“Not with me,” he says with a shrug.
I blow out a breath as I lead him into my studio. “It was bad. I was bad.”
“Was it just then rents?”
“Oh no. Tyler and Brooke were here, too.”
“Brooke? She’s still hanging around?”
“Yep. Hanging around, and getting lap dances, too.”
“Lap dances?” he asks, and then I see him get it. “No way! No fucking way did she get a dance from Harlow!”
“Apparently, she was part of a bachelorette party that went to the club. She even felt her up.”
“Oh my God, this is the best thing I’ve ever heard. Like, literally, the best.”
“It wasn’t so funny to my parents, and uncle.” Or to me, if I’m being completely honest with myself.
“You shut them down, though, so it’s all good. Right?”
“Not exactly.”
“Shit. You let them mess with your woman?”
“Kind of. Yeah,” I admit, rubbing my eyes. “I mean, I said I was with her, and kept my arm around her, but I didn’t stick up for her like I should’ve.”
“Dude.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t say you’d broken up when I saw her.”
“We didn’t break up. I apologized, and groveled a little.”
“She’s a better person than me, because I’d have kicked your sorry ass, and then kicked you to the curb.”
“I’d have deserved it.”
“What are you going to do now? I’m guessing they’re here for the charity ball.”
“Fuck. I forgot about the ball. Of course they’re here for that, and that’s why they brought Brooke.”
My phone chooses that moment to ring again. It’s my mother, and now that I know why they’re here, I take a deep breath, and answer. “Hello, Mother.”
“It’s about time you answered. I hope you’re not still with that stripper.”
“Harlow isn’t here at the moment, no.”
“We need to talk about the ball.”
“I’m not taking Brooke.”
“You most certainly are.”
“No. And that’s my final answer, so you might as well save your breath.”
“You will not take that…woman.”
“Mother,” I say, in a warning tone.
“Do not take that tone with me. I have convinced Brooke to keep quiet for the moment, but if it gets out you’re cavorting with a stripper, we’ll be ruined.”
“Ruined? Really?”
“Your father and uncle have been trying to purchase some new technology, but they haven’t had the success they need. Without it, they may have to dissolve the company. Thousands will lose their jobs if that happens, so this is about more than just us. Image is everything right now.”
“Why am I just hearing about this now?”
“You’ve been very clear about not wanting to be involved in the company. We’ve tried to respect your wishes, but now we need you to present a unified front. We just found out the man they need to do business with will be at the ball. Rumor has it he values family above all else, so we need to show him we possess strong family values. Please just do this for us.”
“I won’t go with Brooke.”
“But you won’t go with Harlow, either?”
“Funny how you remember her name all of a sudden.”
“Bodhi.”
“No, I won’t take Harlow to the ball.”
“Thank you. I’m sure she’s a nice woman underneath it all.”
“Just stop, Mother.”
“Very well. We’ll be in town until the ball if you’d like to have lunch.”
“I wouldn’t.”
I’m doing this for the employees who need their jobs, and not for my family. I know Harlow will understand once I explain it to her, because she cares about people, too. I’ll make sure she knows I refused to take Brooke, and that I’m going alone, but it’s still going to suck. I just need to make her believe me, because it’s the truth.
“You’re not taking Harlow to the ball?” Owen asks, looking as shocked as I feel, just for a different reason.
“I can’t take Harlow. My family needs me to project a certain image, and she doesn’t fit it.”
I hear a crash, and run into my living room in time to see Harlow scrambling to her feet after knocking over one of my floor lamps. “I-I’ll pay for it,” she says, backing towards the door.
I see her tears, and I know she heard us. “I can explain.”
“I just need to go. I’m going.”
“Please just listen to me,” I tell her, moving towards her until I’m stopped by Owen’s arms wrapping around my own from behind. “Let me go!”
“No. You need to let her go. You did this.”
“I have to tell her,” I say, struggling against him.
“I’ve heard enough.”
She’s out the door, and I’m fighting Owen now. He didn’t expect me to flip him, but he bounces right back up after I do. We exchange punches, and a few kicks before taking our fight to the floor. I’m no match for him there, and he has me pinned in seconds.
“Stop it, Bodhi. Stop fighting me.”
“You stop, Owen. You let her leave.”
“Nothing you would’ve said right now would change what she heard.”
“You don’t know everything. You don’t know why I had to say yes to my mother.”
“Maybe not, but you just hurt one of the best women I know, and the fallout’s going to be brutal.”
“I need to talk to her.”
“Once she calms down, you can try, but they’re going to close ranks. The Society protects its own even more fiercely than they protect the rest of the world.”
“You have to help me, Owe. I swear there’s more, and I was going to tell her about it. I was going to explain why I had to do it.”
“Tell me, and maybe—maybe—I’ll help you.”
While he still has me pinned, I do just that. I tell him about the family business, and what will happen to all the people who work for us if the company fails. I tell him I don’t care what happens to my parents, because I’m sure they have hidden money, but I can’t put innocent people on the street if there’s anything I can do to help them. He lets me go with a curse, and agrees to help me. Now, I just need a plan.
19
Harlow
I focus on driving, because I don’t want to crash my car, and then I’m at the Corrigan & Co. building. I could go to my friends, but I go to my cousin instead. He’s the only one who understands my insecurities, and background. I can, and will, explain it to the girls later, but he lived it with me, so it’s him I need right now.
I find him in Ainsley’s lair, joking with her and Scott. At least until he sees me; then he’s jumping from his chair, and pulling me into his strong arms. “Har, what is it? What happened?”
“I…he…I…help me, X.”
“Always,” he says, leading me to a chair, and helping me into it before kneeling on the ground in front of me. “What happened?”
It takes me a few more minutes of crying before I can form coherent sentences. In that time, the room fills up. No one says a word, or tries to replace X in front of me, but they’re there. It means more to me than they’ll ever know.
“I went to see Bodhi after my classes. He wanted to paint me, and I really wanted that, too. I let myself in, and heard him talking. Owen was there, but I didn’t know that until I saw them. I was going to speak up when I heard him say I wasn’t good enough to take to the ball.”
“Excuse me?” X asks, his voice colder than I’ve ever heard it.
“He said his family has an image to keep up.”
“Oh, hell no. Is he still at his apartment?” he asks, starting to stand.
“Don’t hurt him. I don’t want him hurt. I just want to forget he ever existed. Forget I was ever stupid enough to think he loved me.”
“He’s the stupid one.”
“I know that, too,” I say, wiping my eyes. “I know I’m a good catch, just not the proper one.”
“Bullshit! You are just who you need to be, cuz.”
“He’s right,” Reina says, stepping in. “You already know what I think, so I’m not going to say it again, but I’m going to remind you how happy we all are to have you here with us.”
I look around the room, at the mentors, and the recruits, plus the Studkateers. All of them meet my eyes, and nod. I feel a fresh wave of tears threatening, but not from sadness this time. “I’m happy to be here.”
“I know you don’t want us to hurt him, but he’s not going to just get away with this,” Ellie says, coming to stand over me.
“Oh, there’s a way to hurt the whole family,” Scott says with a smile.
“What?” I ask.
“I’ve known them for a long time, and trust me, you don’t want their approval. My dad and Ry have been refusing to do business with them for years because they’re horrible. I was hoping you’d finally be the catalyst that would force Bodhi to cut ties with them.”
“He told me some of that.”
“Did he also tell you his family’s here to try and corner the elusive Xavier James at the ball?”
“Seriously?” I ask, my eyes wide.
“Yep. I just did some looking, and they want what X has to offer pretty bad.”
X rubs his hands together like some mad genius, which he kind of is. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“You could do business with them if you want,” I say, not really meaning it, but feeling like I have to say it.
“Never. You know family comes first to me. Micah and you are my favorite family, so you come first first.”
“’First first’?”
“Yep.”
“I love you, X.”
“I love you too, Har. Now let’s start planning.”
I kiss his cheek, and get up. Scott, Ainsley, and he will come up with something perfect, and they don’t need my input. I need to get home, and sleep. Cry, too, but mostly just sleep. Darcy and Jenysis stop me before I walk too far.
“My brother’s come in with the royal group, and he doesn’t have a date,” Darcy says. “He can’t enter with a date, because he’s walking in with us and Jen’s dad, but he could meet you there.”
“Noah’s awesome,” Jen tells me, and I smile at her.
“He’d have to be since you’re one of his best friends.”
“True. So, you want to go with him?”
“I don’t see why not. He seemed nice when I met him briefly on Cyndryann. Although I do feel like I’m turning into a female Ares, what with fake dating everyone’s brothers.”
“Ooh, do you want to go with Ares?” Rose asks, pretending to look hopeful, even though I know she wants him for herself.
“No. I don’t know how he got you to agree to be his date, but I’m not about to take that away from him.”
“He doesn’t care,” she says.
“I’ll have to disagree,” Waverly tells her. “He flew all the way to South Africa to help me because you asked him to.”
“He’s getting this date out of it,” Rose grumbles.
“He could’ve asked for something less public, so don’t discount him just yet.”
“What exactly happened in South Africa to make you Team Ares?”
“He helped me feel beautiful.”
Rose groans. “Why did you have to tell me that? Now, I might let him have some private time.”
“Like you weren’t thinking of that anyway,” I tease.
“No comment.”
We all laugh, and go over our plans for the ball. Stella’s been on a mission, but she scored us all amazing dresses before she left, and we’re going to be officially representing the Foundation as interns. I’m excited, but also nervous, because one of the components of the event is that we’re all being auctioned off for a dance at the end of the night. I’m a little scared someone I’ve danced for will win, and be all pervy with me. Reina’s already told me the guys will be watching all of us, and will step in if need be, but it’s still worrying me more than a little. Especially with Bodhi and his family thinking I’m less than I know I am.
“How you doing, cuz?” X asks, coming to sit with me a couple hours later.
I look around, and then back at him. “I know I’m a good person, but our past…”
“Is just that, the past.”
“Our family is such a mess, and then I went and became a stripper.”
“You put yourself through school.”
“I could’ve accepted your loan that last year, and stopped dancing sooner.”
“And I could’ve fallen for someone who wasn’t the sister of an arms dealer.”
“It’s not the same.”
“No, it’s not. You wouldn’t be here if you’d stopped, now would you?”
“I hate it when you’re right.”
“I know. As for our family, they have a lot to be ashamed of, but you don’t, and neither do I. We weren’t thieves and cheaters, we were just kids who wanted to eat.”
“You took care of me.”
“Damn straight I did, and you did the same for me, both back then, and recently, too.”
“I just helped you hide.”
“’Just” like it wasn’t a big deal,” he says, shaking his head.
“It wasn’t.”
“It was. So was the BDSM.”
I whip my head up in shock. “Reina told you?”
“No, I hacked your file.”
“Of course you did,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I honestly did it just to see if I could get in. I didn’t want to pry into anyone else’s files, and I didn’t think I’d find something I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t like it.”
“I know why you did it, but it wouldn’t matter to me if you’d liked it. I hope you know that.”
“I do.”
“Thank you, Har. For that, and everything else. You know you’re more like my sister than my cousin, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you know how much I love you.”
“I already know, and I feel the same.”
We hug, and I cling to him, taking the strength I need right now from him. I know I’m going to need it, because royal date or not, seeing Bodhi at the ball is going to hurt. He’s probably going with Brooke, since she’s “acceptable”. Not the first time someone has hurt me because I’m not from a “good” family, but I vow that it’s going to be the last.
It’s a couple days later, and I’m meeting with Noah. Darcy and Jen said he knows this is a fake date, which works for him since he just got out of a bad relationship, too. I guess misery really does love company. I walk into Distill, and see him sitting at the bar, so I make my way over to him.
“Hi Noah, you probably don’t remember me, but we met when everyone went to Cyndryann for Jen.”
He stands up from his seat, and takes my hand in his before kissing it. “How could I not remember you, Harlow. It’s wonderful to see you again.”
“You too. Jen said you wanted to go over protocol with me?”
“Yes. As my date, it will be helpful for you to know what is expected of me. I’m not a royal, but as a member of the inner circle, I sometimes have to behave as one.”
“I’ll just consider it part of my training.”
“Perfect. Would you like to get a table, or I think they have a game area out back?”
I motion to my chunky, ruffled white sweater and black dress pants. “I think I’m a little overdressed for the Backyard, so let’s go with a table.”
He nods, downs whatever he had left in his glass, and places a hand on my back to lead me to the hostess stand. His hand is comfortable, and maybe nice, but I feel nothing like I do when Bodhi touches me. I give myself a mental head shake, because I need to stop thinking about that man. He’s not for me, and the sooner I accept it, the better off I’ll be.
Once we’ve been seated
and ordered our drinks—a pint for Noah, and a Cinnamon Apple Sour for me—we get down to business. “I’ll have to enter with the King, Bray, Darcy, Jen, and Wayne. If you were my girlfriend, you could enter with me, but as a one-off date, I’ll have to meet you inside. I’ll probably have to greet some people, but once I’ve made my way to you, you can remain with me for the rest of the night.”
“You mean until the ball is over.”
“If that’s what you want,” he says with a smile that’s probably melted the panties off many a woman, but does absolutely nothing for me.
I smile back at him. “That’s what I want.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“I’m flattered, but nowhere ready to date anyone.”
Our drinks are delivered, and we decide to share various appetizers instead of getting individual meals. Over mashed potato bites, fried pickle straws, pretzel bites, and avocado eggrolls, we discuss his impending move here to work for Ryan Griffin, and how I use my social work degree at the Foundation. He knows a little about me and Bodhi, but I fill him in on the basics, because he may approach me at the ball while I’m with Noah.
“I can’t believe this ass thinks you’re not good enough for his family, Harlow.”
“Thanks, but I don’t come from a good family, and well, I was a stripper.”
“Darcy and I were bred from con artists, and cat burglars, and no one bats an eye at us.”
“I think that has a lot to do with Jen’s dad, plus her and Brayden.”
“They’ve never made us feel like we’re not special, or important. Even when Darce was hiding who she was, she knew she was important to everything.”
“My family were thieves, and probably sometimes con artists, although even as a child, I knew to never ask. I didn’t want to know. Hell, I still don’t want to know it all. I had my cousin, and that was all that mattered.”
“We’re not our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or anyone else who didn’t live life the way we would have chosen for them to. I had a good childhood, although I’m sensing you didn’t, but none of that matters now. What matters is that we’re good people now.”
“You’re going to make some girl really happy one day,” I tell him honestly.
“Just not you.”
“No. Bodhi may be an ass, but he still owns my heart.”
Harlow (Society Girls #7) Page 15
