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“That’s tough, man. Sorry I missed the memorial. How’re you doing?”
I shrugged. “How could I be doing?”
She eyed me. She’d been trying to get me to come to VA group grief counseling sessions for the past month but I didn’t need that shit – airing my personal problems in front of complete strangers.
“What were you doing at a dive like Blanc?” she asked.
“You were there, too.”
“Only because you invited me.”
I laughed. “It was Brandon’s pick, not mine.”
“What happened with the girl you were with?” she asked, this hopeful look in her eyes. “You two looked pretty hot and heavy when I saw you at Blanc. Did you go home with her?”
“Umm…” Although I didn’t always volunteer the truth, I couldn’t lie to Casey so I shrugged and said nothing, biting my bottom lip to keep from grinning. “Nope.”
“What happened? You’re usually pretty smooth with women.”
“I forgot her name.”
“You forgot her name?” she said with disgust in her voice. “You manwhore.” She gave me a glare and pushed the bar up, concentrating while it lowered. Finally, she relented and the glare turned into a grin. She liked pussy as much as I did.
“You need a real girlfriend,” she said, staring at me over the barbell. “None of those chicks you bring home for a fuck and suck and never see again.”
“I don’t need a girlfriend,” I said, frowning. “I need a partner with ten million to invest in my company so I can keep the wolves – I mean bankers – from the proverbial door.”
“The proverbial door or an actual door?”
“Grammar Nazi,” I said, not quite under my breath.
“Go to your uncle. It’s your money, Beckett.”
I frowned at the mention of my uncle. “You know better than to suggest that.”
A mid-level tough guy in what remained of Hell’s Kitchen’s Irish Mafia, he was my father’s oldest brother, who inherited my father’s technology business when he died. Not my mother. Not me. My uncle had no experience or interest in superconductors except how he could use the corporation to launder money.
We contested the will, but when the other side has a judge in his pocket, it was hard to win. Since then, my uncle had perverted my father’s business. The money was tainted, dirty, and the respect the corporation garnered over the years was being slowly eroded.
One day, I’d get the business back from him, but not until he croaked off – hopefully at the hands of one of his little Mafia friends.
After I left the service, I’d been recruited and worked undercover for the DEA, reporting on what I overheard at family dinners about their mafia ties and business dealings, listening when sitting around with my uncle and his boys shooting the shit over Guinness. I’d reinserted myself into my uncle’s life with the intent of finding some way to kick him out of the family business, get something incriminating on him so I could take over and clean it up.
At least, that was my long-range plan. In the meantime, I started my own company with Graham and now that was on the rocks. Casey didn’t know I worked for the DEA, and so I could tell her none of this. Instead I let her think I was refusing to take his money on principle.
I let the barbell rest in her hands a bit longer than I should, to pay her back for being such a hardass. Soon, Casey’s arms shook and she grimaced from the strain. “Beckett, you bastard… Help me!”
I grinned and lifted the barbell into place. She shook her head and sat up, adjusting her gloves. A serious bodybuilder, she worked out every day and was far more serious than me. I did it just to get visible abs and biceps because the ladies were all about abs and biceps. Casey – she almost – almost – had a better clean and jerk than me.
She won competitions.
“Beckett, I know you like to think of yourself as a lothario, but men like you cannot live on nameless pussy alone. You need the love and companionship of a good woman.”
I laughed out loud at that and smiled at her. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. I know more about you than anyone alive. You’ll find someone new if you let yourself. Things will be good again if you give it a chance to develop with the right person. I know it’s hard for you to hear, but there are other women out there b
esides Sue.”
