5. CHRIS
5
CHRIS
“ C an I get you anything else, monsieur?” the server asked me in his Monégasque French accent. He wore his crisp navy uniform with a black apron, one hand balancing an empty tray and the other behind his back.
“I’m good for now, thanks,” I said.
He nodded curtly at me before moving along.
I turned my attention back to Bella. From the La Brasserie du Yacht Club, a chic café overlooking the marina, I could see my yacht and the staff scurrying around on it. The café offered a perfect view of the yachts and the activity on the water. I wasn’t sitting here to keep an eye on her in particular.
Really. I wasn’t.
I was just having lunch.
It just happened to be so that the restaurant had a spacious outdoor terrace that let me watch the comings and goings of Monaco’s elite.
The round table under the large white umbrella gave me an unobstructed view of Port Hercules, and as a yacht owner and someone who was gearing up to sell my best creation yet, it was in my best interest to sit out here and get the lay of the land, so to speak.
That was what I kept telling myself. As if I could fool myself, but I was going to keep trying fucking hard, for what it was worth.
I finished the espresso I’d ordered for focus to start and put down the tiny cup. My laptop was open, and next to it, the server had put my Salade Nicoise with fresh tuna, olives, eggs, and crisp greens. The server had brought a glass of Chablis that complemented the warm Mediterranean afternoon.
I glanced at my screen for a moment, but my mind wasn’t on the numbers or the upcoming meetings.
Or tonight’s event.
It was on her . The way she moved, the way her presence lit up every corner of the yacht.
She was far enough away that it didn’t look like I was stalking her—because I wasn’t—but close enough that I could see her work. Sort of.
She was in her element, handling her team with sharp, efficient orders, and since the moment I’d seen her on my yacht, I’d noticed that fire in her eyes. She was in charge and she fucking well knew it. That fire had always drawn me in, made me want to dig deeper, to get to know her.
My dad had always said that if you played with fire, you would get burned. I hadn’t really put two and two together until I’d actually gotten burned.
Now that I saw Bella again, mature, in control of her world, commanding respect in a way that made me weak at the knees, that fire burned brighter than ever. When we got stuck, which was all we seemed to do unless we drank, like a month ago, that anger made her fire burn hotter. A white flame that seared me, branding me. It was her suit of armor.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew Bella.
I knew her best defense was a good offense. The kind of offense that made me want to push her against a wall and do all kinds of dirty things to her.
God, I shouldn’t even be thinking about her. She was the last thing I needed right now—a complication I couldn’t afford. I needed to focus on the yacht show, on making sure The Blackwood Legacy dazzled every potential buyer who stepped on board. But every time I caught a glimpse of her—which would apparently be all the time now since she worked for me—all I could think about was that night a month ago.
The way her skin felt against mine, the taste of her lips, the sound of her breathless as I drove deeper and deeper into her.
I flashed on her eyes, drowning deep, begging for more. We hadn’t made it halfway through her hotel room before we’d tore at each other’s clothes, a desperate need driving us both. She’d looked at me then with such longing, reduced to the woman I knew, all her armor stripped away. Challenging me, daring me to hurt her again.
And then I fucking did. I’d left her before the sun came up, slipping out of her bed because waking up next to her had felt too right, too familiar.
I couldn’t let her in again.
I forced the memories back, shoving them into the corner of my mind where they belonged and forced myself to focus on the work in front of me. I popped an olive into my mouth and chased it with Chablis.
Bella was the past, and that’s where she had to stay. There was too much at stake now. Too much riding on this show, on making a mark that would put me leagues ahead of my rivals, especially Eli Moretti.
Just thinking about him pissed me off but I embraced that anger. Better to channel it in the right direction. I couldn’t afford distractions. Not even ones that made my heart beat faster and my blood run hot.
Bella turned suddenly, our eyes locking across the water, and I realized I’d been staring again.
Fuck.
The heat between us was still there, sizzling beneath the surface, but now it was laced with something sharper—resentment, hurt, the remnants of a story we’d never finish.
I broke eye contact first, turning away under the pretense of a phone call I wasn’t actually receiving. She wouldn’t know any better, anyway. And who the hell was I to be told off by her? I was a Blackwood. I was the boss.
I burned hot under the collar for being caught staring, anyway.
I couldn’t let this get to me. I couldn’t let her get to me. She was a mistake I couldn’t afford to make twice.
The rest of the day was spent trying my best not to go back to the yacht… and being drawn to it all the time. I threw myself into my work and got very little done.
Finally, I got the check and headed toward Buddha-Bar Monte-Carlo where I was set to meet Ben before the event on my yacht later. He’d arrived in town this morning for a few business deals of his own, and I was eager to just let loose and hang out with my brother.
The past couple of months had been wild, with me working on this yacht and Ben suddenly a family man.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the marina as I made my way to the bar.
The bar was an upscale lounger that was a popular evening spot for Monaco’s elite. It had a unique blend of Asian and exotic themes, set in an old concert hall. The ceilings were high, with grand chandeliers and rich wooden interiors. Lush plants, Buddha statues and velvet sofas made a nice place to just kick back and chill in style.
The central bar was backlit with bottles of premium liquor.
When I walked in, Ben stood at the bar, two drinks already in front of him. One for each of us, or he was double-parked. Lounge beats filled the bar.
“Hey, bro,” Ben said, clapping me on the back when I reached him. “Perfect timing. These just pulled into port.”
I snorted. “Timing is everything.”
I picked up one of the Negroni’s Ben ordered.
“We can switch to Japanese whisky later, if we’re feeling the ambiance,” Ben said with a smirk.
“I can’t stay too long, but you’re welcome to join the soiree on board,” I said.
We made our way to a semi-private nook, shielded slightly from the main crowd but we were still emersed in the bar’s lively buzz.
“How have things been?” Ben asked. “I thought you would join me earlier.”
“Sorry,” I said, dropping myself onto the sofa and taking a long drink. “Got caught up in some last-minute bullshit.”
“Yeah? Doesn’t sound like you,” Ben said, leaning back in his seat, too. “You usually have your shit together days before these things. You’ve been here a month.”
I shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. What a complicated month it’s been.
“Yeah, well, it’s been one of those weeks.”
One of those years , I thought. One of those lives.
“Everything under control now?”
“How well do you know me?” I countered.
It wasn’t exactly an answer.
“You always bring your A-Game to these shows,” Ben said, nodding. “And I know this year is going to be a banger. The Legacy looks stunning in the marina, by the way. I saw her earlier. She stands out among the others, making them look like eyesores.”
I grinned. “It’s my best work yet. How are things back home? Sofia and Carina?”
Ben smiled, and it was a soft smile. Ben was usually very serious. Grumpy, even. If he grinned, it was arrogant. But when it was about his wife and his sweet little girl, everything changed.
“All good, man. They’re just…” He let out a contented sigh. “Perfection.”
“I’m happy for you, man,” I said and grinned at my brother.
Ben had always been the brother with the most shit. He’d been grumpy, a pain in the ass, and although he’d always been fucking good at his job, he’d been a difficult person to deal with on a good day. Since Sofia walked into his life—apparently she’d been in our offices for a long time already—everything about Ben had changed. His hard edges had softened, and his outlook on life seemed so much sunnier.
I thought about Bella.
Damn it. Again.
There was a time I thought she would be my forever, my happy ending, the story the likes of what people read about. But that had changed.
Turned out she wasn’t for me, after all.
I just had to get to a point where I got my shit straight. Get my heart on board. Right now, my head was scrambled. I’d made life significantly harder for myself when I’d slept with her again.
Ben studied me. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I lied, taking a sip of my drink. “Just a lot on my mind, you know?”
“Work getting you down?”
I snorted. Work never got me down. Work was my bitch.
“Nah, work’s fine.” I considered Ben’s relationship with Sofia. They’d worked together, and things had become intense between them. So much so that they were now married with a year-old baby girl.
I hesitated, running a hand through my hair, deciding to mention it. I mean, if someone understood, it would be him… right?
“Bella’s working on my yacht.”
He frowned. “What?”
“You heard me,” I muttered.
His eyes widened in surprise. “You mean Bella—”
“Rossi,” I confirmed. “Yeah.” I stared into my glass. “She’s head of staff. Carla put her there, and neither of us knew until today. What are the fucking odds, right?”
Ben let out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s… that’s something.”
“Tell me about it,” I grumbled. “It’s a mess. I don’t need this right now. I have way bigger things to focus on and this is just fucking with my head.” I downed the rest of my drink and made eye contact with a server, holding up my glass to ask for another.
“So, things still tense after all this time?”
“Through the roof,” I groaned. “I wanted to get rid of her, but she’s not backing down. You know what a pain in the ass she can be.”
Ben chuckled. “The way I remember her, she was good for you. The only person who could match your bullshit.”
I shot him a glare but he wasn’t wrong.
“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” Ben mused. “You know each other, right? So that makes for a better working relationship.”
“Or worse,” I countered.
Ben tilted his head, conceding.
“And there’s nothing there anymore?” he asked carefully.
I glared at him again. “Of course not.” And that snappy response, so sudden and so angry, suggested the exact opposite.
Hell, everything I felt for her turned out to still be there.
“You two were good together,” Ben said softly. “I remember what it was like.”
“Well, that yacht has sailed.”
Ben snorted. “I see what you did there.”
“It’s not like that anymore.”
“Maybe it could be—”
“It’s a fucking mistake. We don’t belong together. Besides, Layla is flying in to be my date at the dinner.”
Ben whistled through his teeth. “That should be fun… Bella and Layla under one roof?”
“What about it? Bella is staff. Layla is a guest.”
Ben shrugged. “I’m just saying—”
“Don’t.”
Ben didn’t flinch, just kept his gaze steady. “You know,” he said, his voice low. “I know what it feels like.”
“What?”
“To always look over your shoulder. To always keep running.”
I shook my head. “We’re not the same.”
Ben shrugged. “Maybe not. But just because we had a shitty start to our lives doesn’t mean we don’t deserve happy endings, too.”
“You don’t get it,” I snapped, the anger bubbling up before I could stop it because damn it, Ben was right and it pissed me off. “This isn’t some rom-com where everything magically works out. She’s pissed, and I don’t blame her. I’m not about to drag her through my shit again.”
Ben held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright. I was just saying. If anyone in our family was the lost cause, it was me. And I got my Sofia.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t always work out.”
I took a deep breath, trying to rein in my frustration. Ben meant well, but he didn’t understand. He’d found his own happiness with Sofia, and he’d faced a lot of demons to get to where he was now. It was nice of him to try encouraging me, but that wasn’t my story. My story was messy, and it involved letting Bella go. Twice.
“I’m not pursuing her,” I said firmly. “End of discussion.”
Ben sighed, but he let it go, switching gears like the good brother he was. “Fine.” He finally finished his drink, and when the server returned with my refill, he brought one for Ben, too. “But speaking of assholes you don’t want to deal with, guess who I ran into today?”
“Who?”
“Eli Moretti.”
I clenched my jaw, my mood going from dark to darker. Eli Moretti, the slick bastard who’d been a thorn in our side for years.
He was always ready to undercut, to charm his way into a deal with a smile that made empty promises. We’d crossed paths too many times, and every time, it felt like a game of chess where Eli didn’t mind flipping the board if it meant winning.
“So, he decided to crawl out of the shadows again,” I said. “I didn’t think he’d be back so soon after his burn.” He’d been caught out in a shady deal a while ago that had threatened legal action, and it had taken him a lot of work and even more bribery to get back in the clear.
Ben shrugged. “Making a big comeback, I guess. He’s got a new yacht to showcase. Looks like he’s gunning for the same clients as we are, so that’s going to be fun.”
“Of course he is,” I muttered. “He’s a snake, always looking for the next mark, and if he can rile us up, even better.”
Eliano Moretti has had it in for us specifically from day one because he can’t ever deny that we’re the best in the business.
Ben nodded, his expression suggesting he had a bad taste in his mouth, too. “Yeah, and he’s still the same slick son of a bitch. Tried to charm the pants off a couple of investors I was talking to earlier. Two of them were women, so you know what he’s going to do in the next day or two.”
I snorted in disgust.
Sleeping around was one thing. Sleeping with someone to gain advantage in business was another, and Eli wasn’t scared to go as low as he needed to get as high up as he wanted to be.
I took a long sip of my drink, the bitterness lingering on my tongue. If we were willing to play dirty, we could have achieved a lot in our lives a lot sooner, but that wasn’t how we did business. It wasn’t what we liked people to associate with the Blackwood name. Our father had been serious about always keeping it on the straight and narrow, no matter how hard we had to work.
“Good guys always finish last when people like Eli are around.”
Ben glanced at me, his eyes serious. “No, Chris. Good guys just need to put up a better fight.”
It was a loaded statement, and I knew he wasn’t just talking about Eli. He was talking about Bella, about everything I’d walked away from because I hadn’t been ready to fight through all the shit that I’d been dragging along all these years.
Fucked if I was going to admit that, though.
The bar was filling up now, the chatter growing louder as more people from the show started trickling in. I glanced around, half-expecting to see Eli’s smirking face among the crowd, picking his next mark for the show tomorrow. Lucky for him, he was nowhere to be seen. I was just about ready to take out my frustrations on his face with my knuckles and a fight wouldn’t look good before the show even started.
“Remember the time he tried to steal that contract from under us?” Ben said, shaking his head. “The guy’s got no scruples. He’ll lie, cheat, and charm his way to the top without thinking twice. I don’t know how he sleeps at night.”
“With one eye open, after all the enemies he’s made,” I suggested.
Ben chuckled. “They’ve started to see through him.”
“A lot of people still buy his bullshit. It’s like they don’t see what he really is,” I pointed out.
“People see what they want to see,” Ben said. It took me a while to figure that out. “Eli’s good at giving them a show but in the long run, it’s honesty and consistency that wins the race and we do it time and again.”
I leaned back, my mind still half on Bella, half on Eli. “Yeah, you’re right. The truth always comes out. He’s all flash, no substance. But it works and by the time they realize they’ve been duped, the show is over.”
Ben frowned, swirling the whisky in his glass. “We can’t let him get the upper hand this time around. He’s on the back foot after his scandal, so we can capitalize on that.”
“But he’ll be more serious about getting ahead, too. This show is a big one for us, with Alex’s new green movement and the Legacy we can really take it to the next level, but we have to play our cards right.”
We had a lot riding on this. I couldn’t afford to let Eli win any more than I could afford to let Bella distract me. I had to stay focused and play my cards right. If my head wasn’t in the game it didn’t matter how good I usually was.
“We’ll handle him,” I said, my voice firm. “But I’m not going to stoop to his level.”
“Of course not. We just have to be smarter.”
Usually, I was on top of my game—an unstoppable force ready to take Port Hercules by storm and I delivered without fail. But this time, the lines between my past and my present had blurred and I felt off-balance.
Ben finished his drink and glanced at me. “You’ve got this, Chris. Whether it’s the yacht show or… anything else. Just don’t lie down and take the punches.”
I nodded. “I won’t,” I said. “I’m a Blackwood, after all.”
“Right.”
Despite myself, I glanced toward the marina, where Bella was somewhere on my yacht, and Eli was lurking in the shadows, waiting for his chance.
The fight was on.