Chapter 2
I was late.
And I hated being late.
My conversation with Gabe had taken longer than I thought it would and I was supposed to meet Luis an hour ago.
Priorities.
Normally, though, on my trips up to see my brother I saved the miles on this particular car and cruised in either the Lamborghini Urus or the Porsche Cayenne.
And even sometimes, I’d go a little crazy and take my Maserati.
Like I said, I like cars…
But for this particular trip, I was in a hurry and I knew the 911 would get there.
I climbed out of my car, sliding my hand down button up and grabbing my sunglasses. Clicking the lock, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
*Hey Lu. Just parked. Where are you?
Finding the sidewalk, I started toward the city center where I knew all the vendors would be set up.
*I’m right by the Starbucks downtown. Sitting on a bench wallowing in self-pity without my big brother.
*Wow. Way to lay it on extra thick.
*I do my best. You owe me coffee for being late.
*Deal
I found him easily, neither sitting on a bench nor wallowing. The opposite in fact. He was surrounded by people, laughing and engaging. Luis had always been the one with the most people skills. I chalked it up to growing up with three older brothers. You learn how to stand out really quickly.
All four of us looked the same, like Mom and Dad thrown Lukas on a copy machine and made three more.
We carried the crystal blue eyes with our dark hair like a trademark and we were all blessed with height.
It had been a joke around the neighborhood we grew up in that our parents were trying to make their own basketball team. All they needed was one more.
But despite the fact that you could barely tell us all apart in a lineup. Our personalities were so far from close, it made up for it.
And Luis was the social butterfly.
I came up next to him with a nod for a greeting.
“About time you made it big brother.” Luis threw his arm around my shoulder. “Hey guys, this is my brother Liam. Liam, meet the guys.”
Asshole. He knew exactly what he was doing.
I hated crowds. I hated being noticed—despite my flashy and over the top cars—but in my defense, they blend well enough in Los Angeles.
But ultimately, when I went out I tried like hell to blend in. And this mother fucker practically announced my name to the square.
And sure enough…
“Oh my God. Liam… Knight? Luis Knight… means you’re Liam Knight?” The girl next to me practically squeaked.
I shot daggers at Luis with my gaze, but I doubted he could see them through my polarized sunglasses.
“Bro. That’s so cool. You’re like…famous. And rich.” This kid had on a black beanie with a skateboard in his left hand.
Luis gave my shoulder a shake. “Yep. That’s him.”
“Can I like… have your autograph? I love your designs. When I was in high school, anybody who was anybody wore your stuff.” A girl took a tentative step toward me, her dress squeezing her tight.
I pulled a tight smile. “Thanks, but I’m just here to support Luis. I don’t want to cause any commotion.” I leaned down to his ear and whispered, “You’re dead.”
Luis only response was to laugh as he let his arm drop. He nodded toward the Starbucks behind me. “I’ll take a hazelnut shaken espresso.”
I clicked my tongue as I turned away
It wasn’t possible for me to get out of there any faster that I did. Usually in LA, there were famous people walking around everywhere and I didn’t stand out at all.
There was a time and a place when I wanted to be front and center, and they all revolved around my business and I controlled the entire environment.
I opened the door and stepped into the coffee shop with my head down, trying to disguise my height and blend in.
The line was almost to the door, so I shoved my hands into my pockets and waited.
It wasn’t long until the door opened again behind me and a voice captured my attention.
“Come on, Mona. I’m sorry o—” Her voice was cut off as she ran into me.
Could this day go any worse?
She gasped. “Oh no. I am so sorry. I wasn’t expecting the line to be so long.”
I turned my head slightly, looking down over my shoulder. “Maybe try focusing on what you are doing next time, hm? Instead of talking on the phone and disturbing everyone else around you.”
The line moved forward and I closed the gap, not giving this girl another thought. At least that was the plan until I heard her voice once again. “Um. Excuse me?”
Stepping forward again, I said, “You’re excused for your rude behavior.” There were only two people in front of me now and I couldn’t wait to end this entire encounter, congratulate Luis on having his art featured again this year, and retreat back to my solitude.
People-ing was exhausting.
“Wow. What it must be like to sit so high up on your pedestal you can past judgement on us mortals down below.”
“Truly, people like you make it easy.”
She scoffed, loudly as another person placed their order and left only one ahead of me.
As I lifted my right foot to move it forward, I felt my shoe slip off my heel. What the fuck? I stomped my heel back down, forcing it back into the shoe before whirling around. “Are you—” but the rest of my words caught in my throat.
“Oops. My bad.” She shrugged her shoulders, a fake pout sitting atop a pair of plump red lips.
My eyes instantly found hers, and if I was anyone else, she might have noticed the surprise I felt when I realized one of her eyes was hazel and the other was blue.
But she didn’t and instead, she crossed her arms over her chest while she raised an eyebrow, challenging with the smirk that kissed her lips.
Putting on my mask of indifference, I made a show of running my eyes over her. Auburn hair so dark it almost looked brown until she tilted her head and the sun light picked up the red hues beneath. Her attitude made up for her average height, making her presence seem bigger than it was.
Plainly speaking, she was beautiful.
Curvy in all the right places with a playful spark in her eyes that called out to me. And I almost smiled.
Almost.
It had been years since I felt drawn toward anyone, pulled into their magnetic field.
But this girl… she had something. And I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Sir? Can I take your order?” The barista called from behind me.
I turned on my heel, breaking away from her piercing gaze, a true smile forming.
I didn’t even care if she’d scuffed my Berluti dress shoes.
It had all been worth it.