“No,” Dallas agreed. “You never really do.”
“I considered ordering a few strippers,” Jackson said, reaching for his bourbon. “Seemed appropriate for a married-bachelor party, but Sylvia vetoed.”
Damien looked sideways at his half-brother. “Remind me to give her a raise.”
Jackson chuckled. “Seriously, this is perfect.” Damien, Jackson, and about a dozen more friends were kicked back at Jackson’s home in the Palisades, drinking bourbon on the patio, smoking cigars, and soaking up the view.
“This is exactly what I needed,” Damien admitted. So far, it had been a hell of a week, and he appreciated this moment of calm wherein no one had mentioned the videos or Stone’s strange snub.
“I did order one thing,” Jackson said. “Not a stripper, but...”
“Oh?”
“Pizza.” Jackson shrugged. “Alaine offered to cater, but I didn’t want him to be both a caterer and a guest at two events. And after that, the whole thing slipped my mind. By the time I thought to ask Syl for suggestions, she was out the door to Nikki’s party. They’re still doing the strip club, you know.”
“I’m completely fine with that,” Damien said, thinking exactly what he’d do to her when they were both home. Or not do, actually, since that’s what she’d be expecting. How much more delicious to wait for their re-wedding night and keep his wife on edge.
Beside him, Jackson groaned. “You’re thinking very loud,” he said. “And it’s clearly X-rated.”
“Are you talking about the girls’ party?” Ryan asked, joining them just in time to overhear the last conversation. “You know it’s going to be triple X if Jamie’s organizing. And she is.”
He settled into one of the chairs facing the outdoor sofa. A moment later, Quincy came over from where he’d been talking with Alaine, Mason, and Liam. He pulled a chair closer, then plunked down with an exhale, like the sound of a man who’d been on his feet all day.
Preston, Tony and Winston were on the far side of the patio, deep in a discussion of country music, and the rest of the men, most of whom worked for Stark Security, had gone inside to check out the pool table that Jackson had bought not long ago. All in all, it was the perfect party as far as Damien was concerned.
“This view is incredible,” Quincy said, his British accent still thick, even after living so many years in the US. “The house isn’t bad either.” They all chuckled. The home, designed by Jackson, had won just about every architecture award there was, and it had appeared in all of the architecture magazines during the years since he built the house.
Quincy leaned forward, his attention on Damien. “Listen, I know that work talk is off the table tonight, but I keep forgetting to bring this up. Can I say just one thing?”
The other men laughed, and Damien nodded. “Go ahead.”
“There’s this buddy of mine, Jasper Kent, another former operative in MI6. He’s moving to the States, leaving the service, but he doesn’t want to retire. I think he’d be a good fit. I was wondering if we were looking to bring anybody new on at Stark Security. I don’t know about you two, but from my perspective, I think we could use it. The clients keep coming, and we’re all carrying a heavy assignment load.”
Damien started to answer, then looked to Ryan, the man he’d put in charge of Stark Security. Ryan caught his eye, his expression making clear that he hadn’t missed a thing. But he grinned, then answered. “Tell him to give me a call. I’ll bring him in for an interview, get a feel for how he’ll fit with our group.”
“Great. I’ll let him know. I imagine he’ll give you a call in the next week or so.”
Ryan nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
At the same time, Mason’s laughter rang out from across the lawn. Damien turned in that direction and smiled. He knew the man still hadn’t recovered all of his memories after his ordeal, but he’d never lost his sense of humor. Now both Alaine and Liam joined the laughter, and Damien assumed they were telling stories of their adventures over the years. He could only wonder how Alaine’s adventures with an oven compared to the other men’s, who all seemed to be rolling at something Alaine was saying.
Alaine spread his arms, his voice rising, and Damien picked up on the word soufflé. That’s when he decided he had to go see what was going on. He reached the second group right as Alaine reached the punch line, something he could tell because all the men were choking with laughter.
“I swear,” Alaine said. “You should have seen the Prince’s face.”
He turned, his smile wide as he clapped Damien on the back. “Congratulations, my friend. I am so happy for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Come,” Alaine added, leading Damien aside. “If you don’t mind. I need to speak with you for a moment.”
Damien nodded at the other men and let Alaine lead him out of earshot.
“I wasn’t sure if I should bring this up tonight or not, but I know that it’s important even though it might spoil the celebratory mood.”
Damien stiffened, dreading what was to come. “What’s happened?”
“I only bring it up because of that horrible note that you showed me on Saturday.”
“Go on.”
Alaine cleared his throat. “Well, someone sent me a video. It’s—well, it’s of you and Sofia, my friend.”
Damien felt his stomach curdle. “I see. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Alaine shook his head. “No. It’s me who’s sorry. Like I said before, I was oblivious to everything that was going on. I wish I hadn’t been. Perhaps I would’ve been able to help. I’d like to help now. I’m guessing that there’s something bigger than just the note taped to your wife’s portrait.”
“Yes. I’ve received several videos, including one that was never released to the court.”
“To the court?”
Damien explained how the court ruled to dismiss the murder charge after receiving the evidence of child abuse at his coach’s hand. “I was given the originals of all of the documents, tapes, and photos that were sent to the court anonymously. There was one video that we’ve seen these past few days that wasn’t included in those.”
Alaine took a step backward, his brow furrowed. “I don’t know what that means? Does that mean that there’s someone out there who was involved in all this?”
“I don’t know either.”
Alaine frowned. “My friend, I’m so sorry that I never knew any of this. I always believed it was the three of us, but really it was just you and Sofia, with me tagging along.”
Damien shook his head, “No. Not at all. You were a light for both of us. You’re one of the reasons that Sofia and I had good memories of those years, and not only bad ones. We three were the only good memories.”
“Is it true that she died saving Nikki?”
Damien nodded. “Sofia had done something extremely foolish, and she got both herself and Nikki into a terrible spot. But in the end she did what was right. And because of that I still have my wife, and I will always be grateful to Sofia for that. I loved her, you know, just not the way she wanted me to.”