“She told me she has them with her—they’re on her key ring. The only thing is, she’s at work right now.”

“Ah,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure what this meant. Margaux was a freelance stylist/designer/photographer, bouncing from one thing to the next with seemingly no larger plan. Even hearing secondhand about Margaux’s freewheeling career and utter lack of structure was enough to make me feel like I was going to break out in hives.

“She’s on a shoot,” Mateo said, maybe sensing I needed more clarification. “She gave me the address, though.”

“Great,” I said, giving him a quick, tight smile. I certainly hadn’t planned on seeing all my stepsiblings in one night, but that was apparently what was going to happen. “Well, if you could just write down the address? And maybe text her I’m coming?”

Mateo gave me a skeptical look that plainly said Come on, then got to his feet and headed into one of the bedrooms, emerging a second later with a black motorcycle jacket. “Of course I’m coming with you,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re only in this situation because of my sister. I’m not going to leave you to figure this out with no phone.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. It wasn’t that I wanted to do this with Mateo, exactly, but the fact I wouldn’t have to do it all alone, and stand outside another door hoping someone would let me in, was hitting me harder than I realized it would. I knew I didn’t deserve this—not at all—and the fact that he was willing to help me took my breath away for a moment. “Thank you.”

Alyssa jumped up and cuddled Brad’s face in her hands. “Goodbye, my love,” she said to him seriously. “You’re the cutest and goodest boy that there ever was, and I want to make sure you know that.” Brad licked her hand, and she beamed, then looked at Mateo. “We’re still going out later, right?”

“Of course,” Mateo said. “In Russia, bar crawls you.”

“Exactly,” she agreed with a nod.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, waving at Archie and Alyssa.

“You as well,” Archie said. “I think you’ve saved us from any more inspections for the rest of the year, so we are eternally in your debt.”

“ ‘Thanks’ works too,” Mateo said, rolling his eyes at him. I picked my coat up off the couch, gave it a shake, and followed Mateo out the door and into the hallway.

“So where is the shoot?” I asked, setting Brad down on the carpet and pulling on my coat.

“She just gave me the address,” he said, squinting down at his phone. “1000 Fifth Avenue.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds swanky.”