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Collateral damage, isn’t that what Dad had said we’d be?
But the truth was, I was already collateral damage for Finley.
I drank until that ache inside me eased, and made my way to the sofa. I even laughed when they changed the conversation to some stupid story about how Damon’s father had been caught banging his third mistress by not only his wife, but mistresses one and two, and now he was living at the Hilton.
The way he said it made it all seem so funny, and for a second I was swept away oblivious to the sky darkening outside, until Damon rose from his seat and everyone followed.
“You coming?” Xael asked, draining her glass of Scotch.
I narrowed my gaze. “Where?”
“Baldeon’s getting out,” Kat replied. “So we’re having a few drinks at Damon’s.”
“They’re letting him out already?” I was surprised the guy had even survived. “Sure.” I pushed up from the sofa, and felt the room sway.
“Easy.” Kat grabbed my arm, steadying me. “You okay?”
The buzz was perfect. “Yeah,” I muttered, with a wave of my hand. “Lead the way.”
“Come on, Kat!” Evan called from the elevator.
We followed and crowded into the car. Someone grabbed my ass and in that moment, I didn’t really care.
Finley was destined to marry someone else and I was just waiting to get away from here. I glanced at Kat and smiled. Maybe I could send her encrypted emails via a VPN. Maybe I didn’t have to leaveeveryonebehind.
We stumbled out into the cool air, finding the faint, bruised sky of a fading sunset.
“Lead the way, Shawn!”Kat called, laughing.
“Not funny, Kat,” Damon grumbled. “It’s bad enough I get compared to my brother, now I have to be compared to a goddamn singer, too.”
“I dunno.” Kat veered closer and slipped her hand under Damon’s elbow. “I always thought Shawn Mendes was hot as fuck.”
Damon looked down at her and grinned. “Really? How hot are we talking about, Katerina?”
She just giggled, but there was that electricity about them, thathungerthat sizzled in the air.
“Looks like Valachi’s gettin’ lucky tonight,” Xael murmured, watching them with a ravenous gleam in her eyes.
I followed them, letting the cool, salty air fill my lungs as we made our way to Damon’s building that was one over from where we were last night. I left the memories of that behind. I was sure I’d been the topic of conversation last night. The virgin who threw a glass at Finley’s head.
If I had been, none of them had let on. I pretended none of that had happened as we stepped into the building and waited. Damon and Kat were cozy as hell, cuddling and staring into each other’s eyes as they stepped into the elevator.
“We’ll catch the next one,” Evan declared, giving me a gentle shove.
“You go ahead,” I muttered.
Kat just smiled, letting Evan press the button, and they disappeared.
“I’m not high enough for this.” Xael dragged her fingers through her hair. “E, you have something?”
Evan slipped her hand into the top of her dress and plucked out a small bag of white powder. “Always.”
I stepped into the car when the doors opened and tried not to stare as Xael sniffed Evan’s hand and moaned in ecstasy. The apartment was already packed when we arrived. Music with a heavy beat spilled out. I knew NF when I heard him singing about love and pain.
As I went inside, a champagne glass was pushed into my hand with a wink by a cute guy.. I scanned the room, searching for Kat, and found her with her back to the wall and Damon all over her.
“Don’t expect to see her the rest of the night,” Evan warned, nodding toward the two soon-to-be lovers as the cute guy handed her some champagne.
