Before I could get too lost in daydreams, my phone rang. I groaned at the noise, and then answered.
“Darcy Thatcher speaking.” I hoped it was Amy offering a magical cure to my headache.
“Darcy, it’s Janice. Got a few minutes to meet with Shane?” Janice was Shane Green’s personal assistant and all-around awesome lady. They apparently were good friends, at least according to Amy, but nobody knew that and they didn’t act like anything other than business associates at work.
“Sure thing, when?”
“Right now, if you’re available.”
“I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks, he’s expecting you.” She hung up.
I hadn’t been invited into Shane’s office since I first started at Adstringo. Most new hires at least got to meet Shane once, despite how notoriously private he was. He rarely engaged in any non-work associated conversations, and nobody knew much about his personal life. Whenever I tried to pry anything about him from Amy, she would tell me that he prefers it if people didn’t know details about his life and drops it. He was frustratingly enigmatic, but also cold and distant. I understood what Amy saw in him, but he wasn’t exactly my type.
I was more into the hot-blooded, asshole wild man, apparently.
I closed down my laptop, unplugged it, and carried it over to Shane’s office. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, so I figured it was good to be prepared. As I got closer, Janice smiled and gave me a wave from her desk outside of Shane’s office.
“Head on in,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said, and pushed open the door.
Inside, his office was simple. I was surprised all over again at how clean and empty it felt. There was a table with chairs, shelves with books, filing cabinets, and Shane’s desk. As I entered, he gestured for me to sit in a chair facing him. For a billionaire, he was shockingly Spartan in his tastes.
“Hey, Mr. Green,” I said, and smiled.
“Hi, Darcy, how are you?”
“I’m pretty good.” I sat down and looked at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. “Well, Darcy, this isn’t exactly a business meeting. So call me Shane for now, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, Shane. What’s going on? Is something up with Amy?”
He looked a little surprised. “No, Amy is fine. It’s actually you I want to talk about.”
That was surprising. Even though he was engaged to my best friend, he had barely shown any interest in me beyond what was expected. Amy said he was just difficult to get to know, but I had a feeling he was just too busy.
“Okay, spit it out. What’s up?”
He looked uncomfortable again. “Are you seeing a man named Rex?”
I laughed. “I guess, sort of. Not exactly seeing him. I take it Amy told you.”
He nodded. “Yes, she told me. Does Rex spend time at a certain bar called Drake’s?”
That gave me pause. It wasn’t unusual for him to know the name Rex, but how did he know about Drake’s? I remembered then how awkward and strange Rex had acted when I mentioned Shane’s name the other night.
“Yeah, he does. Do you know each other?” I didn’t see how they could, but it was the only explanation I had.
“We do, in a sense.” He looked incredibly pained, as if the conversation were causing his actual physical discomfort.
“Wow, that’s a crazy coincidence.” I didn’t know what else to say. I waited for him to continue.
“Darcy, you shouldn’t see him. Rex Latour is bad news. Very bad news. He’s not the kind of man you want to get involved with.” Shane looked serious as he spoke, his eyes clear and wide.
My eyes narrowed. Was Shane Green giving me dating advice?
“I’m not really sure how that’s any of your business,” I said slowly.
“It isn’t. And I would never have this conversation if you weren’t an important person to Amy. I’m only looking out for you here, I hope you believe me.” He held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
“I understand your intentions are good, but I’m an adult, Shane. I make my own choices.”
“Of course. Of course. But, and this is the last thing I’ll say, I know Rex Latour. He was a friend of my brother’s, back when my brother was involved in some pretty awful things. Rex has a violent reputation. I think you should stay away from him.”
What did he mean, a violent reputation? I saw the way he fought those guys, but other than that he seemed harmless. I supposed it was pretty intense the way he took those two guys down, but something about that drew me toward him. I had the distinct feeling that Rex may have been dangerous, but he wasn’t dangerous to me.
“I appreciate your concern, Shane.” I could tell this conversation was difficult for him. It was the most we had spoken without Amy around since I moved to the city, I realized. I didn’t go out with Amy and Shane, mostly because they didn’t go out at all, as far as I knew. He avoided public attention to an insane degree, and hated talking about his personal life. I realized I hadn’t known he even had a brother, let alone a brother that was involved in illegal activities. I doubted anyone knew that beyond his closest friends and family. I mentally made a note to cut him a little more slack in the future. He clearly loved Amy, and was going outside of his comfort zone to try and protect someone she cared about.