Chapter Twenty-Four

Zack

“So you sit at the table and take money?” Jack asks me, sitting in the middle of the bed while I slide on my tux jacket.

“Yeah,” I tell him, walking to the mirror and fixing my bow tie. “A lot of people show up to give money to Dr. Denise and Dr. Steve’s patients.” I grab my wallet and head to the bed. “Now give me a kiss and promise me that you will be good for Mrs. Harris,” I tell him, and he just nods at me. Sarah was called to help her mother this weekend, so I called Mrs. Harris, who Max and Matthew use as their on-call babysitter. She lives just one street over.

“Can we play mini sticks tomorrow?” he asks me, standing on the bed.

“I have to go in and skate a bit, but I think we can do it before or after.”

“Yipeee,” he says, getting off the bed and walking me to the door to kiss me good night. He doesn’t know that Denise is coming home with me, and she is spending the night.

I make my way over to Denise’s loft. I ring the bell, and she buzzes me up right away. The door is open when I finally get there. I walk in, looking around. “Denise?”

“Coming,” she says from her bedroom, and nothing would have made me ready for this moment. When she walks around the corner, my heart stands in my chest. Her dress is an off-the-shoulder black mermaid-style dress with little cap sleeves. It molds to her like a glove. She is tying her earring when she stops. “Sorry, I forgot earrings.”

“You,” I say breathlessly. “You look stunning.”

“Oh, this old thing,” she says, turning around, showing me that the back goes down into a V with see-through lace. Buttons are all down the rest of her back till the curve of her perfect ass.

I walk to her, grabbing her hips in my hands, then bend down and kiss her neck. “You look so hot,” she says, putting her hand on my chest and laughing. “I’m going to have fun getting you out of that tux.”

“Let’s go,” I say, and she picks up her dress in front to show me her light pink satin stilettos with ties around her ankle. “I’m going to have fun having you wear just your shoes and nothing else tonight.”

I grab her hand and walk out with her, arriving at the venue fifteen minutes later. The valet opens her door, and she takes his hand and climbs out. I have to refrain from reaching out and holding her hand. We walk up the winding staircase, the noise coming from the six doors that are all open. I recognize almost everyone there, and as soon as we get upstairs, Doug is the first one there greeting everyone. “There she is,” he says, taking Denise into his arms and kissing her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she says, smiling. “Karrie and Allison were in charge of dressing me.” She laughs.

“Well, they made a great choice,” he says, looking past her to me. “Zack.” He puts out his hand to shake mine, and I smile, nodding at him. “You better get in there. I just saw Olivier, and he is running around like a chicken without his wings.”

I nod at him and turn to walk away when my eyes land on those that I wasn’t ready to see. “What in the fuck?” I say under my breath, and both Doug and Denise look up to see what I’m looking at.

“Fuck.” I hear Doug, but I don’t turn my head because walking straight toward me is my soon-to-be ex-wife and my ex-best friend.

“Oh, isn’t this nice,” she says, and I take a second to look at her. She had to have had Botox lately and some lip injections also. She holds Colton’s arm.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, standing and putting my hands in my pockets. “You must be lost.”

She throws her head back and laughs, and I take in Colton, who looks like he has no idea what is going on. “We are members of the foundation. You know this since you’ve been donating since the beginning. When we got the invitation in the mail, I figured why not,” she says, and Colton suddenly shakes her arm off his.

“You said a fundraiser,” he says between clenched teeth.

“It is a fundraiser and what better one than oncology,” she says then turns to Doug. “I’m Chantal Morrow.” She puts her hand out to Doug, and he puts his hand out.

“Doug,” he says under his breath and then she turns to Denise, holding out her hand, and Denise doesn’t even smile at her or take her hand.

“I’m Dr. Horton,” she says, and then turns to look at me and then Doug. “If you will excuse me, I see someone I need to say hello to.” She turns, and I watch her walk away. I look at Doug and nod at him and follow Denise inside the doors. She is standing to the side grabbing a glass of champagne off a waiter’s tray. “That was ...” She shakes her head and downs the glass. “I.” I move closer to her, and she blinks away tears. “How could Jack come from that?”

“Breathe, baby,” I whisper and then look around.

“He obviously got everything from you,” she says, and I want to put my hand on her neck. I want to lean in and kiss her and wash away the negative of Chantal being here. “Don’t do it,” she says, looking at me.

“Don’t do what?” I ask her, smiling.

“Lean down and kiss me,” she says, turning her head. “I can see it in your eyes.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “You think you know me so well.”

“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes, and I don’t have time to say anything else because Max shows up with Allison, followed by Matthew and Karrie.

“Look at that dress,” Karrie says, and I stand next to her now. I may not be able to hold her hand but standing next to her is good enough.

“Did I just see Colton walking down the stairs?” Max says, breaking up the dress talk, and everyone looks at me as I nod.

“Yup, with my ex-wife,” I say, and Denise puts her hand in mine and squeezes. It is what a friend would do, but I know it’s more than that.

“That was your ex-wife?” Allison says. “The one with the shimmery Vegas showgirl dress and so much plastic in her she might melt if we turn on the heat?”

“Angel,” Max says, and she just shrugs.

“Did I say that out loud?” she says, and we all laugh and nod. “I’m so sorry”—she grabs my arms—“I didn’t mean anything.”

“Oh, yes, you did,” Denise says to her, and then she turns her head and spots Vivienne walking in. “Jesus.”

We all turn our heads as she walks in wearing the brightest red dress I’ve ever seen. It molds to her body, and her long brown hair is pinned up. “I knew she was going to go red,” Allison says.

“Bonjour, les amies.” Hello, friends, she says, walking up to us. “Look at this party,” she says, turning around, and I finally get a look at things. Tables are set up everywhere—blackjack tables, roulette tables, craps tables, and some smaller tables for poker. I spot some of the guys and then see Mark coming toward us.

“I just lost ten grand playing blackjack,” he says, shaking his head and looking at Vivienne. She looks down.

“I’m going to get myself a drink and mingle,” she says and walks away, and we see that her whole back is bare.

“She looks like she’s on a mission,” Max says to Matthew. “I wonder who her next victim will be?” They both laugh, and I see Mark looking at her, just shaking his head.

“I think it’s my turn to work the tables,” he Mark says, walking away from us.

I look at my own watch, and I don’t have to think about it because Olivier comes in with Steve at his side. “You three are doing the craps table in thirty minutes,” he says, looking at us, and I see that he’s holding Steve’s hand.

“This turned out amazing,” Karrie says to him, and Allison goes to hug him.

“You, my friend, knocked it out of the park.” Then she looks at Steve. “You need to reward him accordingly.”

Steve just shakes his head. “So I’ve been told.”

“I’m going to get something to eat,” Denise says. “I’m starving.”

“Me too,” I say, and I follow her to the other room where a buffet is set up and people are sitting and eating. “Are you okay?” I ask her.

“What do you mean?” she asks me, grabbing a plate.

“Well, you know with my ex-wife and all that,” I tell her as she puts a piece of salmon on her plate and then she turns to me.

“Are you still in love with her?” she asks me, looking straight into my eyes.

“No.” I shake my head.

“Seeing her again, did you want to work things out with her?” she asks me, never once wavering from my eyes. I shake my head again. “Do you want to give her another chance if she comes back?”

“Hell no,” I say firmly.

“Then I’m fine,” she says, smiling. “She showed up and knew it would bother you, and from the way her man was looking at her, he was pissed.”

My eyes squint when she mentions Colton, and she rolls her eyes. “Don’t even start; you’re way hotter than he is.”

“Really?” I say, almost puffing out my chest. “You think so?”

“Oh, yeah,” she says, coming closer to me, “and tonight, when we get home, I’ll show you just how much.”

“I think we can go now,” I say, looking around, and she laughs. I grab my own food, and we go and sit down as we talk about tomorrow. When we finally finish eating, we leave our plates and make our way to the craps table, and for the next hour, I watch her work the room while I pretend to know what I’m doing. Luckily, a real craps dealer is there for when we mess up, and with the three of us, it happens quite a bit. After our shifts, we all walk away; they look for their wives, and I am looking for Denise. I find her sitting at the blackjack table with the other two girls. “Hey,” I say when I get to the table.

“I’m winning,” she says, and I see a couple of empty glasses in front of her as she smiles. “And everything I win will be donated to the hospital.”

“That’s a great idea,” I tell her, and she just nods her head. The only one not drinking is Allison, and she just laughs at her and Karrie when Karrie says she will double all her money that she wins.

“You guys do realize this isn’t real money, right?” Allison says when Max and Matthew get to the table. “It’s all fake money and whatever you win is donated back to the cause.”

“What?” Karrie asks, looking around. “So this isn’t real money?”

“Babe,” Matthew says, “we paid twenty thousand for those chips. Trust me, it’s real money, but you can’t win any of it back.”

“Really?” she asks, looking down at her stack. “But I said I would donate double.”

“No take backsy,” Denise says, laughing.

“I’ll be back,” I tell them and turn to walk to the bathroom, but I spot Colton sitting in a chair almost as if he’s waiting for me.

“Zack,” he says, getting up and coming over to me, and I stop mid-step. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Not interested,” I say, trying to walk around him, but he blocks my path.

“Listen,” he says, looking down. “I’m sorry, all right.”

“I had no idea that this was the Stingers fundraiser,” he says, and I just shake my head. “We came early to spend time in the city, and she said she wanted to see a couple of shows and then maybe swing by and see Jack.”

“Maybe?” I say sarcastically. “Wow, that would be interesting since she hasn’t spoken or seen Jack since I left Arizona.”

“What do you mean?” He looks at me almost shocked. “She talks to him every day.”

My eyes narrow on his. “Like fuck she does,” I tell him, and I can say he is honestly shocked. I’m about to go on when I feel people at my back and turn to see Max and Matthew standing behind me, the girls behind them with Denise in the middle.

“Look, I didn’t come to start trouble,” Colton says, putting his hands up. “I just came to tell you that I’m sorry.”

Max laughs. “You’re sorry.” He turns to Matthew. “He’s sorry.”

“I have no beef with you, Horton,” Colton says, and then Matthew steps forward, Karrie reaching out to hold his arm.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” He looks at Colton. “We’re family; you might not have the same loyalties, but we do. You come after one of our own, and we all battle in the war.”

Colton shakes his head and looks down. “Just, she was raving mad when I left her, which usually means she’s going to do something everyone is going to regret,” he says and turns and walks down the stairs.

“That was hot,” Karrie says, looking at Matthew. “You got all kinds of Game of Thrones.”

Max and Allison roll their eyes. “I’m ready to go,” Denise says. “Zack, can you give me a ride?”

Everyone laughs now except for Max. “Remember back,” Matthew says, looking at him. “How many rides did you give Allison?”

I shake my head when Max looks at me and then at Denise and then back at me again. “Okay, we’re going,” Denise says. Smiling, she grabs my hand and turns to walk away when Max calls my name.

“You better just be giving her a ride.” He points at me while Matthew throws his head back and laughs, and Max turns to look at him. “She’s Jack’s doctor.”

“Idiot.” I hear Matthew say when he grabs Karrie around the shoulders, and they walk back into the room.

“I guess when we tell him, it won’t be that much of a shock, right?” I ask Denise while we walk down the stairs. She shakes her head.

“It will still be that much of a shock. Trust me,” she says, and I give the valet my ticket as we wait for the car. I stand next to her this time and grab her hand, neither of us even caring anymore.