“You may be right.”
“Oh, I know I am.” Tina laughs.
Sydney walks back over and takes the wine glass from Tina’s lips and drinks it all in one go.
“Wasn’t that bad, was it?” Tina asks Sydney, who’s waving at the bartender for another drink.
“They left,” she says.
Tina’s mouth forms a perfect O, and she shakes her head. “I’m sure they will come around.”
“She wants grandbabies, and well…” Sydney waves between them, “… you are unable to give me that.”
“Bullshit! We can have kids.”
My eyes go wide at her words.
Sydney drops the glass in her hand.
Tina reaches for her hands and clasps them in hers. “We can have kids.”
“Really?” Sydney asks in disbelief.
I step back to give them space as Sydney grabs Tina’s face and kisses her hard.
“It’s almost sickening, right?” A voice comes from behind me, and I turn to see Marissa’s brother standing next to me, and he’s smiling. When I lock eyes on him, he smiles even wider and asks me, “You know Sydney?”
“Sebastian, right?” I smile. “Yes, Tina is my best friend. You know Sydney?”
He nods. “Small world, but, yes. I went to university with Sydney. Didn’t realize she was working with Marissa until a few weeks ago,” he answers. “It’s nice to see you again. How are you?”
“Good,” I lie.
“Marissa mentioned she may be working for you soon.”
Tina pulls me into her and hugs me tight and whispers in my ear, “Did I just agree to have a baby?” I chuckle as she pulls away.
“Congrats,” is all I can say to that because she absolutely one hundred percent agreed to have a baby.
I spend the rest of the night talking to Sebastian at the bar. He’s nice, but not my type. I am not even sure I have a type these days. He waits with me for a cab when I leave, and when I think he’s going to ask me out, I tell him thank you and slip away before there’s any chance of that happening.
Chapter Ten
Atlas
Dinner. I agreed to dinner. What the ever-loving fuck was I thinking?
Sydney walks in and looks me up and down. “You’re looking good, boss,” she says, smirking.
“Why did I agree to this again?” I ask.
“Because you owe me dinner. And you have to stay through the whole night.”
“Why?” I pin her with my eyes, but she simply turns, walking out the door.
“Hurry up, we can’t keep them waiting.”
“Them?” I ask, confused. She chuckles as we walk out and get into the waiting car. “Do you plan to ignore me?”
“I’m craving steak. Maybe the most expensive one, since you are paying,” Sydney says, straightening her pencil skirt. Every year I take Sydney out around her birthday to wherever she wants to go. Tonight, she’s chosen a very upmarket steak house. So, I put on a suit, and now here we are.
“You always pick the most expensive thing on the menu on your birthday, then you make me sit through till you finish your dessert.” Every year she does the same thing, orders the most expensive bottle of champagne to add to the cost, not that I care, she’s worth it, but I would never tell her that.
My cell rings and I look down. One of my high-stakes games is happening tonight, and usually I’m there, as well as Sydney. But she lectured me on delegating, and goddamn I couldn’t take another second of her scolding.
So, I fucking delegated.
And now I’m getting hourly updates and checking the cameras on my cell to make sure it’s all going smoothly.
“The game will go fine, it always does,” Sydney says as the car comes to a stop. She knows how hard it is for me to let go. Giving up control is how my father managed to get himself so fucked over. Plus, he became lazy and stopped caring. That will never happen to me. I enjoy what I do, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, even if it’s all illegal.
Sydney gets out first, and I follow. When we enter the very expensive restaurant, the waitress escorts us to our table where two others are already seated.
I stop when her long, blonde hair flicks over her shoulder, and she turns to face me. Theadora doesn’t seem surprised to see me, which leads me to believe she knew about this. I seem to be the only person who’s been kept in the damn dark.
“Atlas.” Sydney’s stopped calling me sir, and I let her.
Maybe that’s a mistake.
I flick my eyes to her, and she moves closer. “It’s my birthday.” She starts walking again, and Tina stands to hug her, then she leans down and kisses Theadora’s cheek before Sydney takes her seat.
Me, well, I still haven’t moved.
All eyes seem to turn back to me, and I manage to make my way over to the table. It’s just my luck that the only space left is sitting opposite the happy couple, and right next to Theadora. I pull the seat out and sit.