Accident Prone

Derek returned from the bedroom after a minute and sat on the sofa chair. He saw that Mia and Hunter are looking at him expectantly, so he lifted his chin slightly, indicating to them to speak.

"I hope you are not playing, man.", Hunter said in a hushed voice so that Angela does not overhear them.

Hunter knew that if Ashton finds out Angela spent the night here and Derek was messing, Ashton will create a huge mess. Considering that many people know Angela left the nightclub with Derek, it is only a matter of time before that news reaches Ashton. In addition to that, if Derek is not serious about dating Angela, Hunter will not like him much either. Angela is not some no-name girl. All of them know her as Ashton's baby-sister, a cheerful girl who would not hurt a fly, and they are all somewhat protective of her.

"I'm not playing.", Derek responded seriously, and his lips lifted into a smile. "We are dating."

Hunter looked at Derek suspiciously. "Does Angie know that you are dating?"

Derek frowned. "What kind of a question was that?"

Hunter shrugged. "More than once you said that you have a girlfriend, but she ended up ignoring you."

"This is different.", Derek said stiffly.

Mia's eyes darted between Hunter and Derek. She just heard something big! Hunter told Mia that Derek's luck with women was bad, but she didn't know that he was ditched. Repeatedly! However, that was in the past. Mia was aware that Angela fell for Derek and Derek's behavior told her that it's mutual.

"Don't tease him…", Mia said while nudging Hunter. "They fixed things after a rocky start and we should support them because they will need it when Ash finds out."

Hunter's brows furrowed in worry. "Do you think Ash will trash our wedding?"

"Don't worry about it. Angie and I decided to stay low for today."

Derek's words made both Mia and Hunter look at him curiously, and Derek added: "Just for today. After the wedding, we will find a way to explain the situation to Ash."

Mia didn't think that Ashton would ruin the wedding, especially if they tell him that they are serious about being together. Sure, Ashton might not approve, and it will take him some time to accept it, but he would not trash the wedding. Thinking about it, Mia decided not to meddle. She already did a lot by coming to Derek to find out his perspective after she heard from Angela what happened. If Mia and Hunter didn't check on Derek yesterday, and if she didn't tell Derek where the bachelorette's party will be, she was confident that Derek and Angela would not be together now.

"I hope that you know what you are doing.", Mia said.

Derek gave a small nod. "I want this to work, and besides… this was Angie's idea, and I will play along. I don't want to force her into telling Ash that we are dating if she is not ready. He is her brother, and she knows him best."

Mia approved that Derek was so considerate.

Angela peeked into the living room and took a deep breath before stepping out of the bedroom. She thought that Mia and Hunter only stopped by to give her clothes, but she heard muffled sounds from the other side of the door and knew that they will stay for some time. It would be rude to stay inside, so she decided to come out and say her thanks. Angela was grateful that Mia and Hunter brought her a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. If not for this, Angela's choices would be to wear the dress from last night or Derek's clothes. For some reason, she didn't think of going to a store on the way to the styling salon.

Because of the bridesmaid's dresses (and shoes), Mia knew Angela's sizes. Everything still had tags on, and that told Angela that Mia was thoughtful enough to go shopping before coming here.

Angela was nervous and a bit embarrassed to see Mia and Hunter present because that means they knew she spent the night with Derek. Oh, God!

Derek's face lit up when he saw Angela. He extended his hand toward Angela, silently inviting her to come to his side.

As soon as she put her hand in his, Derek tugged her to sit on his lap.

He ignored her stiffness and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Baby, tell them we are dating. Hunter thinks I'm lying.", he spoke like a child that was wronged.

"I didn't say that you are lying. I only asked if Angie is aware that you are dating, or…"

"We are dating.", Angela interrupted Hunter and put her hands around Derek protectively.

Hunter and Mia exchanged glances and smiled. Seeing them holding onto each other made Mia and Hunter believe that Derek and Angela will be just fine.

…

In the apartment in Ravenna neighborhood…

Irene groaned while moving to answer her phone which was ringing incessantly.

"Where did you disappear?", Suzy's shriek made Irene cringe and she was fully awake.

"I disappeared?", Irene hissed back. "I can ask you the same thing!"

"I thought we agreed you will go to Black Knight and handle Hunter and his party, yet they showed up in the nightclub and joined their girls. I wasted so much money on hiring guys and buying drugs!"

Suzy was boiling in rage. Other than wasting time and money, she spent a good portion of the night pleasuring Julian Temple, only so that she can go to Hunter's wedding as Julian's date. Julian is not bad looking, but he is in his mid-thirties and he does not compare to Hunter in terms of status, money, or looks. Julian's appeal is also diminished because he is divorced and has two kids to support. Who wants a guy with baggage when a perfect specimen (aka Hunter) is available?

"I was there!", Irene shouted irritably, pulling Suzy out of her thoughts about Julian and Hunter.

"Then, what happened?", Suzy snapped.

Irene took a deep breath and composed herself. There is no way she will say that she ended up drugged with five random guys in the room, and then with the cab driver… She came home after 5 AM and even her elderly neighbor who went for his early-morning walk looked desirable! Irene locked herself in her apartment and spent another full hour in the bathtub pleasuring herself. Damned drugs!

Irene decided not to mention drugs. It's safer that way. But there is another point…

"Max and Hunter didn't show up in that room! Did they even come to the club? Or did you set me up?"

Suzy was stunned. "Why would I set you up? Is there anything for me to gain from that?"

"I don't know…", Irene paused and gritted her teeth. "Did you tell Max about me?"

"Tell him, what? That a bitch named Hannah is after him? You are just one of the thousands. Max pays attention only to one woman, and her name is Elizabeth Williams. You should have seen them last night, drinking, dancing, kissing… they were all over each other."

With every word coming from Suzy, a storm of fury that raged inside Irene increased.

"I assume there is a reason why you are burning this bridge.", Irene said icily.

Suzy knew that Irene was talking about their cooperation, but she didn't care. How Suzy sees it, Irene was useless just like all other women who worked with her. Irene was talking big about how she has her eye on the prize (aka Max) and how she will do whatever it takes, but when it was time to deliver and prove herself, she fell short! All talk and no action! If Irene was any good, Hunter and the guys would not show up in the nightclub, and Suzy's plan to embarrass Mia would succeed and there would be no need for her to spend the night with Julian Temple!

"Don't think too much about it.", Suzy sneered. "It was my mistake to think that you are able to follow the plan. I relied on you and ended up wasting time and money. If I see you again, I can't promise that I will not leave scars on that pretty face of yours. Don't call me. And if you see me, cross on the other side of the street and hope that I didn't notice you…"

Irene ended the call, not willing to listen to Suzy's rambling anymore and she flicked the phone on the other side of the room.

Based on what Suzy said, she was confident that Hunter and his party were supposed to be in the Dark Knight club, so Irene either got the wrong room or maybe they changed plans at the last moment. Irene remembered that one of the guys said how they got the room because someone canceled.

Irene flipped in the bed and buried her face in the pillow. It does not matter what happened last night. The fact was that Suzy refused to work with her, so Irene was back to being on her own. Now what?

Luckily, Suzy already gave Irene a lot of files that have information on Max and Liz and she will go through all that thoroughly and see if there is anything useful. But first, she needed to rest because her whole body was aching. Now that drugs wore off, she was parched and sore and she wanted to sleep it off and hopefully forget about the previous night.

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