“Come on,” Zander said with the wave of his hand. “Let’s get out of here.” The adrenaline, mingled with the testosterone in the group, did nothing to calm Duke down.
“I’m not leaving without Viv,” Duke assured, folding his arms in place.
“You won’t have to,” Zander assured. “Just follow me outside. We’ve got to get out of here before you blow your top and cause even more of a scene.”
His brother was probably right. Still, as Duke followed him toward the door, he caught a chair leg with his shoe and gave it a good, hard kick.
“Watch it,” James said from behind.
Zander shoved open an exit door along the edge of the banquet hall. Duke wondered if an alarm might sound; it looked like one of those open-only-in-case-of-emergency type of exits.
And so what if itdidsound an alarm? Duke was too ticked off to care. And had his brothers been right about speaking up for Viv?
Maybe.A curse slipped through his lips as he followed Zander and Sawyer into the alleyway.
“This looks real safe,” James grumbled from behind. “Group of men with money like us…probably gonna get jumped.”
Duke gritted his teeth. “I’d welcome a good excuse to knock someone out right now.”
“She’s probably not even mad at you,” James said. “She was just…”
“Humiliated,” Sawyer filled in. “It sucks to feel like people are judging you. To know that some people think you just don’t belong in their crowd.”
Duke nodded, knowing that if any of them understood her perspective, it was him. Sawyer had grown up with similar means, all the while mingling with the wealthiest crowd in all of LA.
“I’ve never made her feel that way.” Duke could hardly believe the sentence had fallen from his lips. The more accurate statement would have been that he’d never viewed others as outsiders because of their financial status. There was no argument that what he’d done prior made Viv believe otherwise.
“I just got a text from Kat,” Zander said, slowing as they approached a busy sidewalk. “Says Viv wants them to take her home. We’re supposed to meet them at Vivia’s place.”
“Okay,” Duke said, a beat of relief coming over him. “So she just wants to hurry and get away from the crowd?”
Zander lifted his gaze from the screen to Duke. A nearby street sign illuminated his expression in blue hues. “No, man. Betzy’s going to drive, the other girls are going with them, and me, James, and Sawyer are going to head there so we can get our wives.”
“It doesn’t say anything about me?” Duke leaned over to look at the screen, catching a few simple words at the bottom of the text.
Tell Duke to go home. Vivia needs some time.
“How am I being made out to be the bad guy here?” Duke asked, balling up his fist once more. He pictured himself grabbing the nearby trashcan, hoisting it over his head, and hurling it into the street like the Hulk or King Kong or…
“I’ve got to get out of here,” he mumbled. “Catch you later.” He heard a few of them attempting to call him back or offer words of comfort. They were halfhearted attempts; the men knew him well enough that he wouldn’t stick around.
“…head over there to pick up your wives,” he grumbled under his breath. How nice it must be to know those women belonged to them. That they belonged to each other. He wanted that with Vivi too. It’s all he could think about in the days that passed.
He’d even signed up for a popular ring of the day club online. Spent time while in the office looking at rings, scouting dates, and dreaming up the perfect way to ask her to marry him.
James’ words came back to him.“You should have said that you do love Vivia.”
If he could go back, Duke might do that very thing. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to validate Sylvia and her ranting session. It seemed like the best thing was to move forward with the program like he’d done. Try to make a small joke in the awkwardness along the way.
Duke came to the entrance where the valet waited, but rather than pick up his car, he opted to pick up his pace instead, tearing off his suit coat and balling it in his fist. Heaven knew he had steam to let out before he got behind the wheel. And if he climbed into his car at this point, there’d be no stopping him from heading over to Vivi’s house.
She needed time, fine. Perhaps he needed time too. He only hoped that, whatever frustrations Viv was dealing with, she wouldn’t gear them at him. Duke loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone, and if she couldn’t see that by now, he wasn’t sure how they’d ever move forward.
Chapter 21
The laptop screen glowed bright in the darkness of Viv’s room as she scrolled past one post about the gala after the next.
It had taken less than an hour for the footage to go viral. There were even videos with commentary by popular vloggers.
