Summary: Damien confronts Kyle about cheating. Will Kyle do the right thing and tell Kai, or will Damien have to do it himself?
Shit, shit, shit. What am I doing here? Damien had thought about what he would do for a couple days before deciding to try and give Kyle the chance to do the right thing. He set up a meeting with Kyle at his office, which had seemed like the best option at the time. But now as he sat outside Kyle’s office doors, overcome with nerves, this idea didn’t seem so great anymore.
Kyle opened the office door, “Damien, please come in. What can I do for you? I’m not sure what legal services I can offer unless you are planning on turning your private business into a corporation.”
Damien closed the door on his way through. “I’m actually here on more of a personal matter. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Is this about Kai?”
“In a way, yes. I have something to show you. Damien spread the photos from Mike across Kyle’s desk.”
Kyle studied the photos and his expression turned from confusion to recognition to anger in a matter of moments. “Where did you get these? Were you following me? I should have known you were one of those sleazy PIs. You have probably been sleeping with Kai behind my back this whole time. You sure as hell spend more time with her than I do. I’ve seen the way you look at each other. ”
“Hey don’t turn this around on me. You are the one caught with his pants down, so to speak. I am just a good friend to Kai, and as her friend, I’m giving you the chance to make things right and tell her what’s going on.”
“This is between me and Kai. Leave my office now. You are not welcome back again.”
“You can kick me out, but I’m warning you: You tell Kai or I will tell her myself.” Damien slammed the office door and didn’t look back.
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Two days later, Damien hadn’t heard anything from Kai or Nadia that would suggest Kyle had fessed up to Kai. He walked up to the ladies’ apartment for their standing Friday night “date.” He was afraid Kyle might show up today just to spite him.
“Hey Damien, come in. Kai is sorry she can’t be here tonight, but Kyle surprised her last minute and is taking her for a long weekend in St. Thomas.”
Fuck. Damien hoped he didn’t say that out loud. He looked down at his phone and there was a text from Kai 10 minutes ago:
Sorry I had to ditch. Kyle is taking me away for the weekend last minute, and I couldn’t say no! Try not to miss me too much!
“Damien, why do you look like your puppy just got run over by a truck?” Nadia questioned with concern. “I know Kai is your favorite, but we can still have fun.”
“No, no, it’s not that. Sorry Nadia. I am glad to see you. I just got a text about a case that is stressing me out,” he lied. Yes he was disappointed that Kai wouldn’t be there, but he was seriously worried about Kyle’s motives. Kyle could barely find an evening to spend with Kai lately, and now as soon as Damien confronted him about the cheating, he was whisking Kai away on a romantic getaway? He had a pit in his stomach that was growing in size.
“I have just the thing to cheer you up!” Nadia held up two romantic comedies. “It’s my turn to choose and Kai isn’t here to help you overrule me this time.”
Damien groaned. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
“Complain all you want Damien, but I know you secretly love these movies.”
Maybe Damien was a bit of a hopeless romantic deep down, but the last thing he needed right now was to watch anything that would make him imagine what kind of romance would be happening between Kyle and Kai in St. Thomas. He would just have to suffer in silence.
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“This view is amazing!” Kyle and Kai’s hotel room looked out over the ocean. Kai sat on the balcony enjoying a cup of coffee as she watched the sun rise. “You should come out here and see it.”
“Just give me a few minutes. I need to finish up some work emails.” Kyle shouted from inside the suite.
Typical. Kyle couldn’t even unplug for one weekend. This place was beautiful and would be super romantic, but Kai almost felt alone, even with Kyle right next to her.
Kyle emerged 10 minutes later, but the colorful sunrise has passed. “Okay, I’m yours for the rest of the day, I promise. Why don’t we spend the day relaxing on the beach? Then we can come back and rest up for a bit before dinner. I booked a reservation for Oceana at sunset. Both the food and the view are incredible.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me!” Kai was determined to try and give Kyle the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he really could devote a whole day to her.
As the day wore on, Kai was pleasantly surprised. She thought hell must have literally frozen over when Kyle left his phone in the room when they went to the beach. They were exhausted from lying in the sun all day, so they had a relaxing nap before getting ready for dinner. Kyle wore a suit and Kai put on a nice cocktail dress before heading to the restaurant.
“Seafood is normally not my favorite, but everything was delicious. How did you know about this place Kyle?”
“One of my colleagues recommended it. Speaking of work…”
“Hey, I thought you weren’t going to talk about work for the rest of the day,” Kai scolded
“Well this is important. I found out this morning that I made junior partner! That is what I was emailing about.”
“Really? I am so happy for you…and for us.”
“Regarding us, I have one more surprise.” At that moment, a waiter brought out what looked like a dessert tray with a cover over the top.
“Hmm, you got us a yummy dessert to share?” Kai opened the lid, but there was no dessert inside. Instead there was a small velvet covered box. “What is-“
Before Kai could finish, Kyle grabbed the box, opened it, and got down on one knee. “Kai Park, will you marry me?”
Kai was stunned to say the least. She was not ready for this question yet. They had been dating a couple years, but she had several doubts. At the same time, Kyle was everything on paper that she thought she wanted. They could build the type of life together that she dreamed of having since she was a child. She couldn’t turn that down. “Yes! Yes, I will marry you Kyle Turner.”
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Damien was finishing up reviewing a case when he got a text from Kai. She would be getting back this afternoon and wanted to meet him and Nadia at the local diner they frequented for dinner. She had something to tell them. Damien was afraid to guess what her news was. He had a feeling that no matter what, it wouldn’t be good for him.
Nadia was already in their favorite booth when Damien Arrived. “I came straight from work, so I haven’t seen Kai yet. I’m excited to hear about her trip!”
“Yeah, it should be interesting,” Damien mumbled.
Just then, Kai walked in with a beaming smile on her face. This somehow made Damien worry more about what Kai was here to say.
Kai sat down next to Nadia, and before anyone could get a word in, she enthusiastically held up her left hand. On her ring finger was a huge sparkling diamond ring. Much larger than anything Damien could ever afford.
“Oh my god Kai! Congratulations!” Nadia practically jumped off the bench seat as she turned to hug Kai. Damien knew that Nadia wasn’t Kyle’s biggest fan either, but that she would support whatever made Kai happy.
Kai turned to Damien with anticipation as he sat silently. He was trying to act like everything was fine, but the bewildered look on his face probably gave him away. “Oh, congratulations.”
“Damien is something wrong?” Kai asked.
“I’m sorry; it was just a really long day at work. Who’s hungry? I’m hungry. Let’s order.” Damien had actually lost his appetite but he wanted to change the subject fast.
Damien picked at his food and hardly said a word throughout dinner. He was kicking himself for trying to give Kyle a chance to come clean. Now things were so much worse. Why hadn’t he just gone to Kai right away?
Everyone paid their checks and Kai and Nadia put their coats on. Damien had to tell her. It was now or never. “Hey Kai, umm, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You barely said a word all night. Now you are ready to talk?” Kai questioned with a nervous laugh.
Yep, she noticed something was off. “Yes, could you please come back to my place for a little bit? I have something to show you.”
“Damien, I’m pretty tired and I have to work tomorrow. Can we do this another day?”
“Please Kai…there is something I think you need to know now before you make any more decisions.”
“Damien, I’m not sure what you could possibly mean, but fine. Let’s make this quick.”
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What is up with Damien? Kai wondered. If he had feelings for her and waited until now to do anything about it he was too late. It seemed really important to him to talk to her in private, so she agreed, but she was not looking forward to the conversation.
They were silence the whole cab ride to Damien’s house and on the way inside.
“Do you want any water, a glass of wine, anything?”
“No thank you Damien. I just want to know why you asked me here.”
“Okay, I guess we aren’t beating around the bush.” Damien walked over to his desk and pulled out a file folder. He placed some photos on the coffee table in front of the couch Kai was sitting on.
At first Kai didn’t notice who was in the photos, but then she realized it was Kyle and a woman…a woman that was most definitely not her. “What is this? How did you get these?” Kai asked with an accusatory tone.
“I had some suspicions that Kyle was cheating on you, so I hired a friend of mine to look into it.”
“How long have you known?”
“I just got the photos last week. I went to Kyle right away-“
“Wait, what? You went to Kyle first?” Kai’s head was swimming. She felt betrayed on multiple levels. “I don’t know if I’m more pissed off that you went to Kyle instead of me, or that you took it upon yourself to investigate this in the first place. I didn’t ask you to do this. It wasn’t your business!” Kai was shaking with anger.
“I was just trying to protect you Kai. If I had told you I just thought Kyle was cheating without having any proof, you probably wouldn’t have believed me and would have pushed me away then.”
“I can’t say how I would have reacted, but I don’t think I would have felt anywhere near as betrayed as I do now. I need some space Damien. Please don’t contact me. I’ll call you if and when I’m ready to talk.”
With that Kai walked out the door. She used every last bit of strength to make it back home before she completely fell apart.