My Dad walked over to where Elijah and I were standing, and I found myself fidgeting. Even though I’d grown taller than him—and stronger—my father was still capable of exerting his authority over me whenever he wanted.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked. His tone was pleasant, but I could sense an edge to his words.
“No,” I grunted, staring at the floor.
“Finn.” His tone held a warning, and I sighed in frustration, facing Elijah again.
“You can leave now. If I recall correctly, you have a hotel to manage.” I flashed a smarmy smile at him as I spoke. I’d never liked him, and I knew I was being a prick, but I was still angry as hell.
Elijah looked pissed too. I knew he hated my authority; hated being told what to do by a kid half his age. Regardless, he nodded briskly and walked off towards the reception area.
Slowly, the guests in the lobby went back to whatever they’d been doing in the first place, but my father’s eyes were still fixed on mine.
“What’s going on, son?” he asked. I could hear the genuine concern in his voice.
My Dad and I had always been close. Ever since our little family had suffered through a great tragedy several years ago, including the loss of my mother, we’d become even closer and our bond had tightened. My earliest memories were of my Dad too, whether it was teaching me how to ride a bike or helping me decorate the Christmas tree.
“Can we go to your office?” I asked, my voice stiff.
Dad laid a hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile. “Of course. Come on, let’s go now.”
I was sure he had meetings or something to get to—it was the time of night when he was usually busy on calls with overseas investors due to the time difference. But that was my Dad. He always put everything on hold just to make sure I was all right.
Dad owned the Crown Hotel, a luxurious hotel in one of the fanciest districts of San Francisco. Ever since I was a kid, I’d known the hotel was my legacy, and I’d started working at it and helping out as soon as I’d been allowed. Right now, I was managing the nightclub in the east wing and helping the general hotel management—namely Elijah, who was my nemesis.
Our hotel was our pride and joy, and both Dad and I had thrown ourselves into running it smoothly when our personal lives had gone to hell. It had paid off.
Clancy’s Bar and the nightclub, Helvetica, were both popular with the younger crowd, our fine dining restaurant, The Balmoral, had received a Michelin star, our hotel guests always came back, and our staff members were happy. We’d been up and running for many years now, growing from a small family business to the best place to stay in the Bay Area. We had every reason to be proud of what we’d done with the Crown.
Despite my current shitty mood, I found myself smiling as I followed Dad into his office after riding the elevator to one of the top floors. We walked into his study, and he motioned for me to sit down in front of his desk.
I flopped down on the chair, sighing as my memories of the night came flooding back. In the meantime, Dad busied himself by pouring drinks for us and bringing them over to his desk. He sat down on the opposite side and passed me one of the glasses.
I loved the way he treated me like an equal. It felt nice to be acknowledged as an adult, not a damn kid, and in the past few years, we’d grown closer than ever. Even when I acted like a moron and did stupid shit, he was always there to bail me out of trouble.
“Tell me what’s bugging you, then,” he said, cutting right through the bullshit. Another characteristic of his. He was a fighter when it came to his family, and I knew he wouldn’t take shit from anyone where I was concerned.
“Candice came by again,” I said. “She’s been harassing me for ages. I told Elijah to tell security to kick her out and never allow her to enter the hotel or any of the restaurants if she comes around, but the bitch keeps showing up and getting in anyway.”
Dad nodded, taking a sip of his scotch before grinning at me. “Being followed by pretty women…now there’s a problem if I ever heard one.”
I offered a weak laugh in return, too annoyed to appreciate the joke.
“How did she get under your skin this time?” Dad asked. “You’ve managed to ignore her before. Why was it different today?”
“I was on a date, and Candice came and fucked it up,” I said. “So the girl left. I tried to stop her from going, but it didn’t work.”
A half-smile spread across my face in spite of my words when I thought of sweet Rory and the way she’d made me feel in the short time we’d been together at Clancy’s.
She was the one girl who made me feel bad for cursing, because it made me feel dirty in her innocent presence.
She was the one girl who made me feel like I could be a better man if we’d only had more of a chance; more than two hours.
But now it was all over before it had even started. She’d left, and I was never going to be able to apologize for fucking it all up. The city wasn’t exactly small, and I didn’t know her last name or phone number.
“On a date, huh?” he said, raising his eyebrows. He wasn’t the only one who was surprised by the idea of me on a proper date. Believe me, I’d shocked myself by doing it…and Rory hadn’t even been my date to begin with.
“Yeah.”
“You like this girl you were with?” he asked.
I found myself nodding. “Yeah. But it’s too fucking early,” I said. “I don’t even know her all that well. It makes no sense to like her this much already. I feel like a goddamned teenager.”
“Happens to the best of us.” Dad winked at me, emptying his drink while mine still sat in my hand, untouched. “So, what’s stopping you from going after her?”
I gave him a wide-eyed look. “Well, for one, I was a bit of a dick. I lied to her. I pretended to be her blind date just so I could hang out with her.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Uh-huh.”
He shook his head, trying to stifle a chuckle. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best idea, but it’s quite funny. Anyway, go on.”
“Well, then she encountered my crazy sort-of ex and clearly didn’t think she was my ex…unsurprisingly. Candice is a fucking convincing actress when she wants to be. So now this girl thinks I’m a cheating asshole, and I don’t even know how to contact her, anyway. Do I need to keep going?”
“Nope,” Dad said with a mischievous grin. “But you do need to try and find her.”
I gave him a blank stare, and he winked at me before continuing.
“I think you’ll regret it if you let her go. The way you were in the lobby just now…I haven’t seen you so angry and upset in years, and for you, that’s saying something.”
His words stung. In the years since my mother’s death, I’d changed, and I knew it. Once upon a time, I’d been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy; Mr. Congeniality, always surrounded by friends. Since it all went down, I’d turned sour, bitter. I’d alienated most of my decent friends and I regularly used girls for my own pleasure, never anything more.
I tried not to lead those girls on, though. I was always upfront about only wanting one thing, and I usually attracted the kind of women who wanted nothing more than my dick and a mindless hookup anyway. But maybe enough was enough.
Maybe I needed more than ‘one thing’.
“Give it a go,” Dad insisted. “If you fail, at least you won’t be able to ask yourself ‘what if’.”
I guess he had a point there.
I sighed and nodded. “Okay. I guess you’re right, I’ll try to find her. Thanks, Dad.”
I took a sip of my drink, grinning at my old man and trying to not think about Rory for just a second. “So, anything you want to share?”
I was teasing him. I knew he was hiding something from me, and I wanted to see him squirm. He did. He twisted and turned in his seat, clearing his throat awkwardly before broaching the subject.
“Well, since you ask, I guess...” He cleared his throat again. “Err, it would be
good if...well, I wanted to tell you sooner. You know, things get...”
He was being awkward as hell, so I decided to make things easy for him.
“Dad,” I said. “I already know. Elijah told me when you disappeared to that ‘conference’ in Shanghai.”
“Oh?” Dad looked at me with wide eyes, and I could almost hear his panicked heartbeat. “What exactly do you know?”
He was testing me to see just how much Elijah had told me, and I grinned at him as I calmly explained what I knew had transpired a couple of days ago.
“You weren’t really in Shanghai. You were on a secret getaway with a woman, and you got married when you spent the long weekend up at the lake house. Elijah said you’d called him to help find a short-notice celebrant.”
Dad sat there, dumbfounded. He opened his mouth and closed it like a fish out of water for a full thirty seconds, and I grinned at him.
“Well…err...are you angry?” he finally managed to get out.
I looked at him for a long time, choosing the words that would make my answer. Was I angry?
My Mom and Dad had been high school sweethearts. If there was ever a couple destined to be together, it was them. But sometimes life throws a curveball, and I often wondered whether my parents would still be together if my Mom hadn’t died.
Sometimes it was easier not knowing the answer to that question.
“No,” I finally replied. “I’m not angry. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
I watched Dad’s face change from a tense expression to a look of pure glee, and I grinned when I saw the transformation. “She makes you happy?”
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Then you have my support, whoever she is.”
Dad got up from his desk, walked over to me and slapped me on the back. I got up as well and hugged him tightly. I wasn’t one for manly shows of affection, but the moment felt appropriate. My Dad needed support today as much as I did.
He backed away and smiled at me, and I could see tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. I felt awkward, so I chose to ignore them as Dad started talking.
“Her name is Anna. It all happened so fast. We’ve only known each other for a few months, but it seemed right. Neither of us wanted to make a big fuss about a wedding, though, so that’s why we eloped. Right after I proposed, in fact.”
“Yeah, I get it. Don’t worry, I’m not mad.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “Anyway, we’ll meet up tomorrow for dinner. She’s moving in here with her daughter and her mother. The girl is around your age. I’ve only met her briefly, but I think you’ll like her. Nice girl.”
I nodded, considering how my life would change when all this came into effect. Three more women living with us...it could be a lot of work dealing with our family suddenly expanding like this, but since I lived alone in one of the hotel’s two penthouse suites, I figured I’d be out of their hair most of the time, doing as I damn well pleased.
Dad and I agreed on a time for dinner in the Balmoral restaurant tomorrow, and then he sent me on my way. I was just about to walk out the door, but my mind wouldn’t let me leave without saying something else.
I looked over my shoulder to see my Dad staring out of the window at the city lights. “Dad?”
He looked at me, and in that moment, I could see the toll life had taken on my father. He looked older, tired and beat. Moreover, he looked like he needed a goddamned break.
“Yeah?”
I hesitated and finally swallowed my words. “Never mind. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you, son.” His smile was genuine, and I returned a strained version of my own before walking out of there.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to rain on his parade, I told myself as I took the elevator to my suite. He had just gotten hitched. It wasn’t my place to warn him about the kinds of women out there. Besides, he wasn’t an idiot, so surely he wouldn’t have married the first gold-digger who came along. He’d met a lot of women like that since Mom had passed, given his position and status, and he’d never fallen for one of them before. Whoever this new wife of his was, I was sure she was a nice person.
I tried telling myself that, but still, a nagging voice in the back of my mind wouldn’t shut up. I had a bad feeling about this. I just hoped my new stepmother and stepsister weren’t like the evil women in kid’s fairytales. I didn’t need any more crazy fucking bitches in my life; I already had Candice for that.
I guess only time would tell.
Chapter Three
Rory
“Short answer? No,” I said.
My cell phone was wedged in the crook of my neck as I helped my grandmother iron and fold a pile of clean washing. While I worked at that, I was talking to Dana, who’d just called to ask me if I was willing to forgive the real Ben and go on a date with him after he’d totally forgotten to show up on our first blind date.
“What’s the long answer?” Dana asked, sounding hopeful.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I replied.
She laughed. “Okay, okay. I get it. He stood you up. He swears it was an accident, but I guess you’re right…it doesn’t bode well for the future. I was so sure you guys would be good together, though!”
I sighed. “Oh well. At least I had an interesting night.”
“Yeah. Tell me more about this mysterious guy who pretended to be Ben!”
I ducked away from my grandmother’s earshot and told Dana everything I remembered from the other night that I hadn’t already told her—how Mystery Man and I had first met, how we’d spoken for over an hour and gotten to know random intimate details of each other’s lives over drinks and snacks, and how within just moments of being with him, I’d been desperate to get a taste of what lay underneath that tight grey shirt. It seemed really odd; I knew so much about him, yet I didn’t even know his real name.
Why had he lied and pretended to be Ben? It was so weird. I guess I’d never know the answer, though, so there was no point worrying about it.
Too bad I was still worrying about it.
“So much for forgetting about it,” I said with another sigh. “I figured I’d forget the whole thing straight away, seeing as it was just one weird date which ended with a terrible bang—not literally, thank god—but I’m still thinking about him two days later!”
“He really made an impression, huh?”
“I guess so,” I said bitterly. “Even though he was a lying prick.”
“Well, maybe you’ll run into him again. You said the manager of Clancy’s seemed to know him, so obviously he’s a regular. We could go there for drinks on the weekend and see if he’s there.”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “No way. I can’t stand liars, and like I said, he lied to me about who he was. On top of that, that Candice girl was his girlfriend, and he was trying to step out on her. I’m sure of it. He’s a dick,” I said.
“True. Then again, maybe she was just a crazy ex. You know how some people get when they see their ex-lover with someone new. They get all jealous and try to blow up the ex’s spot. So maybe they used to date and then broke up, and she was doing that.”
“Mm…maybe,” I said, moving back over to my Grandma so I could help her fold a towel. “But I doubt it. That sounds like a lame misunderstanding out of a rom-com movie. It would be too convenient.”
“Yeah, convenient for you, because you’d finally get laid again once you realize he’s actually not a cheating ass,” Dana said, snorting with laughter.
I ducked away from my grandmother again. “Careful! My Grandma might’ve heard you!” I said in a hushed voice.
“Sorry,” she said. “But seriously, Rory, we should actually go to Clancy’s for drinks and see if we run into him again! Even if you aren’t curious if he’s really single, I’m curious after this whole story you’ve told me. Not for myself, of course. For you.”
“I really don’t want to,” I said. “Even if he is single, he still lied to me about who he wa
s and made a fool out of me. I don’t want to go near that place ever again after being humiliated there like that. The way everyone was staring at me was the worst. Hell, I’m not even going to go near the Crown Hotel ever again, just in case!”
Just as I said that, my Mom came breezing through the door, apparently having just returned from her short getaway. “Did I hear someone say something about the Crown Hotel? We’re having dinner there tonight with James, so get dressed in something fancy!”
Crap. In my haste to denounce the Crown and all of its associated restaurants and bars, I’d forgotten that Mom’s current squeeze owned the whole joint.
“Gotta go,” I muttered to Dana. “Talk soon.”
With that, I turned to my mother. “Hi, Mom. How was your trip? And sorry, what did you say about dinner?” I asked, silently praying that I’d misheard her. Maybe she’d said that only she was having dinner at the Crown tonight.
Of course, I had no such luck.
“Dinner tonight, at the Balmoral restaurant at James’ hotel. We decided to have a special meal, and you’re both invited.”
Ugh. The Balmoral was practically right next to Clancy’s.
My grandmother smiled at Mom. “That’s lovely, Anna. I’ll have to wear my special pearls, and Aurora can wear that pretty black and white dress she has.”
I forced a smile and nodded. I really didn’t want to return to the scene of the crime that was my date the other night, but I guess I didn’t have much of a choice if Mom had already organized it. “What’s the occasion?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Mom smiled enigmatically. “Oh, you know…just a little thing to celebrate our love.”
I raised an eyebrow. My mother always smiled like that when she was hiding something. Last time I’d seen her with that expression on her face in regards to a man was about two and a half years ago when I’d asked her why I’d seen her with my high school math teacher one day when I was leaving class. She’d been dating him, of course, but she’d just given me that same silly smile and told me they’d been discussing my grade for the semester. Sure, Mommy dearest.
Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance Page 3
