Page 66 of Eastern Lights


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“To be fair, I didn’t know it was your home!” she offered, as if that made it any better.

“Did you know Jason was getting married? Or was that a detail you overlooked while at his celebration the night before?”

Her gaze fell to the floor as embarrassment overtook her. “He said he didn’t really love her.”

“I don’t care what he said to you, Rose. You are grown enough to know better than that.”

“Whatever. I’m over this.” She stood and started off toward the door.

“Rose?”

“Yes?” she asked, turning to look my way.

“What did Jason say to you that made you think it was a good idea to do what you did with him?”

“He said he thought I was gifted, and he believed I’d be successful someday. He told me he believed in me, and I’ve never had someone like him say that to someone like me.”

“He might not have been wrong, but he may have said it to get exactly what it was you gave him. Men are snakes, Rose. Don’t let them taint your future by falling into their lies.”

“Women can be snakes, too, Mr. Roe. I’m grown enough to know what I’m doing.”

As she walked out, Damian was yet again walking in. For the first time since Rose began working there, he spoke to her.

“Bye, Rose,” he stated flatly.

“Fuck you, Damian,” she barked in reply. Once she left, he closed the door behind her.

“I love it when the trash takes itself out,” he commented dryly, taking a seat across from my desk. “So!” He clasped his hands and leaned forward. “Is this the point when I get to say I told you so?”

“Touché.”

“One day, you’ll start listening to me.” He opened the portfolio in his hold and slid some paperwork across to me. “I knew you were pissed after losing that last property, so I spent the weekend exploring some spots, and found this abandoned property. It’s in Queens. I figured you might be interested in flipping it. Not many people are looking at it right now. I searched and called around a bit to get more intel on it. Might work for your dream or whatever.”

He talked so calmly about going out of his way to find me a property to look at as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew it was. Damian didn’t straight-up say when he cared about people, but his spending the weekend to help me out demonstrated that he cared about me.

I smirked. “You love me, don’t you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t make it weird.”

“Okay, I won’t, but…” I kept smiling ear to ear. “You do, don’t you?”

He stood from his chair. “I’m done talking to you.”

“I love you, too, Damian,” I called out. Even though his back was to me, I could feel him rolling his eyes.

“Oh, by the way—that woman who got stood up called the office. Said she wanted to meet with you briefly tomorrow. I told her you probably didn’t have time to—”

“Red?” I asked.

“What?”

I shook my head. “I mean, Aaliyah? She called?”

“Yeah. Said she needed to have a conversation with you if possible, but your schedule is packed and—”

“Cancel my morning meeting at nine. Call her back and let her know she’s more than welcome to stop by.”

He cocked a brow. “You never cancel meetings.”

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