"Fine." He grabbed the phone from Dylan, walked out of the room and answered it.
He promised Brenda he would call her if he needed a date for another high-end function, and asked her not to annoy Dylan or he might suggest another date for him to take instead of her. Brenda seemed suitably chastened. She promised to just wait for his call.
He walked back into the games room and handed Dylan back his phone. "You owe me. She won't be annoying you again."
"What did you say?" Dylan asked.
"Something," he answered with a shrug as he picked up his plate and sat on the nearest chair.
"How come Brenda doesn't have your phone number, Kane?" Faye queried. "I thought you're going out with her."
Dylan choked on his food and stared at Faye in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? Where did you get that idea?"
Kane avoided his sister's eyes as she glared at him.
"Kane told us he liked her," Faye responded.
"Oh really now?" Dylan said with mischief. "Wait 'til I tell Brenda that."
"Don't you dare, Dylan," Kane growled.
"So you lied, Kane," Faye observed.
"Not really. I do like her as a fun kind of person. That doesn't mean I want to spend a lot of time with her."
Faye shook her head in censure.
"It's not such a big deal, Faye," he said with a hint of contrition.
"If I ask you a question now, will you tell me the truth?" Faye demanded.
Kane got nervous. He didn't like where this was going. "It depends on the question," he responded.
"Are you really over Jasmine?"
He dropped his fork. He didn't expect her to just come out with it.
"Why is my answer so important?" he asked as he walked over to the buffet table to get clean cutlery.
"You have no idea how important it is," Faye sighed.
"But why?"
He saw Faye glance at Ray with a determined look and noticed Ray's tiny nod. What's going on?
"Your answer determines the kind of help we could give Jasmine," Faye said.
He scowled. His heart started to beat so fast he found it hard to breathe. "What on earth do you mean?"
"Give me your answer first."
He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "No, I'm not over her," he admitted as he slumped back in his chair.
"So you still love her?" Faye asked softly.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Oh Kane. You should have been more open with us last week."
"Well, I'm being open with you now. So tell me what you mean about helping Jasmine. What does she need help with?"
Faye held his gaze intently. "Jasmine broke up with you because she was being blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend George."
His heart stopped. "What the fuck do you mean?"
~~~~~~~
Kane buried his face in his hands as Faye detailed to him Hannah's involvement, the fake porno short stories and the unsigned threatening email Jasmine received.
His head and heart were pounding with a blend of emotional extremes and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Jasmine still loved him. That made his heart swell so large it erased his biggest pain in a flash.
But he was also angry. Angry at George, angry at Hannah, and most of all, angry at Jasmine for not sharing with him something so critical and significant. Didn't she think he would do anything he could to help her with this?
"Kane, Jaz said you told her about a firm who lost clients because the architect had some negative matters about his private life made public. Because of your firm's profile and the types of clients you cater to, she wanted to be absolutely sure that couldn't happen to you. That was why she did what she did."
He melted. Jasmine was crazy. The love of his life was crazy. And it humbled him that she loved him that much.
He looked at Faye, his vision suspiciously blurry. "Why didn't you tell me this last week?"
"Jaz was going to. That was why she went to Dylan's party. We managed to convince her to tell you everything after we showed her how we could neutralise George's threat even if we couldn't stop him. Ray was going to devote several pages in Lifestyle by Design for an article on you and put you on the cover. Ray and Jess came up with an idea of what to write so even if a bad one came out somewhere else, it wouldn't be taken seriously by people that mattered. Your international clients are more likely to read and believe what's written in Lifestyle than what's in some tabloid magazine." Faye paused, looking at him with compassion.
"So why didn't she?" he prodded.
"Because she saw you at the balcony with Brenda."
"Oh God!" he groaned. He could only imagine how hurt she must have felt.
"She left the party not long after that," Faye continued. "But before she did, she made us promise not to tell you anything. She said there would be no need for what we had planned because George's threat was only valid if she stayed with you. And from what she had witnessed, she believed you had moved on. She thought it was better that you didn't know anything so you wouldn't have to contend with all the drama.