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And it takes me another moment to recognize the two men I can hear talking.
Damon and Jim.
I pull myself out of bed, my head spinning furiously.
Oh, crap. This hangover is going to kill me.
I would rather just curl up in bed and spend the rest of the morning nursing this terrible self-induced affliction, but the alarmingly raised voices from the two men intrigue me too much for me to ignore. I stagger to the closed door thatleads out of the hotel bedroom and place my ear against it in order to decipher what the hell they’re going on about, feeling like a sneaky detective.
“You’ve got to speak to him,” Jim is saying on the other side of the door. His voice sounds like it’s on the verge of a shout: something I would never imagine someone doing at Damon. I can’t picture that man accepting anyone shouting at him and letting them get away with it. “You can’t put this off forever.”
“Yes, I know,” Damon replies in his typical growl.
“He wants to meet,” Jim says. “Tonight.”
“I’m not going to some meeting with Handsome Jack. I’m with Ava. She takes precedence over any man.”
So just who the hell is this Handsome Jack guy?
“Damon, you know you have to do this. You know you have to meet with the guy eventually. It’s better that it’s a peaceful negotiation now rather than some bloody duel in the future.”
Jim is being more persuasive now. It seems like Damon allows this man – and this manonly– to speak to him like this. I admire their friendship. They’ve gone to hell and back together, and Damon trusts Jim with his life. He allows him to speak to him as a friend.
I’m sure Damon doesn’t have many of those that he can trust.
My head still throbbing with this hangover, I am unaware of my foot pressing down on the nice hotel flooring.
And then there’s a squeak of the floorboards as I apply pressure.
Fuck.
I immediately cringe as the sound reverberates through the entire hotel suite.
The two men go silent.
Yep. They heard me.
Why did I allow myself to do that? Now they’ll know I’m standing here at the door, listening to them...
And so I try to save myself by opening the door and stepping into the main hotel suite living space with all the confidence in my arsenal. The bright lights momentarily blind my hangover ass as I smile at the two men.
With smudged makeup and my bed hair, I must look like a crazy witch.
“Morning, boys.”
Damon is already dressed in one of his nice black suits and looking like he didn’t have a drop of alcohol last night, the bastard. They both turn to me, hushing their serious conversation.
“Hello, Ava. How’s your hangover?” Jim asks. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”
I roll my eyes. “Suffering, but I’ll survive. What are you two talking about?”
Damon straightens up. “I have a work meeting tonight,” he says.
“Nice,” I reply. “I’d like to come.”
Yes, I know. I’mbad.
Damon’s eyes narrow. “Really?” he asks. “You want to come?”
