Page 87 of Get A Fix

“My grandfather was Coleman Walder,” Damien began, his gaze flat as he regarded Ash. “My grandmother, Juliet, was his second wife, and my mother was their third child, Margo.”

“You’re his uncle,” I said to Ash, “just like you are Bitsy’s.”

“It feels like I should be older, doesn’t it?” he asked, grinning.

“And more venerable,” I teased him. “With a pipe.”

“Oh, a pipe. Yes.”

I leaned sideways and kissed him, and he smiled like crazy.

“Our family is so big because Grandpa couldn’t stop marrying or having children,” Bitsy said. “It’s nuts.”

“It certainly is,” Damien agreed, sounding irritated over that fact.

There was a lot of silence then as people started eating.

“The French dip was an inspired choice,” Ash murmured between bites, having to touch me, fiddling with the collar of my sweater. I was reminded, in a flash of memory, that Damien hated this sweater. He always had suggestions about updating my wardrobe. With hindsight came so much clarity, and I had to wonder what it was he’d liked about me.

It certainly wasn’t my small, cozy house in Highland Park, given all the time we spent at his condo in the city. He never met my family or friends, so they had not been the draw, and it certainly wasn’t my very sensible 2013 Toyota Highlander. But he’d stuck it out for over a year, so he must’ve had a reason.

As I glanced over at him, I realized that even the twinge from the day before was gone. And it wasn’t simply me being excited about starting something with Ash that had taken the very last drop of care about Damien. Or more correctly, it wasn’t just that. It was seeing his treatment of Sienna. She had no ring, just as he’d never met any of the people who inhabited my life. To my mind, it was the same thing. He didn’t want to commit. Not to me then, and now, not to her. Sitting there, in his proximity again, the longer I looked at him, the more I understood. He felt in his profession that he could not rise to the heights of money and power with a man at his side. The law was traditional, I knew that. Perhaps he was right. Even in places like New York or Chicago, maybe being out, being bisexual, would stop him from getting where he wanted to go. It was possible. Having no understanding of his world, I couldn’t say with any certainty. With Sienna, perhaps he felt there was someone better. A person who would bring with her better connections, more money, be an even better advocate for his upward climb than the socialite now eating a vegan patty melt that looked pretty good. I couldn’t imagine a better partner than Sienna—she looked like the whole package to me. Smart, funny, and beautiful was a winning combination.

“Do you have a question?” Damien asked stiffly, his gaze on me.

“Oh, no, sorry,” I said, smiling. “My mind drifted. I apologize.”

He nodded and went back to his Reuben as my phone, which I’d put on the table, went off with a picture of Rais Solano, one of the guys I worked with.

“Wow,” Ash said, grinning. “Who’s that?”

I squinted at him. “I’m sorry?”

He picked up my phone and turned it to Sienna. “Look at this man.”

She coughed and then swallowed the bite she’d been chewing. “Oh yeah,” she said with a chuckle, smiling sheepishly. “I—what’s his… How do you pronounce his first name?”

“None of your business,” I growled, and everyone laughed but Damien.

“Let me see the—oh,” Bentley whispered.

Snatching my phone back from Ash, I got up and walked away from the noisy table before I answered. “What?”

“That’s a very charming greeting there, Mr. Davis, and hello to you too, ya dick.”

I grunted.

“Do you want me to blow up your email with files, or do you want a quick rundown?”

“I thought you were hunting down some bounty hunter and that’s why you couldn’t come on this job.”

“Yeah, well, turned out he was in Vegas with the woman, and because I hate the desert, I called Croy and had him find them for me. He and that partner of his took all of a day to make that happen. Both are now in the custody of the US Marshals, so our job is done.”

“How nice for you to have minions.”

“It is nice,” he agreed with a chuckle.

“So you’re back in the office?”