Page 68 of The Ring Thief
He shrugs. “Just someone I picked up at a bar.”
He seems disinclined to leave, so I drop into a chair facing the desk, eyeing him in annoyance. “Shouldn’t you be at work right now?”
“Told them I had an early meeting.” He flicks up an eyebrow at my expression. “I did not tell a lie. Here I am, meeting with you.”
“How is it over at Betham Investments?”
This was his first official week with them, after negotiating a delayed start, taking some time for himself after the shit-show at Nexus.
He leans back, the leather of the chair creaking slightly under his weight. “It’s fine. It’s a different culture over there, though.”
“How so?”
He looks away. “It’s just somber, I guess. Even when people are eating lunch, the place is deadly silent. It’s depressing as hell.” He flicks a look at me. “Where did Adam land?”
I flatten my mouth, hiding my smile. It’s taken longer for him to cave than I had thought. “He was snatched up fairly quickly,” I tell him. “Not surprising, considering the references I gave him.”
I didn’t actually answer his question, and his expression tells me he’s very much aware of it.
He looks down at the folder resting on my knees. “You sure about that?” he asks pointedly. “You’ve been friends your whole life.”
“That used to be my argument,” I muse. “But now I’m realizing that I’m not sure what friends really are.”
He blinks rapidly. “I’m not sure if I should take offense or not.”
“You know I don’t mean you. I accepted it a long time ago; that I’m stuck with you.”
“Yep, definitely offended.”
I ignore that. “I’ve had some time to think over the past few weeks, and I’ve been going over the relationship my family had with the Huntingtons, trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Whether she’s just a product of her parenting.”
“Like you?”
I lift one shoulder, not quite meeting his eyes. “I’ve acknowledged that while I might be a product of Donald Masters, my choices have still been mine.” I tap the folder. “Silvia’s choices are also hers, and that’s what she’s going to have to deal with. I was prepared to give her some grace because of the history between our families?—”
“I sense a but.”
“But,” I continue, “she’s gone after Lily again, even when I warned her to stay away.”
“That”—he points at the folder—“isn’t just about Silvia, though.”
“I’m aware.” I stare back at him impassively.
Not long after that, Carter declares that he really should head into work before his new assistant sends out a search party for him. I see him out, listening to his amused jabs about my desk and how low I’ve fallen, before heading back and working my way through the to-do list that Grant left for me that morning.
It was always an interesting range of tasks, and could be anything from spell checking simple reports, or conducting an in-depth analysis of the engineering team’s quarterly budget. Definitely not an intern’s work, but I wasn’t questioning the boss.
About mid-morning, my phone buzzes with a text, distracting me.
Darcy: Mom is demanding your presence at lunch. She says it’s non-negotiable.
Declan: Why? What’s happened?
Darcy: She went to the country club last night. She heard some things.
I’d come clean to Mom about everything that happened between me and Lily, not wanting her to be blindsided when the annulment became public knowledge, so I know exactly what new gossip must have dribbled into her ears. I thought I’d have more time to formalize the plan that I’d come up with last night, but clearly the gossip mill was churning faster than I had anticipated.
Darcy: If you don’t show up, I will hunt you down.
