Page 27 of Mayhem
Once Corey excused himself to check on his wife, who was beckoning him, Paetyn went over to Remy, seated on one of the barstools, smirking at his phone like a teenager.
"I take it it's an interesting conversation,"Paetyn stated, walking around to the other side of the bar.
"I guess if being fussed at is interesting,"Remy responded, looking up from his phone.
"You clearly like it, and you probably deserve it,"Paetyn replied, and the other man laughed.
While Paetyn had known his three best friends for over a decade and a half, almost two decades in Cruz's case, and they spent most of their time hanging out together, they'd all known Remy for almost as long as Cayman Industries had been around.
Remy was the first person outside their friend group who wasn't intimidated by Kieran's nature and attitude. Going so far as to ask him if he was always an asshole during his interview. Since that day, Remy had been Kieran's Vice-President of Operations, and they all tended to hang out on occasion. More so at their bi-weekly games now that Kieran didn't work so much.
"It's amusing because he's claiming it's my fault he's sore,"Remy countered.
"Is it?"Paetyn inquired with a raised brow, to which Remy tilted his head with a smile that told Paetyn everything he needed to know and shrugged.
They laughed, and Paetyn grabbed a glass and poured himself a drink. He hadn't planned on drinking, but he figured one wouldn't hurt him. He held up the bottle, and Remy nodded, so Paetyn poured him one, passing it to him.
"So, why didn't you invite him?"
"I did. He declined."
Paetyn hummed, deciding to cast his bait. "I could understand not wanting to come to something where you may not know anyone."
"He knows people here. Some better than me."Paetyn listened to Remy respond absently as he looked down at his phone, which alerted him to a notification.
"Tell Lawrence I said hello,"Paetyn said before taking a drink from his glass. His eyes were on Remy as the other man's head snappedupto look at him.
"You know that's creepy, right?"Remy questioned, pointing at Paetyn before moving his finger around. "That weird observation thing that you do."
Paetyn found himself chuckling. He could admit he noticed things more than the average person or more than he should. But it wasn't hard to guess that Remy was texting Lawrence. Paetyn had seen them talking during the wedding, and both of their body language screamed that it was more than a friendly conversation. Then they left together. They hadn't even tried to make it look like something other than what it was, at least to him. Could he have been wrong in his assumption? Absolutely. But he hadn't been, and that was all that mattered.
"It just happens,"Paetyn responded.
"Well, reserve that talent for those other three."Remy took a sip of his drink.
Paetyn left Remy to his conversation with Lawrence and entered the kitchen. He looked over the food along the bar. Paetyn picked up a napkin and the tongs before grabbing a mini quiche. He bit into it, and it was fluffy andcooked to perfection, but he hadn't expected anything else since he'd cooked them.
Turning his attention back to the room, Paetyn decided to keep to himself for a bit before rejoining everyone.
Cruz pretended to listen to the conversation that he'd been pulled into by two of Nik's employees. The manager he'd leftin charge ofMirage,Troy and the one he'd taken toParadise 826to manage it, Eric. He was sure that whatever they were talking about in some way related to a business proposal, but considering helping start-ups, buying out a start-up, or anything of that nature was not what he did; he didn't feel the need to listen actively. Once he was sure they'd finished their little pitch, he'd send them in Kieran's or Corey's direction. Honestly, hewas actingas if he were listening because they were employees of Nik's. Any other time, he would have walked away.
His eyes moved across the room and landed on Erin. However, Cruz wasn't at all shocked by that fact. It had been like this for almost a year whenever they were in the same place. She was laughing at something another woman had said to her, andCruz assumed it was someone who worked with Chayse.
When he and Paetyn arrived, Cruz realized that while he may have seen most of the people in attendance at some point, he only knew a few of their names. He'd also noticed that one person, in particular, was missing. He'd asked Nik where Naidlyn was, to which he'd replied that he'd invited her. However, since she was on call, she'd been called into the hospital that afternoon.
Cruz was aware that Nik's relationship with Naidlyn was mending, even though he hadn't decided whether or not he was ready to speak to his mother. He couldn't blame Nik for stepping back; he'd feel the same way if he were in the other man's shoes with his mother. Cruz knew some people wouldn't understand, but everyone was raised differently. Some were in environments where they were supposed to accept anything their parents dealt out, regardless of the situation. None of them had been raised that way.
There was a pause in the conversation, and Cruz figured they were done with whatever they were attempting to pitch to him.It wasn't unusualthat he wasapproached with somesort of business opportunity at any function.He'd become used to it over the years, and he had to commend those who had anactualidea and were determined to make it come true by getting the backing they needed.
"So, what do you think?"Troy questioned.
Cruz vaguely knew they'd been talking to him about a panic alarm that was supposed to be different from those already out.Other than that, hehadn't heardmuch.
"I think you need to talk to Kieran,"Cruz told them.
"But it's a security endeavor,"Eric responded.
"It is, but a personal security one. I focus on apartments, homes, businesses, and things of that nature. You're attempting to sell me a device my company has no use for since that function is built into our app, and people seldom go anywhere without their phones. Yes, a phone can be taken, but so can your device. So, talk to Kieran."
