"What are your plans for the land you're trying to acquire?" I ask, turning our conversation to the real reason he is here.

"I have several things in mind for the area. We have a few potential corporate chains that would like to get in there, and of course the housing. It's not going to be some little renovation project. We plan to take the area to another level," Chad explains as the waiter delivers our entrees.

"Another level?"

"Yes. We are looking to attract a more upper middle class clientele."

We each take a few bites of our steaks. The waiter comes to check on us. Chad orders another drink. I hope he's not driving home.

"That's where you come in, Shane," Chad says. He takes another forkful from his plate and washes it down with the scotch, "your community center isn't going to fit into our plans. It's also money out of your pocket that won't generate any profit. We were thinking a health club would work much better in that spot. It's centrally located and there isn't another one for miles. It could be a gold mine - for both of us."

"I don't understand. I thought you were receiving government funds to help rebuild the blighted community?" This sounds even sketchier than anything I was imagining.

"I've got that all covered," he winks, "we've had the councilman in our pocket for a while now."

"I think you may have lost me here, Chad," I play dumb. I'm pretty sure I know where he's going with this but I want him to lay it out for me.

"Our fine councilman, Ron Peterson. His father and mine go way back - to their fraternity days," he sips more scotch, "anyway, he helps push my plans through to approval based on the assumption that there will be low income housing. We receive the funds, build housing, allot a small percentage to those who qualify, and then put in the big income generators."

I try to swallow what he just told me, "wow."

"Yeah. This isn't our first rodeo.

Strike two.

"Just let me clarify. You want me to forget the community center and build a health club. Then you're going to surround it with high end stores and luxury apartments?" I break it down, trying not to sound as disgusted as I feel.

"In a nutshell. If you're not comfortable with the idea, you can always just sell us the land. For a profit of course," he offers,as an after thought.

"I grew up there. I know what these people live like. I want to help give them something better - make them a community they can be proud of. Maybe even one day come back and build their own businesses and homes there."

"You're living a fantasy. No offense." Chad says casually, "that's not how this works. It's nice to want to help people, but who's going to help you? Why shouldn't you make a profit? That's prime real estate you're holding onto right now."

Holy shit. This guy is proposing quite the scandal. Although I can't say I'm surprised they have a politician working for them. I'm sure he's not the only one either. No way I want any part of this. For whatever reason he thinks he can trust me. Maybe it's the suit.

"I don't know, Chad. I have to think on this."

"Of course. We have several contractors bidding on the project. I can make sure the job is yours if we make this deal work. They've each made nice offers - on and under the table - but you have something we want. It makes whatever you're offering much more attractive."

The waiter sidles up to our table again, asking if we would like dessert. Chad looks at his watch.

"I'll pass. I have another meeting starting shortly."

I look puzzled. It's after nine on a Wednesday night. He indulges me further, "she's blond and loves a night out in a hotel."

"Oh. I didn't realize your girlfriend was going to meet you here. Beth, right?" I ask, pretending I don't know very well who his girlfriend is.

"Yes. Beth is my girlfriend. This blond is Meredith. She's nobody's girlfriend. Girls who can do things like that don't usually settle with one guy - which is perfect for me."

Strike three.

I laugh like I'm in agreement with his chain of thought but it is taking every bone in my body not to tear into every one of his.

What an asshole. This mother fucker is going down. In one dinner, Chad confessed to cheating, bribing a politician, and accepting government funds under false pretenses. Is he so fucking arrogant that he thinks he can do whatever he wants, laugh about it, and never get caught?

I signal to the waiter for the check. I can't stand being here right now. I want to kill him. I'm not going to let onto anything right now. I'm not ready. I need to figure out what to do with all this information while he still thinks he can trust me. Shit. I thought it was going to take weeks - maybe even months to find out something that could bury Chad as a boyfriend. This is way more than I bargained for. I honestly don't even know what to do with all of this new found info.

"Thanks for dinner, Shane."

"It was my pleasure," I lie through gritted teeth. Then again, he just saved me a lot of time and guesswork.

"Give some serious thought to what we spoke about. It's a great opportunity for both of us."

"I will. I'll be in touch soon."

We both stand and shake hands again. By his stance, I can see Chad has obviously had too much to drink.

"You going to be okay getting home?" I ask. Not that I care about him, but I do care about Beth.

"By the time I go home, I'll be fine," Chad flashes a knowing smile at me.

I hate him. I hate him more than I even thought possible. In my wildest dreams I couldn't have made him out to be such a scumbag. What does Beth even see in him? He must be one hell of an actor.

I leave Chad in the lobby and take the elevator back up to my room. As soon as the doors close, I kick the wall. Fuck.

Now that I'm armed with all of these facts, what am I going to do with them? Beth doesn't trust me enough yet. If I tell her her boyfriend is cheating on her, she won't believe me. She will just wind up hating me for it and Chad will look like the good guy. I can't be the one to tell her. She has to find out another way.

I don't know where to go with the corrupt political bullshit. That's way beyond my realm of understanding. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that.

I take a beer out of the mini fridge, lie on the bed and toss everything around in my head for a while. I think Tommy might be my best bet. He may not trust me one hundred percent yet, but as a detective, his instinct will be to do some investigating of his own. If he takes my word and digs a little deeper, he will find out I'm telling the truth. It will be a win-win for me. I will have the trust of my friend again and Beth will ditch that loser - maybe he'll be the one to break the news.

I don't know what the final outcome will be, but I do know one thing for sure, Beth is way too good for this guy. Even if she doesn't want to be with me, she sure as hell won't waste her life with him.

Beth

I can't sleep. I keep thinking about what those two are talking about. I've looked at the clock at least once every five minutes. What the hell do they have to talk about for so long? I'm sure nothing as bad as I'm imagining. I'm picturing Shane and Chad comparing notes on me. I shouldn't be so narcissistic though - I'm sure it's all business.

Maybe they're just really hitting it off. Maybe they'll become business partners and great friends. Wouldn't that be special. The three of us could all be buddies. I just threw up in my mouth.

I thought of texting Chad. I even considered texting Shane, but I did neither. I figured I would let them be. By midnight, exhaustion takes over and I fall asleep.

I must have crashed hard because I never heard Chad come in. Guess he didn't want to disturb me.

I wake up to the usual morning routine. I'm anxious to hear what happened last night but I don't want to appear like I'm concerned. I never am when it comes to Chad's business deals. This one shouldn't be any different.

I enter the kitchen and smile. Chad is hard at work already - he always is. He never stops. It's crazy. He deserves whatever fortune this new project brings. He's had too many late nights and early mornings already.

"Hey, hon," Chad says, looking up, "I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't want to disturb you. You look busy."

"Never too busy for you."

I stand in front of the coffee maker. Chad sneaks up behind me, pressing into me, and hugs me from behind. Thoughts of Shane flood my mind. Visions of his lips on mine remind me of what a terrible person I am. I don't deserve Chad. He loves me so much. I will never do that again. I'm not going to hurt him.

"Aw. You're so sweet," I say, shaking my head to remove the images, "how was last night?"

Chad walks back to his stool, takes a seat, and picks up the papers he was looking at when I came in.

"I think it went pretty well."

His answer is too vague. I need more but I don't want to sound too interested, "were you able to get this guy to bid on your project?"

"I'm not sure yet. We left it up in the air. He might actually be one of the few people who wants to do something for nothing, but I'm sure he'll come around - they all do."

"That sounds promising." Maybe Shane is a good guy. Maybe his intentions are good. I picture us together again. Maybe not.

"Yes. I like to think so." Chad is more focused on his work than our conversation.

"Well, you must have hit it off. You still weren't home when I fell asleep."

Chad looks up, then back down, "we did. We have a lot in common. I had 'one too many' with dinner so I waited a while before I left to come home."

Does he know something? Is that why he looked at me like that? What could they possibly have in common other than me?

"Good idea."

I don't think I'm going to get any more out of him without really trying - which I do not want to do. I'm sure I will find out some more from Shane, you know, since he's my friend and all.

Chad packs up his things, washes his mug, and we say good bye.

I'm worried Chad knows something. He was acting like he has a secret. That can't be coincidence. There is the possibility that it's just my guilty conscience speaking. There's only one way to find out.

I pick up the phone and send Shane a text: 'How'd it go last night?'

'Fine'

Fine? What does that mean?

'Heard you guys have a lot in common'

'We have nothing in common'

Ugh. It's so hard to decipher texts sometimes.

'Um. Okay. Would you like to meet for lunch this week?'

'I'm not going to be back on Long Island until after the weekend, but I would love to'

I don't want to wait that long for answers - at least not for the most important one. I need to know.

'Did you tell Chad about us? About what happened?'

'Of course not. I wouldn't do that to you, Beth. Why?'

'Just making sure. Let me know when you're back in town'

I don't need to get into specifics. We can talk more about it when we're together. I think I believe Shane, but I want to see his face when he tells me. I wonder where he is and what he's doing. I'll put that on my mental list of questions to ask him.

Shane

Not seeing Beth is killing me. I had to lie to her. I had to tell her I was out of town. I need to figure this shit out before I see her again.

My first order of business is getting in touch with Tommy. We still have to work on rebuilding our friendship, but I need to talk to him about this. If he doesn't believe me, I'll come up with a plan B.

I send him a text and within a few minutes, we've arranged to meet for coffee this afternoon. There's no chance of running into Beth. Tommy works far enough away from her and at this point, I'm fairly sure that he hasn't even told anyone that we reconnected.

I make myself busy, checking in with my assistant, making sure our current projects are running on time - they are. I'm lucky to have such a strong crew. I know I can rely on them to get things done even when I'm not directly watching over them. By the time I finish with my calls and check ins, it's time to get ready and head back out to Long Island.

Luckily, I don't hit a lot of traffic and arrive a little early. I order a drink and have a seat at a table out of the way.

I see Tommy before he enters. He looks exactly the same - just older. I wave when he comes inside, a smile crossing my face. I've missed him since I left. I always hoped we would be able to be friends again - I still do. I'm not sure how this conversation is going to go over, but I'm about to find out. I stand as he approaches the table.

"Tommy."

"What's up, brother?" he says, embracing me in a manly hug. I immediately feel at ease.

We each take a seat across from each other at the table.

"You look good, man," he complements me.

"Not looking too bad yourself. Seems like we both did a good job growing up."