The Girl With Diamonds (Midtown Brotherhood Book 2)

by Savannah Blevins

  “Confused?”

  Magnolia glanced up to see Stella in her door, laughing.

  “Yeah.” She read the card again. “How do I know when and where to go? And who invited me?”

  Cressida snorted. “I think we all know who invited you.”

  Stella stepped in the room and shut the door. “The party is always sometime between now and Christmas. No one ever knows when or where. You get an invitation, and then one night, a player shows up at your door.”

  The hand holding the card fell to her desk. “You’re serious?”

  “This party is legendary.” Stella smiled, coming closer to take a look at the invitation. Then she frowned. “I don’t think you should go.”

  “What?” Cressida suddenly jumped between them. “Not go? Of course she is going.”

  Stella leaned around Cressida, her stare in full mother hen mode. “This is a private party. No media is allowed. They don’t even release the day and time. It’s an invite to paparazzi to track you down. Ferocia will pay big bucks to the one who can find you.”

  “It’s black tie.” Cressida whipped around, hiding Stella from view. She already had stars in her eyes at the thought. “So you need a dress.”

  “She isn’t going,” Stella insisted.

  Magnolia started shaking her head. “Wait. This is ridiculous. Stella is right. I’m absolutely not going to spend the next week sitting at home every night waiting for some guy to randomly show up at my door so I can put on a pretty dress and be whisked off to some top secret destination for a party.”

  She looked down at the fancy envelope with its beautiful writing.

  “Absolutely not,” she repeated, and she meant it.

  If this was Austin’s big plan to avoid the media, then he could count her out.

  ***

  Okay. She lied. She bought a dress. Then she washed her hair, just in case.

  Stupid Austin Blakely and his secret romantic parties.

  This stupid plan better work. Mrs. Stamcose hadn’t mentioned her spread in the magazine yet, but that didn’t mean another incident wouldn’t be the one that broke the camel’s back. She still needed that job interview.

  Chapter Fourteen

  AUSTIN’S HIDEOUT

  The lights in Midtown were bright tonight. They would still be dull in comparison to the shimmer Magnolia would bring back to his life. The last days of the road trip were long. He slowly began to rehab his knee with the trainers, and they even let him take the ice to free skate with the team before practice. It didn’t take away reality, though.

  Ferocia printed a picture from his stolen phone. She’d sent someone to stalk him and Magnolia at the practice facility. It was a message, and he received it loud and clear.

  He could practically see Ferocia and her beak-like lips smirking amid the cloud of smoke surrounding her too-large desk. She’d rub her long, skeletal hands together, biding her time while she built up her so-called love story between him and Magnolia just so she could tear it back down.

  Ferocia wouldn’t win this time. If The Whisperer wanted to ruin him, that was fine. He’d take it. He wasn’t going to let her bring Magnolia down with him. He’d teach her how to avoid the paparazzi and how to be in the spotlight, but remain boring and bleak.

  A familiar and insistent laughter broke him out of his daze. Leila was turned around in the front seat looking back at him with increased amusement. He glared back at her.

  “This is supposed to be a covert operation.” He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to mask the nervous tension that clouded his thoughts. “You’re ruining it with your excessive giggling.”

  “Sorry.” Leila giggled again. “I’ve never seen my big brother nervous about going to pick up a girl.”

  Austin stopped bouncing his knee. “I’m not nervous.”

  “You’re nervous.” Henrik smirked at him through the rear view mirror from the driver’s seat. “Your socks don’t even match.”

  Leila’s smile widened. “His ears are red too.”

  Austin self-consciously touched his ears. Leila laughed.

  “I’m teasing about your ears. Your socks really don’t match, though.”

  He should have known better than to include them in his plan. For good measure, Austin scooted forward and smacked the back of Henrik’s head. “I can’t help it. This isn’t normally how you ask a girl out on a date.”

  “You mean without giving her the option to say no until you show up at her door? I think it’s pretty perfect.”

  Leila’s features softened. “She won’t say no.”

  Austin had his doubts. He’d meant to find her after the game last night, but she’d been busy interviewing Henrik about his three point showoff. Then she disappeared. They weren’t supposed to mention the party. Ever. It was the number one rule. However, he felt obligated to give her a heads up, and he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He’d feel really stupid showing up alone now.

  Henrik pulled into a parking garage, checking the number one last time to make sure they had the right place. Austin had to interrogate Evan again to find out her home address. Henrik found a parking place and killed the lights. Austin pulled on his coat.

  Leila reached back and squeezed his hand. “Good luck.”

  His stomach sank as he got out of the car. What if she wasn’t home? Magnolia was new to Manhattan. She didn’t know how the party worked. Or even worse. What if she did know and chose to leave on purpose because she didn’t want to go?

  Clammy hands. Queasy stomach. He really should have tracked her down before now. He should have asked her in Calgary when he had the chance. He’d been preoccupied with that stupid picture in The Whisperer, though. How did Ferocia get that picture? Did the purple haired girl work for her? Or was the thief in the market for a quick buck?

  Austin pushed it from his mind as he trudged down the long hallway. Magnolia’s door would be next. He didn’t let himself think about it this time. Everything in his head went haywire when he let himself think about Magnolia for too long. He just knocked.

  Then he had a brief panic attack.

  No one answered.

  Everything inside of him sank to his toes.

  Maybe Magnolia didn’t feel the same. He read the signs wrong. He’d been so certain she flirted with him before that last interview. She’d said she would try it his way.

  “Austin?”

  He whirled around. Magnolia stood at the end of the hallway, three bags of groceries in her arms, wearing big brown boots and a pink puffy jacket. Luxurious raven hair peeked out the corners of a toboggan that almost covered the surprise in her eyes.

  “Hi.” It was all he could manage. The relief was too much.

  She walked down the hallway and set one of the bags down at his feet. “What are you doing here?”

  He stuck his hands in his pockets, inadvertently biting his lip. “You didn’t get my invitation?”

  Her brow furrowed. “Well—yeah. But it’s five o’clock in the afternoon.”

  “So?”

  She looked at him again. “And you’re wearing jeans.” She leaned around the bags that overflowed in her hands. “And a very unfortunate sweater. Are those reindeer doing a keg stand?”

  Austin smiled, pulling out his sweater for a better look at the reindeer who were, in fact, doing a keg stand. “It’s an ugly Christmas sweater party.”

  Magnolia’s head popped up. “Oh.”

  “What?”

  She grabbed her keys out of the pocket of her coat, and he immediately grabbed a bag of groceries. “It’s nothing. Cressida was under the impression that the event was a black tie kind of thing.”

  He followed her inside. “That’s what we tell people. If gossipmongers like Ferocia are busy watching every high-end event in Midtown from now until Christmas, that gives us some space.”

  Magnolia set her groceries on the counter, jerking the toboggan off her head. She had an odd look on her face. Then it hit him. “Did you buy a dress?”
/>
  Her gaze shot to him, a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. She tried not to smile. “Possibly.”

  The brass wires that had been so tight in his chest slowly began to unravel. “So you want to go?”

  Magnolia pulled her jacket off, revealing the tiny sweater she wore over tight black leggings that clung to every curve. Not to mention the strip of sparkly rhinestones that tapered down the leg. “You did invite me.”

  “I know.” Austin began to fidget. He needed something to do with his hands. And his eyes so he’d stop gawking. “I didn’t know if you’d say yes.”

  Magnolia trotted over to a cabinet and started putting away groceries. She looked mischievously back at him. “Why wouldn’t a girl want to accept a date from a guy who has to send an invitation instead of having the balls to ask her himself?”

  He gripped the edge of the counter in front of him. “The invitation is tradition.”

  She stood back up, cocking her hip to the side. “What’s your point?”

  Something low and guttural rumbled in his chest. He enjoyed when she provoked him. He leaned across the counter, his words low but urgent. “Magnolia Cross, would you like to accompany me to a very horrible Christmas party?”

  Her brow lifted as if she might consider it.

  “Ugly clothes. My drunk friends singing nineties karaoke. It’s really a chance of a lifetime.”

  Magnolia grinned as she walked back to the counter. She mimicked his stance, leaning over the edge. Nose to nose, her lips only an inch away from him. “One condition.”

  “And that is?” His eyes studied her lips. Shiny and perfect. And so damn close.

  “Buy a new phone. Then give me your number. That way when you pussy out on calling me, I can call you.”

  He pushed forward, but Magnolia’s lips were gone. She stood with her back against the cabinet, her arms crossed over her chest. Smug.

  His eyes narrowed. So, Magnolia was ready to play. Good to know, because the night was still young. “I’ll buy a new phone.”

  Magnolia smirked. “I’ll go to party.”

  Austin stood up, brushing off his failure. “I brought you a sweater.”

  She scoffed, her hands falling back to her hips. She did that a lot. He liked it. Mostly because he wanted to touch her hips. Pull her closer.

  Magnolia snapped her fingers, bringing his gaze back to her eyes. “What makes you think I don’t have an ugly Christmas sweater?”

  He ran an absent hand through his hair. “You do?”

  She strutted around the counter into the small living room. “You underestimate me, Blakely.”

  At this point—no, he really didn’t.

  “Give me ten minutes,” she added, disappearing around the corner.

  “Five.” He yelled, refusing to let her leave with his mouth gaping open. “After that, I’m coming to look for you.”

  Magnolia’s laugh was evil. Sexy. Most importantly, mind numbing.

  Alone, he glanced around the cramped living room. Magnolia’s apartment was small, but it felt much more like a home than the poor extension of a dorm room he lived in. It smelled good. It smelled like Christmas. Sugar cookies mixed with chocolate and lavender. A tiny three-foot-nothing tree sat in the corner with a string of blinking lights that matched the festive garland above the door.

  The array of shelves overflowed with books and trinkets, and the walls were covered with giant frames of all colors and sizes filled with smiling faces. He wished his apartment looked like this, as if he actually lived there instead of used it as a temporary place to sleep between games.

  “I’m ready.”

  Austin glanced over his shoulder, then immediately turned his entire body around. “Wow.”

  Magnolia held the hideous sweater out, smiling. Giant 3D elf ears sprouted out of her chest. The seams looked like it had been sewn together by a toddler. The entire thing was lopsided and too long. “I know, right? Who knew my sub-par teenage sewing skills would come in handy one day?”

  “No. I meant, wow, as in you look beautiful.”

  She’d taken her hair down. He liked it that way. Free and barreling down her shoulders. There was something missing, though. “Where are your glasses?”

  “In the bathroom. I finally got a new shipment of contacts yesterday.”

  He frowned.

  She tucked her hair behind her ear, going over to grab a pair of black boots to slip over the leggings. “Did you like my glasses?”

  “Maybe.” He crossed the room. “I like you this way too. I pretty much like you anyway you come.”

  She laughed as she stood. “You haven’t seen me first thing in the morning.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  She playfully slugged his arm. “Pervert.”

  “I meant because we’re going to be up all night at this party.”

  Her look simply said yeah right.

  “Okay. You’re right. My mind was totally in the gutter.”

  She grinned. It was cheesy and powerful. She really was beautiful. “I like your place,” he said, trying to keep it casual. “When I get my new phone, you should call me and invite me over.”

  She hummed. “Is that your grand strategy to avoid Ferocia? Hide out in my apartment?”

  “No.” But it was part of his strategy to keep her in—

  Shit. Was that what he was trying to do? Convince her to stay in New York? That hint of something crazy returned to his chest at the thought of Leila’s warning. If everything worked out for Magnolia, she’d have a shot at job in L.A. in the spring. His sister told him that weeks ago, and he thought he’d ignored it. It was there, though, in the back of his mind, and now, apparently, in the front of it, dictating his actions.

  He couldn’t ask Magnolia to stay in Manhattan, especially for him. He could be traded tomorrow, and be in Tampa next week. He didn’t want her to leave, though. Not right now. Not in the spring.

  “Austin?”

  He looked up.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I like you.” He waited, replaying the words and how they sounded. “I like us.”

  “Okay,” she said simply, still eyeing him.

  “I didn’t lie to you before. We are friends with all of the reporters, especially the ones we see every day at MSG, but I don’t want to be only friends with you.”

  She didn’t respond. Magnolia stood there, her eyes wide.

  “I know you don’t see me as just a friend either.”

  This time her brow rose.

  “You’re not friend-zoning me,” he said, a little more authoritative this time. She would try it, he was sure of it. She was too serious about her job not to try to keep things platonic between them. “If you try, I will start removing clothes until I make your cheeks that perfect shade of pink I like.”

  Magnolia bit her lip. “You’re not exactly making friendship sound horrible.”

  “I’m just warning you. I will teach you how to avoid Ferocia, but you should also know this is a date. I meant it to be a date when I sent the invitation.”

  She took a short breath and sighed. “What do you suggest I do, then?”

  “You mean you’re willing to take one of my suggestions?”

  She grinned. “There’s a first time for everything.”

  “Say yes.” Stay here.

  Magnolia picked up her jacket and put it on.

  He looked at her expectantly. “Is that a yes?”

  She laughed, zipping up her jacket until it almost touched her nose. “Well, you did waddle all the way here wearing that knee brace, and according to your health report, you’re not supposed to take it off for any reason. Even if that reason would be to tease me into compliance.”

  She trotted past him toward the door, that familiar, playful sway of her hips back.

  “How considerate of you,” he said through his clenched teeth.

  She looked over her shoulder and smirked. “You’re welcome.”

  ***

  Magnolia sat
in the back seat with him as Henrik whipped in and out of lanes to lose anyone who might have been following them. They couldn’t take any chances tonight. Magnolia inched into the middle of the seat, against his thigh. It wasn’t necessarily because she wanted to touch him. She was too busy laughing with Leila. It didn’t stop his arm from lacing around the back of the seat, and then around her shoulder.

  She didn’t object.

  It was an odd experience for him. He didn’t normally do dates, especially double dates with his sister. It felt easy, though, listening as Magnolia and Leila laughed together. He didn’t care that they laughed at his expense. Leila and her embarrassing childhood stories. How could he care when Magnolia leaned into him, her hand grazing his knee as the rich sound of her voice filled the air around him?

  Henrik pulled into an empty parking space on the edge of Madison Avenue and put his blinkers on. “This is your stop.”

  Magnolia, rightly confused, looked at Henrik. “You’re not getting out?”

  “Yes. Just not here.”

  Austin nudged her with his knee, signaling for her to scoot toward the door. “This is a secret event. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves by thirty players showing up at the same spot. It will draw attention.”

  Magnolia smiled a little. It was mocking. She still had doubts about their plan.

  “I know it sounds ridiculous. But that’s the rules.”

  Leila peeked over the back seat. “And with Ferocia lurking around, we can’t be too cautious.”

  Magnolia stiffened, and Austin thought Leila might have said too much. They hadn’t talked about the picture in the magazine since the day she’d shown it to him. She hadn’t brought up his stolen phone, or worse, asked about the purple-wigged seductress. He didn’t want her to know that part. It was humiliating that his entire team knew about it, thanks to Henrik.

  Magnolia eased out of the car. She pulled her coat tighter around her, and he did the same. Manhattan had polarized itself the past few weeks. The temperature dived past freezing and never recovered. He motioned for Magnolia to follow him as he slid seamlessly through the crowd on the street. He grabbed her hand. It was a reflex, or at least that was his excuse. The crowd thickened closer to the crosswalk, and he didn’t want to lose her in the mix. Her fingers were icy, and when the crosswalk signal turned red, he turned to her. “Come here.”