Page 105 of Vow to Hate You

My brows furrowed. “Why would my dad call me if it’s about business?”

“Probably because I haven’t gone to the office in days.”

I fought through the haze of sleep, trying to remember what day it was. Damian and I had spent the last few days holed up in the apartment, doing nothing but talking and having sex. Ever since he showed up at the club where I was playing music, he seemed determined to know every last detail of what I’d done when I was gone all those years. He also explained why he sent me away from Club Facade that night. Knowing his father found out about his business still had my mind reeling.

“Is it Monday?” I asked. I had lunch planned with Georgia this week. While I turned down the offer of an interview for her company, we’d seen each other a few times. I had fun with her, and we had similar taste in music.

“Yes, it’s a new week,” he finally grumbled. “Let’s hope it’s better than the last one.”

I stretched my arms above my head as he kissed me along my jaw, causing goosebumps to skate across my skin. As much as I wanted to stay in bed with him all day, there was too much to get done. I met his eyes, asking another question.

“Do you need to talk to Rhyett and Ash today?”

He let out a sigh, rolling off me. “And here I thought I’d spend the morning eating my favorite dessert. But if you want to talk, we can do that too.”

I moved onto my side to look at him. “It’s a big thing, Damian. The club is yours, and you’re going to sign it over to your best friends. It must be hard.”

“It’s not. They helped build it too. I’d want them to have it instead of some stranger.”

“And Percy?” I pressed. “You told me he owns part of it too.”

“He’ll keep getting his money until I’m not on the paperwork anymore. Then it won’t matter. The only reason he was holding it over my head was to keep our families from finding out. My dad already knows. It won’t matter if Jude finds out in three weeks because I won’t own the club anymore. His blackmail willcease to exist.” A muscle in his jaw flexed as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “That’s one good thing to come from this. At least I won’t have to deal with him anymore.”

My stomach knotted painfully as I stared at him. He refused to admit our marriage was the reason this was happening, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. If my dad found out about Club Facade, he could use it against Damian and his father. He was giving the club away to keep our marriage.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you.” His eyes met mine. “You’re playing music at my club next weekend.”

“What?”

“We’ll have to go in this week so you can be at the rehearsals.”

“You have a DJ, and he’s good.”

“I already had Kal tell him he wouldn’t be working this weekend.”

I sat up. “You can’t fire people for me.”

“I can do whatever I want to make my wife happy. I know you’ll want to play at other places too, but my club is always open to you whenever you want the gig.”

“Damian—”

“He wasn’t our employee,” he interrupted. “Don’t feel guilty. He was contracted out and already has other gigs. He’ll be fine.”

My guilt only sliced deeper. Here he was, lining up jobs for me while his dream was crashing around him.

I jumped when there was a loud banging on the door. Damian bolted out of bed, striding across the room to peer through the peephole. He cursed under his breath, moving to grab the gray sweatpants on the floor.

“Damian, open the fuck up,” his father bellowed through the door. “I know you’re in there.”

His enraged voice had apprehension sliding through my veins as I rolled out of bed. He didn’t stop pounding on the dooras I grabbed Damian’s button-down white shirt, slipping it on over my bra and panties.

“Might want to hide in the bathroom for this,” Damian grumbled, glancing at me as he pulled on the sweats.

I nearly took him up on that until my father’s voice mixed in with Christian’s.

“Natalia. You don’t ignore my calls.”

I swallowed thickly, the fury in his voice making dread coil through me. Damian scowled before going to unlock the door. Christian entered first, his eyes narrowing on his son. My father pushed past him, stopping in his tracks when his gaze fell on me. His lips pursed with distaste when he saw what I was wearing. I hastily closed the last few buttons before crossing my arms.

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