Chapter 25
She was a distraction.
My head should have been in the game.
I should have been focused, ready to take down the opposing team, but instead, I was watching her out of the corner of my eye.
Stella was sitting with my daughter-in-law, as well as my daughter and her husband.
Stella should have been safe.
And she would have been, despite the way the liquor flowed in the VIP tent, if she’d had enough sense to sit in the fucking middle.
Instead, she was sitting on the edge, leaving the married women in the center.
Every man at this club knew who Amelia was married to, and there was no way that a fucking security guard was going to let anyone near Charlotte.
Stella, however, didn’t have that kind of protection from the vultures that liked to pick up women at polo matches for a quick nooner.
The fucking spineless bastards who liked to sit in the white tent, drinking the whisky I so graciously gave to the club at a heavy discount, and socialize like they didn’t have a care in the world.
They weren’t real men.
They were children who liked to pretend that they were refined enough to enjoy the art of polo, the mastery of the horses, and the thrill of the game, but without the balls or talent to actually play.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve heard them laughing, joking about the number of women, usually someone’s wife, they had lured into the forested area for a quickie.
Or how they’d sweet-talked so-and-so’s daughter into blowing them in the stables.
I never thought too much of it, mostly because they knew who I was so they knew who my daughters were and that they were not to be fucked with.
But my status as trustee over Stella’s estate was not common knowledge.
Her father was not a member here.
They would see her in that pretty blue dress and immediately assume she was fair game. Or worse, they would recognize her as a recently orphaned billionaire heiress and pounce on the opportunity.
The game began, so I poured my frustration into battle.
I rode harder than I needed to, stole the ball every chance I got, and definitely hit it with far more force than was needed to get it between the goalposts.
I also came very close to fouling several of the opposing team, even one of my own because they wouldn’t get the fuck out of my way.
They should have known better.
It almost made me feel better, except every time I looked up, there was Stella, drinking a mint julep, laughing with Charlotte, Amelia, and some little fucker in a pink blazer and white pants who’d decided to take the seat next to her.
What kind of self-respecting man dressed like a pink lollipop?
The kind of man who wanted to be seen as non-threatening to innocent little girls like Stella.
Not that she was innocent anymore.
“Who did what?” Luc asked as he rode up next to me.
I just hit the ball between the goalposts again, and the crowd cheered as the rest of the team celebrated.
I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted another, so I moved to be ready to reset.
“Stop for a second and talk to me. What crawled up your ass?”
“Excuse me?”
“You only play this aggressively if someone has fucked you over or tried to take what’s yours. We all know the only thing you give a fuck about is the business. So if there’s an issue at work, I need to know who did what.”
“Nothing that concerns you.” I hated how well he saw things.
He could prove to be a problem if he found out about my plan with Stella and got on his fucking high horse.
Luc moved in front of me, blocking my path. “Tell me.”
Fuck. Why did I raise this boy to be strong and demanding?
“Somebody is trying to take something that is mine. But it has nothing to do with the business. It’s personal, therefore none of your concern.”
“You don’t do personal.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Well, I have four children, so obviously, I do. Just because I do not keep you apprised of my personal life, does not mean I don’t have one.”
With that, I led my horse around his and moved to the starting position as the umpires were getting ready to throw the ball in the air again. I had no intention of letting these English fuckers score a single goal.
Just as the umpire threw the ball in the air, movement caught my attention in the VIP tent.
Stella had gotten to her feet, watching the match, but she was now a few feet away from my daughters.
And that little lollipop fucker was standing next to her, and he looked like he was about to whisper something in her ear or, God forbid, touch what was mine.
No one touched what was mine.
The umpire threw the ball, and I immediately went for it.
I ran it down the field as quickly as possible, lifting my arm back to hit it and angling it just right so I missed the goalpost completely but hit my true target.
The man talking to Stella crumpled to the ground as he was hit square in the balls. The man doubled over in the most satisfying way.
By the time I got to the side, he was coughing, gripping the grass, and several people were surrounding him.
“Sorry, it got away from me,” I said, not even pretending to care.
He coughed out something I didn’t give a shit about.
I turned to confront Stella, but she wasn’t in the group crowding the man on the ground.
She didn’t look like she cared about him at all.
Instead, those beautiful golden eyes were focused on me, her pupils blown wide and her lips slightly parted.
There was a hunger there I only saw when she was turned on past the point of no return.
I doubted she’d even known the other man had been there.
My girl only had eyes for me.
“Stella, are you okay?” I asked, looking down at her.
She nodded and traced her top lip with her tongue, making my cock stir.
I knew exactly how good those lips felt, and even though I had been in between them only a few hours ago, I wanted her again, and she clearly needed me.
“Behave, and you’ll get a treat after the match,” I growled out.
Someone handed me the ball, and I remembered we weren’t alone.
There was only so much I could say to her right now, so I gave her another heated look and then took the ball back to the field to play, handing it to the empire to reset.
I tried to focus on the game, but my mind was still on her.
This time, when I glanced over, I saw her staring at me.
The asshole from earlier was nowhere near her, probably taking the hint that maybe his attention was best spent elsewhere or maybe going off to the emergency room for a testicle retrieval.
I really didn’t care. What I did care about was that no other man dared go near her, and even if they did, I was pretty sure she wasn’t even going to notice.
“Get your fucking head in the game,” Luc came over and growled at me.
“The second you score as many goals as I have, then you can talk shit. Till then, sit your ass on your horse and do your goddamn job,” I said before getting back to work.
The second chukka was finally over, and it was time for my team to take a quick break, get some water, and regroup while the spectators went out on the field for the divot stomp.
At the last minute, I turned around and went back towards the VIP section.
Luc could handle the pep talk. I may have been captain, but that didn’t mean I did the whole warm-hearted speech or pep talk.
There were more important things to handle.
Stella looked so pretty in her blue sundress. Charlotte was on one side in a similar pink dress and Amelia a little further away in a green one.
Thankfully, Stella was just far enough away from them that I could talk to her without anyone overhearing. I hoped she had done that on purpose.
She kicked in a rather large divot and stomped it flat when I reached her.
“Are you having fun?” I asked, pulling up right beside her.
“I really am,” she said, looking up at me, her eyes still wide. “I had no idea polo could be so…” Her voice trailed off, her cheeks reddened a little, and so did her chest.
“So…what?” I prompted.
“Forceful?” she asked, thinking about it. “I didn’t know how violent it could be and how…” Her cheeks were a bright red as she grasped for the right words.
“Finish your sentence, baby girl.”
“Hot,” she said, her gaze on the ground in front of me.
I threw my head back with a laugh as I reached down for her.
Amelia, Luc, and Charlotte were all staring at me, but it didn’t matter.
They were too far away to hear me, so they could think whatever the fuck they wanted.
“I know what you mean, and I’ll tell you what.” I reached down and ran my hand through her soft hair.
She pressed her cheek into my palm, looking up at me so sweetly.
Something about watching me had changed something in her.
I liked it.
“You keep watching me, thinking all of those filthy thoughts that I know are going through your mind right now, and when this is over, I’ll show you how hot this can really make me.”
I sat back on my saddle and watched her face turn bright red for a moment before I turned and trotted away.
I had so many plans for her as soon as this game was over, but there were two more chukkas to go, and I was going to send the Englishmen back across the pond with their tails firmly tucked between their legs.
The game flew by. I was suddenly in the zone.
I could still feel Stella’s eyes on me, taking me in, probably objectifying me, but it somehow fueled me.
I wanted to win more than ever.
Not just for the sake of winning, though usually that was enough, but because I wanted to show off for her.
I wanted to show her exactly what I was capable of and that I had no problem going to war with men half my age and making them look like pathetic children playing a man’s game.
I might have been older, but I was still in my prime, and she needed to know it.
By the time the game was over, my team had scored fifteen goals.
Ten of those were from me personally, and the other five were from Luc.
The English had scored none.
In most places, that would be unusual for a polo match, but between Luc and me, we owned this field. Nobody was scoring on my grass.
Now it was time for me to take my prize.
Usually, I’d be with my team, cleaning up in the locker rooms. Or if I had a bad game or didn’t feel like talking to anyone, I’d go to my own private stable, clean up in my own suite, and be back in time for the award ceremony.
Today, I had a better idea.
I waved Luc off, signaling to him that I was going to go to my own stable.
Instead, I rode towards Stella and reached out my arm, offering it to her.
She looked up at me, her brows twisted in a question as she placed her delicate hand in mine.
In one swift pull, I hoisted her onto the saddle, her ass sitting solidly in front of me with both her legs on one side.
She gave the cutest little scream as she held on, her arms wrapping around my waist as she pressed her face into my neck.
Fuck the award ceremony.
I was taking my prize now.
“Hold on tight, baby girl. It’s going to be a rough ride.”