Page 88 of Brassy Bigwig

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

DIMITRIOS

The moment Dex opens the front door, he shoves a highball glass filled with three fingers of whiskey into my hand.

“Come on in, man.”

Dex shuts the door behind me as I walk into their home. Taking a large swig, I make my way into the living room. Bianca is already sitting on the sofa, glass of red wine in hand.

“What happened?” she asks, not wanting to waste time with small talk.

“She showed up at Chloe’s apartment as we were loading some of her things into my car. Literally seconds after Chloe walked inside. Purposefully, of course. If she wanted Chloe to know she was there, she wouldn’t have waited.”

I take another large sip of whiskey, and the fire that remains within me grows hotter.

“She told me she wants to get back together.”

“Ew.” Both Dex and Bianca scoff at the same time.

I place my glass down on the coffee table and lean forward with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

“I’ve really made a mess of things. One that keeps growing the longer I go without telling Chloe about Emilia.”

“Wait, Chloe doesn’t know about Emilia yet?”

Picking up my head, I look Bianca in the eyes and let my reaction answer her question. Standing, I pace the living room.

“Chloe’s mother cheated on her father with his best friend. She didn’t even know her biological father—who happens to be Graham Morgan, by the way,” I look over at Dex and catch his shock at this revelation, “until she was four years old. Her mother had moved on with the best friend, until he died when she was four. It turned out he was cheating, too. Get this… with his assistant.”

I watch as both Dex and Bianca try to put together everything I just told them.

“She hates liars and cheaters. She made that very clear to me, and I don’t blame her one bit. But I’m both. I should have told her when I first got into town, before things started heating up between us again. But I honestly didn’t think it was relevant to anything. Then when I finally decided I was going to tell her, this shit with that motherfucking psycho stalker started. It didn’t feel right to lay this on her, too.”

“D, this bomb is going to blow up in your face if you don’t diffuse it ASAP.”

“You don’t think I know that? I wanted to tell her tonight after she got settled in, but that was when I thought Emilia was still in California with Grant. And now I find out Chloe’s falling in love with me—”

“She told you that?” Bianca interrupts. The smile on her face is priceless.

“No. I overheard her telling her friend Shelby. And I feel the same way about her, but I’m terrified I’ve waited too long to tell her about Emilia, and my love won’t matter to her enough to be able to forgive my omission.”

“Listen,” Dex speaks up. “When I got caught in my lie with Bianca, it almost ended what we had. Luckily, and because this woman has the patience and forgiveness of a saint, we were able to make it through. I believe you and Chloe have what it takes, too. But if you don’t tell her and she finds out on her own—which she will—I don’t know if you can come back from that.”

“I know,” I agree.

Still, the thought of telling her makes me want to throw up.

“So what else did that bitch Emilia have to say?”

I scoff, thinking back to our conversation.

“She’s a fucking piece of work. She told me I have one week to call her with a date and time we can meet for dinner so we can talk. If not, she said she’s going to go to the board of trustees and tell them about my pattern of destructive behavior in reference to sleeping with my assistants. And also, she will write to whatever fucking news outlets to tell them about the sexual corruption taking place within Okeanós.”

I take my seat once more and rub my hand down my face, still in disbelief of my earlier run-in. Grabbing my glass from the table, I down the rest of my whiskey.

“Another?”

“No, no,” I decline. “I told Chloe I was going to the office for something. Another fucking lie. I can’t come home smelling like a bar.”

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