Chapter 3
Three
L ani’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Dumbass?”
She didn’t know what her brother and Jakob had discussed while she had been on the phone with Conner. In the past, Jakob had always backed up her brother no matter what. It wasn’t like her brother did a lot of bad things to people or to her. It was just that she always got the idea that they were a team.
“Yeah,” he said. “Taking off in the middle of the day. Scheduling his wedding with only a couple weeks before the invitational. That’s not like him at all.”
She sighed. “Almost since he started dating Royal.” She stopped at a red light. “I’m assuming you’re staying at the family home?”
He nodded. “And don’t try to change the subject. I want to know why you are organizing their wedding.”
Dammit. He was being a bear about that. She didn’t want to discuss why she was being such a pushover. It embarrassed her. But there was one thing people didn’t understand. They may have a big family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, but they had always been together. Before their parents’ death, they had been close, but the tragedy had pushed them closer until now.
“Excuse me?”
Lani didn’t look at him, but she felt his gaze roaming over her face. “Don’t use that tone with me. I know you do that to avoid answering questions.” Double dammit. “Royal was throwing orders at you like you were her assistant. Don’t women get excited about getting married? Like the wedding part.”
“That’s misogynistic.”
“Sorry. Women like Royal only care what people think of her. That is what I meant. And don’t try to start a fight with me about that. You know I know the type.”
“Yeah, I bet you do.”
The moment she said it, she regretted letting it slip out.
“Now, what the hell does that mean?”
Well, she wasn’t going to be able to push past this, so she might as well push forward. “Come on, Jake. You date those types all the time.”
“Dating is sometimes a setup, you know that. I didn’t know you paid that much attention to my dating life.”
Someone behind them beeped, and she realized the light had turned green. Instead of questioning Jakob about his dating life, she started forward.
“I’ve been helping with the wedding.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t like her tone with you.”
Yeah, neither did Lani, but her brother was in love. “She’s stressed.”
What she really wanted to say was that Royal was a major pain in her ass, but she only had a few more days left of this. Then, she would get back to her regular work. She had a trip planned to Australia next month, and she was looking forward to it.
“What are you thinking about?”
She glanced over at Jakob to find him studying her. It always unnerved her when he would look at her so intently. “What?”
“You smiled, so I know it has nothing to do with your brother’s wedding.”
“I’ve got a work trip planned next month to Australia. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been there. I’m taking a week off for some downtime.”
“I do love Australia.”
“Why does an Englishman want to spend so much time in the sun?”
She sensed his shrug even as she kept her eyes on the road. “I never liked the cold, foggy feel of England. We get sun. But it’s different.”
“Yes. I was there one April. It was fun for the first few days, then it got really boring.”
He chuckled. The sound rumbled in his chest and sent little spikes of heat dancing through her blood. Why did the man have to be so damned sexy and somewhat charming?
“See. I love the sun here in Hawai’i. Australia is nice, but I can’t get used to the upside-down seasons or the toilet bowl water. Also, there are a lot of things that can kill you there. We had someone bitten by a funnel-web spider on the set of Wonderland .”
She nodded and said nothing. What she really wanted to say was that it had been his best work. The indie movie was released a couple years earlier. He’d been nominated for the role, and she had been so proud of him, but she said nothing. He had ensured she knew he didn’t need her approval ten years ago.
“I take it that you’ll be at dinner tonight.”
Lani shrugged. “I guess so.”
She felt his sharp study once more. He was always observant—more so than other men she knew—but this felt different. “What does that mean?”
“It was the first I’d heard of it, so I am assuming. I’ll text Royal.”
“What a stupid name.”
She snorted before she could stop herself.
“You agree, don’t pretend you don’t,” he said. “Was that her name at birth?”
“Apparently.”
“And she’s not originally from here?”
“Don’t you follow her social media?”
“God, no. I avoid social media. All my stuff is put up by my handlers. I stepped back when all that rubbish was being bandied about Jules last year. I wanted to fight everyone.”
That had been insane. She didn’t know Jules that well, but her personal sex life had been splashed all over the place. The paps wouldn’t leave her alone, thanks to her ex talking out of school about her. At least, that’s one thing she didn’t have to worry about.
“I don’t blame you. I only met Jules once before that, and I wanted to kick her ex in the balls.”
A surprised laugh exploded from him. “Same. Nicola convinced me to take a step back. I only put up quick pics or videos from sets to promote the movie.”
“That’s smart.”
“Tell me more about Royal.”
“Not much to tell. She’s a couple years younger than me. Moved to Honolulu to become a pineapple influencer.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Sorry. That’s my term for all the haole who come here to promote living here without knowing the place. They make it look like you can live like you’re on vacation. Don’t get me wrong. There are some good influencers out there, even haoles, who talk about the issues on the island. But the girlies who decorate their houses to look like spas and pretend everyone can afford to live in Hawai’i are irritating.”
He said nothing, and she realized that she had been ranting. “Sorry. I hate when people misrepresent Hawai’i.”
They arrived at the entrance to his family’s estate. It was much smaller than Ben’s home, which had been the family home for as long as she could remember. Well, not anymore.
She pushed that thought aside.
“Code?” she asked.
He rattled off some numbers. After pressing them, the gate opened, and she drove in. She pulled into the circular drive and put the SUV in park.
“I agree.”
“What?” Lani asked, turning toward him.
“I agree. I hate when people misrepresent anything, but I can guess it’s worse here than a lot of other places.”
“Why do you say that?”
He took a second, looking at her, his gaze roaming over her face. “Hawai’i isn’t just a state. It’s a culture, a people. Someone who disrespects the culture to make money isn’t any better than the white landowners who stole the land.”
It always surprised her when he said things like that. He was a man who came from a wealthy family. He was even distantly related to the royal family. But he and his family always showed respect in their dealings at their resorts. They tried their best to shine a light on the culture, and they tended to hire local people to manage their places. If they had been crappy to their workers, she would have heard about it. She did know that they paid some of the best wages in the industry.
“Exactly,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I guess I should let you go to your meeting.”
Guilt filled her as she looked down. “I don’t have a meeting. I was just trying to get away.”
His mouth twitched. “No blame from me. I don’t think I will have much in common with Royal.”
“Well, at least you don’t live here. And you’ve been so busy that you haven’t been here that much.”
He looked out the windshield as if gathering his thoughts, then turned back to her. “There were reasons. I can’t really talk about them right now.”
She nodded.
“I’ll see you tonight. Please don’t leave me with them. Ben is freaking me out.”
“I promise.” Then she saw his expression. “You really don’t want to be left alone with them?”
“No. And I don’t want to be a third wheel.”
“Gotcha. Okay, I’ll see you tonight.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but he apparently decided at the last moment not to say it. She really wanted to know what had happened when she had been outside, but she would not ask. He slipped from the vehicle, and with one last look at her, he shut the door. She saw the woman who worked for the family come out to greet him, and he smiled at the older woman. Although she had lied about her meeting, she did have some contracts to work on, so she drove off. When she stopped by the gate and punched in the code, she looked up in her rearview mirror. Jakob was standing there watching her. Butterflies filled her belly, and she was thankful the gate was fast. She didn’t need to be reacting to her nemesis/crush like this.
Pushing that thought behind her, she headed off to her apartment. She had a home office there, so she could work and think about Conner Dillon’s offer.
“They may have to roll me down the aisle at Ben’s wedding on Saturday.”
Marta laughed. “No. You can eat so much food, just like your brother.”
That was true. They had been blessed with an insane metabolism. His phone rang, signaling a call from his brother.
“Speak of the devil,” he said with a smile. Marta stepped away to give him some privacy. He could have told her she could stay because the Wulfs never cared about sharing their lives with those who worked for them, but he let her go.
“How’s Hawai’i?”
“Hello to you too, Jensen.”
He heard a chuckle in the background and knew his sister-in-law was there. Jensen must have him on speaker.
“Hello, Jake,” Nicola said.
It struck him then that not many people called him Jake, and all of them who did were close to him. Well, except Lani.
Nope, Jakob, don’t be thinking about that woman.
“Why did you fall for my brother? He doesn’t deserve you.”
“I tell her that daily, but it is what it is,” Jensen said. “Did you meet the fiancée?
“Yeah. Going to dinner with them tonight.” He had gotten a text from Ben changing the time, claiming he had been wrong about the time of the reservation. Jakob told him he would text Lani the time to make sure that her brother knew she was coming. All he got was a thanks.
“What is she like?” Nicola asked, but something in her tone caught his attention.
“Why? Do you know her?”
“No, it’s just…I know you’re particular about social media. You don’t always broadcast your location unless it is on set or an awards show.”
“And?”
“You haven’t seen anything yet?”
“Nicola, just tell him,” Jensen said.
“Yes, Nic, tell me.”
He had a terrible feeling about what she was about to say.
“Royal took pictures of you sitting with Ben and posted them.”
“Oh. I thought it was worse.”
“Well…the caption is what bothered me.”
“What did it say?” He didn’t even know her SM handle.
“Hold on, let me bring it up. Here it is. Ladies, have you ever seen two more beautiful men? Lucky me, we’re going on a dinner date tonight. I’ll tell y’all about that later. ”
“That’s weird phrasing, but don’t worry.”
“She’s making it sound like you’re in a polyamorous relationship.”
It was irritating, but nothing he wasn’t used to. Jakob was accustomed to people using him. Maybe he shouldn’t be, especially from his best friend’s soon-to-be wife. From an early age, he had learned that some people in the world would always see his family as a way to make money or get ahead.
“Don’t worry. I’ll let Amanda know about it, and she’ll handle any worries.” His assistant was excellent. She’d been in the business for over thirty years. “She hasn’t contacted me, so it must be okay.”
“I don’t like it.”
Nicola was territorial when it came to the Wulf Family. He was glad for it, but he also didn’t want to cause her any worry. “I’ll text Amanda and tell her to contact you if there are any issues.”
“Okay.”
And he knew then that Nic would text Amanda about it without being prompted.
“Nicola doesn’t like her.”
“I get that.”
“No. She’s been looking over Royal’s social media as soon as she found that.”
“I felt like I needed a shower,” Nic said. “She acts like everyone can afford her lifestyle in Hawai’i, and she is disrespectful to the culture.”
“Lani said the same thing.”
There was a slight pause, and he wondered about it.
“How is Lani?”
“Fine.”
“What was that?” Nic asked.
“Your voice was weird, bro,” Jensen said, sounding like a douche. Then he chuckled. His brother had a weird sense of humor.
“Nothing, just, there seems to be something off between her and Ben.”
“Oh. That’s weird. I always thought they were rather close,” Nic said.
“Yeah. And Ben was at home in the middle of the day.”
“Well, he is getting married this weekend.”
That would make sense if his sister wasn’t doing most of the heavy lifting. He saw a glimpse of that when he was there, but Marta had filled him in on that situation. Oahu was like a small town in a lot of respects. Marta was on the Auntie network and was sure he knew more about what was happening with the Kingston family than the reporters in Hawai’i.
“Well, I’m going to jump in the pool for a bit.”
“Okay. Check in with us, and Jules said something about jumping over early next week.”
That brought a smile to his face. He adored their little sister and hadn’t seen her in a few months. “I’ll text her.”
After hanging up, he headed up to his room. He always liked to be in the pool the first day he arrived in Hawaii. It seemed to help with his jet lag.
Nicola stared into space as she sunk into the fragrant bath. She had been there for ten minutes, pretending to read.
“What are you thinking about, love,” Jensen asked her.
Nicola started because she hadn’t realized that he was in the bathroom. “Nothing.”
“Nope. I know you better than that.” He settled down on the edge of their massive garden tub in their bathroom. “What’s bothering you about Jakob?”
She loved having a man who understood her well, but sometimes it was annoying. Knowing he would bug her until she answered, she set down the book she wasn’t really reading.
“There’s something about Lani. Always has been with Jakob.”
He laughed. “Of course there is. He’s in love with her.”
Nicola frowned at him. “What?”
“The first time I met her—after I got clean, and we went to his premiere of Getaway Car —he gave me a hard look and said that she was off limits.”
“Oh, that. It was because of her age.”
He shook his head. “He kept reminding me any time our paths crossed. And she was nineteen when I met her.”
“Still too young.”
“Agreed. Still, I understand what he’s going through.”
“Oh, you do?”
“He’s in love with a woman he thinks is too good for him.”
Her heart melted. How did he still keep doing that after the past few years? “I’m not too good for you.”
“Oh?”
She shook her head and bit her lip.
“How about I show you how bad I can be?” he asked, lifting her out of the water and into his arms.