Page 45 of David

“Are you talking about yourself now?”

“I’m talking about both. The thing that stuck with me was that when the dust settled, the whole thing was supposed to be a lesson for her, but was it really? How much of what he’d done to her helped her in the long run?”

“It helped her a lot. She met Ed.”

“Yeah, she did…”

I push my gaze down and keep it there for a second.

“More than anything, it was luck,” I continue. “It had nothing to do with what she’d learned from him. That’s what I’m saying. We’re wasting our time with these men and learning something, maybe… And then we luck out and find someone else. Quiet often, we don’t. So, in the end, they don’t make us any better. Not to mention the ugly things we’re dealing with in the aftermath.”

“They don’t make us any better, but the experience is priceless. Transformative. Look at it this way. You wouldn’t be here with me if it wasn’t for Klaus being a dick. The same goes for Thea. We wouldn’t have dragged her to this club and helped her meet Ed Preston if it wasn’t for her cheating ex.”

“It was fate.”

“Fate. Whatever. Did it work? Yes, it did,” she says, and I smile.

Chloe refuses my pessimistic view on these things, which makes me appreciate her even more.

“So… Who’s running the club right now?” I toss at her again.

She reaches inside her pocket.

“Give me a minute. We’ll find out.”

She swipes her phone and searches for that specific information online while I stare at her, my mind blank.

“Uh…”

She slides her fingers over the screen, enlarging a picture.

“Damn, this man knows how to rock a suit.”

My eyes dip, yet her gaze goes up when she flips her phone over so I can see the picture.

“It’s your friend. David Moore.”

7

LIZ

“Oh… How I didn’t need to know that.”

The words fall from my lips, little nuggets of frustration wrapped in a deep sigh.

Shit.

That was supposed to be a secret thought.

Since it no longer is, Chloe studies me.

“What’s the problem, Liz?”

“Nothing. I’m just in a bad mood.”

I flick my hand, irritated, before signaling to the bartender and ordering another drink.

Chloe’s slides over mine.

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