Claimed Darker by Em Brown
Chapter 7
BRIDGET
Past
“Is that Bridget?”
Hearing the familiar voice, I turn around and look past the pedestrians walking along Telegraph Avenue to see Felipe, the bartender at Darren’s club, waving at me. Accustomed to seeing him in a white button-up shirt and stylish vest, I almost don’t recognize him in his knit beanie and puffed jacket.
“Hey, you,” he says.
I walk over. “Hey, yourself.”
He glances at the dark, handsome man beside him, whom I recognize as a guest from the club and whom I helped set Felipe up with. “You remember Bryan?”
“Yeah,” I answer and shake the man’s hand.
“Bryan, this is Bridget. Without her, I would have thought you were straight.”
Bryan grimaces. “Really?”
“It looked like you were on a date with a woman.”
“Oh, you mean Maureen, one of my clients.”
Felipe turns to me. “Bryan’s a stockbroker.”
“I remember,” I reply. “Watcha guys doing in Berkeley?”
“Visiting my favorite used records store. There are, like, no used music stores anymore. But this one in Berkeley even carries LPs. Bryan loves Sinatra, and I think it would be cool to listen to Frank the old fashioned way. After that, we were going to grab an early dinner. You got any recommendations?”
“For Berkeley? Where do I start? Or if you want, you can come over to my place. I have a big batch of breaded chicken I was going to fry up.”
Bryan’s eyes light up. “I love fried chicken. Haven’t had any since I visited extended family in Georgia a few years back.”
“I don’t make them as good as my Aunt Coretta did, but my roommates gobble them up.”
I go with Felipe and Bryan into the used records store, and we go through records of old favorites like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. It’s fun hanging out with them, but I also have an ulterior motive.
Back at my apartment, my roommates and Kat have been eager for me to start the chicken.
“The beer’s cold and waiting,” Simone tells me after I introduce everyone to each other.
The five of us fall into easy conversation while I heat up the oil. Felipe and Bryan admire the mural Simone painted on the living room wall. There’s the obligatory conversation about what Simone, Kat and I are studying at Berkeley. Kat asks about Bryan’s career because she’s looking to go to business school and possibly go into investment banking as well. Nothing gets too serious, however, with the beer flowing freely and everyone in a lighthearted mood.
At one point, Simone leans over the table, asking Felipe, “So your boss have any other cousins who can give us an all-expenses-paid trip to Thailand?”
“My boss has never taken me on an all-expenses-paid trip to Thailand,” Felipe replies.
Simone looks over at me as I pull a drumstick out of the pot with a pair of tongs. “Told you you were special.”
I shake my head. “I doubt I’m the only woman he’s taken on vacation.”
Simone turns back to Felipe, who answer, “Bridget’s right, I’m afraid. But out of all the women I’ve seen Darren with, Bridget’s the one I’m rooting for. I’m even getting used to that ugly taupe sweater of hers.”
“I know the one you’re talking about. It is damn ugly, isn’t it?” Simone asks in jest.
“Thanks,” I respond to her. “No fried chicken for you.”
“It was so ugly, Darren tried to kick her out his club,” Felipe explains Bryan.
“I’m curious about this sweater,” Bryan says.
Kat looks to me. “Your boyfriend tried to kick you out of his club?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say.
“He took you with him to Thailand. To a wedding attended by his family. How is he not your boyfriend?”
I’m glad when Bryan intervenes, saying, “I want to know what happened when he tried to kick you out of the club.”
“She threw her drink in his face,” Felipe tells him.
Kat gasps. “You didn’t!”
“He was rude to me,” I respond, setting a plate of fried chicken on the table.
“In his defense, he thought she was part of a practical joke Ron was pulling on him,” Felipe says, “and he was probably tense because he was expecting someone really important that night.”
“He never mentioned that to me. Who was it he was expecting? Not Eric Drumm.”
Felipe shook his head. “Someone from China. Someone his father knew.”
Bryan bites into a drumstick and his eyes widen. “Are you serious about Darren not being your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, why?”
Bryan looks to Felipe. “I think I’ve got to make the moves on her. This chicken is to die for.”
I smile. This batch did come out well, with the skin crispy while the meat is tender and juicy. The conversation stalls while everyone digs in.
“That hurt my feelings, but I totally forgive you,” Felipe chuckles to Bryan after tasting the chicken for himself.
“Amy’s going to be so bummed she missed this,” Kat says with her mouth full.
“I’m sure she’s happy where she is,” I reply. I haven’t forgotten that I wanted to see if I can milk more info about JD from Felipe.
“So how rich is your boss?” Kat asks Felipe.
“Filthy rich,” Felipe replies.
“Rich enough to own cookware that costs thousands, even though he doesn’t cook,” I say.
“From just owning a club?” Bryan asks.
“His father had money.”
“What did his father do?”
“He was in the family business.”
“Which is what?”
“Investment, all kinds of stuff, really,” Felipe continues. “It’s a huge family. Some of the Lees are billionaire real estate developers, some are in tech, some own utilities in Europe and Africa.”
Bryan raises his brows. “You think you could introduce me to some of these guys?”
Felipe hesitates. “I don’t know them. I just hear about them occasionally from Darren or JD.”
“Speaking of JD,” I interject. “I don’t know why, but he strikes me as kind of a player. Is he?”
“You’re putting me on the spot.”
“Sorry. I gotta look out for my girl Amy.”
Felipe purses his lips. “I don’t want to get in trouble, so you didn’t hear this from me, but JD has invited a number of women to the club before.”
“But maybe Amy’s the one,” Kat says. “Even players settle down and get married eventually.”
I disagree. “I don’t know about that. Sure that happens in romance novels, but in real life…”
“I agree with Bridget,” Bryan says. “There’s a reason players are the way they are, and it’s not because they haven’t found Mr. Right—or Ms. Right.”
“You been burned by players before?” Felipe asks.
“I was one. When I was immature and thought that sleeping around made me cool. But the thing is, a lot of players don’t outgrow their immaturity or their need to be validated all the time by seeing lots of people.”
I think about how Amy’s job and classes now play second fiddle to JD. I voice my concern aloud. “Amy’s head over heels for JD.”
“She’s not the first to fall for him,” Felipe says.
“Did you?” Bryan asks.
Felipe blushes. “I thought he was cute when I first met him.”
“I want to see photos of these guys,” says Kat.
“I can vouch for Bridget’s guy,” says Simone. “He’s yum.”
As if his ears are burning, Darren texts me at that moment. Phone in hand, I go over to the stove to fry the second batch of chicken.
The text reads:
Tonight. Your payment is due.
