9
TYLER
I KNEW STELLA HAD COME from money. I knew she’d grown up in the nicest neighborhood in the vicinity, went to the best academies money could pay for, and spent her school holidays jet-setting all over the world. I’d even seen the latest net worth reports for the company my father and her parents co-owned. But seeing numbers on paper was one thing; it was something else entirely to witness that wealth with my own eyes.
Stella’s parents lived just outside the city, in the same zip code as high- ranking politicians, famous musicians, and billionaires. The roads were wide and well-maintained, lined with large, century-old oaks. Women in overpriced leggings walked tiny dogs on the manicured sidewalks.
Gardeners pruned hedges and tended flower beds. The houses sat proud and imposing on expansive lots with luxury vehicles in their driveways.
Stella’s parents lived at the very end of the neighborhood, on a five-acre lot that was heavily wooded. My research revealed that the woods were actually a planned forest, something called an arboretum. It was a kind of garden for rare trees that had been shipped in from all over the world by the original owner back in the 1800s, and now the property was home to some of the largest specimens in the country.
My car passed through the front gates, tires rolling over the brick-lined driveway. The trees closed in on either side of me, trunks as wide as my S- Class, the canopy so high above it created an artificial twilight. Around a slight curve, the forest opened, and dead ahead sat a manor house that looked like it had been plucked out of the English countryside and dropped into a clearing, gardens and all. The stone façade was sand-colored, accented by white window casements. No fewer than six chimney stacks rose from the slate roof, and my head spun at the thought of how much it must cost to heat this bastard in the winter.
More than a dozen cars were lined up out front, ranging from a limited- edition Maserati with a quarter-million-dollar price tag to an older model Range Rover, which looked like it had recently gone off-roading. Not for the first time, I was glad I’d spent some of my hard-earned money on my vehicle, because the fancy European emblem on the hood would help me blend in with these assholes.
I parked at the end of the row and cut the engine. Adrenaline flooded through my veins. This was it, all the years I’d spent planning were about to pay off. Inside this house lay the key to my revenge. The McCormicks’ inner circle was my father’s inner circle, and the closer I tied myself to them all, the more ammunition I could gather. I might act like a douchebag most of the time, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be charming, and between that charm, my good looks, and how well I could read people, secrets didn’t stay buried for long. I had a talent for drawing them out, or, at the very least, being able to detect their existence, which was all I needed before digging for more dirt.
This part of the plan was simple enough: ingratiate myself with as many of these fuckers as possible. The hard part would come later, beginning with the next party we attended. I’d told Stella I was after more clients and money, that I was going to target people from her parents’ socioeconomic class, but that was a lie.
My true focus was on the people who surrounded them. Their staff, their accountants, and all the other hired help who might have secrets to share.
The more disgruntled, the better. The shadier, the better. Because those kinds of people were exploitable, either through bribery or blackmail, and they were how I planned to bring my father down. Not with some over-the- top plan of vengeance. No, his death would be by a thousand paper cuts, bleeding out slowly, excruciatingly, forced to watch as his empire crumbled
around him one brick at a time.
I’m here, I texted Stella.
We’re out back, she responded.
Good for you. Now come greet me like a proper fucking girlfriend.
A typing bubble popped up. Disappeared. Popped up again only to vanish once more. I assumed she was fighting the urge to tell me to go fuck myself.
Maybe I’d been rude, but I didn’t see the point in trying to play nice, especially given the circumstances. There was no way in hell I was walking into the party on my own. Knowing my luck, I’d get lost. Or stumble into one of Stella’s parents and be forced to introduce myself without her.
I could do it, but I’d rather have Stella by my side. Her presence alone would lend me an air of belonging that would make it easier for others to accept me. Without her, I’d draw more focus, maybe enough for people to smell fresh blood and come circling like sharks. And yes, I’d spent plenty of time around wealthy assholes, but there was a vast difference between millionaires and the deep-pocketed generational wealth rubbing elbows at this party.
From everything I knew about the ultra-rich, they were some of the most predatory, cold-blooded people on the planet. Less than one percent of the population held the wealth needed to change the world, better the lives of the rest of us, and what did they do with it instead? Use it to fund space tourism for their friends, build a five-hundred-foot clock inside a mountain only they got to see, or research immortality, while all around them, humans continued to die of preventable diseases.
God only knew what else they got up to that the public didn’t know about. Most of the rumors I discounted as conspiracy theory bullshit, but there were other facts that were harder to deny. Like how we’d had our very own monster hiding in this city for years: Bradley Bluhm. He’d been a predator his whole life, with his billionaire family continuously covering for him or bailing him out. Just like Stella’s parents had for her. Unlike Stella, Brad grew up to be a serial killer, and there were still federal agents digging up bodies in his backyard just a few streets away. And where was Brad, to answer for his crimes? Most likely in Europe, according to the latest news reports, spirited away by his parents.
I stared up at the towering stone house through my window, wondering what the fuck I was so nervous about. I might have been a nobody, but I still held the moral high ground over these motherfuckers.
You’re nervous because he might be here, a small voice reminded me.
Right. There was that. The likelihood that I might run into my father at any of the events I attended with Stella was high, and that was the root cause of my hesitancy. Because as much as I was prepared to face him, had promised myself that I would keep my cool when we eventually met, I still
worried my anger might boil over and ruin years of planning in one explosive instant.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that he probably wasn’t even in town. The last I’d heard, he was somewhere in Italy. Which meant there was no reason for me to be preoccupied with him.
I threw the door open and got out of the car. The surrounding forest dampened the noise of the nearby streets, so the house stood within its own quiet little bubble. Crickets chirped in the grass. Birds trilled overhead. A swell of laughter rose from somewhere close, just out of sight around the corner of the house. It was nice, borderline bucolic.
The front door opened, and I could tell from the look on Stella’s face that the peace was about to be shattered. She caught sight of me and marched forward, fists clenched at her sides.
Oh, yeah. I’d definitely pissed her off.
I leaned back against the car, sliding my hands into the pockets of my linen shorts while I tried not to grin. I’d never really gotten off on antagonizing people—that was more Josh’s forte—but I was starting to wonder if maybe I’d spent so much time around my best friend that some of his personality had rubbed off on me. I had no other way of explaining the small thrill that shot through me, knowing I’d managed to get under Stella’s
skin again.
Brat.
I curbstomped that thought as she neared. Instead of the monochromatic look I’d come to expect from her, she wore a white babydoll dress with black polka dots, white knee socks, and black Mary Janes. The hemline of the dress swished upward with every stride of those ridiculously long legs, and I couldn’t keep my gaze from dropping, hoping it’d swish just high enough that I might get a glimpse of what she had on underneath it.
Only when Stella got closer did I realize the “dots” on her dress were miniature skulls. Because of course they were.
Unlike me, she wasn’t wearing shades, so I had an unobscured view of the fury in her eyes when she stopped a foot away to glare up at me.
Because of said glare, the smile she forced onto her face looked deranged.
“Hi. So glad you could make it.” Her tone said otherwise. “The party is out back, so if you’ll please follow me.”
With that, she turned and started to walk away. I snagged her wrist and spun her back around. She crashed into my chest with an “Oof.”
“Stay still,” I said.
She tried to push free. “There’s no one here to perform for.”
“Someone’s watching from the house,” I growled through my smile. I could see them just on the edge of my periphery, standing framed within a window on the third floor as they stared down at us.
Stella went stiffer than a board. “What do they look like?”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and widened my legs, pulling her between them. In an infuriating turn of events, she fit perfectly.
Keeping my face slightly turned toward her, I shot a quick glance upward. “There must be a light on behind them, because all I can see is a
shadowy outline.”
Her mouth turned down. “Fucking creep.”
“Me, or our mysterious voyeur?”
“Yes,” she said, taking the bait just like I knew she would.
I squeezed her waist in warning. “Behave. We’re in public, and the rule is, you’re nice to me in public.”
Her eyes blazed with annoyance, but she stayed quiet. Good girl.
I chanced another look toward the window but couldn’t distinguish more. “Whoever it is, we have to assume that if they’re nosy enough to spy, they’re nosy enough to gossip. Which means you can’t just stand there like a brick, or they’re going to think you’re not into this.”
“I’m not into this,” she muttered, inching closer. “Nobody’s into this.
Not even God is into this.”
I shook my head and slid my hands to her waist, squeezing a little harder this time. Her humor wouldn’t soften me to her.
Stella grimaced, blew out a breath, and then reluctantly put her hands on my chest.
“You look like you’re holding me at bay,” I said. “Come on. It won’t kill you to wrap your arms around me.”
Looking like it might actually kill her, Stella slid her hands around my neck.
“We’re going to have to work on your acting abilities,” I said. “No one’s going to believe you’re obsessed with me if you keep this up.”
“You’re forgetting that these people actually know me. They expect me to be a bitch. Me suddenly fawning all over some random man would immediately raise their suspicions.”
I tightened my thighs on either side of her, trying to ignore how good she felt there. “You sure you’re not just saying that because you’re worried if you pretend to be obsessed with me, you’ll realize you actually are?”
“I’m not obsessed with you,” she said, her tone almost lifeless it was so flat, but I could tell from the way her sides heaved that she was struggling
to keep a lid on her temper.
“Whatever you say, Sunshine.”
She spluttered. “Do not call me that.”
I smirked as a dark thrill of triumph shot through me. I felt like a wolf spotting an injured deer. “I’ll call you whatever I want.”
She opened her mouth, but another warning squeeze had her clenching it shut. Maybe she could be taught.
I caught a shift of movement from the window and tugged her the last inch forward, until we were fully pressed together. From there it was easy to lean down and bury my face in her neck. Damn it, she smelled incredible.
Like that nostalgic blend of banana-scented sunscreen and sunshine that always reminded me of summer. Suddenly, the pet name felt like it fit.
Her skin was soft beneath my lips, and warm from the heat of the day.
The dress had a sweetheart neckline, leaving her shoulders and clavicles on display, and I was tempted to drag my mouth over every exposed inch of
her.
You hate this woman, I reminded myself.
Yes. I did. She and her kind were a plague upon this planet. My reaction was nothing but a physiological response to being close to another human being. I would have felt the same way with literally anyone else.
“How long do we need to keep this up?” she asked.
“As long as it takes for you to lose the attitude,” I shot back, rubbing my
nose along the column of her neck.
She sighed. “We’re going to die here.”
I was glad she couldn’t see my answering smile. She might take it to mean that my threats were empty and I’d go easy on her. That I wouldn’t set her entire life on fire if she spoiled my plans.
Another stolen glance at the window revealed that our voyeur was gone, but feeling Stella’s impatience to get out of my arms made me want to keep her there for a little while longer.
“Tell me who’s at the party, Sunshine,” I murmured into her skin.
“New rule,” she countered. “No pet names.”
“Too late for that.”
“Then that means I get to choose yours.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I said, nipping at her delicate skin in an idle threat.
A shudder wracked her body. “So, you just get to make all the rules, and I have to go along with them?” Her voice was low, breathy, and it made me think I might not be the only one affected by our proximity.
“Mmhmm,” I murmured, tracing the shell of her ear with my lips.
She blew out a shaky exhale. “Did you ever stop to think that it might have been a nice nickname?”
I pulled back enough to look at her. “Was it?”
Her expression turned cagey, eyes flitting away from mine. “I guess
you’ll never find out.”
I took that as a no.
“Who’s at the party?” I asked again.
“I already sent you the guest list.”
We’d emailed some since our first “date.” Unwritten norms she’d forgotten to mention over dinner. More rules for her to follow. A general game plan for today.
“I know,” I said. “I read it. What I’m asking is if there’s anyone here who wasn’t on the list.”
“A few kids. My mother’s friend Susan. My parents’ business partner.
And uh …” she grimaced. “Blake is here, too. I told him about the swap, and I wouldn’t exactly say he’s happy about it. I also didn’t expect him to be here because he’s so pissed at me. I’ve tried to get him alone a couple of times to warn him that you’re coming, and that he better behave, but he’s also avoiding me.”
The midday sun suddenly felt five times hotter than a second ago. My father was here, in this house?
I lifted my gaze toward the front door, half expecting him to be standing there, waiting for me, but that was ridiculous. The man didn’t know who I was. And even if he did, he still wouldn’t care enough to come greet me.
He’d made it crystal fucking clear all those years ago that he wanted nothing to do with me and my mother.
Anger unfurled its poisonous claws inside me, and a dark anticipation swept in on its wake. After all this time, all this waiting, the day had finally arrived to meet the bastard, to stare him straight in the eye as I smiled and shook his hand. To finally force him to look at me, acknowledge my existence, even if it was only as a stranger.
Belatedly, the rest of what Stella said sank in. Blake. Goddamn it. This was a complication we didn’t need.
“Is there a place we can speak to your brother alone?” I asked. If he caused a scene and ruined my plans, I’d make him regret it for the rest of his life. I was so close. I couldn’t fail now.
“Ow, you’re hurting me,” Stella said, pulling away as I loosened my hold. “There’s a study just inside, to the right of the front door.”
“Go get Blake and bring him there. I don’t care if you have to drag him.
You have five minutes.”
I finally released her, and between my tone and the look on my face, Stella must have realized how close to the edge I was, because she turned and hurried inside. Instead of five minutes, I gave her ten, pretending to fuck around on my phone in case anyone else glanced out the window. I needed the extra time to calm down, and I was hoping Stella used it to explain the situation to Blake so all I’d have to do was walk in and threaten him into behaving.
Taking a deep breath, I shoved my phone into my pocket and headed toward the house. Thankfully, no one was lingering near the front.
The entryway looked like something out of a magazine: black-and-white tiled floor, wainscoting, crown molding, expensive furniture and artwork, a dark-stained staircase climbing upward. To my immediate left was a sitting room. To my right, with the door closed, was the study Stella mentioned.
I turned the handle and stepped inside, shutting the door behind me.
“Look out!” Stella shouted.
In the split second it took my eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, I almost missed the fist flying at my face.
I reacted instinctually, blocking the punch with my forearm and following the movement, grabbing Blake’s wrist and using his momentum against him as I shoved him away.
“Blake, stop!” Stella hissed.
He tried to turn back to me, but I got there first, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and slamming him into the wall, pinning him. I snatched his flailing wrist out of the air and yanked it up and around behind his back,
hard enough that he cried out.
“Stop fighting me,” I snarled.
He thrashed in my hold. “Fuck you! The deal’s off. It’s my debt. I’ll pay it. Leave my sister alone.”
“Blake,” Stella said, rushing up to us, her expression pleading. “It’s already done.”
“Then undo it,” he demanded, trying to shove me off.
I pressed him harder into the wall, his cheek grinding against the wood, arm twisting so high it was in danger of slipping out of its socket. “No. And keep your fucking voice down.”
His breathing turned into ragged, pained pants.
“You going to behave if I let you go?”
“No!” he yelled, trying to stomp on my feet.
I sighed. “Stella.”
She must have heard the unspoken threat in my tone, because her voice turned placating. “Blake, I know you’re mad, but it’s done. Theo agreed to transfer your debt to me, and this is how I’m going to pay it off. If anything, he’s letting us both off easy. It could be so much worse. He has the power to make it worse if you keep pissing him off.”
Good to know she understood the situation so well. Maybe it would be easier to keep her in line than I’d expected.
She stepped closer, gaze steady on her brother. “You need to accept that this is happening, because freaking out or acting like an asshole will only draw attention, and then what do you plan on telling Mom and Dad?”
Blake went still in my grip, showing he hadn’t really thought this through. It made me think even less of him, had me doubting Stella’s claim that he was a smart kid. Maybe her parents weren’t the only ones who had sheltered and coddled him. Maybe she had, too, and that’s why she still looked at him through rose-colored glasses instead of seeing him for who he truly was: a dumb college kid, as impulsive and hormonal as everyone
else his age.
“You done?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he muttered.
He was lying. No way had he’d been cowed into submission so easily.
I released him, stepping back so I had room to swing when he proved he couldn’t be trusted.
He whirled on me immediately, fist flying.
Sometimes, I hated always being right.
“Blake!” Stella seethed.
I ducked his sloppy punch and hammered a fist into his side, right beneath his floating ribs, where his kidney sat.
He let out a strangled cry and crumpled to the floor.
Stella tried to rush forward to help him, but I snagged her around the waist and drew her back while Blake writhed in pain.
“He’s fine,” I said as she fought me. “I didn’t hit him hard enough to do permanent damage, but pissing blood for a week should be a good reminder
to behave. Right, Blake?”
“Fuck you,” he wheezed from the floor.
I pushed Stella toward the door. “Get out. Let me talk to him alone.”
She stumbled to a stop, shaking her head. “No. You’re going to hurt him again.”
I met her eyes with a hard stare. “Not unless he makes me.” My gaze swiveled back to Blake. “Your brother and I just need to get on the same page, is all.”
She didn’t move. “I’ll only leave if you promise not to hurt him.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Two strides and I was in her face.
“Promises mean nothing in my world. They’re just another way to manipulate naïve idiots.”
She backed up, eyes wide, expression torn between fury and fear.
“Are you an idiot, Stella?”
Her cheeks pinked, and she shook her head, anger winning the fight as her eyes narrowed to slits. “No, I’m not. If you hurt him again, all bets are off.”
I flashed her a smile. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
And then I shoved her out the door and locked it behind her.
