Devil You Know(Lost Boys Book 1)(38)
He spotted me by the smile that touched his lips and as was his way, he reached for my hands and brought them to his lips. “Thea, what a lovely surprise.”
“Hi, Anton.”
He tucked my hand through his arm. “So what brings you here?”
“Mom has taken up yoga.”
That earned me not just his face, but also a bewildered look. “Rosalie is exercising.”
“I know. Hard to believe, but she’s just in it for the eye candy.”
He chuckled, “That makes more sense.”
“Anyway, I just had a chat with Cam and realized I haven’t seen you in a few weeks. So here I am.”
“And just at lunch time too.”
He knew me really well.
“Now that you mention it, I am hungry. This place is amazing by the way.”
Anton looked around, but unlike me he was studying it with a critical eye. “It’s getting there.” His dark eyes returned to me. “I dined at Clover last night.”
“Oh my God, was it delicious? I heard the new pastry chef is amazing.”
“Amazing isn’t the word. I’ll have to take you.”
“The waiting list is insane.”
“I know the owner.”
“Really? You know Trace Montgomery?” I only knew of Trace Montgomery because Kimber dragged me to a cooking lesson at his school. She wasn’t interested in cooking, she wanted to stare at Trace and after seeing him, I understood why.
“Anyway, while I indulged in a truly spectacular meal, I had an almost overwhelming desire for your mom’s cheeseburger casserole.”
“I forgot about that casserole. I’ll have to get her to make it for our next dinner.”
“Maybe she’ll make enough for me to take home a doggie bag.”
I couldn’t help the smile. The man was wearing tens of thousands of dollars in clothes and jewelry and yet he wanted Mom’s frugal, but tasty, casserole.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he added, “Damian resigned his commission. He’s home.”
That news came as a complete shock, but right after shock was excitement and anticipation. Damian was finally home. “What? When?”
A strange look swept his expression before he added, “He resigned about two years ago. He’s working in the private sector now.”
I realized we had both moved on, but he didn’t reach out to me in two years? My enthusiasm took a hit but still I asked, “Doing?”
“He leads a team, a kind of security team that runs ops when it is impossible to send the military—retrieving hostages or politically based kidnappings. That kind of thing.”
So he was no longer with the military, but he was still doing the same type of work. That explained why he continued to keep his distance.
“You said he was home, so he’s based in the States.”
“His team is all over and up until recently he was based overseas, but Damian moved HQ here. He’s temporarily setup in a gym he owns in the Bronx.”
So not just the States, he was back in the neighborhood. That hurt. “How long has he been home?”
There was that look again before he said, “A month.”
A month, four weeks he’d been home and he never reached out to me. There was a time I would have been devastated to be out of the loop when it came to Damian. Who the hell was I kidding? It hurt like hell that he was home and never called me…that only I still carried the torch, but a lot had happened in the years that separated us. We weren’t the same people anymore. And even reasoning that to myself it did little to ease the ache in my chest.
“Why am I just hearing about this now?”
“Damian didn’t tell you he was home?”
“No.”
“What the...”
At least I wasn’t the only one confused by Damian’s behavior. I didn’t dwell, there was no point, and moved the conversation along. “A gym doesn’t sound like Damian’s speed.”
“It’s on the MMA circuit, so it hosts fights every night.”
“That makes more sense.”
“I encouraged him to buy the place a few years back as an investment property. He’s got a manager running it, so it’s minimal work for him but it does bring in a steady income.”
“I’m happy he’s home.”
Silence followed for a second or two. “I’m sorry he didn’t tell you he was home.”
“That’s on him, not you.”
Anton didn’t press the point. “Let’s get lunch.”
“I would like that.”
Anton touched the small of my back while we maneuvered through the bodies to his private table. “The Angel Network Fundraiser is on Friday.”