He stared at his coffee as he considered his answer. It was hard to read him, but it seemed like he didn’t want to respond. Seconds passed before he lifted his gaze to give me his full attention. “Drugs.”
I stared at him blankly because I didn’t know what response to give. I didn’t live a sheltered life full of rainbows and unicorns. I knew the underworld was full of horrors, and on the spectrum, Damien’s business was on the tame side. He made a product and sold it, and that product wasn’t a person. And it really didn’t matter anyway, because I wasn’t looking for a new husband.
He watched my reaction. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to run away. And I can’t lie.”
“You can’t lie?”
He shrugged. “Not who I am.”
His drug operation was slightly disappointing, but he quickly made up for it with that response. He could have made up something, and I would have had no idea if he was telling the truth. But he gave the real answer, even if that meant I kicked him out the door. That was an unusual quality in a man…and a sexy one. “I respect that.”
Relief moved into his gaze. “This last week was hectic. I had a lot of shit to deal with. That’s why you didn’t hear from me. But trust me, I was thinking about you.” He leaned back in the chair, his heavy shoulders relaxing.
“If you’re stretched so thin, why don’t you sell one of your businesses?”
He considered the question for a long time. “I’ve put too much into each one just to walk away.”
Liam was just as ambitious. There were many nights when he never came home. Now I wondered if he had really been working in all those instances. Trust had been incinerated, and I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. “Why were you in such a bad mood when I called?”
He paused again, as if this question were even more difficult than the first one.
“You don’t have to answer that.”
“It’s fine,” he said quietly. “I got into a fight with someone.”
I knew he had recently left a relationship, so I wondered if his ex was the person who pissed him off. Did he see her a lot? Was she involved in his business at the bank?
He elaborated when I hadn’t expected him to. “I fucked up pretty badly and lost someone. Anytime we’re together, it’s like another world war. I apologized a million times, but it didn’t make a difference. Now I’m bitter…angry.”
Now I wondered if he’d been married too. “Did you cheat?”
His eyes glossed over as he recalled a distant memory. When the question registered in his brain, he shifted his gaze back to me. “No. I’ve never been committed to someone before.”
Instead of asking him to clarify the instance he referred to, I fixated on the statement he’d just made. “You’ve never been in a serious relationship?”
The glaze left his eyes, and he looked at me again. “No.”
I wanted to interrogate him about that, but I thought it was inappropriate. We were sleeping together, but it was causal, and I really didn’t know him that well. If I didn’t want him to ask me a million questions about my divorce, I couldn’t pry either. So I sipped my coffee and didn’t say anything.
He stared at me expectantly, as if he was waiting for a dozen questions. When it didn’t happen, he grabbed his phone and checked the time. “I need to get—”
Someone knocked on the door.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Damien stilled then looked at me.
I knew who it was. I’d gamble my life on it.
“Anna.” Liam pounded his fist into the door. “Open the fucking door, or I will.”
I’d gotten lucky in the past, and Liam had never visited when I had dates over. Most of the time, I went to their place, so that erased the problem altogether.
Damien stared at me with the same fixed expression, his look hard and unreadable.
I couldn’t let Liam see Damien. He’d beat him to death… I wasn’t exaggerating.
Damien didn’t seem concerned about the man pounding on my door. “I can handle it.” He rose from his seat.
I threw myself over the table and pushed him back down. “Oh my god, no.”
He fell back into the chair, visibly disappointed.
I had nothing to hide and I wasn’t ashamed of Damien, but I knew Liam would lose his shit if he saw him there. “I’m so sorry to ask this…but could you wait in my bedroom?”
Both of his eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid of him.”
“That’s not why I’m asking.”
Liam pounded on the door again. “Anna!”
Damien’s eyes darkened as he listened to my ex-husband practically rip my door off the hinges. “Let me handle this for you.”
“No.” I kept my voice at a whisper. “I appreciate it, but it’ll just make bigger problems for me.”