Beck & Call (35 page)

“Oh,” he said. “Hey!” He ran one hand through his red-gold hair as if slightly disconcerted. “Jake mentioned you might come. Welcome. We’re having cake in the conference room.”

Damien waded inside cautiously. The crowd was mixed to say the least. Some looked as if they might work in the building’s other businesses. The younger females could be acquaintances of Mia’s from college, he supposed. Damien didn’t spot her among them, and no one seemed to be missing her. He’d thrown parties like that early in his career, where none of his guests particularly required his presence to enjoy themselves. But maybe inviting a group had been Curtis’s idea. Though Damien hadn’t been focused on taking Curtis’s measure during the rescue, he had seemed more extraverted than Mia.

The suspiciously well-groomed males could be the gay man’s buddies.

Don’t judge,
he reminded himself as members of both genders checked him out. He wasn’t exactly swinging one way these days.

“Eyes in your head,” Curtis warned one of the more obvious oglers, poking two fingers toward him in emphasis. “This one’s here to visit someone else.” He grinned at Damien over his shoulder. “Feel free to smack anyone grabby.”

He didn’t have to. The partiers went back to entertaining each other.

The group around the table in the conference room was smaller. Damien was surprised to recognize Sawyer Hayes and the seamstress who worked for Diogenes—Hillary Sweets, she was called. Jake was there, of course, and a large, partially eaten bakery cake. As if he’d been putting off facing her, his gaze settled on Mia last.

She had a beer halfway to her mouth. She choked on a swallow when she saw him.

Fuck,
Damien thought. The bastard
hadn’t
given her a heads up.

“Damien,” she said, recovering from her cough. She kept her hand pressed to the neckline of her sixties-style paisley minidress, inescapably drawing his attention to her very nice cleavage. Her hair was down and not in a ponytail. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Jake invited me.” He held out the wine bottle. “I brought you a birthday gift.”

She accepted it with some confusion and looked at Jake.

“Happy birthday,” the bastard said with a smirk.

And with those two words, Damien’s mood transformed. Suddenly, everything was all right. Jake said
happy birthday
as if Damien’s presence was his gift to Mia—as if Damien were that important. Perhaps he was. Mia’s cheeks went pink a second before she looked back at him.

“He’s an idiot,” she said. “
I’d
have invited you if I’d known you’d come. And thank you for the wine.”

She pulled back a swiveling chair for him. He sat and smiled like the idiot she’d accused Jake of being.

“Do you want cake?” she asked. “Or food? We have plenty of pizza left.”

He shook his head and smiled harder. He was certain he couldn’t eat. He was too full of the realization that Jake hadn’t been playing games with him. He
did
believe Mia loved him. And maybe it was true.

“Man needs a beer,” Jake announced, twisting off a cap and setting the bottle in front of him. “You drink beer, right?”

Damien flashed a grin at him too. “As long as it doesn’t come in a can.”

“Duly noted.” Jake sat back and wet smiling lips.

Lust flooded Damien’s system at the sight—for Jake and Mia both. His trousers got snug in two heartbeats. He’d have given quite a lot to be alone and naked with them right then.

Curtis cleared his throat in a manner that might have concealed laughter. “We were discussing Mia’s maternal birthday card when you arrived.”

“God,” Mia groaned. “Do we have to?”

Curtis stuck out his hand. “You know I won’t be satisfied until I see what she sent this year.”

“Is it a thing?” Hillary asked curiously.

Mia bent to dig something out of her purse. “It’s a thing that flatters him more than it does me.”

Curtis took the envelope she pulled out and extricated its contents. Damien’s brow wrinkled. The front of the card simply said
FOR YOU
in plain gray letters.

Curtis opened it and read. “‘On your special day.’ At least she remembered it was special. ‘Send Curtis our love’—that’s me, of course. I’m always in there somewhere.”

“You’re usually in there first,” Mia said.

“True. But to continue. ‘Please buy yourself something nice with the enclosed. Best wishes, Mom and Dad.’”

“You’ll notice she signed for both of them,” Mia put in. “Then again, Dad did sign the check.”

“Well,” Hillary said, clearly trying to be put the best face on this. “Checks are one size fits all.”

“Yes,” Mia agreed. “You should have seen what I got when she tried to buy me presents.”

“Oprah books,” Curtis said. “Lots and lots of Oprah books.”

Mia shook her head ruefully. “Mom does not approve of me reading romance novels. I think she figured if she exposed me to the ‘good stuff,’ I’d be cured. Curtis finally spilled the beans that I was donating them to the library.”

“She’d have
kept
sending them,” Curtis said. “You’d have died buried in Oprah books.”

Mia laughed. “Thankfully, I had you to save me.”

Damien knew how to observe people, and he thought he sensed an edge to Mia’s humorous manner—the sort a person might bury because the person annoying her was a friend. Why had Curtis insisted she show the card? Was it for his benefit? Was Curtis saying: this is what Mia comes from, treat her better than these others?

Damien was on board with that more than Curtis realized.

Whatever Curtis’s reasons, he wasn’t the only one telling tales.

“Jake’s dad taught him to skin a bear when he turned twenty-one.” Sawyer volunteered this fascinating tidbit, the mischief in his eyes suggesting he didn’t have Jake’s permission to divulge.

“No-o.” Mia turned to Jake. “An actual bear?”

Jake wagged his head, seeming unable to refuse answering her. “He scared the piss out of me. He was seventy-something at the time, chasing this poor grizzly through the Montana woods with his old shotgun. He was hitting it, but it was huge and it just kept running. I didn’t know whether to be more afraid of my dad dropping dead of a heart attack or six hundred pounds of enraged bear finally turning around and charging him. I kept saying, “Stop, Dad. Just let it go.’”

“I take it he didn’t,” Damien said.

“Apparently, Dad’s neighbor claimed this particular grizzly killed his dog, and my dad was determined to put it down. I’d joined the marines by then. No way could I explain I didn’t share his relish for slaying and skinning it. I had the damnedest time convincing him I didn’t want the pelt.”

Sawyer saluted him with his beer. “You, my friend, are a man of many layers.”

Damien saw he’d enjoyed goading Jake to tell the story.

“Wait,” Damien said. “Your dad was seventy when you were twenty-one?”

Jake let his eyes rest warmly on Damien’s. The look in them said he was willing to let him in the same as Sawyer or Mia. “I was a change of life baby. Mind you, apart from a few very eccentric incidents, my folks were great. Always loved me and told me they were proud. My mom attended every sporting event I ever played and cheered me, win or lose. I never minded that they were older than the parents of other kids my age. I guess, on some level, I knew I had to appreciate them while I could. Neither my mom nor my dad is around anymore. Once or twice I was grateful they didn’t see where I’d ended up, but mostly I just miss them.”

“That’s sweet,” Hillary said. “In a twisted, backwoods sort of way.”

“Yes,” Curtis said. “Thank you for sharing that heartwarming tale.”

Jake pelted him with balled-up napkin, which Curtis dodged. They had a rapport, Damien saw, one they both enjoyed.

“And now,” Curtis said. “Since I believe the civilians are sufficiently distracted in the front, I have one more present for Mia.”

“I thought the party was my present.”

“Not this year,” Curtis said.

He set a small wrapped box in front of Mia. His face was serious beneath his smile. Interested to see the gift, Damien leaned forward as she pried up the lid.

Inside, half a poker chip nestled on white batting. At first he thought it was an entry token from Audition. The embossed Comedy/Tragedy mask was identical to the one his club used. Then he saw this chip was larger and plated gold. Actually, the gold might have been solid.

The half-chip’s broken center shone with the metal too.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “You can’t have bought me a membership to Diogenes, or even half of one. They’ve got to cost the moon.”

Curtis propped his hip on the conference table’s edge. “It’s not a membership. Do you remember when your brother taught himself to count cards because he got tired of losing every game to you?”

“Sure,” she said. “He got really good.”

“Mike won that chip in a poker game with Diogenes’ previous owner, who thought he’d win because he could count cards too. Your brother turned out to be better, probably from practicing against you.” Curtis reached into the pocket of his gray T-shirt. His hand emerged with the other half of the broken chip. “Even though Mike was young, when he and I committed to our relationship, both of us made a will. He split ownership of the club between you and me.”

What?
Damien thought.

“What?” Mia said, falling back in her chair with her mouth open. “You and I own Diogenes?”

“I’ve been keeping your half in trust. Mike wasn’t sure what you’d think about him patronizing that sort of establishment. He asked me to hold off giving it to you until you were twenty-five or I thought you could handle it—if that came sooner.” Curtis smiled gently. “I know Mike was your big brother, but he valued your good opinion. He didn’t want to disappoint you even in memory.”

“He never disappointed me,” she said faintly.

“I should probably warn you that you haven’t instantly become rich. Most of the club’s income gets plowed right back into it. You have a nest egg, though, and you’re likely to be well set by the time you’re forty.”

“
I
can’t run Diogenes,” Mia said with a hint of panic.

“Some day you might be able to,” Curtis returned calmly. “In any case, you don’t have to now. Management and the ruling board take care of the day-to-day, or the night-to-night, if you like. Along with me, you’ll get regular reports and you’ll have an opportunity to vote at quarterly meetings. You’ll have to sign a confidentiality agreement, but I don’t think you’ll have trouble keeping it.”

“Why are you letting us in on this?” Hillary asked, referring to herself and Sawyer with a tilt of her head.

“Because Diogenes is like any corporation. It has its own corporate culture and intrigues. I want Mia to have strong allies and advisors who aren’t entrenched—allies and advisors besides me.”

Possibly Curtis knew Damien had been asking the same question as Hillary. The man turned to regard him with palpable amusement. “I’m aware you’ve been trying to discover who owns Diogenes, and that you’d very much like to buy us out. I’m advising Mia against that. However your relationship with her and Jake develops, her independence is important.”

“Of course,” Damien said, though privately he struggled with the idea of letting that quest go. On the other hand, Curtis considered a relationship between himself and the pair a given? Had Jake discussed it with him, or was it simply that obvious?

Perhaps Curtis read his thoughts on this topic too. The dimple in his cheek deepened.

“Wait,” Mia said, distracting Damien. “If you own half of Diogenes, causing the scene you did at Audition couldn’t have got you banned.”

Curtis chuckled. “I wondered when that would occur to you.”

“You’re a sly one,” Jake said admiringly. “All this time I was impressed by your sacrifice.”

“Me too,” Hillary said. “I hear gossip. You’re popular over there.”

“Everybody loves a ginger,” Sawyer joked.

Curtis rolled his eyes. “We’re agreed then? The people in this room are available to advise and back Mia up should the need arise?”

“You’re including me?” Damien blurted.

“I’m including you. Hopefully, you’ll stick with these two long enough to become family.”

Damien fell back in his chair and blinked. This seemed an extraordinary expression of trust and faith in him.

“When I make up my mind, I make it up,” Curtis said. “I think you’ll find Mia and Jake do the same.”

“This is the best birthday present
ever
,” Mia exclaimed.

Damien knew she wasn’t referring to her club ownership.

~

Jake was even gladder than he’d expected that Damien showed up—not just for Mia’s sake but his. The need to bide his time until the three of them could talk was less welcome. He shook his head at his own eagerness. If he’d thought being a couple was new and challenging, trying to form a working threesome would surely take the cake.

This didn’t matter when he saw Mia’s barely contained happy glow. Curtis had surprised her, and so did the support she was getting from everyone.

“Jesus, she’s cute,” Sawyer chuckled quietly beside him. “And so is Moneybags, if you like that Adonis-in-a-suit type. Good thing Curtis thinks I’m family. On my own, I’d never convince you to come up for air.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Jake said absently. He smiled when he noticed Mia reaching under the table to squeeze Damien’s hand. “I’ll see you the same as ever.”

“Uh-huh.” Sawyer pushed his rolling chair back and rose. “Hey, everybody. I hate to be a party pooper, but I’ve got a previous engagement. Curtis, thank you for inviting me tonight. Mia, happy birthday. I’m pleased and honored to be included on your team.”

“Thank
you
,” she said. “I’m so glad Jake has you for a friend.”

“I’m yours now too. You can call on me anytime.”

For a man like Sawyer, this was no light promise. Warmth welled up in Jake: a mix of gratitude and pride and maybe love for Sawyer too. Jake was lucky to have a friend like him, lucky to have survived the various hells they’d experienced together.

In truth, he was blessed to live in a world with every one of the folks who surrounded him. Curtis had simply started out as his boss, someone who’d let him earn a living with his skills without killing anyone. And Hillary was his ex-lover! What deity had he ingratiated to make a woman he’d respected but hadn’t loved morph into a friend? Jake hadn’t had this consciousness of good fortune since he was a kid.