“Try me.”
I’d been open with Julia. As I prepared to speak to Lena, I wondered if last night had opened some sort of dam. The difference was that Lena knew my past, all of it. She was wanting my present. “Julia is different.”
“Go on,” she encouraged.
I stood, sending my chair backward against the wall. “Fuck, Lena, I’ll say it. I love her.”
“Excuse me, put Donovan Sherman back on the phone.”
Standing at the window, I didn’t see the frozen bay but a slide show of the memories I’d accumulated over the last week and a half.
How is it possible that Julia has affected me this strongly in such a short time?
“My interest in Wade is to keep it going and make it more for Julia.”
“Oh goodness. This is simply spine-tingling. Why wouldn’t I want to be a part of that?”
In hopes of repairing our bond, I offered more details. “Butler is fucking Julia’s parents, their company, and their future. If I didn’t hate the man—fuck, the whole family—before, I would now. But as you know, I already hate them.”
Lena’s tone softened and her volume lowered. “You’re hosting my kind of party, Van. I’m always down for revenge and crude sex. I assume your fiancée is into kink or you wouldn’t chain yourself to her for the rest of your life.”
I had no intention of discussing Julia’s and my sex life. “Sell me your shares.”
“No. Introduce me to your new woman.”
There was a primal and visceral reaction in hearing that description—my woman.
“Would she be open to a three-way?” Lena asked. “I mean, as long as it’s not past her bedtime.”
I gritted my teeth. “Sell me your shares.”
“Logan called.”
The change of subject caused the small hairs on the back of my neck to rise. “You? Logan Butler called you and you answered?”
“He’s doing his brother’s bidding. He asked about you and wanted a way to reach you.”
“I’m not hiding. I received an email from Marlin today.”
“That’s interesting but not as interesting as the tidbit Logan let drop during our conversation.”
I held the phone tighter. “You have my attention.”
“Before Logan called me, it seems that he had a nice, long conversation with Phillip.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled under my breath. “Is that why Phillip has been harassing Connie?”
“Your brother is basically broke, in more than the sense of finances,” Lena said. “You knew that. You’re the reason for most of his woes.”
“He made his own decisions.”
“Desperate people do desperate things.”
“What does that mean, specifically regarding Logan and Phillip?”
“It means they’ve found a common goal.”
“Fucking with me,” I said. “That’s hardly new.”