Page 89 of Passion and Payback

Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy with how things had turned out, at least between Kai and me. Thesecircumstances would never have come about if it hadn’t been for the horror and tragedy that preceded them, so that was weird and tangled in its own way. But as much as I was glad Kai and I were what we were, that didn’t mean I didn’t miss Lucas. I had never ‘settled’ to be with him simply because I was a weird version of in love with my best friend.

Ihadloved Lucas with the part of my heart that belonged to him and him alone. Just as my heart had a part for Kai, always holding him close even as it never interfered with other parts of my life, including my relationship with Lucas. Perhaps that was why Lucas had never been bothered or jealous of what he knew I felt for my best friend. The heart’s supply of love was infinite as far as I was concerned, and I could love them both fiercely without one stepping on the toes of the other.

However, as I had learned over the past couple of years, especially the past month, the heart’s supply of hatred wasn’t finite either.

“Was that the anniversary dinner you got sick after? I remember you trying to tell me something about seafood after it happened, but the signal was horrible.”

I grinned, loving him all the more for not hesitating to let me reminisce about Lucas. Sometimes, I was so caught up in how much I missed him and how good he was to me that I forgot how much they had gotten along. There had always beensomedistance between them, an indescribable gap that neither had talked about with me or each other as far as I knew. It had simply existed peacefully, perhaps because of what Lucas knew about my feelings for Kai. In turn, perhaps Kai had always held himself back from Lucas, liking him but always privately envying what he had.

“No,” I snorted. “That was our first anniversary. I was trying to tell you over the call that one had gone way better than our first anniversary. The first one, we barely had any money andscraped together to go to some seafood place at the edge of Port Dale. Worst choice we could have made becausesomethingsent us right to the ER. We just had to ride it out, but oof, those were a miserable couple of days.”

“Nothing quite like a bout of the screaming shits to bring two people close together,” Kai said with a smirk.

“For all we know,” a new voice piped up, louder than the conversations surrounding us. I fought the urge to twist around to face the conversation, paying attention instead, “he’s fled to parts unknown and letting us all rot.”

“I don’t know about rot,” a man chuckled, directly contrasting with the woman’s sour voice. “I’ve certainly been enjoying myself.”

“Because you’ve been working your way through the whiskey selection.”

“It is a damn fine selection.”

“Well, at least someone is getting something productive out of this night. The bastard keeps disappearing for phone calls.”

“Everyone knows he’s been running things for years, insisting on not letting his father interfere. And why not? He has a good head for business.”

“Not lately,” she scoffed, and I heard them stop behind us, either not seeing us or not caring that we could hear them. “Honestly, I would have said nothing could have shaken him. He’s always been steadfast and unflappable, but lately?—”

“Well, it shouldn’t exactly be a surprise. He lost a childhood friend.”

I had to give whoever she was credit. She managed to make a snort sound somewhat dignified despite the harshness. “I would find it difficult to believe he even has enough heart to care about someone else, especially alawyer.”

“Well, he hasn’t talked about it, but word gets around. That lawyer died pretty badly.”

“People are always dying in this city. Why should one lawyer make a difference just because you went to school with them? Honestly, there is so much potential business here, and he keeps going to make calls. From what I heard, he’s calling anyone he can, demanding answers. Been doing it all week.”

I glanced at Kai, whose expression was unreadable. It was hard to say how I felt hearing the gossip, which, in all fairness, was probably happening all over the place if someone was willing to discuss it so openly. Not for a moment did I regret what I’d done. Damon had been a monster, just like the rest of his friends, but it left me with a strange feeling to hear that someone genuinely cared about him so much they could be distressed over his murder. Sure, he was a heinous monster, but it made them all a little more human, which was a distinctly uncomfortable thought.

“He has more than enough on his plate. If he wants to drag everyone here, feed them, get them drunk, let them feel good about him while they make their deals on the side, all the better. Hell, maybe it’s intentional, and he’s building some goodwill.”

“That man wouldn’t know how to build goodwill if he tried. If he wantedthat, he’d bring theotherchildhood friend he supposedly cares about so much to this little party of his. What was his name? Cade?”

“Callum, honestly, Shandra, how can you not know that? You want to have dealings with him, but you don’t even know his friend’s name? He knew him just as long as the other guy. I certainly hope you’re better at faking caring than showing it.”

“All I know is he’s holed up in some room on the second floor and won’t let anyone close to him. At least that’s where he was half an hour ago, according to William. He’s probably left by now, leaving us in the wind.”

“Or, to let us have a good time, maybe you should reacquaint yourself with the concept. You seem to have forgotten it.”

Her tone continued to be bitter and snarky as they walked off, but the words were drowned out as they walked back toward the building. I waited until Kai turned his back to the bay to watch behind us before clearing my throat. “Interesting...and weirdly convenient.”

“It is pretty convenient,” Kai said.

“Suspiciously so.”

“Why?”

“He just so happens to be in this building, isolated and without security?”

“He probably has securitysomewhere,but it sounds like he’s isolating himself because he’s still upset about Damon.”

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