“He just found out his wife has been having an affair with his brother,” I tell Denver. “He’ll pay for the damage, with interest, just to keep this all quiet.”
It’d be easy to go guns blazing for his blood at what he’s caused. But something tells me he’ll be shitting himself enough already. He’s already lost his wife; he won’t want to lose his career over this.
And I get it. The feeling of being betrayed.
“This is probably him,” I say as my phone rings with an unknown number.
Denver’s dark eyes sweep over the room again. “That’s going to be one big bill.”
I crack my neck as I survey what little is left one of my venues and hit answer. “Sure is.”
“If you want to move to the coast, live by the beach, you know you’re always welcome here.” My brother, Clay, steps out of the back door and onto the deck that runs along the rear of his house.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
He’s always talking about it, having us all live close to one another again. Me, him, and our brother, Jagger, who’s in Boston.
Denver and I left the LA team in charge of the cleanup of the club. He said he wanted to visit some old buddies, so he dropped me at Clay’s house and is coming back for me in the morning.
The sound of Clay’s wife, Adaline, reading a story to their two young grandsons floats out before Clay slides the door closed.
“They’ll want her to do the voices like you did,” he says, handing me a glass of bourbon.
“I’m sure she does much better wizard impressions than me.” I relax into my seat, looking out over the ocean.
Clay studies my face. “You worried about the club?”
“No. It’s being handled. Renovations start tomorrow.”
The judge was the one on the phone. He started spouting out figures, desperate to save his neck before I even greeted him.
He takes a sip of his drink. “And things back home? You filled me in on the kids and Mal and Trudy over dinner but missed out the dating stories. How’s that going?”
I meet his eyes, noting the twinkle in his.
“About as well as you’d expect, Brother.”
He chuckles. “Sinclair sure runs with an idea when she wants to.”
“She does. But it’s the happiest she’s been since getting Monty.”
He nods in understanding.
“She just keeps working, taking on more shoots, more shows. Same as Sullivan. If it weren’t for Molly, he’d never stop. Sinclair’s hit it off with Hallie, though. When I called earlier, she said they’re going shopping tomorrow.”
“Hallie? The dating coach?”
“That’s her.”
His eyes narrow and he studies me rolling my neck, attempting to ease the ache in it.
“What’s she like?”
“She’s…” My lips curl up. “… pretty damn incredible.”
“I see.” He lifts his glass with a knowing smirk. “Does she know?”
“She does.” My mind flits back to the way she whimpered my name as she came.
