Enzo snorted, glowering at his brother. “You’re kind of an asshole.”
“At least I’m not the asshole who has to work with the guy I asked to be my sugar baby,” Vince countered. “Talk about a hostile work environment.”
“Yeah, for me,” Enzo fired back. “Why is nobody taking my side on this? You guys get he’s not a little kid, right? He’s twenty-six.”
“Compared to you, that’s a baby,” Vince said. “Besides, it’s your own fault for choosing someone close to one of Mama’s favorites. She loves that Levi kid and loves having more access to Jericho. You doing a favor for Thomas has finally given her a close, personal connection with the Mulvaney family, and she’s not going to let you fuck this up for her. She likes them.”
“So, this is…what? Punishment for seducing one of her assets?”
Vince stared at him. “If you think she’s doing this to punish you and not to get you married off to someone of her own choosing, then you’re dumber than you look.”
Enzo let his brother’s words sink in, then shook his head. “No way. She knows better than that. She knows I’ll never date anyone seriously again. I’m a permanent bachelor.”
Vince’s mouth flattened into a hard line. “Bachelor? That word is so old-fashioned. It makes my skin crawl. Whether you think she’ll be successful or not, it doesn’t negate that she’s trying to play matchmaker.”
“What do I do? Do I just try to make him so miserable he quits?” Enzo asked, stomach churning at the thought.
“You have no reason to even interact with him. If you harass him, it will be you getting hauled into HR, not him,” Vince said. “Be smart about this. If you won’t try dating him, at least try to get along. Extend an olive branch. Apologize for insulting him and try to take him to lunch or something to smooth things out. Donotflirt with him.”
Apologize? What if that just gave Seven false hope again? “What if it?—”
“You really over-estimate your stock value,” Vince scoffed, clearly reading his mind.
“How so?” Enzo asked, offended. “I’m hot, successful, rich, smart.”
“You just described ninety percent of the men at your law firm. You’re not special. The kid wasn’t in love with you. He was just insulted. Be a man and apologize.”
“Just like that?” Enzo asked. “Just ask him to lunch and apologize? You think that will really fix things?”
“It will if you don’t try to put your dick in him again,” Vince cautioned.
“Oh…right.”
Why was that thought so depressing?
Vince huffed in exasperation. “You’re fucking hopeless. You’re already thinking about sticking your dick in him again.”
“You haven’t seen the kid. You’d understand if you had.”
“Don’t worry.” Vince chuckled. “I’m sure I’ll meet him at the wedding.”
Enzo’s head jerked up. How had he missed that news? Or an invitation? “Wedding? Whose wedding?”
“Yours, dumbass.”
1 month 2 weeks 2 days and 14 hours since “that night”
Two weeks had passed since Seven started working at the firm. Two weeks of watching him pass Enzo’s window a hundred times a day. Two weeks of watching him flirt shamelessly with the paralegals. Two weeks of hearing that loud cackle he called a laugh. It was torture.
The first two times they’d met, Seven had worn baggy jeans and oversized hoodies that hid his hot little body. Now, Enzo was forced to endure him wearing fitted trousers that hugged every curve and button-down shirts that showed off surprisingly muscular forearms. The labels on his clothes cost hundreds, ifnot thousands of dollars. Had he already moved on? Was he someone else’s sugar baby now?
Just the idea of it had him growling and tossing his client’s folder across his desk. Someone cleared their throat, attempting to get his attention. Drucilla. She was, as always, impeccably dressed in a suit that made every other person in the office look frumpy. She claimed she was dressing for the job she wanted, not the job she had. The job she had was being the assistant to the attorneys on the floor, though her attitude often implied they worked for her.
Even the way she cleared her throat felt condescending.
“What is it?” Enzo asked warily.
“Lordes wants to see you in her office at three,” she answered.
