Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Barking out a hard laugh, Derek nods at Marco. "Right, he's the epitome of chivalrous. Anyway, I've got to clean up. I was going to shower after my run but now I'll need to call a maid to handle laundry, too." He shoots me one more smirk before shoving past Marco and into the elevator.
"Wait, you're staying here?" Marco asks.
"Yeah. It's a miracle you kept avoiding me. I thought it was on purpose, but maybe you were seriously distracted this whole time." With a pointed look at me, he vanishes behind the mechanical doors.
Marco rushes to me instantly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Bending down, I retrieve the bag of pastries. Without looking I can tell they're crushed and broken from how hard I threw them. "I wish the secret breakfast and coffees I wanted to surprise you with were also fine."
He takes a big breath, rubbing his neck. He's still on edge. "That doesn't matter. We can get new breakfast."
"It does matter," I huff. "I wanted to do something sweet for you." I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. "Whatever. Why didn't you warn me?"
"About?"
"How much of an asshole your older brother is."
That gets a small chuckle out of him. "I never planned for you to meet him."
A tiny knife cuts into my heart. Oh. Of course. Why would I meet his family? We're just having fun, it's nothing serious. Derek's cruel words enter my brain. What'about my brother do you love more? His piles of money or his dick? And what does Marco love most, what shallow thing about me? Hook ups are shallow, after all, and this is just that.
Marco scoops my hands up, squeezing my fingers. "Hey. What's going on in your head right now? You're frowning so hard."
Your brother," I whisper. "He's horrible."
"He loves pushing my buttons."
"Were you really avoiding him? Were you supposed to meet up with him this whole time?" I thought his meeting was happening later. That was how he'd made it seem.
"I wasn't avoiding him intentionally. There was no reason to see him until the others arrived, and the last emails from the other three said––"
"Hold up. You have four other brothers?" Damn, what a big family.
"Yes." He wrinkles his brow curiously. "Are you..."
"Only child," I say quickly. "The idea of sharing a house with so many siblings is wild to me."
"Well, it was a big house."
I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. "Okay. So here's the plan. Tell me when exactly you'll be doing this shareholder thing. Then I'll let you take me for crepes part two."
He squeezes me close and sighs into my hair. He smells fresh, he must have showered before coming down to look for me. I hope he wasn't worried about where I'd gone. "Tomorrow night. It'll be on the Vandere Princess, our main luxury yacht." Pausing a beat, he hugs me tighter. "Come with me."
I'm slow to unpack that. "You mean...come on your yacht? Oh, no, I don't belong in the middle of a business meeting with your family!"
"It won't be just family. It will be a packed cruise. My brothers love a party, even if we're supposed to be gathering for business. You'll blend in, Filia. Plus, I'll have much more fun with you there."
We toss our trash, then head out to the sidewalk. Light crowds surround us as we walk. "Do you want to talk about this big meeting of yours?" I ask.
"It would be really boring for you, I think."
"Hardly. I like learning about new things, and a big fancy shareholder meeting is as far away from my world as I can picture."
He places his hand on the small of my back, leading me through a tightly packed group taking photos of a line of women in feathered wings and colorful masks. Carnival attire is sprouting everywhere as Fat Tuesday approaches. "In theory, it should just be me and the other parties discussing profit, losses, and future expectations. However, since the other parties are all my brothers, things have a tendency to run...less smoothly."
I nod. "Family and business rarely mix."
He lifts his eyebrows. "Wise words."
"Thanks. Got it from the side of a granola box."
He throws his head back and laughs so loud that the people near us turn to stare, ushering their kids away. I laugh, too, because his reaction is contagious. "Filia, you're something else."
"I hope that's a good thing."
"Yes. Very." His eyes warm over me. Then he cringes, turning to look back where we came from. "Derek made a joke when we planned this trip. He said The bad news is there's no way we're all getting what we want. The good news is that it's not illegal to commit murder on international waters."
I look sidelong at Marco. "Wow. He super sucks, huh?"
"Derek manages to be hated by all of us, while also being Mom's favorite."