Page 64 of Endgame

‘Okay. Good. Lara’s having a great time, by the way. She has most of the men at the edge of the dance floor right now, salivating at her dancing with Honey. If only they knew. I might hire her after all.’ He winks at me conspiratorially.

‘Knew what?’ I panic. I trust Dominic but the fewer people know about Honey, the better.

‘Christopher told me about her affair with a client’s girlfriend and a few other offences when I hinted that I might hire her. Not that it changed my mind.’

‘You’re going to give Lara a job?’

‘I’m thinking about it. And no, I’m not doing it for you, although making her happy makes you happy, which makes me happy. She’s difficult to ignore and very convincing.’

‘Thank you, Dom.’

‘You’re welcome. Come on, let’s get back to the party.’

FOURTEEN

CALEB

For a wedding none of us wanted to attend, it’s bloody good fun. They’ve turned the reception into a nightclub and everyone is on the dance floor. The DJ is on fire and we are all quarter-to-drunk because we are never too far from a glass of something delicious. I’ve even managed to generate a few leads, because everyone who’s anyone is here.

Apart from Ariella. I watched her wander out a while ago. I would have followed, but she looked like she needed the alone time away from the noise and I decided to stay to keep my eye on Honey and Lara. It seems Lara made a few ‘friends’ the night before. Every time one of her victims would try to cut in to grab Lara’s attention, she’d expertly dance away to find Honey again, crushing one ego after the other. It’s not until Honey throws me a worried look that I grab Bryce and we both cut in. I get it – the last thing Honey wants is the attention.

Bryce is a fucking rock star. He steps up, grabs Lara by the waist, pulls her right into him and holds her still before letting her sway along with him. The attention Lara has drawn is so intensely focused on Bryce making her submit to him on the dance floor that it gives Honey and me the distraction we need to casually dance away to one of the hidden tables to take a break.Not that anyone cares – we’ve supposedly been a couple for so long, we’re old news.

‘I don’t think I can do this.’ Honey is panicking by the time we sit down. I understand. Lara can be a little too sparkly and Honey has found hiding peaceful and a source of comfort.

‘Breathe, Honey. Embarrassingly, it was only a few weeks ago that I realised that most things can be solved by talking. Have you told her?’

‘No, how can I? She’s a lot, Caleb. I know she’s loud and amazing and funny – and look at her, she’s beautiful. But she lives her life out in the open. I can’t do that. She could jeopardise everything.’

‘Trust me, I’m never more than ten minutes away from wanting to strangle Lara, and yes, she is a force of nature, but she is kind, loyal, trustworthy and absolutely dependable. She will fight for you and keep your secrets. She will tell you the truth but protect you from the consequences. She will bend the rules for you, including hers. And if you let her love you, the day that you regret that choice will never arrive – because I may want to kill her most of the time, but I fucking love that woman and, whether or not she admits it, she loves me too. And I don’t think we’d want to have it any other way.’

‘I don’t know, Caleb. I don’t think I’m ready and I’m not even sure if she realises how serious this is.’

‘Honey, you really have no idea what’s going on here, do you? Watch this.’

I whip out my phone and send a text to Lara.

Get your exhibitionist arse off the fucking dance floor and stop causing a scene. It’s making H uncomfortable. We’re on the back tables by the gifts.

We both observe Lara look at her watch and tap it.

K

Lara stops, hugs Bryce very suggestively and leads him off the dance floor in the opposite direction to exit the pavilion. The broken hearts she leaves behind slowly disperse.

‘She cares about you, Honey. Probably more than you know. Go back to the villa. Tell her.’

It doesn’t take long for Lara to appear.

‘Sorry we took so long, we had to lose the lechy eyes. Hunbun, are you all right? I’m sorry.’

‘Yeah. I think I’ve had enough. I’m going to head back to the villa.’

‘I’ll come with you. Make sure you’re okay. This dress is killing me and, besides, I’m sure I’ll be employed by the end of next week, so my work here is done. Shall I nick a bottle of wine? We can go back and watch a film.’

The smile Honey rewards Lara with as she stands makes my heart melt. I think these two might make it.

‘Nicely done, Bryce.’

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