Faking it with Damian Black by Louise Jane

Chapter 28

-DAMIAN-

“boss?” Danny’s voice cut through my train of thought.

I slid my eyes from the window, locking with Danny’s curious one in the rearview

mirror.

“We’re here,” he murmured, a crease wrinkling the space between his eyebrows.

We slid out of the car and crossed the tarmac to the company jet.

“Something on your mind?” Danny asked as he filled two rock glasses with

whiskey.

Danny and I fiew to California. Claudia, the head of Scarlett Design, claimed that

one of her staff working on the ground. fioor developed skin irritation when

they started working at the Belmont Hotel. The woman f**king freaked out and

called Silverio, pointing fingers atand saying that it was caused by exposure

to asbestos.

Silveaskedto personally handle this. We had to take samples and send

them to the lab for analysis. It would take three weeks for the results to come

out.

Silveclearly took Claudia’s side on this one. He didn’t even consider that

Black Construction had been in this industry for too long to be this careless.

Maybe Claudia’s p**sy was made of gold. Either that, or Silvewas just plain

stupid. 1 vouched

for the latter.

Apart from this freaking asbestos complaint?” I groaned, sipping my drink.

Danny hummed, removing his n*ecktie, tossing his suit jacket on the long gray

seat,

“You bothered about that? We both know how that result will turn out.” He

smirked, his voice lighting. “Is there still trouble in paradise?”

Danny was one of the people who knewin and out of the office, and there’s

one rule I abide by. Work hard, play hard. Even when I was still with Sonja, my

personal life had never hindered with my job.

Sonja knewas the guitar player who lived in a stinky apartment, not the

security manager for Black Holdings. With Danny on my side, I was able to keep

my identity a secret for a long tfrom the girls I played with. Then comes

Millicent who knewas Damian, the son of Erik Black, step brother to her best

friend and now she’s my fake girlfriend.

Navigating this territory had been a struggle for me, and Danny could see right

through me. Whether that’s a good have no idea really.

It had been days since I last saw Millicent. From being unable to keep our hands

off each other, she’d gone rasiler again. It’s f**king with my head..

Is this really how relationships worked?

Since Sonja and I were in an illicit affair, we kept our relationship a secret. We

went out, partied and enjoyed each other’s company without the hassle of

family drama and public eyes watching us. Most of the time, I’d go to her

apartment, and we’d stay locked up for a day or two.

Everything was different with Millicent. I want to see her, hear her voice and

take her places and see her smile. I wanted to make her happy and erase every

fucked up thing her ex did to her. How could I do that if she wasn’t answering

my calls and messages?

At first, I thought she was busy with moving back to Roslin City. Then when I

called their new office, and she refused to speak to me, I knew something was

definitely up with her. She’d totally shutout.

“Just thinking about how I’d propose.” I cannot exactly let Danny in on my deal

with Millicent, but it was on the tip of my tongue. Danny was trustworthy, but it’s

Millicent’s trust that I’m keeping.

|||

09:25 Sat, Feb 10 M.

Chapter 28

“Ah…” he shook his head. “Now that explains why you’re out of your head all

day.” Danny chuckled. It was low and teasing. He’s the only one who could laugh

atand still keep his job.

I groaned, pinning him with a death glare.

He raised his hand in surrender, still gazing atas though my misery was an

entertainment for him.

Leaning forward, Danny resting his chin on his joined hands, pondering on his

next words. “What does Millicent like? Just focus on that. From what I saw, she

wasn’t the kind of girl who’s hard to please.”

“She’s not.” Lagreed. Besides, we are faking this engagement. She will act in

accordance with our plan however I’d pop the

question.

Changing the topic, I jumped into a much more pressing issue. “Got any news

from Mon about the plates?”

Our cameras caught a sedan leaving the premises of the Belmont Hotel when

the alarm went off three weeks ago. The whispering devil in my ears tellsthe

attack wasn’t random and someone wanted to sabotage me. I could feel it in my

gut. But “why is the question? That alarm coming off didn’t do much damage to

our operation.

1 withheld this information from the fire chief, though.

“It’s a stolen plate.” Danny pulled out his phone. Seconds later, mine vibrated in

my pocket.

I scanned the documents Danny sent in my email, frowning. “Nevada plates?”

Danny nodded a yes.

“Who would go to these lengths just to pissoff?”

Honestly, I wasn’t bothered by that incident at all, but this information doesn’t

sit well with me.

I couldn’t take Millicent’s silence anymore. So I decided to pop into their new

office in Roslin City unannounced with takeouts from the Italian restaurant

down the street as a prop.

Boxes littered their office, and newspapers covered the fioor, the heavy scent of

paint permeating the air. Empty shelves lined the walls, and the three of them,

Millicent, Candice, and Andrea, were in their shorts and tank tops, all sweaty

with their hair tied in a messy bun above their heads.

“You brought lunch!” Candice was the first to see me, dropping her brush on the

paint bucket before her.

Millicent locked eyes with me. She was standing on a ladder. One hand holding

for safety, the other holding a paint roll

face was bare of makeup, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead, a map of

sweat marked her pink tank top. I swallowed the lump in my throat, taking her

long legs in those tiny shorts as she descended the ladder. I remember how

good those legs felt wrapped around me. She touched down on her sneakers,

bit her l*p before dropping the roller on the bucket before her, wiping her

forehead with a towel hanging around her n*eck. “Hey.”

I stepped inside and placed the takeouts on the table Andrea cleared out.

“Hi, baby” I looped a hand around Millicent’s waist and k*ssed her forehead.

She shivered, faltering on her foot as she pushed away from me. Her eyes were

weary and distant. The fire that had been there when we were in her apartment

was nowhere to be seen. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“This is really sweet,” Andrea piped in and opened the food containers one by

one. Her eyes sparkled like a kid on Christmas Eve, humming as she smelled

cach dish.

“You’re a lifesaver, D… I’m freaking starving,” Candice said, dragging two chairs

from the corner of the room. The protective plastic cover was still on. She didn’t

remove it, rolled one to Andrea, and plonked on one, tipping her head at me

with a quirked eyebrow. “Get your fiancee a chair, knight in shining armor.”

III

19:25 Sat, Feb 10

Chapter 28

Spotting two more chairs on the side of the room, Idragged thein and passed

one to Millicent, Candice and Andrea were already eating like they had been

starved for days.

Millicent had been silent the entire twe were having lunch, answering

questions and butting in once in a while. I don’t think her friends noticed her

smile never reached her eyes, but did.

“Are we okay?” I asked Millicent as I walked her to her door. I stayed that

afternoon to help them work in their office. Andrea was temporarily staying at

Millicent’s apartment while Millicent stayed at her parent’s place. She had just

put up her apartment for sale. She wanted to get rid of it, which was clearly

understandable.

“Yeah. She rummaged through her bag for her keys. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

She’d grown cold towards me, and I didn’t like it. I volunteered to drive her

home, but she’d been quiet the entire drive. It’s like threading on murky waters

with her. “About Saturday-

Millicent made a sharp tum. Her eyes were glossy when she met mine. “Can we

can we not talk about it, Damian? It’s not even part of our deal, and we crossed

so many lines that night.”

Her sharp tone tookby surprise. I blinked at her. “You invitedthrough

your door, Millicent. Why does it sound as if I forced you to do anything?”

I even asked her if that was what she wanted.

She pinched her eyes shut, took a few deep breaths before looking atagain.

“It was a mistake, and I regret it. Let’s just stick to our old agreement, okay?”

She slammed the door in my face, not even lettingsay a f**king word.

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