Page 109 of Damián

Still, it helps our purpose, so we always order them.

I follow Zara as we move through the crowd toward our VIP booth. The place is busier than usual, so it takes us an eternity to get there. But luckily for us, when we finally reach the table, Kaleo is already waiting.

Kaleo Māhoe is a tall man in his late thirties with a rugged face, straight nose, chocolate eyes, long dark hair tied back in a messy bun, and a lot of tattoos covering only one of his arms.

He’s filthy rich, he is super connected, draws attention wherever he goes, and is an absolute sweetheart. In short, he’s the perfect front for our team, and has been helping us to ethically smuggle people out of my father’s reach for over five years now.

“Ollie!” Kaleo stands up, pulling me into a bear hug. “Good to see you, man.”

“Good to see you, too.”

“I heard you are finally committing to one man. Who knew that would ever happen?” He teases.

“I heard you are moving to freaking Nashville. Who knew that would ever happen?”

Kaleo throws his head back and laughs. “Touché, Ollie.”

“Seriously, Kal, what the hell are you going to do in Nashville?” I say, leaning closer so he can hear me over the music. “You’re like a mermaid; you’ll die after three days without the sea.”

“They have lakes…” he says, though not entirely excited.

“They also have country music,” I tease, because if there is something Kaleo hates, it is country music.

“Ughhh… I thought you were my friend.”

“I am one of your best friends; that’s why I’ll make sure to bring ten boxes of Li Hing Mui when I go visit you.”

“Really?! But how? It’s so hard to get here.”

I burst out laughing. “Kal, I can smuggle a thousand kilos of cocaine across the Pacific… ten boxes of dry plums is nothing.”

“Hahahaha! Jesus Christ, Oliver.”

“Well, let’s get this started, cheers!” I grab a crystal flute of champagne from the table, raising it to clink against his and Zara’s glasses.

After that, we spend the next twenty minutes talking, dancing, and laughing until the bottle of Dom is completely empty.

Zara checks her phone and taps Kaleo’s arm. “Come, honey. The room is open.”

“Have fun!” I say, waving them off.

Kaleo takes Zara’s hand and guides her toward the velvet-draped corridor that leads to the private sex rooms. From where I am sitting, and, more importantly, from wherever Silvio and the other shadow are, it looks exactly like they’re about to hook up. But in reality, the second that door locks, they’re going to do… math.

Well, math and all the logistics with times, set the coordinates for where Tom needs to wait with the other boat, the party, food, and everything else… kinky, right?

Technically, that used to be my job.

I was the one who used to disappear into those back rooms with Kaleo to run all the numbers. But since I am supposed to be in this super happy, committed relationship, I’m not exactly free to sneak off with him anymore.

So today, for the first time since we started doing this, Zara and I swapped places.

And honestly? I have no idea how she used to stand being out here alone.

It’s only been ten minutes, and I am already bored out of my mind waiting for them to come back.

I can’t even drink because I’m too depressed for that. Plus, if I get drunk, I might do something stupid… like call Damián crying and ask him why.

Ugh…