Page 69 of Insatiable


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He might really have cared about all that a few months ago. Now, he could barely remember to thank his old friend for the hard work he was doing.

“Listen, I wasn’t sure how to tell you this, but now that the business stuff’s over with, there’s something you should be aware of.”

Damien swirled his glass, listening to the tinkle of the ice. “Yes?”

“It’s about Johanna.”

He eyed his friend from across the room. “Are you two...?”

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but she did come to visit me earlier today.”

“I was under the impression she’d left with my...with Sylvia and Morgan.”

Sam shook his head. “She said they got to the airport, and your mother confessed to doing something that made her furious, so she left. She had to talk to someone, wasn’t sure you’d be in the mood to see any of your family, and came to me.”

Interesting. And perhaps a wise choice. He didn’t blame Johanna for Sylvia’s actions, but his sister had been right there, front row center, during the awful, embarrassing scene with Viv. Johanna could have refused to come crashing in on his life, but she’d always been a bit of a busybody and probably hadn’t been able to resist.

“So what did she say?”

Sam studied his own drink, not meeting Damien’s eye. “Were you aware that your mother came up here to confront Viv yesterday?”

“Christ, don’t remind me. What a scene.”

“No,” Sam said carefully. “I mean later. While you were in meetings downstairs.”

Lowering his glass and slamming it onto the coffee table, Damien stared at his friend. “Tell me that’s not true.”

“I’m afraid it is. She let it slip to Johanna, about how she’d taken care of the issue with the ‘slut trying to sink her claws into you.’”

Damien swiped a hand through his hair, angry, frustrated, even a little hurt that Viv would let his mother drive a wedge between them. Then again, Viv had been in an incredibly vulnerable state. And Sylvia could be...a powerful force.

“I should have guessed,” he snarled.

“Yeah, she’s not the type to let her son’s feelings stop her from doing what she wants.”

He could have given Sam the whole story—what he’d learned that had so changed his perspective on his life and his parents—but he was too focused on Viv. “What did she say to her?”

“Johanna seemed to think your mother told Viv you were on the verge of losing the business and the team, and that you were facing lawsuits and financial ruin. All because of your ‘disgraceful’ relationship with her.”

Shock and anger charged through him. Damien leaned forward and swept his glass completely off the table, sending it careening into a wall. It shattered, sending shards of glass, ice and Scotch all over the floor. But he ignored the mess, leaping to his feet and reaching for his phone.

“You okay?” Sam asked, his eyes wide as he surveyed the damage.

“I will be,” Damien snapped. “I just have to get ahold of Jed and make some travel arrangements.”

Sam put his glass down—carefully—and stood up, reaching for his coat. “So you’re going after her?”

“Of course I’m going after her.”

Sam nodded, visibly pleased.

“I thought you didn’t approve.”

“Any idiot can tell you’re crazy about her, Damien. And, as you’ll remember, considering I dragged your ass through Calculus...I am no idiot.” He clapped Damien on the shoulder. “Good luck, my friend. Go get that girl.”

Damien extended his hand to shake Sam’s and nodded his thanks.

And then went to get that girl.

12

KEEPING BUSY WAS the best cure for heartache.

Viv had learned that over the past two days as she’d thrown herself into preparations for her parents’ thirty-fifth anniversary party. She’d managed to avoid checking her phone every five minutes, or daydreaming about the man she wished would call. Instead, there were favors to wrap, baked goods to prepare, pictures to put into a slideshow.

Keeping busy was her parents’ defense mechanism, too.

Arriving here Thursday evening and noticing their too-bright smiles as they’d greeted her at the train station had been incredibly hard. They’d tried to keep up a happy front, as had she, but the moment her father had moved in for a hug, they’d all started crying.

She’d spent a lot of time talking to them since then, explaining exactly what had happened. They’d of course watched the news coverage—God, everyone at the party would have. But her mom and dad, and her brothers, were the only ones who knew the actual details.

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