CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - LUKE
My eyes cracked open the sweet, blissful morning after.
And the second I checked my phone, all those wonderful feelings evaporated as my heart rate doubled.
I’d overslept much later than I usually did, and in the early hours of the morning, Laura had blown up my phone with calls, texts, and emails in a panic. I only had to skim them to realize what was happening.
There was a surprise meeting being held at the Sentry, organized at the last minute with a handful of the most important executives at the casino—not including the four owners. And one name kept showing up as the one leading the show.
“Bryce,” I growled as I sat bolt upright in bed, the sheets falling off me as Casey turned over and gave me a sleepy smile.
“Hm? What?” he said as he realized I was nearly shaking with anger. I jumped out of bed and hurried to get my clothes on, moving faster than I ever had before. “Luke, what’s going on?”
“I have to get to the Sentry, about an hour ago,” I snapped as I buttoned my shirt up and looked Casey in the eye. “Bryce is leading a fucking coup at the Sentry.”
“What?!” he said, getting out of bed and getting dressed with me. As a fireman, I shouldn’t have been surprised he was even faster than I was.
“I can’t fucking believe I slept this late,” I said. “Bryce is holding a meeting with some of the other executives—they’re trying to pin the responsibility for the fire on me ahead of time, since we don’t have a suspect for the arson yet.”
“What?!” Casey said as I finished getting dressed, and he followed me as I rushed to the door. “But the four CEOs, they have your back, right?”
“They might, but if they get enough pressure from the media and the other executives, I won’t have a choice but to resign,” I rattled off in a hurry, opening the door and turning to him. “I have to get down there and stop this.”
“I’m coming with you,” Casey blurted out. I started to protest, but he cut me off. “You don’t have time to argue.”
He had me there, and I gave him a curt nod.
“Then buckle up.”
I’d never raced to work this fast. I even left my car with the valet, which I never did, and Casey and I scrambled to the elevator.
In the elevator mirror, I had only a minute to straighten my hair and pop a few breath mints.
“Don’t kick yourself,” Casey said, apparently reading my mind. “You had no idea this was going to happen, sleeping in isn’t something you should blame yourself for.”
“Easy to say,” I murmured.
The doors were only half-open when I squeezed through them and raced to the conference room door…
...and it swung open before I could reach the handle, and I was face to face with Bryce, who stood there holding his briefcase in hand and smirking in mild surprise at the sight of me.
“Ah, good to see you decided to get out of bed today, Luke,” he said. “You’re a little late, I’m afraid. Oh, but while you’re here, you might want to update that CV of yours. I believe the executives found my report quite...persuasive.”
My fist clenched, and I felt every impulse in my body wanting to deck Bryce right then and there, but I felt a warm hand on my forearm. It was Casey, giving me a gentle squeeze to hold me back. I glared at Bryce as he brushed past me, followed by a small crowd of older men and women who I recognized as either other PR and marketing executives or shareholders in the casino.
It was a room full of the second most important people at the Sentry besides my four friends, and I wasn’t even around to defend myself to them.
Laura was the only friendly face, and she emerged last, looking haggard and exhausted, and she winced when she saw me.
“Laura,” I said, stepping into the now empty conference room and pulling her and Casey in with me. “What the hell happened in there?”
“A massacre,” she said ruefully. “Where were you, sir?”
I felt a pang of guilt, but I just shook my head. “That doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sorry you were alone for this, just... just tell me the damage.”
She ran a hand through her hair and took a breath. “Bryce called a snap meeting to discuss progress on the investigation. I tried to point out that we had leads on what might have happened at the concert, but Bryce just kept everyone’s attention on the fact that we don’t have a suspect yet. He made it sound like we never would, and it was a liability issue that you were responsible for.”
“So even if I’m not to blame, I’m the closest thing they have to a scapegoat to show the media,” I said, rubbing my face with my hand. “Goddamn him. I knew he had it out for me, but I never thought he’d pull a stunt like this. Smart move, too.”
“The guys won’t fire you though, right?” Casey reiterated, looking scared. “Zane, Mick, all of them; they know you’re innocent, right?”
I didn’t reply at first. I looked to Laura gratefully.
“Laura, thank you for being here. Take the rest of the day off. You deserve it. Yes, I’m sure,” I added when she opened her mouth to argue, and she nodded.
“Yes, sir. I’ll have my phone on,” she added, and she left me and Casey alone.
I looked to him with an even, honest gaze.
“They might not want to, but Bryce pulled a clever move here. At this point, if we can’t figure out how that malfunction happened, I’m the nearest thing to a guilty party the media will have. I’m one giant liability at that point. No, they probably won’t ask me to step down, but they’ll feel pressure from literally everyone else to make me do that. And I won’t let that happen. If I can’t get this sorted out, I’ll have to resign, because I won’t let the Sentry go through this crap all on my account.”
“Luke…” Casey started, but I stopped him, putting one of my hands on his cheek.
“Casey, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days, but I want you to know that I love you.”
The words were like thunder, and Casey was struck to silence for a few moments.
“I know this is rushed, but I want you to know that before shit hits the fan,” I said. “And I understand if you need time, but if things get hard, I don’t want that left unsaid.”
Casey was silent for a long time, looking at me in disbelief.
Then he ripped the Band-Aid off.
“I have to go,” Casey said.
I never knew four words could hit me so hard.
But just like that, Casey was looking as uneasy as he was the first time I saw him, and he hurried out of the conference room, leaving me alone.
I stared at the wall a long time, trying to process whether that had really just happened. What had I done? Did I rush it too much? Was I in a dream? Was this real?
But it was real. Too real.
My life was falling apart around me, and now, I had nobody to turn to.