“Oh, my God. Can you believe that?” Jasmine asks.
I don’t even know how to answer. I’m that stunned.
Did Luca seriously just bring a girl in to … have sex with her?
My skin crawls, and my stomach contorts, but I ignore the sting.
“Is he going to do what I think he’s going to do?” Jasmine sits down on the couch opposite of me.
I nod a few times, rubbing my lips. “Yep.”
A part of me cannot fucking wait until this night is over. But another part of me wants to go upstairs and tear that girl away from him so I can slap the ever-living shit out of him.
“Damn, what an ass,” Jasmine says, and she looks at his smoke. “Yuck.” She puts it out into the tray so it no longer smells. “You okay?”
I nod again. “I’m fine. I’m just … bored out of my mind and can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Same, girl,” she says, rubbing her legs. “Even that talk with Liam.”
“What?”
Liam? Boring? I can’t fathom those two words belonging in the same sentence.
“Yeah, I just can’t connect with him, but Mom said I should try, so I did.” She sighs. “But all he wants to do is talk about sports and school.” She rolls her eyes.
“What did you expect?” I raise a brow.
She snorts. “Well, I don’t know. Deeper stuff.” She grabs a pillow and clutches it to her stomach. “What did you talk about with Luca?”
The second she mentions his name, the image of me lying on top of him flashes through my mind and makes my cheeks hot again. I can still see those dark eyes in front of me, still feel his breath on my lips, and the thought alone makes goose bumps scatter on my skin.
Nope, nope, nope.
“Nothing,” I deadpan.
She snorts again. “Nothing? C’mon, there must be something interesting. These boys can’t both be boring.”
“They’re not,” I say, maybe a little too fast. “At least, Liam isn’t. But no one likes to be set up by their parents.”
“You’re right. Maybe I’ll go check and see what they’re up to.”
She gets up and throws the pillow back on the couch, walking to the office where our parents are having a very important business conversation.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I ask. “Mom said we weren’t allowed to go inside.”
“They want us to take over someday, don’t they? Shouldn’t we also get to know their business?”
Well, she has a point there, I guess. Besides, it’s not like I can stop her. Once Jasmine has made up her mind, that’s that.
She opens the door and peeks inside. A smile appears on her face. I hear some voices but can’t tell what they’re saying. She steps inside, her body disappearing behind the door, which clicks into place.
Great. More silence.
Liam suddenly comes back from the kitchen with three glasses of Coke fizzing away. And the smile is right back on my face again as he places one of the glasses on the table in front of me.
“There you go.”
I’m surprised he didn’t ask their butler to do it for him. I know they have plenty of people working for them. But I guess he enjoys pretending not to be rich.
“Thanks,” I say.
“I know you didn’t ask, but I figured you might’ve been thirsty too.”
He’s always so thoughtful and considerate of others. Unlike Luca, who is driven only by his own egotistical desires.
“Where’d Jasmine run off to?” he asks as he places the last Coke down and sits on the couch next to me.
“She’s in ‘the room.’” I make quotation marks with my fingers.
He frowns. “Never pegged her to be that interested in the business side of things.”
I shrug and pick up my Coke to take a sip. “I’m not either, but I guess we gotta learn someday anyway. Might as well make it today.”
Liam gulps down some of his Coke. “I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t care all that much about the business side of things even though I’m the first in line. But the thought of having to take over all that fucked-up stuff makes me feel dead inside.” He shakes it off like bugs crawl over his skin.
“I get it. I feel the same way,” I say, finally feeling like I have a connection with him. “Our parents are always forcing us to go everywhere without ever asking us what we want.”
“Yeah, exactly,” he responds, which makes me smile. “And it’s messed up they’re dealing weapons and drugs.”
I never heard it said out loud before like that, but we all know what our parents do behind closed doors.
“I know it’s what they do to make a living, and I’m grateful for all the opportunities and the stuff they’ve given me.” He looks around at all the luxury, the expensive furniture, even his clothes. “But to be honest … all that fucked-up shit they do makes me want to run far away.”
“I totally understand,” I say, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I feel the same pressure from my parents to always appear perfect and to fall in line. Like this business is the only thing that matters, and that we’re supposed to take over, and that there’s no way out.”
He nods a few times before grabbing his Coke. “See, this is exactly what I tried to talk to Jasmine about, but she doesn’t get it. She thinks it’s an honor to be part of the family business.” He sighs and looks away for a second. “I wish I could see it her way. I know it would make her happy.”
Make … her … happy.
A chill runs up and down my spine.
“I like seeing her smile.”
His words are like a knife straight to the heart.
Suddenly, the door opens up again, and I look up, only to be horrified by Luca kissing that same girl on the cheeks. But not just that … her shirt is on the wrong way, which means that it was completely off at one point.
Fuck.
I clench the glass of Coke so hard it might break, so I quickly put it down.
“Had fun up there?” I ask as he helps the girl put on her coat, after which she leaves through the front door again. “That was quick.”
With an arrogant smirk on his face, he strides over to me, sliding behind the couch to whisper in my ear, “You just wish I took you up there …”
A moan follows at the end of his sentence.
All the hairs on my body stand up as I clench my legs together to prevent whatever I felt from rushing down between my thighs.
He’s just playing with me, trying to get me to go off like a damn bomb. I won’t grant him that kind of fun.
“Fuck you,” I retort, and I grab the pillow again and smack it right into his face.
He throws the pillow far away. “Aw, bunny got all flustered.” Then he jumps over the couch and plops down on his butt right beside me. Dammit.
“So what are you two doing?” Luca asks, looking at his brother. “Weren’t you having fun with Jasmine?”
“We were just talking, that’s all,” Liam responds, eyeing him up and down while gulping down the rest of his Coke. “Unlike you.”
“Hey, I don’t tell you what to do in your room either,” Luca retorts, plastering both his arms on the back of the couch to claim ownership. A show of dominance. But the thought of his hands so close to my face makes my body zing in ways I did not expect.
“But I guess you’re just jealous,” Luca adds.
His brother makes a pfft sound. “You wish.”
“A trio?” Luca raises his brow. “Thought you’d never ask.”
My jaw drops, and I throw a punch, which misses him. “Luca! He’s your brother!”
“What? It’s not like our dicks would touch,” he scoffs. “But if we both take a different side—”
“That’s enough,” Liam interjects.
“What?” Luca responds, still egging us on. “We’re always together anyway while our parents do shady business in a dark room. Might as well have fun while waiting.”
I don’t know if he’s joking or if he’s serious.
I turn to face him. “Have you always been this obsessed with sex?”
His tongue darts out to wet his lips in such a sexual way that I can’t stop focusing on it, and I hate it. “Depends with who.”
Oh, God.
“So that’s why you invited that girl … Could’ve just bought a blow-up doll,” Liam taunts.
Luca throws him a glare. “There’s nothing in this world more important than sex, money, and power.”
Liam shifts in his seat. “Happiness.”
What a breath of fresh air.
Until Luca shifts forward too, his hand on his knee, his eyes spitting fire, and it suddenly feels like all the air has been sucked out of this room.
“Fuck happiness,” Luca spits.
“That’s the only thing you can’t buy,” Liam adds. “Maybe that’s why you’ve never felt it.”
Luca shoots up from the couch and stomps over to his brother, who also gets up from the couch as they face off. “Shut the fuck up.”
Wow. So unnecessary.
“Why? Because I exposed a part of you that you don’t want other people to see?” Liam says, raising a brow. “Especially her?”
Liam throws me a single glance, but it’s enough to make me sit up straight and feel like the spotlight is on me.
Why is this about me all of a sudden?
“Whoa,” I mutter. “I have nothing to do with your fighting and—”
Luca shoves Liam, interrupting me. “I told you to shut the fuck up.”
“Okay, I’m out of here,” I say before they can pin this on me. I quickly get up from the couch and walk to the back door leading out to the yard, shutting the door behind me before they can protest. I’m gonna go for a walk outside in the garden and take a breather.
Because my mind cannot wrap around what just happened in there.
It was almost like … Liam tried to say that Luca was hiding something from me.
And that it involves happiness.
I close my eyes and sigh.
It doesn’t make any sense.
Maybe it’s just boys being boys. And I don’t want any part in that.
Luca
“Great. Look what you did,” I spit at Liam. “You chased her away.”
“Don’t try to pin this on me, dude. You’re the one who brought a whore into the house.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want with my life, and that girl was no whore.”
“Sure you can,” Liam scoffs. “But we all see through your lies. I know what you’re doing.”
I frown. “Tell me what I’m doing then.” I fold my arms. “Tell me then if you know me as well as you think you do.”
“Like I’d make it so easy for you to hit me,” Liam scoffs. “Pass.”
“Like you’re so perfect,” I retort, throwing a glance at the door where our parents are scheming. I know Jasmine’s in there. She’s the only one of us actually interested in their business. “You’re trying to get the only girl who doesn’t even want you.”
Liam shoves me so hard I almost fall back onto the couch. “Don’t you talk about Jasmine like that!”
“Relax, bro. It doesn’t even fucking matter. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along. We don’t make the decisions. They do,” I say, grabbing the only leftover Coke to throw it back in one go. I plant the glass back down on the table firmly and focus my attention on him. “So go and bang someone. Anyone. Get it out of your system.” I point a finger at his chest. “But you’re a hypocrite if you think I’m the only one.”
“You only care about sex, right?” He grabs my finger. “Keep lying to yourself. Maybe you’ll convince someone.”
“I don’t need to tell you what I care about,” I hiss.
“But do you care about her?”
My nostrils flare. I’m about this close to punching out his two front teeth.
But the punishment that would follow when our parents find out isn’t worth it.
“If you do … stay the fuck away.” He taps my chest now. “She doesn’t want you.”
“Fuck you,” I say, and I turn around.
“Don’t be so fucking afraid of the truth, Luca,” Liam shouts as I walk off.
I throw him the finger without even looking at him. “Look in the mirror, dick.”
I walk out the door and slam it shut behind me. I don’t need to listen to Liam. He knows as well as I do that I’m not the only one running from his problems. He thinks he’s perfect, but he’s not. Unfortunately, our parents don’t see him the way I do, and it pisses me off.
Always the prodigy, the one to rule the empire.
Fuck him.
If I can’t have what I want … I’ll take everything else this world has to offer.
