“Henry was having fun and it was his last night before going back to school. I couldn’t bring myself to break his black little heart.” Beck pushes a margarita into my hand. “Drink this. It’ll make you feel better.”
“Thank you.” I down a mouthful. Ah, tequila.
“I did advise you to throw in some of those hands.”
I groan. “But I really thought I had a chance of winning.”
“That’s what Henry wanted you to think.” Matías nods somberly. “He won a ball signed by Pelé off me and he doesn’t even like soccer. The kid is pure evil. Can’t be trusted.”
Beck shrugs. “He’s an Elliot. We’re trained from infancy to take no prisoners. What can you do?”
“True.”
“Don’t worry, beloved,” says Beck. “I’ll have some money put into your account tomorrow. I don’t mind that you can’t play poker to save yourself and thought you stood a chance of beating my demon brother with a pair of twos.”
At this, Matías snorts into his expensive liquor.
“No, I will not accept your money. Though thank you for the thought,” I say, with a benevolent smile. “Even though it is partly your fault I lost the money because you should never have let me agree to play cards with him in the first place.”
“You’re right.”
“No, she’s not,” says Ethan. “That makes absolutely no sense.”
Beck shushes him.
“This is just how relationships work.” Matías sighs. “You have to be man enough to lie, say you’re wrong, and let them kick you in the balls whenever the situation calls for it. Which is anytime there’s even the merest hint of a disagreement or they’re having a bad day.”
“I’d just like to point out that I have yet to assault anyone’s nuts,” I protest.
Matías holds up a finger. “Being a heterosexual female, the emphasis here needs to be on the word yet. You have yet to assault anyone’s nuts.”
“Get your patriarchal nonsense out of my face.”
Beck just snorts.
“You’re all insane.” Ethan gestures to the waiter and orders a bottle of Japanese single malt for the table.
We’re getting excellent service and no small amount of attention from other customers. Lots of admiring glances from women and men alike. Everyone seems to know the Elliots. One woman in particular has now walked her tight ass past the table three times in an attempt to catch Beck’s eye. I can tell it’s my boyfriend she’s after, care of the way she keeps doing this sultry stare in his direction followed by a lick of the lips. Not that he seems to have noticed. If she does it again, I’m going to show how déclassé I can be by putting my foot out to trip her.
Just joking. Mostly.
“Stick to your socialite fuck buddies, Ethan,” suggests Matías. “Less demanding.”
Ethan scoffs, but says nothing.
“How do you even have my account details?” I ask my boyfriend.
“We know everything about you,” says Ethan. “That’s the whole point of having you investigated and getting the report.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I frown, picking up my drink. “Let me know when you have more work creating content, Matías. We’ll start casual with an hourly rate and see how things go from there, if that suits you?”
“Sounds good.” Matías pulls a gold money clip out of his pocket and hands me a hundred-dollar bill. “I’m assuming this is the hourly rate.”
“And I am not going to say no. Pleasure doing business with you.” I place the money on the table. At least now I’m partially employed. “It must be my turn to buy a round or is everyone drinking whiskey?”
Ethan and Matías exchange puzzled glances before turning to Beck. Strange.
“That’s usually how it works when I go out with friends,” I explain. “You guys don’t take turns buying rounds?”
Penny slides into the booth beside Ethan and immediately picks up on the peculiar mood because the woman isn’t an idiot. On a quick personal note, I’m delighted to see her because possible friend/female ally in my new life in Denver. Making friends as an adult is hard. But as well as gifting me the opportunity to spend huge amounts of money, the charity speech Catherine forced on me had given me the opportunity to impress Penny. She managed to retain a sense of professional calm amid the rapturous standing ovation that I received. As soon as we were alone in the hallway, however, she started laughing so hard she had to lean on me just to stay upright.
“What’s with the weird looks?” she asks, taking off a yellow blazer.
“Good question.” I turn to Beck with a questioning look. “My etiquette is apparently off. Why is me offering to buy a round so I’m not constantly mooching off you worthy of such a reaction?”
“Oh,” says Penny. “I can answer that. Beck owns the bar.”
“You own the bar?” I ask. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Beck takes a deep breath. “Because sometimes, such as just now when I offered to put some cash into your account, it seems like you don’t really like the money.”
“But this is an achievement of yours and something to be proud of,” I explain. “Totally separate to you trying to give me a cash handout.”
“Trouble in paradise, already?” asks Ethan. Like an asshole.
Neither of us pay any attention to him.
“The bars each have a manager and then there’s a director that oversees things,” says Beck, ignoring my praise. “It’s not really like I have that much to do with the day-to-day operations.”
“But you own a string of bars? That’s great.”
“Thank you.” Beck leans in, kissing me lightly on the lips. “Mm, salty.”
Matías shakes his head. “Dude, why are you not just honest with her?”
“What? You think he should give her a full write-up of his investments and net worth?” asks Ethan, his gaze surly.
“Of course not. But she needs to fully understand what she’s getting into.”
“She’s living in a luxury apartment and walking around wearing Prada. What exactly is he hiding from her?”
“It’s Dolce & Gabbana, actually,” I say of my little black dress. It’s stretch satin and gives me great cleavage. You might say I’m dressed for seduction. You wouldn’t be wrong. “Not every designer makes things in my size.”
Penny pours herself a couple of fingers of the scotch before sitting back and crossing her legs. If anything, she seems amused. “How much did you know when Emma dragged you home for the first time, Matías?”
“About the mindset of people who are born to wealth and inherit even more of it? Not a fucking thing. It was eye-opening, I’ll tell you that.”
Ethan’s jaw does the rigid thing. “Are you saying we don’t work?”
“No, I know you’re not the types to just sit on your trust fund with your thumbs up your asses. Jack didn’t raise you that way. Ambition and competition might as well be the family motto,” says Matías. “But you do start out ahead of everyone else and you fail to fully appreciate what you’re given. You all take it for granted.”