“Look, I get it,” said Kevin. “You don’t like me. Honestly, I don’t like you either, but business is business and I need to get someone to bankroll my restaurant. But you—” He jabbed his index finger in the middle of Austin’s chest.
Austin caught his hand and held it in midair before dropping it with a firm flick of his wrist. The movement caused the guy to stagger back a few steps.
He really wanted to walk away, but he needed to stay until security arrived and stopped Kevin from making an even bigger scene.
“Yeah, you. You’re just a big, fat waste of my time,” Kevin slurred. “But I guess that doesn’t matter to you, does it? You’re a Fortune. You don’t care about the little people. Except for Felicity. I think you like her. And the real kicker is I think she likes you, too. But the only reason a chick like her would be interested in a loser like you is because of your money.”
That was rich, coming from a guy who’d spent twenty-five hundred dollars on a table and the so-called friends he’d invited to share it with him had apparently deserted him. Austin almost felt sorry for the guy. But it was kind of difficult to muster the empathy between the insults the guy was hurling at him. The only reason Austin hadn’t walked away was because as host, it was his responsibility to make sure the guy didn’t provoke someone else.
“You’re not the only game in town, Fortune.” He bellowed the words and people were starting to stare. “I can walk out of here and have the money I need by the end of the month.”
“There’s the door,” Austin said, gesturing with a wide sweep. “No one is stopping you. In fact, it would probably be a good idea if you left. Let me call you a car. You’re in no shape to drive.”
“I can drive if I want to,” Kevin slurred and slurped what was left of his drink.
“Good luck getting your keys from the valet.”
Kevin smirked. “This isn’t even about business, is it? It’s about Felicity. You take and take and take from the little guy. You probably don’t even want her, but you can’t stand to see her with someone like me. Yeah, her and me, we’re just disposable goods to guys like you.”
Austin’s blood started to boil at Clooney’s mention of Felicity. But he wasn’t going to let himself be baited by a drunk who would probably regret his foul attack as much as he regretted the hangover that was sure to hammer his thick head tomorrow morning.
“You might have all the money in the world, but you didn’t have to work for one cent of it. I don’t think you even know what it’s like to work hard to get a woman like Felicity.”
Now he wasn’t even making sense.
“You kept her busy all night to keep her away from me. Didn’t you?”
“That’s her job. That’s what I pay her to do.”
“You get her to do all the hard work, so you can sit on your candy ass because you’ve never had to work hard for anything in your life. You don’t have the character. You ain’t got nothin’, Fortune.”
Where the hell was security? If Clooney got any more agitated, Austin was prepared to walk him outside himself. But he hated to create any more of a spectacle than had already been made.
“She deserves someone a whole hell of a lot better than you.” Clooney shoved Austin’s shoulder, but Clooney was the one who staggered backward. In the process, his arm knocked over a glass of champagne that was still sitting on Kevin’s empty table.
Finally, security arrived. The guy put a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Come on, buddy. I’m going to help you get home.”
As security walked Clooney toward the door, Kevin said a few choice words as he tried to pull out of the guard’s grasp. “I can find my own way out.”
Then Felicity walked into his path. “Fortune wants you,” he told her. “I think you want him, too.” He twisted around, and his legs got tangled up as the security guard continued his forward motion. He would’ve fallen, if not for the guard holding him upright. Sadly, it didn’t silence him. “Go for it. You two deserve each other.”
With a horrified expression on her face, Felicity joined Austin and they watched Clooney stagger out the door.