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“Good, good,” I respond languidly. “Just hanging out on the patio right now, taking it slow tonight. The weather is too nice not to.”
“The weather is always nice in LA,” he reminds me. “When did that ever slow down your hustle before?”
I detect a hint of jealousy in his voice. Unlike me, he still has to deal with the chilly East Coast weather.
“Touché. You’re right, it doesn’t,” I admit. “But yeah, honestly, I needed a break from the office today. It’s been a bit stressful lately. And all that traveling wore me out.”
‘All that traveling’ was not much more than meeting my mother and one business associate who I used to work with when I helped Gabe start a legal technology platform years ago. I also met with him, while I was there, and advised him not to get back involved with his ex-girlfriend Ella. I’m pretty sure that was a futile attempt, but I don’t want to ask him about that now. It would only make me angry.
“Your life is always stressful,” he adds.
“Yeah, but not like this,” I argue. “I’m trying to acquire another company for their technology, but they’re fighting us for no apparent reason—led by the most infuriating bitch I’ve ever met.”
That’s a strong word to use, and I can’t deny the little sting that pokes at my chest when I talk about Madison in that fashion. Shit, I’m not getting myself in trouble here, am I?
“Doesn’t sound like something you can’t handle,” he says. “Especially in your position.”
“True, but man, that woman gets under my skin. Such a fucking snake,” I seethe, trying to ignore the stabs at my conscience. “At least she’s hot. Nice ass, nice lips, so there’s that. Eye candy always helps.”
He pauses, and I can sense that he is about to reprimand me before he even starts.
“You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?” he inquires.
“What do you mean?” I retort. “You mean like… fucking her?”
I’m sure that’s exactly what he means, and I can’t believe that he’s the one warning me about doing something stupid after that bullshit he’s pulling with Ella.
“Fuck no, man! I’m not an idiot!” I burst out. “Never shit where you eat, remember? We’ve all seen what happened to Aston.”
Aston is the goody-goody of our group, but he’s the only one who ever got into trouble because of a woman. He was dumb enough to get caught dating one of his students. At least that’s what the rumor said, he always insisted that there was nothing to it and nothing ever happened, at least not while she was still enrolled. He was declared innocent after it came out that the girl in question was most likely lying, but shit like that sticks.
Gabe is right to warn me about dipping my pen in company ink, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of agreeing.
“Glad to hear that,” Gabe says.
“Besides, I haven’t forgotten about the pact,” I remark, mostly to tease him. “Not sure how serious you are about it, but I heard Logan has something going on. Looks like he met someone.”
I know I’m getting Logan in trouble right now, but I don’t care. He would do the same to me, and there’s a good chance that Gabe knows more about what’s going on with him than I do. Gabe, Logan, and Aston all still live in the New England area or close to it, and they see each other way more often than I see any of them.
“What do you mean?” he asks, sounding surprised. “Last I heard, he said that pact thing was just a joke to him.”
Oh, that Goddamn pact. A pact for all of us to find a woman, get married, and produce an heir to our respective wealth. It was just a silly joke, something we said when we met on Aston’s 30th birthday.
“Sounds like he lied to you,” I maintain. “We talked briefly yesterday, and he mentioned there’s someone very special in his life now.”
Logan did mention a girl, and that she was helping him with something, but he wouldn’t tell me with what. Did he actually listen to me about finding a wife to get into that dumb club? I can’t imagine that.
“That’s impossible!” Gabe insists.
“That’s what I thought, too!” I agree. “Maybe he’s lying—or he’s taking this pact thing a lot more seriously than us… or me, at least. Don’t know about you?”
I shake my head violently, adding a dismissive scoff—as if that could stop Madison’s face from emerging before my inner eye.
“No, man, I have other things on my mind. We were only joking about that anyway, weren’t we?”
I hear another call coming in, which brings an abrupt end to our conversation. This could be Mr. Hailey.
“I’m getting another call, sorry, this could be important—can we talk later?”
