I sighed. “Let’s just remember we don’t actually want this guy as our boss, okay? We want him to move on and leave Dominic alone to runThe Squawker.”
Elizabeth aimed an accusatory sausage at me, narrowing her eyes. “You know, that sounds an awful lot like something a dick-blind woman would say.” As if to emphasize her point, she aimed both sausages at her eyes and made jabbing motions, feigning pain and misery.
I grinned. “Fair, but think about it. Dominic wants to prove he can make the company succeed. That’s good for all of us. His dad wants to prove Dominic will fail. How would that be good for any of us?”
“At least I’d enter unemployment with eggs in my belly,” Farhad said with a shrug.
“Would you shut up about the eggs?” I snapped.
Polly snorted, but nodded her head. “Darcy is right, guys. I don’t know what we can do about it yet, but we need to make sure we keep our eyes out for any way we can to help Dominic.”
“Also,” I said. “You two should probably not glare at Gregor like you did back at the office on Friday. Did you you see the way he was looking at you?”
Farhad and Elizabeth exchanged a look.
“Okay,” Elizabeth said. “Nobody is going to take away my right to glare. You can take my subway card. You can take my morning coffee, even. But if you try to tell me who I can and can’t glare at, we’re going to come to fisticuffs.”
“I just don’t think it’s wise to be so obvious about where our intentions are,” I said.
“Wisdom is overrated,” Elizabeth said. “Have you ever tried impulsivity? Answer me this: put a wise woman and an impulsive woman alone in a room with a hot guy. Which one is getting laid?The impulsive one.”
“There’s more to life than getting laid,” Farhad said.
“Coming from the guy who has to clean cobwebs from his dick after he brushes his teeth every morning?” Elizabeth smirked.
Farhad set his fork down, folding his arms to properly give Elizabeth a dirty look. “I don’t talk about my sex life with a pervert like you. That doesn’t mean it's non-existent.”
“I’ve never seen aliens, so they don’t exist. I’ve never seen proof that you get laid, so you’re a virgin.”
Farhad looked like he was about to jump over the table and tackle her out of frustration, but he slowly picked his fork back up and focused on his precious eggs again. Elizabeth knew how to get under people’s skin, that was for sure.
“Well,” I said. “Dominic wants to talk after Gregor’s little motivational speech. Any guesses on what he’s going to say?”
“So we’re involved in your girl gossip now?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I couldn’t talk about it before because I didn’t want to get Dominic in trouble. But his dad already knows, so that cat is out of the bag.”
“So we can talk about it to anyone we want?” Elizabeth asked.
“No,” I said. “It’s just… less risky now. And I feel bad about keeping it from you guys for so long. I’m sorry, okay? I was just trying to do what I thought was right.”
“Fine,” Elizabeth crossed her arms. “I forgive you. And now I’ll grace you with my infinite wisdom. He’s going to fuck your brains out.”
“Or maybe he actually wants to talk,” Farhad said. “If his dad knows about you two, he may have some idea about what’s coming next.”
“Can’t it be both?” Polly asked. She grinned sheepishly when we all turned to her. “Fucking and talking?”
We all laughed, but I couldn’t shake the cold sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. What I really wanted was to know if I wanted any of this. Lately, everything felt like it was spinning and I couldn’t be sure where I was headed or where Iwantedto head. My instinct was to cling to the thing I’d been reaching for before Dominic and all his mess. I wanted to prove I was a good writer. I wanted to make a name for myself atThe Squawkerand show my dad that my dream was worthwhile, too.
All I could do was wait, though. Tonight, I’d go up to Dominic’s room and maybe I’d actually get something like an understanding on where we stood.
31
DOMINIC
Iwas a fucking ball of nerves. My dad had given his dumb speech to the employees and made them stay after for group sessions. But I knew they were finally being let out, which meant Darcy should be arriving at my room any minute now.
I paced in front of the bed. My dad had put me, Marcus, and Tristan in executive suites on the top floor. I knew he was playing a delicate game. On one hand, he wanted me to know the offer still stood, in a sense. I could be his right hand man so long as I never tried to surpass him. In that world, I’d have to let him force Darcy out of my life. I wasn’t sure how I knew that to be completely true, but I felt it in my bones.