Forbidden Lust

1

Lourde

Ihad the name of a porn star—Lourde Diamond—seriously, Mom and Dad, thanks a lot.

The only difference between me and said porn star was my bank balance.

We were wealthy. Well, my family was rich—old money. My dad, like his daddy and his daddy before him, were media moguls, owning the greatest media empire in North America. Their wives were hand-picked from noteworthy families and perfectly curated—primed, aristocratic, well-mannered, and relentless in playing their part and owning their duty. At eighteen, that’s where my life was headed. It was abundantly clear by dearest Momma, being the perfect wife was an achievement one must uphold. Since maids helped me learn to walk, they had groomed me for the day when it would be my turn to become a wife. Etiquette, posture, finishing school, every other class, you name it, I’d done it.

Perfect in every part. I was waiting to be introduced to the perfect partner from a prestigious family, of course. Old money, preferably, as Momma would say. Did I tell you it was the twenty-first century? Fuck, you’d be correct for thinking we were in the fifties. You’d also be right in assuming I was getting bored with my life, bored with being prim and proper and what society expected of me.

After I slid the white satin glove down my forearm, then the next, I rested them on the ivory tulle of my balloon skirt. Next, I slid the tray of canapes closer. Popping one into my mouth, I swallowed the buttery salmon with horseradish cream on a thin wafer. Then picked up another, my tummy growling satisfactorily at the intake of food.

With my best friends, Pepper and Grace, I’d just finished my debutante ball. It was by invitation extended to high-society Manhattan, a tradition my mother wanted to uphold, regardless of my months of objections. Who wants to celebrate the coming out of a young girl into a woman?

News flash—I’d become a woman a few months ago when Josh took my V-card.

Now we were back at the sprawling penthouse on Park Avenue where I live with my parents, celebrating with a sprinkle of friends, but mostly Daddy’s esteemed guests. I popped another canape in my mouth and glanced around. This wasn’t a party for me, more like a gathering of Dad and Mom’s favorite people.

With his perfectly groomed salt-and-pepper hair and tuxedo, Dad stood chatting with my boyfriend, Josh, and his parents. Josh, or Joshua, as Dad called him, is my boyfriend of three months. Introduced by our parents, Josh studied law at Cambridge and was following his parents’ footsteps, who owned one of the oldest and prestigious law firms in Manhattan.

To the left, there was Momma, not a hair out of place with some other ladies of class in the Manhattan social circle. Next to her was my brother, Connor. He was conversing with his best friends, Barrett, Ari, and Magnus. With eight years between Connor and me, I wondered why they even had me at all. We looked nothing alike. I took after Dad with porcelain skin, hazel eyes, light brown hair, and high cheekbones, whereas Connor had Mom’s striking blue eyes and blonde hair. The only thing we had in common was our height.

Connor looked over and raised his glass of champagne. I smiled. Then Barrett turned toward me and ever so slightly tipped his mouth into a smile. His stare from across the room pulled my breath into my throat.

I can’t help it.

I still had a stupid crush on Barrett. Green eyes and dark brown almost black hair. He wasn’t a boy. He was a man with broad shoulders, golden-colored muscles, and confidence in spades. A completely off-limits older man with fuck-all interest in his best friend’s baby sister.

Barrett helped broker a deal for a brownstone in Brooklyn for my family. But Connor struck a friendship with Barrett, encouraging Barrett to go out and establish his own construction and development company—just completing his first boutique hotel renovation in Soho.

So what if I made a point to search social media to see who was on his arm this week. I wasn’t a creep. Just curious was all. The man was like a vault. I knew this because my parents regularly invited him over for dinner when Connor came around, yet he was the most mysterious man ever.

“There you are,” Josh said, pulling me away from my stupid one-sided crush. Instantly, guilt washed over me.

“Here I am.” I smiled up at him, then grabbed another canape.

“Have you eaten all these?” He laughed, then pushed the tray away from me and toward the middle of the table.

Quickly, I glanced back at Barrett, but he was engrossed in conversation with the boys.

Ugh.

“I wish we could go now. This party is lame. I don’t even get the whole debutante thing. I’m coming out to society. Where was I before?”

He raised a brow. “Don’t be like that. It’s tradition. Also, an excellent opportunity to meet people and network.”

I don’t need to network.

Josh looked past me and smiled at a man who slowed down near us.

“Senator, how nice to see you here,” Josh said.

“Joshua, what are you doing here?”

“This is my girlfriend, Lourde Diamond.”

God, it sounded worse than Debbie Does Dallas.

“Senator Masele, nice to see you again.” I stood up and greeted him.

“Lourde, hello, dear, and congratulations on making your debut.”