Under his breath, Vin murmured, “There never was a game.”
His head dropped and he shook it slowly.
She hated him.
He knew why.
But again … he wasn’t the only one to blame.
From behind him, Vin heard Holly approach. His head snapped up—and he snapped out of his sudden funk, not interested in anyone discovering he’d never gotten over his first and only love.
Holly said in her whisky voice, “What a spectacle the two of you make. Enough fireworks and drama to excite innocent bystanders.”
“There’s nothing innocent about you,” he reminded her.
“So true,” she drawled, a southern belle from Savannah. “I am just dying to know who that was.”
“Jewel Catalano.”
“Ah. The wine heiress Rogen has reportedly pined over.” She sighed wistfully. “Forever and a day.”
Vin’s body turned even more rigid. There was nothing convenient about best friends falling in love with the same woman. Even if their desire for Jewel had never impacted their friendship—because it had never fully been laid on the table—Rogen had to have known that Vin’s interest in Jewel had gone well beyond childhood pals. There’d always been an underlying current of sexual and emotional tension amongst the trio. Something none of them had ever discussed. It was just easier that way. Safer. Saner.
“She’s definitely peeved,” Holly continued. “What’d you do to get on her shit list?”
Breathe?
He fought a growl. Then confessed, “I stood her up on prom night.”
Holly let out a hearty laugh. “Good Lord, Vin. Why would you do such a thing? That’s sacrilege in the mind of a teenage girl.”
“So I’ve learned.”
Holly was quiet a moment, then said, “I don’t get it. Why’s she still so upset? That was ten years ago, right?”
“The woman knows how to hold a grudge. Runs in her family.”
“Apparently with the Angelinis as well.” Holly whistled softly. “‘Hell hath no fury’ and all that. But holy Christ … Isn’t she quite the tigress?”
“You have no idea.”
And now Vin was tormented with the rush of memories of naked bodies entwined and hips bucking. Jewel moaning and begging for more as he explored every conceivable way in which to pleasure her. Took her hard and fast, with no boundaries established. Owning her in the only way he could—the one way Rogen had not. Because even though Rogen had been her first, he’d never fucked her like Vin had.
And desperately wanted to again.
No. It was worse than that. Because between his last time with Jewel and seeing her this evening he’d learned enough about how he and Rogen could satisfy her together.
The ultimate fantasy.
Which, despite it being completely inconceivable, was now rooted deep in his mind. Lodged in his soul.
Goddamn it.
* * *
Rogen caught sight of Jewel as she wove through the crowd, briefly greeting the guests she knew yet decidedly on a mission. Though she wore a brave face, he could see sheer agony in her eyes.
What the hell had happened between her and his father? And why had she been so adamant about seeing Gian tonight—after all this time?