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Mikelina stared at her fishing pole for a second. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but it’s possible they were still there.”
“At five in the morning? Last call is at two.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Flow’s open until 5:00 a.m. for the VIPs. And they’re not about to kick them out at five on the dot.”
“I’m old,” Bastien said sourly.
Laughing, she smiled at him. “Time flies when you’re having fun and if they were still in the club, their phones would be dead by then.”
“I don’t think I can do this.” He put his arm around her. “I don’t want to dislike Jace. But we don’t have a damned thing in common.”
She liked when he played with her hair like that. “It doesn’t have to be friendship or mortal enemies. You can still have a pleasant acquaintance with him.”
“I wanted my sister to marry someone better than him.”
“What’s wrong with Jace?”
“He’s a spoiled little punk who has been given everything he’s ever wanted. He’s rude, inconsiderate—”
“Whoa!” Mikelina said, holding up a hand. “That’s a lot of resentment. No wonder he’s avoiding you.”
“He’s not avoiding me. Why? What did he say to you?”
“Nothing. But I’m sure he can sense all this hostility. Why do you have such a low opinion of him?”
Bastien sighed and angrily jerked on his pole, reeling it in to check his bait. “He and my sister have had a rocky relationship. Jace blows hot and cold. Sometimes he leaves on an adventure with his asshole friends for a week and doesn’t think about telling Kitty until after the fact. One time, she had to find out about it on a friend’s social media page. She thought he’d broken up with her and just didn’t bother to tell her because he had an arm around another girl in the picture.”
“That is gross,” Mikelina said, scrunching up her nose.
“But it turned out it was just a friend’s girlfriend and they all decided to go skiing in the Swiss Alps that week.”
“He should have asked your sister to go.”
“My sister has a job. She can’t just up and leave. Jace knew that. His excuse was he didn’t want her to feel bad that he was going away without her. It never occurred to him, though, not to go. YOLO, FOMO and all that crap.”
Mikelina thought about it and her bullshit detector was buzzing slightly. “Does she trust him?”
“I don’t.”
“Yeah, I get that. But does she?”
“Yes, but she sees the best in people. I’m afraid this is just another lark for him and he’s not settling down as much as he’s doing what his father wants him to do.”
“His family wants the marriage?”
“Both our families do. It’s a good brand merger, but I want something more for Kitty.”
“Does she love him?” Mikelina asked.
“Yes. She can’t see what a complete schmuck he is.”
“Does he love her?”
“He better.”
“Do you think he loves her?” she asked.
Bastien clenched his jaw. “I think so. I was hoping to get a better insight these few weeks. I’m not sure what’s an act and what’s real when it comes to him. I’m afraid he’s going to marry Kitty to shut his family up, and then continue on with his carefree ways. I’m afraid Kitty is going to get hurt.”
