“Yes. That’s Sasha Dillon. She—”
Eric cut Victoria off with a subtle shake of his head.
She smiled, understanding. “She’s a real sweetheart.”
“Call her over,” James said. “Introduce me.”
Victoria walked over to their table, and the two of them came back with her to say hello. “Sasha, Nicole, this is my brother, James, and my father, Charles.”
“Hey.”
“Nice to meet you,” Charles said.
“How was the rock gym?” Eric asked.
Nicole answered. “We got a good workout.”
“Are you two learning to climb?” James asked.
Oh, this was going to be good.
“I’m always trying to get better,” Sasha answered.
“Let me know if you’d like some tips. I’ve done a fair amount of climbing.”
“Really?” Sasha looked at him through innocent eyes, pointing to the rock wall. “I’d love to see what you can do.”
“I’m not really dressed for it, but okay.” James got to his feet.
Victoria walked away with them, smiling over her shoulder at Eric.
Charles watched as they reached the rock wall and James started giving Sasha pointers. “My son is about to get his ass handed to him, isn’t he?”
Eric nodded. “Sasha Dillon is one of the best rock climbers in the world.”
Eric sipped his beer, watched as James struggled up what looked like a 5.9 route, demonstrating holds for Sasha. He felt a stab of satisfaction when Sasha roped in and bolted past James, making big moves just to show off. Eric could hear Victoria’s laughter from here.
Charles frowned. “I guess James had that coming, though it was unkind of Victoria to let her brother make a fool of himself. I hope she’ll apologize.”
“Yeah—after he apologizes to her for giving her private info to a predator.”
“What are you talking about?” Charles’ gaze went cold.
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
Eric told him what Victoria had said about James giving her info—her photo, the amount in her trust fund, her contact info—to that bastard. “He’s the reason that son of a bitch set his sights on her in the first place.”
A muscle flexed in Charles’ jaw. “I hadn’t heard this.”
“Well, now you know.”
Charles was quiet for the rest of the evening, keeping to himself except to praise the pizza and his daughter’s culinary skills. “If I’d realized how much you loved to cook, I would have sent you to school in Paris.”
He stepped outside once to make a phone call. When he returned, it was clear he was furious with James.
* * *