“Not great,” I admitted with a shrug.
Garrett scoffed. “Luckily, you’re fucking Falkirk’s CEO. Nothing too bad can happen.”
Damien went perfectly still—peanut chicken suspended mid-air. “We’re in a committed relationship,” he finally said—too calmly.
“Same thing,” Garrett muttered, flicking his hand dismissively. “Right, Candace?” he added, throwing her a wink.
Candace gave him a conspiratorial smile.
And just like that—bile spiked hot at the back of my throat. A sour, burning climb of humiliation and anger.
“Seriously, though,” Candace said, turning back toward me. “What’s your plan?”
“Um—” I started, but Damien stepped in before the words could form.
“Falkirk and Elion are working together to overcome this hurdle,” he said, his tone clipped but controlled.
“Man, corporate talk,” Garrett laughed, loud and ugly. “I thought we were closer than that.”
“You thought wrong,” Damien replied.
Too rough.
Too honest.
Guilt flashed across his face.
Garrett rounded on him. His grin widened, slow and mean. “Oh, shit. Mr. Big Shot grew a backbone.” He clapped his hands together like this was entertainment.
“Stop it,” Candace hissed, elbowing him.
He gestured wildly at Damien. “He started it.”
The air thickened—tension coiling tight enough to vibrate under my skin.
Damien ignored him.
“Dinner’s served,” he announced, as he slid plates in front of me and Candace. He turned back to retrieve his and Garrett’s, shoulders wound tight beneath the fabric of his shirt.
Candace took a small bite, then glanced at me. “So… do you have a plan to overcome this ‘hurdle’?” She even added little quotation marks with her fingers.
“Yes,” Damien answered. “A multi-tiered plan. But I can’t get into details.”
She leaned closer, a smile playing at her lips. “Oh. So mysterious.”
Everything I’d been holding cracked open. “This is serious,” I bit out. “It’s my entire life’s work on the line.”
Her head jerked back. “I wasn’t trying to—”
“I think you’re being a bit dramatic,” Garrett interrupted, waving his fork like a judge delivering a verdict.
Heat flared through my veins.
“No, she isn’t,” Damien snapped.
“Watch how you talk to my girlfriend,” Garrett warned, puffing up like a man with something to prove.
“Fiancé,” Candace corrected, barely above a whisper.
