“How did Ryan find out?” I ask. “I didn’t tell him.”
“No, I know. I told Remy once, and she must have told Albie. He told the guys the night they were at the bar with Noah. Ryan came to see me afterward. He didn’t go all testosterone on me or anything. He sat me down and told me to tell him what happened, and we talked for a couple of hours.”
“Where was I?”
“In Palmerston North, it was during your last batch of classes. Ryan was incredibly nice. He asked if there was anything he could do. Insisted it wasn’t my fault and that I shouldn’t blame myself.”
“Of course you shouldn’t blame yourself, Jules.” I’m horrified at the thought.
She shrugs. “I know. But I’ve thought about it a lot since it happened and… I’m ashamed of myself.”
We’ve not talked about it much since. Connor kept coming around to the apartment, and eventually I rang Brock, her dad, and he got the police to give Connor a warning, which brought an end to it. She was angry, and sick of him by then, and announced that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore and give him any more power over her, so since then we’ve not really discussed it. So her words now shock me.
“Oh God, Jules, why? He was in the wrong.”
“Yes, of course he was. Violence should never be a response in an argument. But I provoked him. I know I did. I meant to. I knew he was drunk. What did I think the outcome would be? What did I expect would happen? How else was it going to end?”
I don’t know what to say. Of course he was in the wrong. But I know how easy it is to let an argument escalate. When you’re hurting, you lash out at your partner, wanting to turn the hurt back on them. To punish them. An argument turns into chemical warfare, until in the end both sides are lobbing bombs, and nobody’s interested in what the other has to say.
So I say the only thing I can. “I’m so sorry.”
She waves a hand. “It’s done now. The point is that Ryan was really understanding, and I found it surprisingly easy to talk to him. It’s strange because I’ve always been closer to Hal. I mean, Hal was great—he came and saw me, too, after they all found out, and gave me a hug, and asked me to let him know if he could do anything. But Ryan was… insightful, I suppose. He didn’t just state loudly that All Violence is Bad and get cross with me for blaming myself. He was thoughtful and understanding. It surprised me, that’s all. I hadn’t realized he had that much depth to him, you know? He’s relatively quiet, and I assumed he didn’t think that much, but actually I think there’s a lot going on in his brain once you get past the usual trio of rugby, food, and sex.”
I glance across at him again. He’s insightful? I suppose I’m not really surprised. But it is another side to him, and it’s not an unpleasant one.
Stefan finally reappears on the lawn and walks up to join him and Hal. Jules and I watch them for a moment as we finish off our champagne. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but Hal says something, Stefan replies by making a discreet wanking gesture, and the other two laugh.
“I think Stefan’s giving his opinion on Pete,” I say.
Jules gives a wry, somewhat sad smile. “I doubt it. Stefan doesn’t give a fuck if I’m interested in someone else. If he did, he’d have asked me out by now.” She drinks the last mouthful of champagne. “Looks as if they’re going to start heading us toward the ballroom, thank God. If I don’t eat something soon, I’ll be trying to seduce the violinist.”
That makes me laugh—the guy’s at least seventy and bald as a coot.
“I bet he gives great oral without his teeth in,” I tell her, and she snorts. “Come on then,” I say. “Let’s head over and have something to soak up the champagne.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ryan
I watch Clio follow some of the guests toward the castle, and observe the sway of her hips in the dress. She’s wearing high heels, and I suspect a corset beneath the layers of materials, judging by the way she’s holding herself somewhat stiffly. Oh yeah. I look forward to discovering exactly what delights lie under there later.
Tearing my gaze away, I try to concentrate on what Hal and Stefan are saying. Hal has just mentioned casually that Jules and Pete seemed to be hitting it off and said he seemed a nice kind of guy. Stefan doesn’t agree, judging by the wanking gesture. Or maybe he just doesn’t like anyone who shows an interest in Jules.
“You know she likes you?” I say to Stefan, remembering my promise to Clio that I’d speak to him. I wait for him to—in typical bloke fashion—express shock at this revelation.
But, to my surprise, he finishes off his glass of champagne and says, “Yeah, I know.”
I exchange a glance with Hal, who raises an eyebrow. “But you’re not going to make a move?” Hal says.
“Nope.” Stefan places his glass on the tray of a waiter as he passes.
“You don’t like her in that way?” I half expect that to be the case. Stef’s always gone for leggy blondes in the past, model types who clearly only eat a lettuce leaf a day. Jules is girl-next-door pretty, not plump but not skinny either, and possibly a little outspoken and smart for Stefan, if he likes the classy, reserved kind of woman.
“I’ve never thought of her as your type,” Hal says, confirming my thoughts.
Stefan opens his mouth to reply, meets my gaze, then Hal’s. “I’m suddenly self-conscious I’m talking to her two brothers.”
Hal gives a wry smile. “I think we’ve known each other long enough not to worry about that.” Stefan’s mom and ours have been good friends since they first met thirty years ago.
Hal and Stefan are best mates, but I’ve also known Stefan since he was born, so I know him pretty well. The two of them ran a little wild at veterinary college, although somehow they managed to combine their late nights, drinking parties, and numerous partners with keeping up with their studies, and both qualified near or at the top of their classes. Hal’s the outgoing one, warm and benevolent, who wins everyone over with his smile and makes them feel as if they’re the only person in the room and the most important person he’s ever met. Stefan has always been the bad cop in their good cop/bad cop routine, the quiet, moody one who draws women to him because they think he’s a rebel who needs reforming. He’s not a rebel at all; just like the rest of us, he’s a good, decent guy who’s just maybe a bit less obvious with the charm than the easygoing Kings. He’s organized and efficient, tough when he needs to be, but a good friend who’d go to the ends of the Earth to help someone out.
Of course he’s known Jules as long as he’s known the two of us, and for the first time I wonder whether that’s the issue.
“Is the fact that Jules is our sister the problem?” I ask.
Stefan studies his shoes for a second, and I know I’ve hit the nail on the head. “It’s not exactly the done thing to bang your best mate’s little sis,” he says.
Normally, Hal would have made a joke about that, saying something about how he’d happily have banged Maia—Stefan’s sister—given half the chance, if she hadn’t declared years ago she wasn’t going to go within a mile of Hal the Alley Cat. But to my surprise he doesn’t.
Instead, he says, “I know what you mean. And obviously, if you were anyone else and you were talking about getting involved with Jules without any intention of it being serious, we’d both have something to say about it. But, dude, if you really have feelings for her, A, it’s nothing to do with us, and B, you know we’d both be delighted. I mean, I’m not saying you’d have to propose on the first date or anything, but I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as a brother-in-law than you.”
Stefan lifts his gaze back to Hal. “And if I did date her, and it didn’t work out?”
And then I see the problem. He values Hal’s friendship, and probably the fact that he works at the Ark with all our family and his friends, too much to jeopardize them by indulging in a relationship that has no guarantee of succeeding.
I can see from Hal’s face that he’s come to the same co
nclusion. “It wouldn’t change anything,” Hal says.
But Stefan’s face is stony, and he shakes his head. “Jules is great—funny, intelligent, and gorgeous, and any guy would be lucky to have her. But me and her—it’s never going to happen. And the sooner everyone comes to terms with that, the better.” He looks away, to where Leon and Nix are starting to head toward the castle. “Time to move, I think.” And he walks away.
Hal and I start following slowly. When I meet his gaze, he’s frowning.
“I sense a subtext,” I say, and he nods.
“I don’t know if you remember back in July last year, Stef took a week off work, told us he was going to the South Island skiing.”
“Vaguely,” I reply, not sure where this is going.
“Well, after a few days, I was talking to Dad and he let slip that Stefan had been involved in some kind of incident, something to do with his family. It was clear from what he said that Stefan hadn’t gone away but was in Auckland.”
I know Stefan’s parents well. His dad, Nikau, began working for the We Three Kings Foundation in Auckland when he first met Elise—Stefan’s mom—and he’s now a director, in charge of the Foundation across the North Island. Elise is a computer whiz who made a fortune setting up security systems for corporations. Stef also has a sister, Maia. I’ve known them all since my mom met Brock.
“What kind of incident?” I ask Hal.
“Dad wouldn’t tell me—he said he wasn’t sure if Stefan wanted people to know and that I should ask Stef. I did, but he just said he didn’t want to talk about it. But you know Mason Albright?”
“Of course.” Mason is the son of the woman Elise set up her business with years ago, her old friend from university.
“Well, all I know is that since that incident, whatever it was, Stefan hasn’t spoken to Mason.”
My eyebrows rise. Stefan was good friends with Mason, almost as close as he is with Hal. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. And he’s been… different. Quieter. More serious. I don’t know what happened, but after what he said about Jules, I wonder if it had something to do with his sister.”
“You think Mason and Maia had a thing?”
“Possibly. And maybe it didn’t end well, and she was upset or something, and that’s why he’s so determined not to date Jules. I know he likes her. You remember how he reacted at the bar that evening when he found out what Connor had done to her.”
“Yeah,” I say, “he got all riled up.”
“Exactly. And I know him well enough to know he’s interested in her. He pretends he isn’t, but he does this thing when he’s around a woman he likes; he goes all moody and mysterious. I can’t imagine why else he wouldn’t be interested in dating her. He knows us well enough to know that if they didn’t work out, we’d hardly kick up a fuss.”
I nod, stifling a sigh as I think how complicated relationships can be sometimes. We’re all animals at heart and it should be a lot easier than this, but it rarely seems to be. “Well, I suppose ultimately we can’t force him to date her. If he’s made that decision, we’ll just have to honor it. Clio says Jules has accepted it’s not going to happen, so she’ll probably put it behind her and move on, you know what she’s like. She’s not going to hang around forever waiting for him.”
“Yeah,” Hal says. Then his lips curve up a little. “So… a little birdie told me you and Clio hooked up on the way down.”
“Our sister has a big mouth,” I tell him.
“I wondered why you bit my head off when I said about her making more of an effort,” he says.
“Sorry about that.”
“Nah, it was fair enough. She’s a good girl.” He gives me a mischievous look. “Not too good though, I hope.”
“Probably best I don’t answer that,” I say, and we both chuckle.
“You going to continue seeing her?” he asks.
“I don’t think so,” I admit honestly. “She’s not interested in anything serious, and anyway, it’s possible I might be moving to Wellington.”
Hal stops in his tracks and stares at me. “What?”
I gesture with my head to get him moving again, then tell him about Mike Fenton’s call. “He thinks Tama Herewini’s going to offer me a full-time position.”
“And you’re thinking of taking it?”
“I’m thinking about it. It would be working with the adoption agency, Hal. You know how important the subject has been with our family. And for me. It would be nice to give something back.”
“I get that.” He gives me a crooked smile. “I’d miss you at the Ark, though.”
“Thanks. I’d miss you too.” It’s an uncharacteristic display of brotherly affection, presumably brought on by the heightened emotions that seem to hang around at weddings.
“Anyway,” Hal says briskly, “I need to find my wife. It’s been far too long since I’ve kissed her. I don’t want her thinking I don’t care about her anymore.”
I laugh and gesture for him to go over to where Izzy’s talking with a couple of our older relatives, and he grins and walks off.
I walk through to the open area in front of the castle, and there I see Clio standing in front of the raised lawn, in conversation with Bear. She’s listening to him talk, but as I cross the graveled path, her gaze slides to me, and she sends me a pleading glance.
Sliding my left hand into my trouser pocket, I approach the two of them and give Bear a smile. “Hey. You must be Bear. Ryan King.” I hold out my right hand.
“Hi,” he says, shaking my hand, obviously annoyed at the intrusion. “Good to meet you. Anyway, as I was saying, we played in Christchurch and—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” I say, “but Nix asked me to fetch Clio because she needs some help with her dress.” I offer her my arm. “Shall we?”
She gives Bear an apologetic smile, slides her hand to hold my elbow, and we leave him glaring at me furiously and walk past the castle toward the ballroom.
“Thank you,” she says with relief. “I couldn’t escape.”
“Happy to help.” I look down at her. She’s several inches shorter than me, even in her heels. The sun shines down on her golden hair, and she has a slight flush on her cheekbones. Is that from the sun or from seeing me? I like to think it’s the latter. “You look gorgeous,” I tell her.
She laughs. “You too, handsome. I love the suit. You wear it very well.” She runs a light hand down my arm, sending shivers all the way up my spine. “By the way,” she continues, “Jules told me you know about what happened with Connor.”
I nod. “Albie let it slip a few months ago.”
“She said you were very sweet about it, very supportive.” She looks up at me, her blue eyes a shade darker than the sky behind her.
“That’s nice.”
She doesn’t reply, but I think for some reason whatever Jules said has had an effect on her. I wonder why?
“I spoke to Stefan,” I tell her. “About Jules.”
“And?”
“Oh, he likes her, and he knows she likes him. But he’s not going to ask her out. He says it’s because of the whole ‘you don’t bang your best mate’s little sis’ code.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Well, yeah, kinda. There might be more to it than that.” I tell her what Hal told me about Stefan not talking to Mason Albright.
“Hmm,” she says. “It’ll be a shame if that’s stopping them from getting together. I think they’d be really well suited.”
“Me too. But he seemed adamant, and nothing Hal or I said would change his mind.”
She stops at the front of the castle. “That makes me sad. Why’s it so complicated?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking the same thing.”
She drops her hand from my arm and turns to look up at me, and we study each other for a moment, in the warm sunshine, the laughter and music emanating from the ballroom fading into the background as our eyes meet.
She doesn’t say anything, and neither do I,
but I know we’re both thinking the same thing. That it’s hard in this life to find someone with whom you’re compatible, and it seems a shame when you do find that person to turn your back on what could be the perfect relationship.
Eventually, she lowers her gaze and turns toward the ballroom. “Come on. I’m hungry.”
“Yeah, me too.” And we walk together into the building.
Chapter Nineteen
Clio
We have pre-dinner drinks with canapés in the tea garden, and then slowly meander through to the ballroom. It doubles as a tearoom during the day but has been transformed into a dining hall this afternoon. There are open fireplaces, one of which is lit, and elegant white drapes over the ceiling-high windows. Huge floral arrangements decorate the corners, and the ceiling is strung with hundreds of rows of fairy lights that make the whole place look like a fairy grotto.
Waiters show the hundred or so guests to their place at two rows of tables with pristine white cloths that run down either side of the hall. I’m shown to a seat with Noah on my left and Stefan on my right. I’m opposite Ryan, who has Abby and Jules on either side of him. The bride and groom and Hal and Izzy are on my right, a few seats down.
Everyone’s hungry, in spite of the canapés, and we welcome the food as it starts appearing on the table. It’s spring fayre, with pastel colors and light flavors—an amazing first course of a seafood tower, with oysters, New Zealand’s huge green-lipped mussels, lobster, and crab; main meals of orange-soy-glazed scallops, trout with parsley-caper vinaigrette, spring vegetable risotto, grilled rack of lamb with asparagus, and herb-roasted chicken and rice with fresh apricots. There are also dishes of baby potatoes with rosemary oil, and various green salads. And for dessert there’s berry compote over Greek yoghurt with pistachio honey, twice-baked lemon cake, a rich dark-chocolate vegan cake with passionfruit and Amaro, and mini rice puddings. All served with champagne or a choice of red or white wine.
My Wicked Billionaire (The Billionaire Kings Book 6) Page 13
