“Good on you, bud.” Ari slapped me between the shoulder blades. “You work hard enough.”
“Thanks.”
“What can I get you, boys?” The waitress appeared with her brown hair and popping hazel eyes. Lourde’s face instantly came to the forefront of my mind. I shook my head, removing the thought. She was still Connor’s much younger sister and completely off-limits. Too bad she’d grown into a buxom beauty, and her choice of men were all fuckwits. Just last week, she bent over in front of me at the weekly dinner her family always invited me to. I was only human as I imagined plowing into her perfect apple of an ass.
“I could eat the entire left side of the menu,” Connor said. His voice clawed me back to reality.
Okay, so maybe there were a few times where I was banging the latest model and wishing it was the back of Lourde Diamond. We all had fantasies. And I saw the way she looked at me too. She wanted to fuck me. It wasn’t just one-sided, dammit. It would be a hell of a lot easier if it were. Her debutante ball was where I saw her at her most vulnerable. She looked at me with eyes I could barely say no to. But I did. I had to.
I’m sure she hated me more than…
“Barrett?” I turned to Magnus, who was waiting for me for fuck knows what.
“What’s that?”
The waitress was looking at me with her iPad in hand.
“We’ve all ordered. What do you want?” Magnus questioned.
“Nothing. I’ve got to jet. I’m going to the Hamptons tonight.”
“What now?” He flicked his wrist, staring down at his shiny gold Rolex. “It’s nearly ten o’clock at night?”
“I’m taking the chopper.”
“Oh,” the waitress cooed, dragging her eyes up and down, then settled her gaze upon me.
Another time, gorgeous.
“We’re hungry, sweetheart. Don’t you have to put our order in?” Magnus asked, giving her a wave.
The waitress scowled before turning on her heel toward the open kitchen.
“You know Lourde is in the Hamptons with her boyfriend. I think she’s there for the summer.”
“Is she?” I said evenly.
Connor regarded me. “Uh-huh.”
“Need me to check up on her?” I half-joked.
“Yeah, maybe. The guy she’s with, Hunter, I’m still deciding on, although Mom loves him.”
“Hunter, the third,” I said.
Ever since I’ve known Connor, he’d always been hard on his little sister. Actually, his entire family has held the strings that control her every move her entire life—playing puppet master, controlling whom she dates, not allowing her to work in the family business. At one time, I thought Lourde would stand up to them, but now I think she’s so used to the Diamond way, she’s lost her way.
“So, you remember him? He was at the dinner a few months ago.”
I nodded. “I always remember a name.” How could I not? The guy was young, good-looking, and had his paws all over Lourde. But there was something about him that got under my skin. “I got you, Connor. I’ll keep an eye out,” I said.
We hadn’t officially had the talk, but Connor made it abundantly clear she was totally off-limits to any of his friends. We were all assholes anyway, and Lourde was a princess, better than all of us. But a simple fuck would get her out of my mind for good. I was sure of it.
Dream on.
“You know she’s meant to marry this guy?” Connor asked.
“What?” I nearly choked on my beer.
“You all right?”
“Fine.”
“Sure about that?” Magnus smiled at me. What was his deal tonight?
“Mom and Dad set her up with Hunter the third. It turned out perfectly, seeing they actually liked each other, and with Hunter's dad next in line to be the Governor of New York, it's perfect for both families.”
“Right.” My collar itched around my neck, so I pulled on it, loosening it. “And she knows this?”
“She understands. It’s not like we hide anything. There are certain responsibilities that come with carrying the Diamond name.”
“God, it’s so much easier to come from nothing and work your way up.”
“Is it?” Connor looked at me with an expression I hadn’t seen before. My body coiled like it did that night. Her body in my arms, lifeless and lying in a pool of blood. I kept my past to myself. All they knew was I had a sister, and my parents died in a car accident. The last part was a lie.
“Do you remember those summers in the Hamptons, the four of us? The women, the parties?” Magnus asked, pulling me from my nightmare.
“You make out like we’re sixty the way you’re talking instead of just curling past thirty,” Ari said, sitting back down.
“Yeah, we were there last year, all except the married man.” We all glared at Magnus.