I hold up my hand, and the meeting room falls silent as I stare at my phone. That’s the third time Lex has called me in the last fifteen minutes. Something must be wrong.
“I need to take this. Let’s reconvene in fifteen.”
My executives nod, and they slowly begin to leave the room as I pick up the phone. “What’s going on, Lex?”
“Did you see the news?” he asks, his tone frantic.
I frown and shake my head. “Nothing flagged as particularly interesting today,” I say carefully.
“Not the real news, dumbass. The gossip papers.”
“Why don’t you enlighten me,” I tell him, my tone harsh. “Since you felt the need to interrupt an important board meeting over some bullshit gossip.”
“Celeste got engaged. To Clifton Emerson.”
“Fuck.”
Lex sighs. “Yeah. I haven’t been able to reach Zane, but I’m tracking his phone as we speak.”
I rise from my seat. “Okay, I’m leaving the office now. Impromptu poker night, I’m guessing?”
“That’s what I was thinking. He’ll be a wreck. Zane nearly lost it when she reappeared out of nowhere. When they broke up, he warned her not to appear in front of him ever again, and now she isn’t just back, she’s marrying his biggest business rival? What the fuck?”
“She’s playing with fire,” I murmur as I head to my private elevator. “What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure. Despite Zane’s threats, he doesn’t want any of us to touch her. I don’t know, man. Maybe he’s over her now. It’s about time he lets her go. If she’s engaged… well, I guess he’s got no choice.”
I shake my head as I step into my car. “Nah,” I murmur. “We both know it won’t be that simple. He begged Grandma to let him marry her right before he broke up with her. He really loved her. There’s no way he’ll stand back and let this happen.”
“Found him,” Lex says, his tone conveying his relief. “Xave will pick him up. Ares and Luca are already on their way to mine. Zane isn’t going to want to talk about this, but we need to do something. If we leave him be, he’ll end up doing something he regrets.”
“Agreed,” I murmur, at a loss. “Did you ever find out the full story?”
Lex hesitates. “No. I’ve been tempted to, but it feels too invasive. I figured he’d tell us when he’s ready. You?”
I sigh. “No. Same.”
Lex meets me outside his house, and I end the call moments before getting out of the car. Ares and Luca pull up behind me moments later, their expressions just as worried as mine.
“How do you think he’ll handle this? Sarcasm or anger?” Luca asks.
Ares and I both chuckle. “Sarcasm,” we say, just as Lex says, “anger.”
“You’re on,” I murmur.
Lex smirks. “If I win, we’re calling my latest invention the Lex-board.”
I groan, unsure if that’s a price I’m willing to pay. It’s far too embarrassing. “Deal,” I mutter reluctantly. “But if I win, I never want to hear that name again.”
His arguments die down when Xavier parks next to me, a reluctant Zane in his passenger seat.
“What the fuck is this supposed to be?” Zane says, a fake smile on his face. “A fucking intervention?”
His gaze settles on Ares, and he points at him. “You had a fucking breakdown when you first found out Raven was seeing Silas, even though you were engaged to her sister.” He turns to Luca next and raises his brow. “And you. You were in near fucking tears when Val quit her job and went on a date with someone else. You lost your goddamn mind.” He looks at me then, and I tense. “Don’t even get me started on you, Dion. You threw your wife’s fucking phone in the goddamn ocean because she spoke to her ex, and you weren’t even married yet. I don’t want any input from any of you fucking idiots.”
I glance at Lex, and he shrugs. A combination of both? It isn’t really anger, and it isn’t really sarcasm either. It’s deflection.
“I mean,” Xavier says, holding up his hand. “Lex and I—”
“Shut up,” Zane cuts him off. “I don’t even know why you’re here, honestly. How exactly did you worm your way into Windsor poker nights? And why? Am I really supposed to believe you’re here for our sparkling personalities? I get that you’re Dion’s friend, but why are you always here, even when he isn’t?”
Xavier tenses and crosses his arms, a challenging look in his eyes. “Excuse me,” he says, clearly trying to suppress the hint of danger that usually radiates around him. “I thought we were besties. Are you telling me you don’t feel this thing between us?”
I bite back a smile, and Lex laughs, breaking the tension. “Okay, fine. No questions, alright? Let’s just play poker and get drunk,” he says.
Zane grunts noncommittally and follows Lex into the house. I’ll settle for that. Zane is unpredictable at the best of times, and I’m not sure he should be left alone today. For both his and Celeste’s sakes.
He doesn’t say a word throughout the first few rounds, but he continues to drink everything we put in front of him. “You still love her, huh?” I murmur eventually. It’s obvious that he wants to take the edge off the pain, or better yet, forget entirely. I’ve been in his shoes, though the circumstances weren’t quite the same. I’ve been running from pain for years.
He looks up sharply and clenches his jaws. “No,” he denies. “I fucking hate her with all I’ve got. I warned her I’d destroy her if I ever laid eyes on her again, so if she has half a brain, she’ll stay far away from me.”
Ares shakes his head. “That’s impossible. Emerson moves in the same circles as us. There’s no escaping her. You’ll run into her eventually.”
Zane nods slowly, a twisted smile making its way onto his lips. “She knows exactly what she’s doing. She wants to marry that piece of trash? Let her. I’ll make the day she takes his name one to remember. I warned her, and she’s choosing to defy me. I’m going to tear her apart, piece by piece, until she’s begging me for mercy. Not even Clifton Emerson can save her.”
The room falls silent, and I reach for my whiskey glass. What the fuck did Celeste do to him? He hasn’t been the same since they broke up, and this darkness? Fuck. I’m worried it’ll consume them both.
