30. Chapter Damian
I ’ve been in a meeting with my lawyers and Matteo since I got back from the auction. It’s late, and I’m barely registering what they’re saying. Anger still simmers throughout my body, and I just want this to be over.
First Alex, now this. Fuck.
Also, how does Aria know Alex? I have a million questions racing through my head right now, and I’m on the verge of snapping.
“We can’t simply hack into their system, Carter. This is not how it works,” Liam Hawkins, my lawyer, says.
“You guys move at the pace of a snail. I can find out in no time if that’s in fact our painting,” Matteo counters.
“That’s illegal ,” Liam says exasperated.
I snap and hit the table. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! ”
Everyone quiets down, all eyes looking at me expectantly.
I glance at Matteo. “Carter, we can’t fucking do that, especially because I am very much looking forward to suing the fuck out of them.” Shifting my gaze to Liam, I say, “Hawkins, I don’t know what to tell you, man, but you need to light a fire under your team’s ass because this needs to be done as of yesterday .”
“We’re doing everything we can—”
“I don’t want excuses. I want actions. You’re dismissed.”
Liam nods as he gets up and walks out.
“Damian, you know I’m right,” Matteo begins.
“Not now, Carter. I’m seriously pissed off and exhausted. Find out what you can,” I lock my gaze on him, “ legally .”
“You’re no fun,” he murmurs as he gets up. “I’ll see what I can find. Now if you excuse me, I’m going back to Chicago. Real dick move making me travel all the way here. Have you ever heard of video chatting?”
“This was too important, and it needed to be in person, you know that. And I would have traveled back, but Aria’s with me. I didn’t want to wreck her plans.”
“You could have left her alone. She’s a big girl,” he points out.
I glare at him and dismiss him with my hand.
“I see.” Matteo raises his eyebrow. “Who knew you were the possessive type?” he jokes .
“Get the fuck out. I mean it, Carter.”
He salutes mockingly with a laugh and walks out of the office, leaving me to brew in my own thoughts.
The car ride back to the condo was silent. I was firing off emails left and right, trying to gather everyone to strategize—which went horribly, I don’t know what I was thinking—and Aria was just seemingly lost in her thoughts. Once we arrived, she went straight to her room and I went straight into my home office and got down to business.
I’ve had problems with people before. It’s part of the business, you know? But this is too far. Too fucking far.
And, God, to top it all off, Alex fucking Brown. He’s like a leech that refuses to die. I can’t resolve what’s happening with the painting, but what I can do is find out who Alex is in Aria’s life, and what the hell happened today between them.
As I walk out of the home office, she’s on the couch with a blanket and comfy PJs watching what seems to be another musical movie. She is devoid of makeup, but still has her hair updo, and she looks fucking beautiful. I love the way her gold freckles pop when she doesn’t have any makeup on.
She looks up at me. “Did you get anywhere?”
I sigh, sitting next to her. “Not really. But hopefully soon. ”
She hums in understanding. “What are we going to do? Are we taking the painting back?”
I nod. “I mean, if it turns out to be ours, we’ll take it back, but I don’t think we should use it for the gala.”
She ponders for a moment, fidgeting with her blanket, before replying, “I agree. It would create too much unnecessary drama. I’ll look into a new artist.”
I kiss her forehead in gratitude. This woman just gets me, and just always wants to help. It feels good to know I have someone I can trust. “That honestly would be great.”
“No problem,” she says before going back to watching her movie.
I muster all the courage I have and ask, “How do you know Alex?”
No point in beating around the bush.
She takes the TV remote and stops the movie as she tells me the story about how they met in college, and how he taught her the ins and outs of the business and much more.
“We are close friends. Well, we were. Until we had lunch a few months ago…” She glances at me. “On the day the paintings got stolen, actually. We needed the help, and Alex had the connections we needed, but I hadn’t told him I was working for you and when I did he did not handle it well at all.” She sighs. “It escalated quickly. He basically called me a charity case and now here we are. ”
“Me and Alex go way back. It’s not a good story, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say he already told you his side.”
She nods without saying anything.
“Figures,” I say humorlessly.
She grabs my hand. “He didn’t say much, really. Only that he worked for your father and when he passed, you inherited the business and fired him.”
I nod. “Did he tell you why, though?”
She shakes her head.
“Me and my father hadn’t had the best relationship. He treated Alex more like his son than he ever did me. Not that I minded, anyway. When my father passed, I truly believed he was going to leave the business to Alex, but he didn’t. Alex did not handle that well and just started this stupid vendetta against me.” I shake my head, trying to simmer down the anger that is boiling within me at the reminder.
I continue, “He started making connections in the industry, trying to get ahead of me. He just made a competition between us in his head and couldn’t get over the fact that I inherited the business and that I started making decisions he hated, decisions that were helping the gallery move forward.”
Her brows furrow. “If you would have told me that before, I would have told you that it doesn’t sound like him, at all. But now, I’m not so sure.”
“The thing is, he started making the wrong connections. Dangerous ones. I truly tried to make it work between us, but he was out to destroy the business. I had to make a decision for the good of my company, so I fired him.” I shrug.
She nods, but her face remains enigmatic. “Thank you for telling me.”
My leg starts bouncing, and before I lose the courage, I ask, “Do you believe me?”
I sound so fucking vulnerable I want to kick myself in the ass.
For once in my life, there’s a sliver of hope that she’ll believe me, because I have no reason to lie to her. Knowing Alex, he’s probably been trying to get in her head, but I just hope that she’s smarter than that.
I know she’s smarter than that.
“Damian, of course,” she says softly, placing her hand on my bouncing leg, making me stop. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“He’s been your friend for years, Aria,” I mutter.
She shakes her head. “I don’t think the person he was portraying was the real one. The Alex I encountered today was completely different. I have no reason to believe a person like that.”
I let out a sigh of relief, my shoulders relaxing.
She squeezes my hand. “You must be beat. You should go to bed. ”
“I’m too wired to go to bed. I’m gonna go take a shower and come back. Maybe we can order takeout?”
“God, yes , I’m starving.” She laughs.
I nod, getting up and walking to my room, and getting in the shower quickly. The stream of hot water drips on my shoulders, the warmth bringing much-needed relief after all the tension from today. Closing my eyes and resting my forehead against the cold tiles, I let out a sigh of relief, grateful that she believed me. The last thing I want is for our relationship to become strained, especially over someone like Alex.
Aria has become such an important person in my very gray life. I don’t ever want to let go. It may sound selfish of me, but I’ll gladly be labeled as a selfish bastard if it means I get to keep her in my life forever. The light she has brought into my life is one that has taught me that having hope is more of a possibility with each passing day.
Hope that I can become something more; be happy for once. Become someone worthy of love.
Getting out of the shower and getting dressed, I open my laptop to check my emails as I do every night before completely disconnecting. The first email is yet another encrypted one, from the same blocked sender.
From: Unknown
To: Damian Romano
Subject: None
You were warned. Now, sit and watch .
I snap the laptop shut, a groan of frustration escaping me. Who the fuck does this person think I am? I’m not a puppy to control, especially not from a person who refuses to face me head-on. Picking up my phone, I turn it off and simply disconnect. I know Carter is already on top of it, so I’m just going to let it go and get back to my little bubble with Aria and enjoy the moment, for now.