“Sounds good.”
As I changed out of my clothes from the day, my phone buzzed and lit up. Peeking at it through the neck of the shirt I was putting on, I saw it was an unsaved number texting me.
314-555-1010:Call Me—D
You block a motherfucker, and they just text on a different number.
I quickly blocked the new number Dimitri texted from and went to Beth’s contact to double-check that she was also blocked. I was done dealing with people that were against my relationship with Luca. We’d all made our choices, and now we’re left to live with them.
FIFTEEN
Ashley, Axel, Scott, Miranda, and I sat around the conference table, eating takeout and wading through the minutiae involved with the final rollouts for The Oxford Hotels in five cities.
“It might be worth sending Miranda to Chicago to oversee the final touches.” I stabbed a hunk of General Tso’s and pointed it at her. “Can you head up there on Sunday?”
She cringed, setting down her rice. “Anyway, I could oversee Philly?” She dipped her chin. “Oscar wants me to meet his family. We’re flying out Friday night. I could stay on next week?”
I smiled at her, already nodding. “We can make that work.” I looked around the table. “I’ll take Chicago then?”
“Thank you,” Miranda breathed out, her long black hair doing little to hide her reddening cheeks.
“We’re family,” Scott said around an egg roll. He chewed quickly and swallowed. “It’s what we do. Now the question is, will we be ready for our part of the casino reno by the beginning of September?”
Axel pushed a packet of paper toward Scott, staying silent.
“I guess that’s a yes from our carpenter.” Scott flipped through the pages. “I’ve got a good idea of the types of upholstery I want and some pretty amazing wallpaper. I’ll need to go over Ashley and Sasha’s big picture plans to make sure it all gels, but that shouldn’t be a problem. What are you thinking, Ashley?”
We all turned to her, and she pursed her lips. “Let’s get through the next week before we leap into the next project. I don’t want to fumble this job because we’re facing that behemoth.” She cracked a smile and started stacking her binders. “I assume I’ll be handling things here and fielding calls?”
“If you don’t mind.” I tossed a fortune cookie her way.
“Not at all. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to head back to my office. I have a few things to wrap up.”
“I think that’s it. Keep your phones on and be ready to have your entire weekend ruined!” I stood and gathered my trash.
As soon as I got to my office, I called Luca.
“Sasha?”
“Hey, babe. You got a minute?”
“Just.”
“Okay. I need to go to Chicago on Sunday for the final rollout of The Oxford. Do you want to come with me or . . .?”
“Uh . . . I can make that work. I’ll have Lauren book our travel.”
“I can—”
“Nope. It’s done. Anything else?”
“I’m not wearing underwear.”
“Sasha.” His tone told me to stop, but I couldn’t.
“Think you can sneak away for a few minutes?”
A door opened on his side and a few muffled voices filtered through the phone.