He nods and shifts in his seat. “She is. She, uh, she’s pregnant again.”
“Wow, that’s great,” Breaker says. “How do you feel about it?”
“Excited.” Dwayne rubs his hands together. “Hoping for another girl. Maxine wants a boy, but not me. I know if we have a boy, he’s going to end up being a punk just like me. I want to have another girl, another angel like my wife.”
And this is exactly why we hire Dwayne for every job. Because he’s just an all-around good man. A family man. An honest man. A man with integrity.
“You know, having another Dwayne Hernandez in the world might not be a bad thing,” I say.
“Your flattery never goes unnoticed.” He then motions his hand to me and says, “And I guess congratulations are in order to you, or . . . fake congratulations.” He laughs.
Eh . . . what?
“Fake congratulations?” I ask, confused, even though I feel a sense of dread falling over me.
“Yeah.” He chuckles and then shifts in his seat. “Had dinner with Dave Toney the other night, and he told me all about your fake engagement and pregnancy.” Dwayne shakes his head. “I’m not sure I’d be able to pull off something like that but Dave said you were killing it.”
What.
The.
Actual.
Fuck?
Breaker and JP both stare at me with horrified expressions, most likely mirror replicas of mine.
“He, uh, he told you that?” I ask, unsure of what else to say.
“Yeah. He said he had no clue until his fiancée, Ellie, told him all about it.”
My mind races. My pulse hammers in my head as I try to wrap my mind around what Dwayne is divulging.
Ellie told Dave it was fake?
How could she have known?
Unless . . .
No.
Lottie wouldn’t have said anything. Right?
Her loyalty is with me. That’s what she said.
But . . .
“But, yeah, the plans he has for the empty lots down on the south side—great idea,” Dwayne continues.
Plans?
The south side?
Is he talking about the lots I’m trying to acquire?
A burning rage of confusion erupts in the pit of my stomach.
No, there’s no fucking way.
“Wasn’t sure I could fit him into my schedule, but I put together a quote anyway. Dude is kind of a strange one. Have you spent much time with him?”
Too much goddamn time. And now I know why he’s been blowing off meetings with me. The bastard.
“Uh, yeah,” I say, trying to keep my composure, but I’m not doing a good job of it as sweat breaks out over my upper lip.
“Solid guy, though, even if he has his quirks.” Dwayne claps his hands together. “Okay, should we go over the Malibu estate?”
“Um . . .” I hold up my finger and stand from my chair. “Would you be able to give me one second?”
“Of course.” He pulls his phone from his suit pocket. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to call Maxine to make sure she’s okay. There’s a message from her, and as she was having odd back pain this morning, I want to check up on her, make sure all is well.”
“Ask Karla for access to the conference room. She’ll be more than happy to help you.”
“Thank you,” Dwayne says, standing from his chair.
He makes his way out of my office, and the moment the door clicks shut, JP asks, “What the actual fuck? Dave knows?”
“First I’ve heard of it,” I say, pushing my hand frantically through my hair.
“How the hell does he know? You didn’t say anything, did you?”
“Are you insane? Do you think I’d tell him the truth while trying to secure this deal with him? A deal it seems as though he has no intention of taking, seeing he has plans to capitalize on our goddamn idea.” Angrily, I stand from my chair and start pacing the room.
He knows.
Dave fucking knows.
And he’s telling people, people I work with, ruining my reputation.
My worst fears come to the surface, pinning me in the chest with mortification.
“Who else do you think he told?” I ask. “Fuck, this could be bad.”
“This could be really bad,” JP adds. “If he told Dwayne, then he’s told others. Dwayne is cool enough to laugh it off, but I couldn’t say that about everyone we work with.”
“Especially people we might want to work with in the future.” I grip my hair with both hands now. “Fuck, he’s probably turning us into a laughingstock with everyone. What the hell do we do now? I have a meeting with him tomorrow.”