TWENTY-ONE
SO THEY DID get to the corporate suite, but only because she snuck out while he was on a call.
Being with him, being his, it was a dream, so normal and natural while at the same time the most exhilarating period of her life. Sinking into him, losing herself in them, might be tempting, but losing her job to lie in bed with her super-hot guy might be more than a little stupid.
She didn’t see a whole lot of Alessia, but Roman was keeping his distance, or so she’d been told. Four days and nights went by. No, there wasn’t a whole helluva lot of work done, but she made progress, which was something. Or so she told herself.
That night they were having dinner on the beach. Not alone. A cookout on the largest beach beckoned all. Equidistant between the corporate suite and the resort hotel, they hadn’t visited there before though Zane said it was one of the most popular spots.
Zane parked up and led her to a table set up on the isolated deck at the top of the beach, separate from the masses and the bonfire on the sand.
“I’m going to say hello to Alessia,” she said, resting a hand on his arm to boost up and kiss his cheek.
Stairs at the side of the curved deck led onto the sand. A security guard stood there, and there was one at the gap they’d entered by at the back. Zane probably had to be careful about who got too close. If people were harassing him all night, he’d never get peace to eat.
With musicians in the sand and the scent of the grill merging with the sea salt, it was impossible not to feel festive.
Alessia was in a group of half a dozen, all crowded around her. Her sister wasn’t shy, and it was just like her to find a team no matter the location. She touched her sister’s arm to get her attention.
“Thea!” Drink in hand, she threw both arms around her to hug her tight. “I’m so happy you’re here! Everyone, this is my sister, Thea!”
Okay, how many drinks had she imbibed? People knew her, she was the same her she’d been at the first dinner. Though, checking out the group, there may be a few more people close to her sister than there had been before.
“Are you drunk?” she asked, guiding her away from the others. “Should I be worried about you?”
Or people taking advantage.
Alessia’s broad grin inspired enthusiasm all of its own. “No! This is the best time I’ve ever had in my whole life.”
And if anyone could get high on life, it would be her sister. They got about twenty feet from the other partygoers, it was chillier further from the bonfire.
“How have you been? Are you still okay in the suite?”
Her sister leaned in closer. “Everyone’s curious about you, you know.”
“Curious about me? What do I have to do with anything?”
Alessia nodded beyond her. She turned to follow her line of sight to Zane, now talking to Tripp Breckenridge, at least he wasn’t alone.
“You mean they’re curious about Zane,” she said, looking back to her sister. “There’s nothing to be curious about. He’s a man. An incredible, amazing man, but just a regular guy.”
Alessia scoffed. “Zane Dyce is not a regular man. You know there’s Dyce tech in every purse and pocket the whole world over. Anything worth having in the last twenty years was invented by him.”
Which was weird, now that she thought about it. She saw him on laptops and with paperwork, she’d never seen him fiddle with any new device or anything.
“We don’t talk about that.”
“What do you talk about?”
She sighed. “Alessia.”
Her sister laughed. “Okay, okay! Is Roman coming?”
“I have no idea.”
Hopefully not, but that wouldn’t be her sister’s preference.
“Did you hear we’re going to party in Honolulu?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Of course you did,” Alessia said and squealed. “We’re going to party with Roman Lowe! Well, not you but—”
“I am, actually, coming.”
Alarm lit Alessia. “You’re breaking up with Zane?”
Sometimes her sister took the obvious too far. “We don’t have to be on the same landmass to be together. I’m part of the contest group, right? Of course I’ll be there.”
Hand on her arm, Alessia inched in, lowering her voice. “Have you seen him? Roman?”
“Since when?”
“He came out to see us yesterday, but he was really quiet. Everyone’s worried this Sway thing has set back his recovery. We can’t believe she would do this to him.”
Oh, it was so difficult to keep her sanity sometimes. These women, these young women, idolized a man who didn’t deserve their adoration. It wasn’t their fault. Maybe it was a little na?ve, but their interest came from a place of love… unfortunately.
She’d never met Sway, the woman could be an angel or a demon. More likely, Sway existed somewhere in between, as most people did. Whichever it was, she couldn’t help but prickle. Why were Roman’s negative choices being placed on another person? And a woman at that? Wasn’t he responsible for his own actions? Wasn’t everyone?
“Do you need anything?” Changing the subject was better than shattering her sister’s illusions. They’d only disagree on the subject anyway. “You want to eat with us?”
Alessia’s smile got saucy as she twirled a length of hair. “I want to eat that guy.”
Another look back to Zane and Tripp.
“Tripp Breckenridge?” she said. “No, you don’t.”
“Is he an asshole? That’s okay sometimes.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, little sister, I love you so.” She pulled her close to kiss her temple. “You can eat with us if you want, but just you, I don’t want crowds harassing Zane all night.”
“Is Tripp single?”
“No!” she said, taking her sister’s hips to guide her around until her back was to the deck. “He lives in New York.”
“What does where he lives have to do with anything?” Alessia asked, trying to look back over her shoulder as they walked toward the bonfire again. “Tell him I think he’s cute.”
“Every woman thinks Tripp’s cute. He accepts that as the default.” That was certainly the impression she got from dinner the other night. “You’ll start a riot if you get involved with him.”
“Everyone thinks Zane is cute and no one hates you… not that they’ve told me anyway.”
“They won’t tell you they hate your sister.”
“Hmm, good point.” Alessia cheered when they stopped a few feet from her friends. “I’ll come say hi later, when he’s had a few drinks.”
“Okay. I’ll keep topping off his glass,” she teased.
Her sister was beautiful, and she had a kind soul, any guy would be lucky to have her. Tripp might be a good guy, but she didn’t want him and her sister hooking up, then forgetting each other existed.
In their final hug, Alessia tensed and squealed. “Oh my God, is that…?”
The hubbub grew in its excitement. Alessia vanished into her group. With so many important stories to share, it was nice her sister found kindred spirits.
Walking toward the deck before she got an eye on who riled the crowd: Zairn.
If these were the kind of people who loved celebrity. They’d have to know him. Chatting away with Tripp and Zane, he raised a hand in hello and that was all the encouragement the women needed. The swarm rushed toward the deck. The wave of them collided with her back just a breath before the guard edged aside to allow her through and no one else. The stairs were immediately blocked by more than one guard. A dozen guys were dotted around the fenced deck. Now she got why they were above and protected by a perimeter.
“Everything okay?” she asked when Zane put an arm around her.
“We were waiting for you.”
He held out a seat for her and as she sat, so did the men.
“No Struan tonight?” she asked Tripp, then immediately wondered how that worked.
Not only was Struan’s livelihood attached to his brother, he also had to be careful how he lived his own life. No one recognized him, instead, he’d be his brother in everyone’s eyes whenever he went anywhere.
“Logan’s plane lands in five minutes,” Tripp said, doing the honors of ladling out punch for everyone from the bowl in the center of the table. “Figured I’d give the brothers their space.”
“Logan… Logan Lowe? I didn’t know he was coming.”
“Someone has to field the ire.”
Roman’s ire. Idiot got way too much airtime in everyone’s lives. Anyone in his periphery suddenly found their whole existence revolved around him.
“You have a lot of brothers,” she said, accepting a glass. “You must know how it works.”
“Yeah, sometimes it’s better when there are no witnesses.”
Everyone had their drinks, but it wasn’t exactly the most relaxed of moments with a score of people clamoring for their attention. Not theirs, Zairn’s and he was doing a great job of ig—
All of a sudden, he stood up. She had no idea why until, ah, Roxie came rushing past the guards at the deck and clacked across the deck in heels.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Roxie said, bowing to press her chest against Zairn, one of her knees bending to raise her foot high behind her. “I’m here now, did you miss me?”
“Always, Lola.”
Together, they went to the rail to satisfy the crowd.
“Will they be okay?” she asked, unsure she’d want to be the focus of such fervor.
“They do this all the time,” Zane said.
“There’s a constant crowd outside Crimson Palace in New York,” Tripp said. “Even when the Empress isn’t in residence.”
She smiled. “The Empress?”
“Zairn was always popular,” Tripp said, examining the view of celebs and fans. “But since Roxie it’s been…”
“Think she turned things around for a lot of people.”
“You remember how much scrutiny he used to get?” Tripp asked, exhaling and slouching in his seat to address Zane. “The stress of it? Especially after Dayah.”
“He handles it differently now,” Zane said to Tripp and as a kind of explanation to her. “Now even when the press is hounding him for screwing around or their breakup thing… he’s lighter.”
“He knows it was bullshit,” Tripp said. “Anyone who knows him knows it’s bullshit.”
God, she hoped that was true. “Why would the press think he’s screwing around?” How heartbreaking, it was difficult to imagine it of the man she’d met the other night. “Why did they break up?”
“They didn’t.” Zane and Tripp shared a smile. “Roxie is great at the theater, and Zairn’s a fucking rock. They are the most… I’ve never known a couple so together, so solid.”
“And this coming from the guy whose parents have been together thirty-something years.”
Another exhale and a laugh from Tripp. “My folks have never known life without each other, adult life anyway. Zairn and Roxie…” All eyes drifted to the couple. “They know how to appreciate what they have, how to nurture it.”
“Roxie’s got an energy about her,” Zane said. “And she has good instincts with the media.”
“Also helps that she’s got them eating out the palm of her hand.”
“Thea…” The female voice attracted her attention and there was Roxie, dipping to kiss her cheek and steal the seat beside her. “Who’s eating out of your hand? Zane?”
“Not me.”
“You,” Tripp said. “We’re talking about your innate talent for bullshit.”
Rather than be offended, Roxie smiled, watching her guy pour her drink. “It’s a honed ability. And a necessary one.” Zairn put her drink down and Roxie immediately took his hand. “Isn’t it, Skippy?”
“Uh oh,” Tripp said. “What did you do?” Why would he think…? “She only calls him Skippy when he’s pissed her off.”
Her confusion must’ve read on her face for him to explain like that.
“That’s not true,” Roxie said, pressing Zairn’s curled fingers to her chest. “Sometimes I call him Skippy when he’s just plain wrong.”
“She’s sticking her meddling nose in.”
“I always stick my meddling nose in, Casanova,” Roxie said. “And that’s not why you’re pissed.” Zairn took his hand back and Roxie leaned closer to the table. “He’s in a bad mood because Logan’s coming and there are pictures on the internet of said rockstar’s hands on my ass.”
Oh, there were? Why would there even be pictures of something like that?
“Did you used to date?”
“No,” Roxie said. “We partied together in London once.”
“You’ve partied with him more than once.”
“London’s the only one that counts. And let’s not forget, you were in Vegas marrying Kesley at that same time.”
Zairn groaned. “I did not marry her.”
“Which worked out for me in the end.”
“Lola’s changing the subject. It’s nothing to do with Logan, I don’t give a damn about him. Even if I did, I know her girl’s rules, so what is there to worry about?”
Rules? What rules?
“You get along with Porter.” The next look Zairn landed on his woman wasn’t appreciative. “What?” Roxie asked. “You traipse around all over the world with your ex and I don’t get jealous. You’re financially and emotionally supporting at least one other ex too. You’ve slept with every woman on the planet and I don’t get jealous of them.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding at the others. “He’s not jealous.”
Zairn seemed close to the edge of his patience. “You know why I’m pissed.”
“Yes, I do,” Roxie declared, sitting up straight. “And I am trying to divert you from that by making it frivolous.”
“Roxanna—”
“Mmm,” Roxie said, sliding a hand up Zairn’s arm. “Are we getting formal Mr. Lomond? You want to take me home and punish me?”
“Why is he really pissed?” Tripp asked.
“Don’t stir her up,” Zane said, sliding a hand over hers, distracting her from the other couple. “Are you hungry?”
Dinner, right, yeah, that’s why they were there. “I might be—yeah, I am.”