Page 6 of The Weekend Getaway

Jason frowned as Phil excused himself and walked back toward Mia and Grace. He was glad Phil was exiting the conversation. Despite the champagne, Jason found it difficult to participate in small talk with the men. Pretending as though they liked and cared about each other as they spoke about things that didn’t matter. Sports. Politics.. Some woman Phil had almost proposed to. The island. Jason could barely concentrate. Could hardly participate.

But now Phil was gone, and the conversation would take a turn for the worse.

“Listen, we need to make sure we all understand the plan,” Alex said, his gaze on Phil, Mia, and Grace as he spoke, his voice a tense, gritty whisper.

Chris nodded. “I understand.”

Jason cleared his throat, his heart beating fast. “Look, um, you know I don’t like this idea.”

“Neither do I,” Alex said. “But we don’t really have a choice. We’re out of options.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Jason disputed.

Alex sighed. “I thought you’d gotten over your reservations.”

“Reservations?” Jason scoffed. “I have more than reservations. I already have regrets. I have recriminations. I have?—”

“Lower your fucking voice,” Alex told him. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“You think I’m being dramatic?” Jason asked, just above a whisper.

“I think you’re being ridiculous,” Alex said. “You’re acting like a child. Be a fucking grownup. We have to save the firm. Our clients and employees are counting on us. We have a responsibility to them. And that means doing whatever it takes to stay in business. Even if whatever it takes is something we’d rather not do. Even if it’s?—”

“Criminal,” Jason blurted, unable to stop himself, but glad he’d said it, though he worried about the wrath in Alex’s gaze. “Because blackmail is a crime.”

Chris made a noise, something like a groan, but he stayed quiet.

Alex said, “Only if it’s reported.”

Jason shook his head.

“I want to save our company,” Alex said, his tone somewhat softer. “And I thought you wanted that, as well.”

“You think I don’t want to save the firm?” Jason glared at Alex. “I absolutely want to stay in business. I just don’t want to ruin someone’s life to do it.”

Scoffing, Alex said, “Again with the melodrama.”

Jason said, “I can’t believe you want to blackmail the guy after everything he’s been through.”

Alex looked amused. “What exactly has Phil been through?”

Looking away, Jason said nothing.

Alex said, “As far as I’m concerned, the suffering did Phil some good. He has a backstory now. Some substance. Life experience. Lore.”

“Because of what we did to him,” Jason said.

Alex said, “You mean because we saved his life.”

CHAPTER 6

SARAH

Mia had warned Sarah that Phil would be at the getaway, but she still shuddered, felt sick to her stomach, seeing him after so many years.

Fifteen years, to be exact.

When the six of them, Alex, Mia, Grace, Chris, Jason, and herself, had all been poor scholarship students at Western Baptist University, a school known for its cohort of billionaire trust fund babies. They’d been forced into a friendship of necessity, because all they had was each other, because they didn’t belong. A group of unwanted outcasts, they’d been sneered at and looked down upon by guys like Phil, the son of an oil magnate.

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