“Hugo!” Lex De Vos exclaims, giving him a pat on the back. “Fijn dat je nog heel bent.”
Glad you’re still in one piece.
My father laughs as Lex balks, but I don’t think it was meant as a joke at all.
“English, guys. Not all of us speak Dutch here,” my mother asks with a polite smile, but I can see the annoyance in her eyes.
I’m glad Jasmine and I at least know some Dutch so we can understand what people around us are saying.
“There’s no gain if there’s no risk,” my father tells Lex as he throws off his jacket and hands it to the restaurant manager.
I look around at the beautiful scenery and take in the delicious scents coming from the kitchen. I usually love this restaurant. We come here every week. The Van Buren chain is really one of the best there is when it comes to food. Such a shame it has to be tainted by a certain boy.
“Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Baas,” a guy in a black suit says as he approaches us.
Easton Van Buren. Owner of this restaurant-hotel chain, famous all around the world. And a friend and powerful ally to the Baas family.
“Hello, Easton,” my father says. “Hope your best chefs are working tonight.”
“Of course,” Easton replies. “Only the best for the Baas family.” Easton makes a tiny bow. “Let me show you to your table.”
“Are you always at this restaurant? I thought you owned multiple,” I ask, wondering why we see him every week if he owns that many businesses.
“I do, but I’ve told my manager to alert me when the Baases make a reservation,” he says, winking.
We all follow him to our table.
“We’re seated at the back,” my father tells Lex. “The VIP suite.” A proud smile forms on his face.
“Of course you always get us the finest spot,” Lex replies, patting him on the back.
“And my favorite clients deserve only the best,” Easton adds, pointing at the table. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” my mother replies as she looks around at all the expensive paintings hanging from the wall and touches the fabric of the seats. “Very nice indeed.”
But when she steps aside to pull back one of the seats, my eyes find one guy sitting all the way at the back.
Luca.
I swallow.
I haven’t seen him for a couple of months now, but every time I do, his wavy dark hair seems to have become even more tousled, his muscles even leaner, and the clothes he wears even more torn. A metal chain wraps around his neck like a stolen souvenir. But one thing has been added to his angsty-boy repertoire: a metal feather dangles from his pierced ear.
I try to look away, but when his dark eyes meet mine, it becomes impossible.
Fuck.
Every damn time I see him, this feeling bubbling underneath the surface of my skin gets worse. An incessant need to hate overcomes me, and my nose twitches as I tear my eyes away from his. Forcing myself to look elsewhere, I find a server pouring some drinks for a couple at a table in the other corner of the room. It’s not at all interesting, but I had to do something to stop myself from looking at him.
Even now, I can still feel his eyes boring into my chest.
I can’t fucking wait until this obligatory dinner party is over.
“Jill?” My mother commands my attention. “Are you going to sit?”
Everyone’s eyes are on me right now, but only one gaze draws out my ire.
I look around to find my seat, but I can feel the blood draining from my face.
Liam, who has beefed up a significant amount since I last saw him, is sitting at the closest corner, and Jasmine has parked herself on the seat right next to him.
Which means … the only chair left is situated right next to Luca.
The smug grin growing on his face as he watches me lose my shit is making me want to turn around and march right out of here.
“Jill. We’d like to have dinner. Nu.” My father’s stern look reminds me why I can’t ever deny him.
I don’t speak Dutch that fluently yet, but I know that word. Nu. Now. He only uses his mother tongue when he wants to be stern, but he’s been using it more and more since we’ve moved here.
I sigh out loud and collect myself before walking over to Luca’s side of the table. His eyes are on me at all times, the glint inside them taunting me. He enjoys this. I just know he does.
Fucker.
I grab the seat and pull back, the wooden legs scraping against the floor. Liam finally looks up too, and when I plop down on my seat, even Jasmine throws me a glare.
“Jill,” she whispers, “We’re trying to talk.”
“I’m not stopping you,” I reply as I scoot my chair closer to the table but as far away from Luca as possible.
“You’re not stopping anyone.”
I freeze in my chair at the sound of his voice so close to my ear that I can feel it reverberate through my entire body.
When I turn my head, he’s right there, invading my space like he enjoys getting me all worked up.
My nostrils flare, and I look away again, determined not to let him ruin this dinner. Especially because it’s important to my parents.
“Hi to you too, Luca,” I reply, putting down my clutch bag. “Happy to see you too.”
“I never said I was happy to see you,” he retorts, moving away again to cook in his own juice.
I roll my eyes. “Same. I lied.” I grab a handful of peanuts and shove them in my mouth before I say something I’ll regret.
A server places drinks on the table even though I didn’t order anything. I guess my father did it for us. Typical. Always in control.
“Don’t you know it’s not nice to lie?” Luca retorts, planting his hand underneath his head to look at me from an angle. “Do you ever say what you really think, Jill?”
I shrug, chewing on my peanuts. “I’m a mystery.”
“A mystery I’d like to unravel.” The smirk that forms on his face makes me swallow, and I almost choke on some of the peanuts.
“Right,” I mutter, wiping the salt off my hands. “Hey, when is dinner coming?” I ask my mother from across the table.
“We haven’t ordered yet, darling,” she responds. “But they’ll come and take our order soon, so just relax and have some fun with the boys, okay?”
Before I can open my mouth, she’s already turned her head back to Luca’s mother, Anna.
Damn.
I turn my head toward Liam, but he seems occupied with Jasmine. Both of their faces adorn smiles that just scream awkward, but I don’t know if it’s because of this dinner or because of the conversation they had.
“Hey,” Luca whispers in my ear. “The server’s over there. Maybe he’ll come over if you … beg.”
I close my eyes, trying to get rid of the fire raging in my throat before I snap and let it all out.
He’s just trying to mess with you, Jill.
Ignore him.
“So, Liam,” I say, butting in to Jasmine’s conversation. “How is your school? Do you like it there?”
“Uh …” He crosses looks back and forth between Jasmine and me.
I hope she doesn’t mind. I understand why she wanted to sit next to him, though. He’s gotten even more handsome than I remember. Like the younger version of Heath Ledger.
When his mouth opens, we’re all hanging on his words. “It’s fine, I just—”
“He’s lying. He hates the school,” Luca interjects, leaning in a little too close.
“Really?” Jasmine frowns. “Is that true?”
“No,” Liam responds, throwing Luca an angry look.
Luca shrugs. “Fine then, lie. I won’t lie. I hate it there.”
“You, not enjoying school?” I raise a brow. “I’m shocked.”
My turn to toy with him.
He throws me a short, smug, and totally rude smile. “Not all of us are a Goody Two-shoes.”
My lips part, and my brows furrow in disgust. “Being good at studying is not an insult, you dickhead.”
“It is when you’re more buried in books than people. Boys. Girls. It doesn’t matter to me.” His eyebrow flicks up, and the second it registers with me what he just said, a wicked smile forms on his face like he can see straight into my mind.
Fuck. Him.
“Oh my God,” Jasmine scoffs, laughing it off. “Awkward.”
“Ooookay,” Liam says, tapping the table with his fingers.
It’s quiet for a moment. Too quiet. And it makes me grab more peanuts and shove them in my mouth. Even if Luca is staring me down, I won’t be browbeat by him.
I listen in to some of the conversations our parents are having, but I only catch a few phrases about some kind of “cargo” and that they’ll be happy to “distribute” it to their dealers.
Not that I want to know. It’s all shady as hell, and we all know, but no one cares, and neither do I. As my father says, he earns the hard money to pay for our futures, so I can’t complain.
“Well, anyway, we’re switching schools soon,” Jasmine says, trying to change the subject.
“Really? Which one?” Liam asks.
“Ours.”
Luca’s voice overarches our entire corner of the table, and the silence that follows makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Jasmine turns her head to him, and Liam follows, forcing me to remove my elbow.
“Wait, what?” Jasmine says, looking confused. “Did you say ours?”
Luca’s tongue dips out to wet his lips, and when he parts them, he doesn’t look at her … he looks solely at me.
“I asked your parents, and it’s true … you’re joining us in class.”
My eyes and mouth widen, but I can’t say a word even though I try my best.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know the school our parents had chosen was the one they go to.
How could they not tell me but tell him?
And why did I fail to ask?
Dammit.
No one says a word, not even Liam, even though I’m begging in my head for him to deny it.
But he doesn’t.
Suddenly, my father gets up from his seat with a champagne glass in his hand and clears his throat. “I’d like to say a toast. To our partners. Our friends. Our sons and daughters.” He looks at us. “To our future.”
Why is he looking at us like that?
“Cheers!”
Our parents raise their glasses, and they all look at us like they’re waiting for us to join. So I pick up the glass and lift it without breaking a smile. I don’t know what exactly we’re toasting to, and I doubt my parents will ever tell me.
But from the vicious smirk on Luca’s face, I know he’s not toasting to any of the business deals our parents are concocting with that precious cargo my father bought.
“To many more years,” Luca adds, and then he turns his head to me in spite, winking.
He’s celebrating the fact that we’re switching schools … and that he’s going to turn my life into a living hell.
