a dreadful headache which has only been magnified in the past few minutes.” He gazed pointedly at Lawrence. “Everything’s been handled this morning already. Emails, contracts and so on. I planned to take the afternoon off.”
In truth, his work responsibilities weren’t nearly as pronounced as they could be if he were less efficient. He could get through most of his daily tasks with little effort. It was only when they had multiple projects going at one time that he had to pull all-nighters. However, that hadn’t been much of an issue in recent years. Their dated designs had begun to tarnish their reputation as the go-to firm and the word had gotten around. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d been featured in Architectural Digest, and they used to be a regular feature in the prestigious publication.
His father had been considering him with narrowed eyes. “Fine. As long as everything’s handled, then get out of here.” He snorted. “Maybe we can have some peace around here if you two idiots aren’t going at each other all day.”
Lawrence gasped as their father strode away, trailing after him like a puppy. “What did I do? It was all his fault, Father. You know how he is.”
His father’s response was lost in the wake of their departure, which was just as well. Donovan was over it.
After a few more annoying minutes, Donovan found himself in the blessed safety of the elevator. Soon, he’d be in his new Porsche and on his way to Willow Springs where he could have an afternoon’s worth of tire-burning laps. He was damn lucky there was an opening that afternoon. He sometimes had to book the track weeks in advance.
Then, he’d go to the beach house instead of the condo and get sloshed off his ass. At some point, before he got too obliterated, he’d call around to see if anyone wanted to come over and blow him. That was usually easy enough to accomplish when he was in Malibu. Who didn’t want to get wasted and have sex with an ocean view?
By the time he’d driven ninety minutes north of the city, he’d abandoned all hope of forever eradicating Silver from his mind.
What is it about that guy?
Donovan pulled into a spot near the entrance, but left the engine idling with the air conditioning going. The temps were even worse this far from LA and the coastal breezes that would sometimes save the city from being roasted. But the desert and valleys? Not so much.
Donovan rested his elbow on the center console, then dropped his head into his hand. He massaged his temples with thumb and forefinger, the fake headache he’d used to skip out on work becoming an annoying reality.
Soon, his disgust with his family and hatred of his job would eat him alive. Destroy him from the inside out. He’d known that for years, had shoved the inevitability of his fate from his mind. But somehow, Silver had changed everything.
A stranger—a complete stranger—who didn’t give a shit about his wealth, had tried to help. Had shown him concern. Not just the first night when he’d assisted him with his car, but the night before.
Oh sure, Silver hadn’t offered him the world, but he’d still shown care. Even when Donovan had been a sarcastic asshole, he’d stayed resolute. Never once had he yelled at him or called him names. He’d stated his case then when Donovan had essentially told him to fuck off, Silver had merely walked away.
Donovan gritted his teeth, the tension making the muscles in his jaw sore. That’s what was driving him crazy. Silver had walked away.
Donovan hadn’t wanted him to walk away.
He woke up his cell that was attached to the hands-free device, then went to Google Search. After trying Silver’s full name—Cruz had been an easy mind association with cruising—he hadn’t had any luck.
Highland Park.
The area wasn’t too large, but large enough. More residential than commercial. He looked up auto shops just off the 110, dredging up as many clues in his head as he could from what little Silver had shared. He automatically eliminated the chain stores, tire shops and ones with gas pumps.
One address stood out in particular and aligned with what Silver had described. Chico’s. That was it. Donovan looked the place up, and sure enough, the review sites indicated it was closed.
Donovan almost choked on his tongue at the loud rapping on his driver’s side window. He let out a relieved groan at the sight of Bunny,