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“Everything’s fine.”
He saw the looks Ben and Brody gave Mateo. Looks that said to let it go. But, of course, Mateo didn’t. When that man had an opportunity in his sights, he took the shot.
“Bullshit,” Mateo said. “You’re almost more depressed than Xander. Wait—” Mateo got up while Gerard studiously shuffled the cards. “Do you have woman troubles? Is that what this is about?”
“Go to hell, Mat.” He strung out the shortened name, knowing Mateo hated it.
“Someday, Gerry,” he shot back, giving tit for tat. “Seriously, though, did you take the first tumble? Are you about to be out a hundred thou, my friend? Did you break our pledge?”
Gerard threw the cards on the table. “I’m done.” He tossed the rest of his drink down, got up, and walked out, hoping that would end the conversation. The chuckle from behind him said it wouldn’t be the last time he got asked that question. Damn it all to hell. He closed and locked his bedroom door and threw himself on his bed, one arm over his eyes.
He didn’t want to answer that question. He couldn’t. Not because he minded losing the money. It hurt too fucking much to have to tell his friends that he’d found someone and then lost her. It fucking gutted him to think about it. How could he put it into words, say it out loud, and make it even more real than it was.
Someone tapped at his door. He ignored it.
They tried the knob, then blessed silence. Maybe now he could lay in his own pool of misery.
The verandah doors opened, and Brody stepped in.
“Fuck, man. Can’t you see I want to be alone?”
“If you really wanted to be alone, you should have locked these.” Brody tapped one of the rattan doors, then sank into a chair outside Gerard’s room. He lay there, trying to ignore the man. When that didn’t work, he got up and joined him, seeing another glass of whiskey and another cigar on the table next to his chair.
He sat, drained the glass, and ignored the cigar.
“Feels like you’ve got woman trouble, my friend. You give in to those pheromones?”
He knew he couldn’t keep it a secret forever. “Yes,” he said, staring out into the dark night.
“Thought so. Things go south?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” As they sat there watching the night deepen, he realized he did want to talk about it. Maybe it was time. “I never should have slept with an employee.”
Brody took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “If you broke your own rule, she must be worth it.”
“Thought she was until she tried to sabotage my company.”
“She part of that thing with Silverman and…the other guy?”
“Seems like it. The other guy worked in her department.”
“Seems like the evidence stacked against those two is pretty strong. You got proof she’s involved?”
“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She’s a Murdoch.”
Brody stilled and turned toward Gerard. “That company’s been a thorn in your side for years. How did you not know she was part of that family?”
“She used a different last name.”
“And you didn’t find that out during the vetting process?”
