fed you the last ‘Dane is evil’ speech, yes. He was trying to cause trouble between us; trying to make my life difficult—I was just demonstrating that I can return the favor. Travis used to play a weekly card game at the casino with a bunch of wealthy assholes who’ll gamble everything from money to animals. Now he can’t anymore, and he hates that. But he hasn’t yet backed down.”
“He can no doubt feel his share of your trust fund slipping away from him—he was never going to take that lying down.” I really would love to throttle the weasel for being so greedily determined to attain money and assets that weren’t rightfully his that he’d actually fuck with his brother’s life this way. “They were probably lying that Jen banded with them over this.”
“She thinks the same as they do when it comes to you and me, so there’s every chance she was involved.”
“At least Kent had nothing to do with it.”
We arrived at o-Verve a short while later. Inside the building, I’d no sooner fired up my computer than Hanna appeared at my desk. I smiled and pulled a card out of my purse. “Happy birthday. Your usual gift card is inside.”
She took it with a huge grin. “Thank you. Like my badge?”
I eyed the round, “It’s my birthday and I’ll curse if I want to” badge she’d pinned to her shirt. “It screams ‘class.’”
“I know.” Leaning forward, she whispered, “I’m guessing you fucked Dane’s brains out last night.”
I tensed. “What?”
“Well I saw him walk into the building a few minutes ago. He’s no longer snarling and glowering and generally scaring people.”
Oh, right. “Sex is a good outlet for stress.”
“Here, here. So, are you still coming out for drinks after work tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course.” A bunch of people from o-Verve went to a local bar every year on the Friday closest to her birthday.
“Ace! I’ll see you later.”
“Later.” Turning back to my computer, I got to work.
I’d worried that just maybe things between Dane and I would get a little weird as the day went on, but they didn’t. There was no awkwardness, no tension, no cracks in our work dynamics. It was honestly as if nothing had happened last night. But then, for Dane, it really had been nothing. Just emotionless, stress-relieving sex. I told myself that that didn’t bother me, but it was a damn lie.
The day seemed to go by superfast. Before long, I was slipping on my coat, ready to leave. It was only then that Dane announced he wouldn’t be coming home yet—he’d accepted an invitation to a last-minute dinner meeting.
It occurred to me that he’d attended a few of those recently. There had also been evenings where he’d returned to o-Verve alone and hadn’t come back home until late. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was trying to avoid me.
Well, whatever.
No, not whatever. He’d asked me to move into his unnecessarily large house, and then he’d developed a habit of leaving me there alone a lot of the time. When he was at home, he might as well have been elsewhere.
Yeah, okay, it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t like company. And no, there was nothing wrong with that. But there was something dull about just the thought of going back to such a large, empty house, even if it was beautiful.
As I hopped into the sleek car outside, I smiled at Sam. “Could you take me to my father’s house, please?”
The driver returned my smile. “Of course.”
“Thanks.”
When he finally pulled up outside Simon’s home, I said my goodbyes to Sam, assured him I’d catch a cab home later, and then crossed to my father’s front door. I used my key to let myself inside, calling out, “Dad?”
Simon popped his head out of the kitchen and beamed at me. “Vienna, I didn’t know you were coming.”
“I thought I’d surprise you.”
“Well, you did.” He gave me a tight hug as I entered the kitchen. “Missed you, sweetheart. No Dane?”
I shook my head. “Not this time. He’s at a meeting.”
“Story of his life, I suppose.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Well, what brings you here?”
Following Simon further into the kitchen, I inhaled the delicious scents of meat, bolognaise sauce, and onions. My stomach rumbled. “I wanted to see you,” I told him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m just about to dish out some dinner. I can share. Meatballs sound good to you?”
“Sounds perfect.” I set the table while he plated the food.