Chapter 17
Dillon
Jack’s the first thing I see as I walk into the The Foundry Taproom, already sitting at a table with two beers and his phone in his hand.
It’s been six weeks since the housewarming, which means forty-two days since I’ve seen Charlie. I’ve been giving her the space she asked for, especially while I’m still figuring out why I treated her the way I did and making sure it never happens again.
Charlie deserves better. She deserves more than a broken man, and I don’t expect her forgiveness for what I’ve done. I just wish she would cut her family off as thoroughly as she did me.
I might be giving Charlie space, but she’s still in my blood, and there’s no getting her out.
I don’t want to get her out.
Taking the seat across from Jack, I thank him when he slides a beer across the table to me, the brown bottle already sweating with condensation.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey,” he returns, his expression solemn. “Been a while. How are you?”
No one knows I’ve been in therapy, and I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever share—especially with Jack.
Our friendship has never had that kind of depth.
It’s always been more about competition, outdoing each other in college, at work, and with women.
Looking back at it all now, it just makes me feel tired.
“Same as last time we talked,” I say. “You?” I sip my beer, gaze shifting around the bar, slipping over people and faces without ever really settling anywhere.
An attractive woman seated in a booth to the left catches my eye, shooting me a come hither smile.
I turn away, not the least bit interested.
Across from me, Jack sighs. “Missing our normal,” he confesses, almost reluctantly. “It also feels like a weight has been lifted at the same time.”
“You heard from Corey and Amber?”
“Nah. They’re still firmly stuck up Bliss’s ass.” After they heard what happened at the party, Amber’s first response was to ask why Marisa was overreacting.
“What about Marisa?”
Jack shakes his head, and I’m not overly surprised. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen her in the last couple of months. She has slowly been pulling away from all of us, cutting the rot from her life.
Jack’s frown deepens. “Marisa came by last week to tell me she was going to stay with her parents for a while, out in Florida. Not sure when she’s coming back.” He pauses, expression grim. “She handed in her notice at the hospital. Feels like a pretty permanent move.”
“Fuck,” I curse. “Over Callum?”
Jack scowls at the name. “No. I’m sure that fucking hurt, but I’m pretty sure it’s all Bliss.
What she did was fucked up.” His eyes are dark, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
“I know we have some responsibility for how it all went down, for what Bliss has become. Charlie was right that night, you know?”
I can’t stop the flinch at her name, but Jack doesn’t seem to notice.
“We did think we were safe from Bliss, like never calling her out on her crap gave us some shitty form of protection.” He pauses, cogs whirring and clicking away behind his stare.
“So many people have been hurt, and now Ris…” His throat works on a hard swallow.
“She didn’t deserve what happened. Out of all of us, Marisa was the only one who ever really tried to stop Bliss.
Now, she’s been hurt worse than anyone else. ”
My mind flicks to Charlie, my disagreement sitting on the tip of my tongue, but I hold it back.
Staying quiet got me into this mess, but that doesn’t mean that holding silence doesn’t have its place.
Arguing with Jack isn’t going to get me anywhere tonight.
He might not ever see the significance of what happened to Charlie, or the part we both played.
His lack of understanding doesn’t lessen the damage we did.
The damage I did, but that’s my cross to bear.
“What’re you getting at?” I ask tiredly. I didn’t meet Jack to talk all this through again. “I thought you wanted to get a beer together, not bitch about Bliss some more.”
He watches me. “I’ve been sitting on something, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I don’t even know why I did it…” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, setting it on the table, dark screen facing up.
My eyes bounce from it to him, a questioning frown tugging at my mouth.
“That night, Marisa was…She was inconsolable, man. I wanted to know what the fuck happened, so I went to find Bliss.” He grimaces, his voice horrified as he tells me, “They left the bedroom door open. Bliss was still…And Callum—” Jack goes green around the gills. “So I…”
Impatience flares. “So you what?” I demand.
“I took a video,” he blurts, too fast. Too loud. We both freeze as the words land like weights between us before I glance around warily, hoping no one is listening in.
“You took a video of Callum and Bliss fucking?” I demand in a low hiss. “What the hell, man? You looking to get done for revenge porn or some shit? Why?”
His expression turns disgruntled. “I didn’t think it through at the time, okay? I’d had a few beers, and I was just the right amount of pissed off. So, I just…I stuck my hand around the door and recorded them for a minute or two.”
“And what’re you planning to do with this footage?” I ask stiffly.
Something malicious flashes through Jack’s eyes, but he doesn’t look away, doesn’t hide it, a smirk curling his lips. “Not revenge porn,” he says quietly. “Revenge of a sort. Bliss has mentioned that her firm has a no-fraternization policy, so I was thinking of taking the video to her boss.”
I sit back, mouth parting in shock. “You wanna go after her career?”
“I know how it sounds,” Jack says quickly. “And I know what you’re gonna say—some shit about sinking to her level. Hear me out, okay? Bliss went after something you loved. Someone. And then she went after someone Marisa…Well, she didn’t love the asshole, but the potential was there, right?”
I nod. It feels disjointed, like my neck is not attached the way it should be.
“Bliss isn’t close to anyone. Or if she is, they’re probably already buried under the concrete in the basement of her building.
” Jack pauses like he’s waiting for a laugh, his face dropping, put out by my lack of enthusiasm.
He continues, “Well, I got to thinking…What does Bliss care about? More than anything else?”
“Her career,” I supply on rubbery lips.
“Exactly!” Jack crows before his excitement drains away like a balloon with a slow leak. “Except the video—” He grimaces again. “I watched it, and while you can see Bliss, and hear both of them, Callum’s face isn’t visible. They could argue that it’s not him.”
I’m not in control of my body when my mouth starts moving, and I hear my voice ask, “So what do we need, then?”
We spend another hour sitting there, drinking more beers than we should, discussing all the ways we could take Bliss down…without landing in jail ourselves.
An hour later, Jack has asked me at least three times if I know how to hack someone’s phone, always seeming overly disappointed when I tell him that’s not in my skill set. It’s a surreal conversation that I never expected when I agreed to meet him tonight.
When he starts doing “research” on his phone, I head for the bar to get us another round of beers.
As I wait for the bartender to finish with customers at the other end, a body sidles in beside me, uncomfortably close for a stranger.
I shift away, turning to find the woman from earlier standing there, a coy smile painted on her lips.
She leans in close, her alcohol-scented breath coasting over my face, making my nose twitch. “Hi,” she says, voice high and sweet. She’s pretty, even with glazed eyes and smudged makeup. I barely stop myself from recoiling as I try to put some space between us.
“Hey,” I say politely. “Did you need something?”
“Yeah,” she says playfully, fluttering her lashes and pressing a hand to my arm. “For you to buy me a drink.”
I lift my eyebrows, not having expected such a blatant come-on, before shaking my head. “No, thanks.” My tone isn’t unkind, but it’s unyielding. I shift my weight, pulling my arm out from under her hold.
She pouts at me, a tinge of red filling her cheeks, but she doesn’t let the rejection hold her back. “Come on—”
I feel bad, but I’m not about to play this game, faking an interest I don’t have. I cut her off curtly. “I said no.” I give her a tight smile and then turn, angling myself so my back is to her.
I hear her huff before she stomps off. The relief doesn’t last long as someone else steps into the space she left. A wave of exhaustion rolls through me, and I’m about to turn around to tell whoever it is to leave me alone when a familiar voice says, “Always knew you had no game.”
I stiffen, every muscle in my body locking up. I turn around just as Barrett levels a wide grin on me, looking way too relaxed for someone who punched me in the face not so long ago.
A well-deserved punch, but still.
“Hey,” I say warily. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”
His eyes flit around the bar, expression neutral as he shrugs. “One of my colleagues—his wife loves the place. They wanted to have drinks, so the rest of us just followed along. Sometimes, you just need to do what you’re told.” He looks at me with a crooked smile. “And Jonie is a scary woman.”
I lean back against the bar, keeping my arms loose at my sides and my mouth buttoned, but the smirk on Barrett’s lips tells me that he sees right through me.
“You can ask,” he says after a moment.
I feign ignorance, not letting a single muscle twitch as I hold his stare. “Hm?”
Barrett rolls his eyes. “Charlie,” he grunts. “You can ask.” He tilts his head, a hint of mocking amusement flickering across his face.
I frown, battling with my pride, but it doesn’t win out against my desperation to know she is okay. “How is she?”
He doesn’t answer for the longest time. Just when I think he’s not going to, that he just came over here to fuck with me, he says quietly, “She’s seeing someone.”
An exhale of air bursts out of me, like he actually hit me in the gut. “Fuck. You don’t pull your punches, do you?” He chuckles as I swallow, my throat feeling like it’s closing up. “She’s…Is it serious?”
Barrett looks at me as if I’m stupid. “You guys broke up, what? Two months ago? No, it’s not serious, dumbass.” He lifts a shoulder, brow furrowing. “It’s not nothing, either.”
I grab my beer, drinking half of it at once, looking for anything to dull the ache of knowing some other guy has what used to be mine. That Charlie’s giving away smiles that were once reserved for me alone.
Without my permission, my imagination shifts to an unfamiliar apartment, her curled up in a corner of the wrong couch. She’s got a book in her lap as a faceless guy sits down next to her, putting his hands on her body, taking what I’ve thrown away.
A shudder racks me, and I drop my chin to my chest, hiding the devastation that must be painted across my face. “Wondered why you would approach me,” I rasp. “That about answers it.”
Barrett is unapologetic as he tells me, “I wanted to know how you’d react. See whether you’re done with her.”
I don’t lift my head, unwilling to let him see more than he already has.
“I’ll never be done,” I confess quietly, feeling like I’ve been hollowed out.
“I want Charlie to be happy. As long as she is, I’ll find a way to be as well.
” I shake my head helplessly. “Even if it means she’s with someone else. ”
“What about you?”
I slowly lift my eyes to his. “What about me?”
“You gonna go out and find someone else too?”
A bark of unamused laughter escapes my chest. “Fuck no. I don’t want anyone else.”
His expression is solemn. “Not much I can do to help you with that.”
I didn’t expect anything else, but now I’ve reached a point where I can appreciate Barrett and the role he plays in Charlie’s life. He’s always had her back, even when it’s put him in shitty situations, and she—more than anyone else—deserves that.
She deserves someone putting her first.
“Might be able to help you with something else, though,” he continues, and I slide a skeptical look his way.
“What’re you talking about?”
He gestures over his shoulder at our table, where Jack’s still sitting, head down and focused on his phone.
I frown, not sure what Barrett’s getting at until a booth to the side of our table catches my attention.
It’s full of people, all strangers, and more than one of them is looking over at us curiously.
“Those are my colleagues,” Barrett explains. “And I overheard some of your conversation with Jack-hole.”
I roll my eyes at the name. “And you think you can help?”
Barrett rolls his lips inward, unable to hide the malicious amusement brewing. “My security firm has the contracts for several businesses in the area…” He pauses dramatically, and I tamp down the annoyance that flares. “Including a law firm or two.”
It takes a beat before realization sinks its teeth in. “You’re talking about Bliss’s firm.”
Barrett props an elbow on the bar, his smile turning sly. “I have access to their building and cameras.” His eyebrows lift pointedly. “You need dirt on Bliss, right? Because you can’t use that video.”
It grates just how much of our conversation he heard without us realizing. He also isn’t wrong. Even anonymously, passing that tape along isn’t a risk that either Jack or I are willing to take. Not with what we could lose.
I slick my tongue over my front teeth. “Are you allowed to do that?” I ask consideringly. “Hand out footage to just anyone?”
Barrett presses his lips together, eyes shifting away.
“Let’s call it a gray area. A technicality, if you will.
” He pauses, adding, “My boss knows someone with the skill set to make sure this doesn’t come back to my firm, or you.
And he likes Charlie. He would want to help her.
” The hair on the back of my neck lifts, jealousy rearing its head.
Barrett doesn’t notice as he asks, “So, you want my help or not?”
“Why’re you doing this? What do you get out of it?” I ask. “Is it just for Charlie?”
His jaw works as he watches me. “Not just for Charlie. What happened to Marisa was fucked, and it’s about time Bliss learned what karma tastes like.”
“You don’t think it’s too much? Going after her career?”
Barrett’s lips quirk, the smile not reaching his eyes. “She’s made a career of hurting people, and this won’t change that.”
I hesitate, and then nod. “Let me buy you a drink, and you can talk us through what we need to do.”