there almost an hour ago.” Roscoe pulled out his own phone.
But Will hadn’t come to the house. And suddenly, Julianne saw the situation through his eyes. Will was giving up without a fight, most likely figuring he wasn’t worthy of a relationship. She was familiar with his game plan because it had been her own rationale right up until a few weeks ago. Now, she realized true love was messy and worth fighting for. Fury replaced her anguish and Julianne ripped her arm off Brody’s, her weak legs suddenly strengthened by anger. The idiot Neanderthal was jumping to conclusions—again. This time, though, she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
Annabeth and Roscoe were dialing their cell phones to no avail. Will was off playing the martyr somewhere. Most likely at his loft.
She turned to Brody. “Take me to him. Now.”
Brody flinched minutely at her words, but then his mouth curled in a devilish smile. “Your wish is my command.”
Julianne stalked out of the room. Brody took a few steps before turning back and grabbing Roscoe and Shane’s cell phones out of their hands. “No way am I gonna let you boys warn him. I’d hate to spoil William the Conqueror’s ass-wuppin’.”
Will tossed the pizza boxes and take-out containers into the large trash bag. His loft was a mess. Thirty years as a neat freak and in one week it had all gone to hell. Time to right the ship. Still dressed in his suit, minus the torturous tie, Will had immediately set out to clean the place up once he arrived home. At the very least, it would keep his mind off Julianne.
As he loaded dishes into the dishwasher, he heard the key turn in the front door lock. Shit! He huffed out an exasperated sigh.
“Dammit, Brody, I should have broken every one of your million-dollar fingers last night and taken my key back.”
When Brody didn’t respond with his typical sarcastic retort, Will turned around. His lungs seized. It wasn’t Brody standing on the other side of his kitchen counter, but Julianne. The rest of his body heated up at the sight of her. Wearing a dress that looked like it untied with the pull of a string, she wobbled slightly on her wedge heels before purposely striding toward him. Silently she placed the key on the counter. Then she slid off her wedding band and dropped it down beside the key. The ping of the gold hitting granite reverberated throughout Will’s nerve endings.
He stood frozen as she maneuvered through the living area, littered with Owen’s baby items and a week’s worth of laundry. She glanced at the sofa he’d been using as a bed, piled high with a pillow and blankets. Reaching down, she pulled out the Elmo doll Owen had been gumming the day before.
Owen!
“Where’s Owen?” The words came out raspy because he was still struggling to catch his breath.
She looked over her shoulder at him, and something flared in her amber eyes. He thought it looked a little like seduction, but he figured that was just wishful thinking on his part.
Her full lips curved slightly. “He’s at the party. The one your friends and teammates threw for you.”
Nope, definitely not seduction. Will flinched from the bite of her sarcasm. His teammates would take his absence as another affront, but he hadn’t felt in the mood for a party after realizing he couldn’t hold her in their marriage.
“He was happily ensconced in the heavily tattooed arms of someone named Mongo, who was introducing your son to his first beer.” She tucked the Elmo doll to her breast and moved toward the windows.
She was goading him. Will wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
He decided to play along. “You shouldn’t have left him with Mongo. He’s an offensive player.”
Julianne tsked. “Just because he has a few tattoos doesn’t make him offensive.”
Will stifled a groan as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand that was less steady than it had been before she arrived. “I assume my mother was there.”
“Yep.” She kept her back to him. “But she’s too busy playing kissy-face with Hank to watch over Owen. Mongo will have to do.”
Ah hell, he should have gone to the party. But he didn’t want to go because he’d been certain that his mother would ensure Julianne would be there. And he’d made up his mind about giving her her freedom. From now on, the choices would be up to Julianne. Seeing her again would just tempt fate.
Except she’d left the party and was standing in his loft. The wedding band on the counter indicated she’d made a choice. His body ached to take her in his arms and persuade her to change her mind, but that was how this whole mess started. They needed to talk.
“Julianne . . .”
“You said there was a view of the harbor here.” She quickly turned from the window. “I don’t see the harbor.”
He’d misread her eyes. They weren’t seductive, they were anxious and maybe a little angry. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly as she drew in quick short breaths. Elmo was clutched in a death grip to her breast. Will wanted to soothe her, but he didn’t dare touch her.
“Um.” His mind tried to wrap itself around her question. “Upstairs. The view is from the bedroom.”
She pointed to the stairs at the side of the room. “Up there?”
No! He couldn’t sleep up there as it was. If he let Julianne up into his bedroom, he’d have to freaking move out. Instead he nodded, like an idiot. “Uh-huh.”
His body throbbed as he watched her sashay up the stairs to his bedroom. Clearly still in idiot mode, he followed her. When he got to the landing, she was standing with her back to him, the glory of the Inner Harbor silhouetting her. He leaned a shoulder against one of the pillars supporting the ceiling, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep from hauling her to the bed.