“Where can I get a decent fucking drink?” the woman asked.
Loud enough to catch the attention of one of the workers.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, can I get you something else?” the worker asked in a happy voice. You could tell she was fighting to scream.
“What is this shit?” the woman asked. “This is bottom shelf trash. Find a real fucking drink.”
The woman slammed her glass to the tray.
The worker almost dropped the tray.
“Wow, she’s happy to be alive,” I said.
Noah walked forward. “Mom. Dad.”
I cringed.
Easton looked down at me. “Open mouth, insert foot.”
The woman grabbed Noah’s hands and pulled him close for a hug.
When Noah moved to the man - his father - it was cold.
They just stared.
Then nodded.
“I see you’ve brought friends,” his father said.
“I’m sure our families are here too,” Xavier said. “Wouldn’t be the same without them.”
“And this one?” Noah’s mother asked, pointing to me.
“I’m Winter,” I said.
“Winter,” she said. “What a pretty name. I’m Gina. This is my husband Roland.”
The names were familiar but I never had a face to the name.
“Is your family here?” Gina asked.
“No…”
“Rightfully so,” Roland said in a deep voice. “This is for those who are truly wealthy, not peddling garbage products on late night TV.”
“Fuck, Dad,” Noah said.
“Watch your tongue, son,” Roland snapped.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Noah said.
Roland laughed. “Good luck with all of this.”
He turned and walked away.
Gina remained there for a few seconds, making things even weirder.
“Don’t mind him,” Gina said. “Noah will be just fine. Everything will work out.”
She tried to touch Noah’s back but he walked to one the worker’s and grabbed a drink.
He wasn’t supposed to be drinking, but nobody stopped him.
Gina slowly slipped away.
What an interesting way to kick things off.
Noah and his parents had a bad relationship. And I knew why. Because Noah struggled with learning. He was letting his parents down and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Now that was something to build on.
I smiled.
I wanted a drink to celebrate.
Three minutes into this adventure and I knew just how to take Noah down for good.
When I saw the room, I started to laugh.
“Something wrong?” Easton asked.
“What the hell is this place?” I asked.
“A little out of your league, Winter?” Xavier asked.
It was the biggest room I had ever seen.
Definitely set up like a luxury hotel room. But the problem… this room made a luxury hotel room look like some roach infested motel.
There were two fireplaces in the room.
Two.
One in the living room area, surrounded by books and leather furniture.
The second fireplace was next to the large bed.
There was a private kitchen, two bathrooms, and spare bedroom.
All in one room.
Oh, and there was also a dining room area with a large chandelier overhead.
The floors were plush with rich carpets.
The windows overlooked the back of the property where the massive tents were set up for the events. And as promised, the backdrop from that was indeed the ocean. The property ended at a rich, green-grass cliff and just gave way to rocks and the ocean.
“Should we talk sleeping arrangements?” Easton teased.
I stared out the window and smiled. “Sure. I get the big bed. You three share the other bedroom.” I looked back. “Deal?”
“Deal,” Easton said.
He was grinning.
I didn’t like that grin at all.
Xavier was at the door to the room, accepting our bags.
To my left I saw Noah in the kitchen, drinking.
Right from a bottle.
I wandered my way to the kitchen.
Noah looked at me.
He nodded.
He slid the bottle toward me.
I slid it back, shaking my head.
“I see it’s the same for you as it is for me,” I said.
“What?”
“My parents are a joke too, Noah.”
“I don’t like what he said to you.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’ve heard it my whole life. Nobody takes what my father does seriously. I don’t think it really matters though. He’s rich. Right?”
Noah shook his head. “See, everyone thinks money is the goal. It’s not. Money is a stepping stone. Power is the goal. Money gets you power. Power gets you everything else. So a guy like your father who makes money and then doesn’t do anything with it… they hate that.”
“So, again, why am I here?” I asked. “Am I going to get made fun of?”
“I’ll kill someone, Winter. I swear on my life. If someone fucks with you like what he just did, I’ll kill them.”
The rage in Noah’s eyes was real. And so was the pain. It hurt him that he couldn’t live up to his parents standards. Or their dreams for him.
This was getting very interesting.
“So fuck them,” I said. “Just do your own thing. Forget about them. The angrier they get, the more power you get.”
“If only,” he said. “You have no idea how far this goes.”
He took another big drink.
He slammed the bottle down.
“Fucking asshole,” he said. “Not that she’s any better. Complaining about her drink. Just like always. Nothing is ever good enough.”
Oh, this is getting really good here.
“Noah…”
“Fuck!” he screamed.
He turned and threw the bottle against the wall.
It shattered, spraying alcohol everywhere.
I hurried to get closer to him.
I grabbed his wrist, a plan in my mind.
Convince him to go against his parents and fuck up the rest of his life.
Noah spun around and before I could get a word out, he grabbed me by my hips and picked me up.
He sat me on the edge of the sink and seated himself between my legs.
“Oh, fuck,” I managed to whisper.
Then Noah kissed me.
Chapter 19
only a mask
He was aggressive, but I was in control.
I kissed him back.
Fierce, wanting more.
A switch clicked in my mind, my desires finally unlocked.
I was in the freaking room for only, what, five minutes and this was already happening?
There was more than enough space for all of us to keep our distance but that wasn’t going to be an option. I was mixing business with pleasure. I knew this was the exact thing Gia warned me about - pack your common sense - but the idea of common sense was hard to come by when Noah’s tongue was flirting with mine.
My fingertips touched the buttons on his shirt. Something I’d been wanting to do since he first set eyes on me.
I knew who he was and what he had done, but that part of my brain was taking a water break. And I wanted it to be a long water break.