Page 28 of The Suit

“What?”

“She pushed you.”

I remained silent, waiting for the rest of what was about to come, not sure I wanted to hear it.

“Raf, you’ve always been smart, probably smarter than either of us,” Penn gestured between him and Murray, and I raised an eyebrow. “Well, maybe not me, but definitely Murray.”

Murray rolled his eyes at the jab. It was true, we were all smart, but Penn was genius level smart. Not Cody genius, but he certainly found everything much easier than everyone else, which was mostly why at college he’d favored sleep over lectures, and failed his midterm because he’d been so hungover he’d forgotten about it.

“Would you have graduated first in the class if she hadn’t been whipping your ass every day? Maybe. But you were only first because you wanted to do better than Beulah. You never cared how high your grade was as long as it was higher than hers. It was the same for her. Those days you hit the dart board the hardest were the ones when she beat you.”

“What are you saying?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. You’re very similar is all.”

My head flicked between him and Murray. “Well, thanks for that insight, Dr. Freud.”

“Why don’t you call a truce, seeing as you’re so mature and all now?” he smirked.

I scoffed. A fuckingtruce?!I’d imagine that would go down like a shit sandwich; she’d never believe me anyway, not that I had the slightest intention of asking for one. With any luck I wouldn’t need to, because now the restraining order had been served on the assets, it might light a fire up their asses, and things would hopefully move much quicker. Then she’d be out of my life for good.

With that happy thought, I managed a full breath of air into my lungs for the first time all week.

I turned to Murray. “Anyway, what’s new with you? What’s been happening in the hours we haven’t talked?” Murray chuckled as I raised an eyebrow at Penn. He’d also received that message through our group text, and we were all very used to Penn’s dramatics. “How’s my goddaughter? How’s Kit?”

Murray’s face had started to resemble a gooey marshmallow before it got stuck between two Graham crackers with the way it softened anytime someone mentioned Bell or Kit, “They’re both good. They’ve been with Wolf and Freddie, and all the kids today.” He looked at his watch, “I’m not going to stay too late; I want some time with Kit when Bell’s in bed.”

The tension I’d been carrying all week currently had my shoulders brushing my ear lobes, and Murray’s not so subtle suggestion of what he’d be getting up to later made me realize I needed a little fun of my own tonight. The tension releasing kind of fun.

“It’s the third Friday of the month, isn’t it?” I asked, not really meaning to voice it out loud.

“Yeah,” Penn nodded, then smirked because he knew exactly why I was asking. “She looked hot in that spring campaign for whatever was hanging in Times Square last month.”

I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket; this week was looking up. “Yeah, she did.”

The third Friday of every month, Dover Winters flew into town. One of the most sought-after models, Dover worked once a month in New York, shooting for any fashion brand she had a contract with. We’d met at The Met Ball a few years ago, and spent many a night together since. She always made time in her busy schedule to fit me in, and tofit me in.

Yes, she was exactly what I needed tonight; a total distraction, a lot of fun and one night of intense no-strings fucking, which I’d be sleeping off tomorrow.

Rafe:My place, later?

I left my phone on the table, screen up, so I’d see what time she’d be coming. Because she would be coming.

I caught the waitress’s eye and ordered more drinks.

Another deep breath of air filled my lungs, the tension rolling off me already. I turned to Penn, now much more in the mood to deal with anything asinine he threw my way.

“And what about you, Pennington? What’s new with you?”

Penn shifted in his chair, then looked at Murray and me, his face more serious than I seen it in a while. “Do you two ever get the feeling like something going on but you don’t know what? Like you’re being left out of something?”

My brows knotted together. “What’s going on?”

He leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees. “That’s just it, I don’t know. But something is, I’m sure of it. I can sense it.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one, my grandfather and Nancy are having a lot of meetings. Just the two of them.” He raised his eyebrow, leaving us to fill in the blanks.

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