want to know what I heard or not?” Damien replied, reminding me why I called in the first place.
“Fine,” I grumbled like a toddler.
“She asked Fiona about a plus-one,” he said matter of fact, and I almost cracked my phone in my grip.
“What?” My voice came out quiet and calm, but I was feeling neither those things.
I knew Damien was trying to find the words to keep me from jumping on a plane right the fuck now and flying to California. “She asked Fiona’s opinion on bringing a date. I guess she was double checking to see if it was close friends and family only,” he explained.
I knew Vicky was an independent woman and wasn’t the type to be tied down by a man who wasn’t her husband, but I didn’t take her for being so callous she would take a fucking date to the reception knowing I would be there.
I mean, what the fuck?
I haven’t touched another woman since I got back to New York. Sure, I had to attend business functions and social engagements with dates, but that’s all they were-expected escorts to mingle and socialize with. I haven’t fucked anyone in weeks. Hell, I haven’t wanted to fuck anyone in weeks-since Vicky. I even went so far as to beg one of our accounting VP’s to start going with me as a steady escort just so I didn’t have to play nice and polite anymore. She said she had to ask her wife, but if she didn’t mind, well, Nalia would do it.
And now Vicky was talking about taking some random dick to Fiona and Damien’s reception??
Wait…fuck…
“She’s dating someone?” Was she really dating someone seriously enough to invite them to her best friend’s wedding reception?
I was going to fucking kill her.
“I’m not sure,” Damien replied. “I couldn’t get much out of Fiona after I started grilling her about Vicky’s plus-one. She shut down like a CIA operative held captive.”
I snorted. “The poor girl is being held captive, Dame.”
“Fuck you, Will,” he replied immediately. “Fiona’s ecstatic to be married to me.”
I didn’t comment because that was super up for debate. I had no doubt Fiona loved him, I mean, how could she not? But I was also certain that Damien was holding her captive in the disguise of a fat, flawless diamond anchor that weighed down her left hand. Hell, her entire arm.
Damien was my best friend; he deserved complete honesty. “Dame, if she shows up with a date, I’m probably going to lose my shit, just so you know,” I told him.
I heard a soft chuckle before he replied, “I figured as much.”
“You won’t murder me if I ruin Fiona’s party?” It was a legit question. While I was Damien’s best friend, Fiona was the air he breathed.
Damien laughed. “Hell no. If you lose your shit on Vicky and her poor unsuspecting date, I won’t look as crazy to Fiona.”
I shook my head.
Asshole.
“Well, let’s hope for everyone’s sake, Vicky arrives solo,” I told him. “I’m not doing well with this shit, Dame.”
“Well, you only have to wonder for a couple of more days why she’s not replying to your texts or answering your calls. You can do three days, right?” he joked.
“I’ve been doing it for two fucking months, so, yeah, I can manage a couple of more days,” I retorted. Then I got serious because…well, Damien was my only real true friend. “This shit’s fucking me up, Dame.”
I could hear him let out a deep breath. He was silent for only a few seconds before saying, “Say the word, and we’ll shut down G&C East, Will.”
The pressure on my chest was real. I knew Damien meant every word he just said. He would close up shop on a million-dollar making money enterprise in a heartbeat if that’s what I needed from him to be happy. While Damien was a heartless, brutal, coldly calculating businessman, he understood love like no one else I’ve ever known. He’d walk away from everything he’s built if Fiona asked him to. Damien respected love and its power and this coldhearted asshole would dump every dime he had for it.
It was humbling.
I cleared my throat and said, “Let’s hold off on shutting down our livelihoods for now,” I joked. “Maybe I need to find out if Vicky’s got herself a boyfriend before I ruin my life for a pipe dream.”
And because Damien knew me well, he asked, “And if she does end up having a new boyfriend?”
That was a no-brainer. “We have