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“Uh, no, I haven’t. Why?”
“Huh. It’s just… I saw him when I came in, but he doesn’t seem to be around anywhere now. I think maybe I should check his room in case he went back there—”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Levi said quickly, and when I frowned, he gave me a placating smile. “Viper’s making the announcement any minute now, so I can’t have you running off.”
“But Drew should be here for that too.”
“Right. Of course he should.” Levi shared a look with Killian and then checked his watch. “How about you stay right here and I’ll go check on him?”
As much as I wanted to be the one to do it, I begrudgingly agreed and popped the canapé into my mouth. It wouldn’t look great if both of us were missing for the announcement. But why would Drew disappear with something so huge on the line?
And why had Levi not seemed all that worried about it?
“Good luck if you get the job, man,” Killian said, smirking as he walked away. “You’re gonna need it.”
I wanted to laugh off the warning, but part of me wondered if maybe Drew really was the better fit for this deal. I knew my chance of winning was slim after the meeting with Viper, but considering Drew would be the alternative to publish his book, it wasn’t such a bad thing to lose.
Not that I was a fan of that word. In fact, I hated it.
“Attention, motherfuckers,” came a loud, booming voice through the speakers, and I looked up to see a spotlight illuminating Viper and Halo on the balcony overlooking the party below. Viper looked every inch the bad boy in all black, exuding an aura of unapologetic rebel without a cause. With a microphone in one hand and the other arm wound firmly around the waist of the man he affectionately referred to as Angel, the contrast between them was striking. Halo, his fiancé, lived up to the name in a flawless ensemble of pure white. The two couldn’t be more opposite, and yet something about them worked.
“I’m ready to do some shots,” Viper said, “so I’ll make this like Trent Knox’s dick: short and blunt.”
As a mixture of laughter and boos rang out, someone in the crowd yelled, “Bullshit, I’ve seen it!”
Viper pointed at them with his glass. “It’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. And speaking of stories, I invited all of you here to get you wasted out of your minds so I can write about your dirty deeds in my book. Oh, did I mention there’s a book coming? Yep. I’m spilling it all, so you should be fucking terrified.”
Whistles and catcalls rang out as Viper laughed and stole a kiss from Halo, which only made the crowd go wilder.
Someone shouted, “Get a room!” to which Viper called back, “This whole houseismy room.” He followed up by flipping him off and kissing his man even deeper.
When he finally pulled away and got back on the mic, he said, “What was I saying? Oh, stories. Since my shit’s in demand already, I’ve had publishers beating down my door. I narrowed down the list to two and figured tonight would be a good time to announce the winner and introduce them to the debauchery.”
More whooping broke out, egging him on.
“All right, all right,” he said. “Can I get a spotlight on Hudson Montgomery?”
Somehow, the person handling the light knew exactly where to find me, and I squinted under the intense beam.
The cheeky smile on Viper’s face grew. “There he is. The lucky fucker who gets to work with me. Give it up for Hudson from Montgomery Publishing.”
As Viper’s declaration sank in, I tried not to act as shocked as I felt as the attention of every person in the room landed on me.
Holy shit. I’d landed the deal? Was he serious?
Viper added, “Congrats, man. Now everybody drink and get naked.”
As shouts of approval followed, my thoughts shifted to Drew and where he was at that very moment. I couldn’t see a thing with the light shining in my eyes, but somehow I knew Drew wasn’t in the room.
Had he been given a heads-up I’d gotten the deal, and that was why he’d left?
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
A few seconds later, the spotlight mercifully moved away from me, and my vision came back. The number of people who approached me to congratulate or express their sympathies was nonstop, at least until Viper and Halo made their way over.
“Hey, congratulations,” Halo said, giving me a warm smile.
“Thank you,” I managed, still in a state of shock.
