have some serious reevaluating to do when I get back to the States, but I’ll keep my mouth clamped closed, jaw aching with the force until then. I don’t want to make any more trouble for Deacon, and pissing Dani off more than she already is only means trouble for everyone involved.
***
I’m not surprised that Deacon won’t look in my direction on the flight home. It honestly fits his MO perfectly. If I caught him glancing in my direction even once, it would probably send me into arrhythmia.
I’m also not surprised to watch Dani flirt with him like eight years and a divorce doesn’t separate them. She came back to the room last night drunk, skin flushed and smelling of men’s cologne, and I let my mind go wild with the possibilities that she spent the hours she was gone in Deacon’s arms, but the way he seems disgusted with even the sight of her today has alleviated those questions. But then again, I spent a night in his arms and got the same response, so who freaking knows.
Any attempt to sleep is thwarted by her incessant need to make every second about her. If she isn’t cooing at Deacon’s guys, no doubt trying to get a rise out of her ex, she’s insisting on engaging me in conversation loud enough for every person on the plane to hear. I’m surprised the pilots haven’t closed the door to the cockpit to get a little peace and quiet.
“Have you picked your dress for the Grand Gala?”
“No.” The Grand Gala is months away, and fortunately the very last one of the year that I’m obligated to attend. Even with the loads of fun I had with Wren, they no longer have the appeal they did weeks ago.
“Really?” She snaps her head back, aghast that I haven’t taken time out from the recent attempts on my life to go shopping for a damned gown. “Whatever you pick it better not be emerald. Mine is, and I don’t want people to think we’re dressing like twins.”
I turn in my seat, lips in a thin line and lean in closer to her. “My apartment was trashed by your Russian friends. Some street thug broke into my hotel room with the intent to abduct me and beat your location out of me. I had a gun pointed at my face just yesterday. No, Dani, I haven’t had the chance to go shopping for a gown.”
“Trashed?” Her face falls, and it’s the first time she’s shown an ounce of care for what others have been going through while she was drinking cocktails on the beach and entertaining buff cabana boys.
“Torn to shreds,” I explain. “They destroyed everything. Ripped my couch to shreds. There wasn’t a thing left to salvage.”
Her hand covers her face, and for a split second I think she’s going to have some empathy.
“That couch was hideous. So maybe it’s for the best.”
I do my best to hide my disappointment, but it’s impossible.
Dani merely chuckles absentmindedly when I huff and turn toward the front of the plane. Maybe complete isolation from everyone is best.
Chapter 35
Deacon
One Month Later
“This is fucking subpar work,” I snap, tossing the dossier back at Gaige.
He glares at me, but he’s a smart man because he keeps his mouth closed.
“Get me more.”
I stomp out of his office, only feeling mildly guilty for getting on his ass. Gaige claims to be the best acquisitions guy around, but his half-assed list of materials we need isn’t going to cut it. I don’t care about the recent climate and social issues the world is facing right now, we don’t deal with low-level material.
“What the hell was that about?” Flynn matches my stride as I walk down the hall toward my own office.
The lights are low, and I growl when my friend tries to open the damn blinds. I don’t want sunshine or happiness floating through here. It might actually force me to climb out of the shitty mood I’ve been in since… fuck, I don’t even want to think about the Maldives and how easy it was for Anna to shift right back into her place behind Dani. I say behind because they’ve never been equals. My ex-wife would never allow that.
“He was trying to shove pine down my throat rather than the cedar I asked for,” I mutter.
“Fencing? You’re getting on his ass about fencing?”
“It’s fucking important.” I shouldn’t have to explain this to him.
“There are shortages. Shit is going down in the world.