Nothing But Hate

Chapter Twenty Three

"It really is you," Vincent said, "I haven't seen you in so long."

"Not long enough, I'd say." Tucker smirked, making Vince chuckle in response.

"Come on, Tuck, I thought we moved past this," Vince said, "I didn't know you worked at Finley Boulder Reyes."

"I don't. I'm with the District Attorney." Tucker answered, and Vincent nodded.

"Right. On the path of your dream to be the youngest DA in the country," Vincent said with an amused smile on his face, "I still think you should dream bigger."

"And you? Still on your path to be the biggest corporate bootlicker? Maybe you should dream smaller." Tucker retorted.

"You haven't changed one bit." Vincent said.

"Wish I could say the same about you," Tucker continued, "I think your hairline is receding."

"Classic Conway," Vincent laughed whole heartedly, "It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Cole." Tucker smiled.

"Give me a call sometime. We'll get a drink." Vincent said.

"I wouldn't hold my breath on it if I were you." Tucker replied as he extended his hand forward. Vincent shook his hand, still with a smile on his face as the two mentally relived their law school rivalry days.

Tucker excused himself after that, heading to the open bar to get another drink. He stayed at the bar, sipping his drink slowly as he tried to avoid more human interaction for as long as he could.

"Whiskey. Neat." A familiar voice called at the bartender. Tucker turned his head to the side to see Callum. He was looking incredible in his black tuxedo, and Tuck couldn't take his eyes off him.

Callum must've felt eyes on him, making him turn his head towards Tucker too. Both of them were reminded of the first night that they met. Tucker raised his drink at Callum this time, before gulping it down. Callum was shocked for a second, but he recovered quickly and did the same.

None of the men moved from their places, and ordered another drink. They were looking at each other, not even trying to hide the blatant staring until a man Tucker had never seen before walked up to Callum and started talking to him.

They were talking in hushed voices, and that combined with the noise of the party, Tucker couldn't figure out what the conversation was about. He looked at the man Callum was talking to, trying to figure out if he had ever seen him before. But the answer was no.

The man was a couple of inches shorter, but very well built. He looked slightly older too, maybe in his mid thirties. Despite them talking lowly, he looked completely relaxed as he spoke to Callum, and it seemed like the two knew each other well.

A wave of jealousy passed through Tucker. And it was much worse than what he had felt when he saw Callum flirting with the woman at his apartment. Moreever, Tucker hated how Callum hadn't glanced at him even once since the man came over.

"Bottoms up." Tucker whispered to himself, before downing the drink he had. He cleared his throat, and walked towards Callum and the mystery man.

Both of them looked at Tucker once he approached them, Callum had confusion on his face whereas the other guy just smiled politely.

"Hello," He greeted, Tuck immediately picked up the British accent, "Have we met?"

"I'm afraid not." Tucker forced a smile. Before Tucker could introduce himself, Callum beat him to the chase.

"This is Tucker Conway," Callum said, "And this is my step brother, Logan Webster."

"Nice to meet you." Tucker shook Logan's hand.

"It's a pleasure," Logan said, "So, how do you two know each other? Are you one of our lawyers?"

"No. This man wouldn't be caught dead working for people like us. He's a government official." Callum answered for Tucker

"Then—"

"It's a long story," Tucker said before turning to Callum. He felt a bit at ease now that he knew the man was Callum's family, and not a possible lover, "I wasn't expecting you here."

"I can say the same about you. I thought such events weren't your cup of tea." Callum remarked.

"They're not," Tucker shrugged lightly, "But we all have some obligations, don't we? Hector Reyes is a friend of my boss."

"Ah, Mr. Reyes, he's a good man," Logan pitched him, irritating Tuck a little, "Andrew Boulder has been our family lawyer for decades now, nice to see another good name after his on the building now."

"I'm sure," Tucker said. He hated Andrew Boulder, "Do you work at Kaufman Enterprises too?"

"Oh no, no," Logan shook his head, "I'm a doctor. Only in America for a few days."

"Right." As Tucker and Callum kept looking at each other intensely, Logan got the hint that he may be interrupting and excused himself.

"For someone that doesn't want anything to do with me.. you get jealous quite often." Callum said once Logan was out of the hearing range.

"I wasn't jealous." Tucker lied. Both to Callum and himself.

"Sure," Callum smirked, "Then why did you come up here?"

"I.. I just.. I.." Tucker cleared his throat when Callum's smirk got wider, "I just wanted to ask how you were doing."

"Then why haven't you asked that yet?" Callum questioned. Tucker pursed his lips, getting more and more annoyed now.

"I didn't get the chance."

"And here I used to think lawyers were supposed to be good liars." Callum retorted.

"Fuck you, Kaufman." Tucker scoffed.

"Sure." Callum said, as he slipped something in Tucker's side pocket. The side of his lip was still curled up in a smirk, as he winked at the lawyer before turning around and walking away from him.

Tucker furrowed his brows, as he dug in his pocket to see what Callum had slid in. He stared down at the plastic card in his hands, a key to a room in the hotel that they were currently in.

***