Mine (Club Sin 7)

Taylor paused, and I could see her fence behind her; she was sitting outside on her patio. The sun shone down on her hair, highlighting the lighter blond. “Well, he kinda is God-like, and besides, he can’t be all bad.”

I snorted. “What makes you think that?”

“I read in a magazine a while back that he’s involved in a lot of charities.”

“Which ones?” I smiled. “The giant douchebag charity?”

Taylor laughed with me. “Sounds like an interesting charity. But, no, from what I read once, he founded one for breast cancer.” She paused, clearly crossing her legs as the iPad screen jumped around. “Oh yeah, and one that helps kids who have lost their parents go to summer camps and Disney World—things like that.”

I absorbed that particular news. Either Micah was a better guy than I gave him credit for, or he took part in those charities to look better in the public eye. The latter sounded more like the man I met today. “Okay, so he funds a couple charities. I’m still not won over.”

“Of course you’re not.” She gave me a knowing look, only coming from my best friend who’d been through it all with me. “No one can win you over.”

“What?” I gasped in fake horror, knowing perfectly well that most wealthy men who wowed women didn’t wow me. Having a lot of money wasn’t an excuse to be a jackass. All—not a few, but all—of the guys I’d met through my brother and through growing up surrounded by high society were selfish pricks trying to get richer than the guy next to him. That’s why I didn’t live the life of privilege that I once had. I didn’t wear designer clothes, attend fancy charity events, or spend money on things I didn’t need. That world was cold, fake, and lonely, and I left it behind the day I started working for Henry. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Taylor hesitated, a sudden sadness reaching her eyes, as she got up and moved, clearly sitting in a shaded part of her patio. “Regardless that you are a difficult woman to please, I miss you.”

My heart clenched. Taylor had been my best friend through thick and thin. We’d known each other since we were nine years old, and I wanted her here. “I miss you, too. How are things in Southern Cali?”

“Oh, well…” Her lids lowered, voice became small. “I think Shawn is cheating on me.”

I gawked at her. “Do you realize how calmly you said that?”

“Yeah, I do.” Taylor gave a small nod, looking so much more broken down than I ever remembered her being. “To be honest, I’m sure he knows that I know, and he doesn’t seem to care.”

“Are you serious? What a fucking asshole!” I squeezed the sides of my iPad, not understanding why Taylor stayed with Shawn. Or, really, why she dated any of the jackasses she did.

Despair and loneliness lay across my best friend’s expression. My heart hurt for her, as I’d grown used to seeing that sadness over the past five years—desolation that hadn’t been there when she lived in San Francisco with me.

Back then, Taylor had been happy, especially when, after high school, she secretly dated my brother. Although I knew about the relationship and had given them my blessing, my brother wanted things to stay on the down-low. He’d begun to build his empire, and Taylor had been only nineteen at the time, while he had been twenty-nine.

The relationship had been short, intense, and in the end it ruined them both. The last happy day they’d had together was the last day I?

??d seen either of them happy. “Why don’t you move home? If he’s being such a fuck-face, why stay there?” She’d moved to be with another guy, who’d ended up going to jail for fraud. “Since nothing is really keeping you there anymore.”

“Well, this is my home now.” Taylor’s lip quivered, and I saw her fighting back tears, as her iPad screen shook. “I do love Shawn. It’s not that easy to just pick up and leave.”

My heart sank into my stomach. God, I wasn’t sure when love got so confusing for Taylor. But how Shawn treated her wasn’t love. It was something else entirely. Something I wished I could protect her from.

I could’ve lectured her now. Deep down, I wanted to. But I knew she didn’t need that from me. “My heart is with you, even from here.” I blew her a big kiss through the iPad. “Just don’t forget yourself, babe, and what makes you happy. You know I have this condo all to myself, and there is a room waiting for you.”

“I do know that.” Taylor’s heavy sigh sounded like static through the speaker. “But right now I’m trying to figure out what even makes me happy anymore.”

I stayed silent, not having much to say. I had no idea how to help her out of the mess she’d landed herself in. Taylor had a heart of gold, but somehow everyone except for me missed that about her.

“You know,” I told her, hoping to lighten the mood. “I was thinking today about the first time we got totally smashed. Remember how I barfed on your dad’s shoes?”

Taylor barked a laugh. “Oh my God, yes! He was so pissed off.”

Her smile made me smile, and the conversation shifted to all the fun we’d had together. She’d been through it all with me. We had seen each other at our highs and at our lows. But Taylor’s low seemed to have lasted for a whole five years now. I might not have answers for her, but I’d remind her of the woman she used to be as often as I could, hoping that maybe one day, she’d be that woman again.

Chapter 3

Allie

The next morning, I parked my black Volkswagen Golf in Holt’s parking lot, located east of Kearny Street. I made my way toward the modern skyscraper on Montgomery Street, in the heart of the Financial District. The scent of bacon-wrapped hot dogs being grilled by a street vendor farther down the street spiraled through the air. I never understood why anyone would want a hot dog so early in the morning.

Surrounded on three sides by water, San Francisco had a mild climate that didn’t change much throughout the year. Fog was a given on most days during the summer. The city’s eclectic architecture, cable cars, and landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge all made for great selling points in the real estate market.