Seven Roses (Haremworld)

closed my eyes again. It was definitely time for sleep.

Chapter 12: Brando

I sat on the back patio the morning of my date with Lyn, a cigar firmly pressed between my teeth and my cell phone in my hand. I had watched her dates with the others and I wasn’t impressed. They were cheesy little boys and while I was perfectly fine with the arrangement Charles had offered us, I was going to prove that there was only one alpha male on Seven Roses. I didn’t bother telling the producers what I was doing. It was my secret. Dawson got away with his hot air balloon stunt, so I intended to put my own spin on romance. I pressed my lips down on the cigar and took a large cloud of smoke into my mouth, letting it resonate there for a moment before I exhaled it.

I didn’t normally smoke them, but one of the people I had to take down a few weeks prior had a stash of Cubans and I wasn’t the type of guy to let them go to waste. I stared at my phone and scrolled through the confirmations I needed to make sure the date was everything I intended to be. When I got the last message verifying things were going as planned, I shut my phone down and shoved it in my pocket.

“Oh, hello. I didn’t realize anyone was out here.” Anders opened the door and took a step onto the patio.

“It’s fine, kid. You want a cigar?” I reached into my pocket and pulled one out.

“Um, no thank you.” He shook his head and turned towards the door.

“Wait a second.” I stopped his step with my booming voice that practically caused the glass to shake. “What is your story anyway, kid?”

“I’m not a kid.” He had an annoyed look on his face when he turned around.

“You sure about that?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don’t seem like you want to be here and you are the only one that might stand between the rest of us and the arrangement Charles has offered.”

“Why is that so strange? Don’t you think this whole thing is a load of crap? You’re just going to get your hopes up and then she’ll say no—I know how it goes.” He shook his head back and forth.

“So you think the rest of us are going to get our hopes up, but you aren’t?” I took a drag off of my cigar and stared at him.

“This isn’t even what I signed up for.” Anders opened the door and walked into the house.

I could have snapped the little boy like a twig. I had no idea how he managed a perfect match with Lyn. I didn’t believe in a computer figuring out love, anyway.

I liked Lyn. She was a bit of a fool, but she was cute. She fell for Markus’ charm and gave him her panties when I thought she had enough sense to wait for me to take her like a real man would. I would have destroyed her virgin pussy and left her ruined for other men—and that was exactly what I intended to do after our date. I was going to take her to the depth of depravity and show her a world she didn’t even know existed.

There was a reason I didn’t do romance and it wasn’t because I was always away—I didn’t do it because they couldn’t get enough once they had a taste of me. Lyn would be just like the other ones, but I willing to make her the last if she could handle me. There was a part of me that needed that. The others could keep her busy while I was away and there would be no drama when I came home to claim my prize.

“Are you going to get dressed?” Charles opened the door and looked outside. “You asked to start the date early, so she’s getting ready.”

“I’m already dressed.” I stood and let the cigar rest in my teeth, puffing it with a laugh.

“Okay then.” He raised his eyebrows and closed the door.

Charles didn’t understand, but he would once the cameras finally got a glimpse of what I had planned. I didn’t need a suit or some gimmick to sell who I was. I looked out at the pool and kept puffing on my cigar. Once it was burned to the point that it was nearly against my fingers I tossed it into the pool and walked towards the door, sending the last remnant of the Cuban plantation swirling around me. I stepped into the house and saw Lyn walking down the stairs. I didn’t give her a hint about the date, so she was wearing a dress similar to the one she wore when she went out with Dawson. It didn’t matter. Anything would do at that point.

I motioned for her to follow and walked towards the door. She seemed a little shocked that I didn’t offer her my arm, but I was more concerned with getting it underway than giving her the chivalry. I walked towards the car and heard her heels behind me, trying to keep up. The driver opened the door and I pushed him out of the way. I slammed the back door and opened the passenger door.

“Now you’re opening doors for me?” She tilted her head. “Why am I riding in the passenger seat?”

“Because I’m driving.” I turned to the driver and snatched the keys out of his hand.

“Sir, wait!” The driver started to protest, but I shot him a glare that caused him to swallow hard and step back.

“Are you fuckers coming?” I turned to the camera crew and started walking towards the driver side of the car.

“We’ll follow you. We have a camera in the car.” They started towards their van.

“If you follow me you won’t keep up.” I turned back to the car and opened the door. “Your choice.”

I put the pedal to the floor the second I had the keys turned over in the ignition and then we were screaming down the driveway. Lyn held onto the door and looked over at me in a panic before scrambling for her seatbelt. It wasn’t going to be romance—it was going to be a fucking thrill ride. The tires squealed when I turned into the road and I saw driver of the van barely starting to get his vehicle moving. He wasn’t going to catch up. I punched numbers into the GPS on my phone as I drove and met each turn without my brakes. Lyn’s eyes got wide as we continued to drive. I could practically hear her heart beating from the other side of the car.

She had no idea what was in store for her, but once she found out, she was either going to accept me for the man I was or understand that there was no place for her in my world. She needed to understand what kind of man she had the chance to have and what I did every day of my life. There would be times when I simply couldn’t come home to her. It was the only way anything would work—whether it was a relationship she wanted or the arrangement laid out by Charles.

“Where are we going?” The car finally settled to a calm sixty-five in a forty-five zone and I dodged the slower vehicles in front of us.