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Chapter One: The Code
Kai Chandler closed his eyes and tried to tune out all the soft chattering around hi over his plate in the corner of the ballroo the rooet in the ilt decorated space, a ss, a song that used to move him to tears Now he listened in a kind of anesthetized stupor He appreciated the wistful beauty of the piece, but see deeper
He was here at least His ed, afterhie of the LA Philharmonic, but he hadn’t felt any joy in it for a while He hadn’t felt , but that was his own fault For God’s sake, it had been a year now since his rated
As Barber’s piece reached its our it to shreds Why couldn’t he climb out of this funk? He ealthy and healthy He owned a thriving tech company which allowed him to throw money at causes he believed in, like the Philharht to be happy He ought to be ecstatic
Ah, Fauré’s Pavane Much more bearable, if still somewhat mournful Was this a charity bash or a wake? Kai looked fro cellist who elevated the already-glittering gala to the must-attend charity event of the season He had noticed earlier that she was heavily pregnant Pregnant bellies taunted hiht have looked like, with his dark half-Indian coloring and Veronica’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed perfection He would never kno
“Kaivalyan, you whore!” Kai cringed as Mason Cooke, one of his oldest and closest friends, leaned down and slapped hi fro splotches of hundred-dollar cake across the pristine tablecloth
“Hi, Mace,” Kai said, glancing up with a gried, all-American beefcake, with dark, perfectly tousled hair and blue eyes that had melted a million woht of his friend as a celebrity, but at these events Mason truly played the part, as did the striking woman beside him--Jessamine Jackson, the other half of Hollywood’s premier uber-couple
Mason pulled up a chair “What are you doing lurking back here in the corner? You’re the organizer of this gala”
“They don’t want to see own “Plenty of lu crowd”
“Ah, but you’re the chairperson for the foundation” Jessamine, sex starlet extraordinaire, seated her curvaceous fraht not be a celebrity, but you’re certainly the sexiest bachelor in the room”
Kai rolled his eyes and exchanged a glance with Mason, as all too used to his wife hitting on other h to be amused by it, rather than threatened
“Success is an aphrodisiac,” Jess purred, running her fingers through Kai’s hair “And I think you are the hottest fucking man on the planet Aside from Mason, of course”
Kai laughed despite hisin your ear “Are you going to let your wife seduce me?” he asked Mason
“Yep Anything for the cause”
Kai dumped Jess off his lap, more for self-preservation than any colossy honey-colored hair, lu body, she was irresistible in nor, especially considering she wasn’t his
Kai stood and took Jessa it to his lips “You’re a vision, Ms Jackson I can’t tell you howhere You and Mason both”
“It was our pleasure to attend,” said Mason “And it was great to hear Caressa Gallo play She’s so”
“I’ll say” Jess, an unrepentant bisexual, gave the pretty cellist a lascivious look
“Jesus,” teased her husband “Give it up She’s not available”
“How do you know?” Jess pouted
“Well, the first hint is the big pregnant sto behind that cello I also happen to know she’s married to Jeremy’s former assistant”
“Really?” Jessamine looked shocked
As if on cue, the string ensemble took a break and a tall, handsoed sickeningly infatuated looks, resulting in a snort of derision from Jessamine “Well, would you look at that She is taken God, why does everyone hook up with everyone else in our little circle? It’s likeinbreeding”
Mason rolled his eyes and headed to the bar as Jessa with movie star Jeremy Gray and his wife Kai tried to place her na He had seen the Grays now and again at LoveSlave, the highly private and exclusive BDSM club hidden away under the streets of West Hollywood, and they undoubtedly had seen hie town, but their wealthy, often hedonistic clique was sh that all of them knew his business Knew that Veronica had used hi like a fool Aswith the talented cellist and his other acquaintances, he still felt cohing, probably over so Jess had blurted out Caressa’s lovestruck husband placed one hand casually on his wife’s bulging waistline
Kai scrutinized her face Did she love hily in love But was she acting? Was he? The man used to work as a personal assistant It stood to reason that Caressa Gallo was the wealthier of the two
Did they have a prenuptial agreement?
It was none of his business It really didn’t ly and happily they interacted, or howone downhill Like a chus He’d bla hours He analyzed his personality for flaws and constantly worried about what he was doing wrong in the relationship When Veronica asked for a divorce, Kai had felt it like a physical blow Failure, after everything he’d tried to do to save them It was his laho pointed out that she’d filed for divorce on the exact day she becaree anniversary, to be exact
His lawyer had built in the five-year require, but Kai supposed five years wasn’t much time to put in for a 35 ator to look for evidence of adultery, which would have negated the agreement They didn’t find any evidence of adultery, only three secret abortions his wife had undergone He was father to three ghost children who haunted him even now, years after they’d ceased to exist at his wife’s hand He’d been so stupid, so stupid He dreaazed at hily, as if to say, this is your fault
Mason returned from the bar with a couple drinks and collapsed into the seat beside Kai He glanced across the rooaze “Yikes Happy couple alert How are you holding up?”
Kai griue, nonco at him, a technique Kai kneas intended to draw hi to say
Mason’s face registered disappointment “So, reconciliation with Veronica is totally out? There’s nothing left? Nothing you can build on?”
Kai stabbed at the cake congealing on his plate “Reconciliation would be fucking is for her, she can burn in eternal agony and hellfire and it still won’t be enough”
Mason raised one dark brow “Okay”
His friend didn’t know about the ghost babies, or the vicious things Kai and Veronica had said to one another at the very end Kai and Mason generally talked about everything They’d come from the same quiet lower-class suburb south of the city, and had been through a lot together as they clawed and fought to make better lives for the--to share the darkest events of the breakup of his e He didn’t believe anyone else could ever understand all the guilt and loss he felt
“Anyway,” Kai said with a dis someone else”
Mason frowned “You pretend you’re over her” He iesture “But you’re really not What’s happened to you?”
I lost faith in love I lost faith in trust I lost faith infaith “Nothing happened to me I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, but you look like you’d rather be anywhere else You used to live for this shit For the arts, for s”
Kai gave him a raw sh for your liking? I’m more into the cancer charity this month”
Mason shook his head “You have a great job, a great life, these causes you believe in You’ve ile woet into your pants”
“Or my wallet”
“So one woman took you for a ride Live and learn Look around at what you’ve done A lot of kids have a chance, a lot of e didn’t work out My first ht be time to move on”