Chapter Six
Weston
Danielle:You have to talk to me sometime.
Danielle:We. Are. Getting. Married.
Danielle:This is rather childish of you.
I chortledat the last text on my screen. Danielle loved to say something was childish when she was the epitome of petty. And I don’t mean the fun, gossiping kind. I loved that kind.
The type of games Danielle played made my skin crawl. It hadn't always been that way though. There was a time when I encouraged her foolish behavior. Back when I thought I had something to prove.
“Hey Wes! You coming out for drinks tonight?” Benny, one of the other analysts, leaned against my doorframe with a smirk in place. As the team lead, I got my own space to work from. With the exception of Benny’s bar hopping invites, everyone treated me as the authority figure I was. “Let me guess, you’ll have to ask Dani?”
I shook my head. “No asking needed. The answer is no. I’m going home tonight to get some rest. This week has been hell.”
There was no way I’d give him more details than that. He didn’t need to know that I was avoiding Danielle, or that I was days away from ending an engagement everyone believed to be perfect.
Benny nodded as he tucked his hands in his pockets. “I get that. All the more reason to go enjoy a drink or two.”
“I’m good, Ben. I promise to let you know if that ever changes,” I said with sincerity.
It wasn’t like I hated the team or anything. More like I had a controlling fiancée for the last several months, and now that I was about to be free of her, I wanted some alone time. I couldn’t recall the last time I was completely alone. It would probably do me good to reacquaint myself with the feeling.
“Your loss. We were going to hit up Club Deny this time. I know you like that place.”
Benny knew I liked the bar side of the club. He had no clue there was another part of the building that catered more to men like me. Why would he know? He wasn’t dominant at all. And honestly, I’d never heard him mention a single thing kinky in the seven years we’d worked together. Since I knew basically everything about his sex life, I considered it a safe bet the man wouldn’t want details on the local BDSM club.
“My loss indeed. Hope you find whatever you’re looking for.” I stood from my desk, letting him know I was heading out for the day too.
We walked side-by-side to the bank of elevators as others in the building joined us. If there was one thing we all agreed on, it was that five o’clock was quitting time. There were very few projects that kept us all late. And really only a couple of clients who held that kind of power.
Stryker Global and Rojas Investments were among those, though neither were in the midst of an acquisition as of recently. I gave it another month or two before either or both men decidedto procure another business. I could swear they’ve got some kind of pseudo-Monopoly game going for how they handle things in this city.
Thankfully, I’m not just a guy who punches the clock. I go where they tell me to, analyze data, then tell them if it’s a sound investment. Makes me handy, which gives me a sense of permanency.
Benny kept up a one-sided conversation with me the entire way down to the car park. He only managed to leave my side when I double clicked the lock button and pretended something was wrong with my car. It was a song and dance we’d done countless times, hence how he knew his cue to leave.
I drove home with a sense of dread. The texts from Danielle had stopped sometime during my ride down the building. I didn’t think it was because she’d given up. If anything, it was because she was plotting something.
Once I made it home, I went straight to the front desk. “Hahn, my man!” I greeted the front desk clerk like he was an old friend. Probably because he was. We’d been poker buddies for the last few years, and he always took home the whole pot in the end. Guy was a card shark.
“Wes. How can I help you, my friend? It’s rare I see you this early in the evening.” He wiggled his brows at me.
I shook my head. “The day was done. No need to drag it out. I just needed to adjust my approved visitors list.”
Hahn grimaced. “Don’t tell me… it’s about your girl. Doe? Diva? Demi?”
“Danielle,” I corrected even though we both knew that he remembered her name. She’d made sure everyone did the one time she met my friends. Never mind she didn’t actually pronounce Hahn’s right. Probably why he always gave me shit about her.
“Yeah, it is. I need her blocked. No entry please. Effective immediately.”
He tilted his head to the side. “You’re not going to be happy that she’s already upstairs then, I guess.”
“Fuck.” I swore softly. “Not really. Can you send security up in about twenty minutes, please? It doesn’t need to be a huge scene. Hopefully, she slaps me and takes off before then. That would save us all the trouble.”
Hahn tilted his head forward. his gaze locking with mine. “Between us, I think this is a great thing for you. And also, I’m going to need all the tea at the next game night. Don’t leave any details out.”