Heart of Hope: Books 1-4

by Williams, Ajme

  “Yes. But you have to work, Bri. You can’t stay out all night and then stroll in at three in the afternoon whenever you want.”

  “Why not? If I’m out all night, I’m doing research.”

  I smirked at her, though I suppose she had a point. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Goodnight, big brother.” She shut her door.

  I shook my head as I laughed. We’d create the best club in New York, I was sure of it. It would likely be fun, but also, full of headaches to work with her.

  Once in my room, I got ready for bed, and then stood at my window looking over the river, as Serena drifted back into my brain. She’d never been far from thought since I saw her that afternoon.

  She never did tell me why she didn’t come with me to Europe five years ago. She suggested that I shouldn’t have cared because it was a little fling. I had cared. She’d been the one to dismiss the depth of feeling between us. Or, I suppose, I was the only one who felt that way.

  Perhaps it was just as well. I had no doubt my parents wouldn’t have approved of her simply because she wasn’t from an old money family. The only reason my parents liked Evie was that her family had been part of New York aristocracy longer than mine had.

  I wondered what my parents would do if Serena had come with me. I scoffed. I knew exactly what they’d do. They’d work to separate us. They’d probably try to pay her off. I didn’t think Serena could be that easily bought, and yet, I supposed everyone had a number. I’d like to think she and I would have made it. We’d have lived and loved through Europe. Maybe we’d be married. Perhaps I’d have that heir I was expected to have.

  I shook my head. Fairy tales and soulmates were for pussies. A fantasy was all well and good for jerking off, but real life wasn’t as clean or happy as the books and rom-coms suggested. The truth was Serena would have probably missed her family or gotten bored with me and my life. Lots of women said they wanted to be a princess, but then they learned that living with a prince sucked.

  I climbed into bed, sinking down into the soft sheets and closing my eyes. It didn’t take long for Serena to show up in my dreams. She was naked, sauntering toward me with those blue eyes blazing.

  “Welcome home, Devin.”

  That was the greeting I’d have preferred, I thought.

  “Did you miss me?” she cooed.

  “Yes.” My dick was at full mast as I took her in my arms and got reacquainted with her luscious body. Unfortunately, in my dream, I was never going to get the satisfaction my body craved. I woke the next morning with a dick as hard as granite.

  I slipped out of bed and headed to the shower. Stepping under the hot spray, I conjured Serena up in my mind again, this time on her knees, those blue eyes watching me as I slipped my dick between her luscious pink lips.

  “Suck me, baby,” I rasped while gripping my cock and giving it a long stroke. During our week together five years ago, I’d not only taken her virginity, but I’d showed her all the ways a man and woman could enjoy each other. She’d been an eager, active learner, and more than once had me seeing stars. The first time she sucked my cock until I came, I thought I’d blown the top of my head. She was a natural when it came to sex, and I couldn’t get enough of her. Even now, five years later, the image of her sucking me off was my go-to jerk-off fantasy.

  “Yeah baby, more,” I groaned as my hand slid faster and faster, while in my mind she was licking and sucking and stroking my cock. I jerked my hips forward, shoving my cock to the back of her throat. The image tipped me over, and I sprayed my hot cum over the tile wall of my shower.

  “Fuck.” I pressed my hands on the tile as I caught my breath and my dick finished jerking the last bits of cum.

  It occurred to me that now we were in the same town, perhaps we could pick up where we left off. She’d seemed resistant to that idea, but maybe it was because she really believed I hadn’t taken us as seriously as I had.

  I finished cleaning up and dressed for a day at the office. I checked the calendar on my phone and saw I was planning another trip to the restaurant. Would Serena be there again? The party for Gallagher was tonight. I wasn’t planning on attending, but maybe I should. It would be goodwill for Gallagher and his celebrity friends. And maybe I’d see Serena.

  I headed downstairs for breakfast. My father was at the table eating his usual egg and toast. My mother had her tea.

  As I sat down, my parents’ cook brought me a plate of eggs and bacon. “Would you like anything else, Mr. Roarke?” she asked me.

  “No, thank you, Mrs. Sanders.” After she returned to the kitchen, I poured myself a coffee. “I’m thinking of attending the Gallagher party tonight.”

  “Good idea,” my father said. “Get seen by his acquaintances.”

  “Do you think we should have our thirtieth anniversary at the Roarke?” my mother asked.

  “Thirty years? Really?” I asked.

  “You’re twenty-eight. We were married two years before we had you,” she said. My mother didn’t look old enough to have been married thirty years.

  “That seems like the ideal spot,” my father said.

  It’s true that ideas often were sparked like light bulbs. “Let me plan it,” I said.

  My mother stared at me with suspicion in her eyes. “Why?”

  “Because it’s crass to organize your own anniversary party,” I said, not knowing if that was true. “I’ll take care of everything.” Including hiring a certain, sexy, event planner.

  I could see my mother was wary about putting her anniversary plans in my hands, but my father supported the idea with the sideways remark that it was time I appreciated my family. Finishing my breakfast, I headed to the Roarke building to start my day. I began by emailing my sister the space I was eyeing for a club. Then I questioned the administrative assistant who I inherited from my father about what my parents would like as a thirtieth anniversary party.

  “I was thinking of having it at the house in the Hamptons,” I told her. “I think it would be good for them to get out of the city.”

  She eyed me. “Do you plan to leave them there and take over?”

  “There’s an idea,” I said jokingly. “No. But I do think my dad does need to start recognizing that he needs to look ahead. He needs to find something to occupy his time when he does retire.”

  She nodded. “Good point. I like the Hampton house idea. Do you want me to call any planners?”

  “No. I’ve got one in mind.”

  She quirked a brow. “Back a week and you already know the event planners.”

  “Her company is doing the Gallagher party tonight at the Roarke.”

  “Okay, so maybe you do,” she said, with a shrug.

  “Look, I know when I left here five years ago, I wasn’t the most focused person—”

  “Sure, you were,” she said with a smirk. “It was just on the ladies.”

  “Touché. The point is, I’m not that man anymore. I’m here ready to work.”

  “I know everything you did in Europe, and while I’m sure your father is scarce on the praise, he’s proud of you, Devin.”

  “I won’t let him or the company down.”

  She patted my hand as she stood. It was the type of thing an older grandmotherly type would do which told me I still had a little work to do to make her see me as the head of the business. That was okay. At least she was on my side.

  “By the way, I’m going to the Gallagher party tonight,” I told her before she got through my doorway.

  “Do you need me to make any arrangements for you?”

  “No. I just wanted to let you know. Dad knows as well.”

  “Very well,” she said exiting my office.

  I worked through most of the day, and then in the afternoon, I headed down to the Roarke to check on the final set up for the party.

  At first, I didn’t see Serena and was worried she wouldn’t be there. But then she came bustling out from the kitchen with a clipboard handing out orders. She looke
d fierce and confident, much like she’d been when I first met her.

  I watched her for a minute, once again trying to decide why I felt a pull to her. Sure, five years ago, we had fun and I’d wanted to spend more time with her, but now, all this time later, surely all those feelings were gone. That and the fact that she had zero interest in me should have put me off. Yet here I was, gawking like a dumbass as she moved through the room with her staff.

  She stopped short when she saw me. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She said something to one of the people on her team and then came to me.

  “Is everything okay, Mr. Roarke?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve seen you naked. It seems to me we can use first names.”

  “I’m working,” she said, pursing her lips like my mother did when she didn’t like my attitude.

  “You can still call me Devin,” I said. I waited for her to give me permission to call her Serena, but she didn’t. I sighed. “Why are you pissed at me? I didn’t do anything.”

  She sighed. “I’m not pissed. I’m working. I have a lot to do before tonight.”

  “Right,” I said, now feeling bad for hassling her. I realized that this wasn’t the right moment to hire her for my parents’ anniversary party. “By the way, I plan to be here tonight.”

  She stiffened. “You don’t think we can do the job?”

  “I have no reason to think you can’t. I’m not doing it to check on you. I’m doing it because I’ve got to get resettled into the business here in New York, and this is one way to do it. To see how the Roarke does at holding events.”

  “Oh, right.” She relaxed some. “Sorry.”

  I studied her. “I really wish I understood why you’re acting this way toward me.”

  “Like I said, I’ve got a lot to do.”

  “Then I’ll let you do it. I’ll see you tonight.” I smiled, hoping it would relax her more, but she was already off talking to her staff.

  I watched for a second longer, confused as to why I cared so much that she was resistant to me and wondering if I could change her mind.

  5

  Serena

  I didn’t like being such a bitch to Devin, but I couldn’t let his charm and sexy smile seduce me. There was too much at stake, and this time it wasn’t my heart. It was Andrew’s. Yes, that made me a bitch too, but for all his attention now, he didn’t have any to give over the last five years. And his mother was clear on how little she valued me or my child.

  Once I knew everything was set for the event at the Roarke that night, I headed back to the office and changed into my plain little black dress and fake crystal earrings. I needed to look nice, and at the same time I needed to blend in, because my role at the Gallagher party was simply to make sure everything was running smoothly.

  I showed up at the same time as Nikita and slyly looked to see if Devin was there as we made our way across the restaurant to the room holding the party.

  “Looking for Mr. Roarke?” Nikita asked.

  “What? No.”

  She smirked. “I can’t blame you. He’s rich and handsome. And rumor has it he’s going to take the Roarke business into the twenty-first century.”

  “I don’t need rich or handsome.”

  She pursed her lips at me. “What do you have against men? I know you must like them because you have a son. Was baby daddy so bad that you never want to have sex again?”

  “I don’t mind sex.” Of course, I barely remembered it since I’d been too busy raising a son to have it since Devin. “But I don’t need the hassle of a relationship.”

  She tsked at me. “You’re far too young to be so pessimistic about love.”

  I shrugged, and looked around for something I could refocus her attention on. “Is that where you wanted the flowers?”

  She looked to where I pointed. “Not quite. I’ll deal with that. Can you check that the heaters are on out on the terrace?”

  Happy to be doing something other than discussing Devin or the lack of a man in my life, I set off to work.

  The event went exactly as Nikita and I had planned it, which was why I enjoyed being mentored by her. She had an ability to anticipate problems and fix them before they started.

  By the end of the evening, I was exhausted and my feet hurt from wearing heels, but it was a good kind of tired one got from a job well done.

  I was finishing up the end-of-event checklist when Nikita approached me. “We’re done here. I just need you to check in with Mr. Roarke.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why?”

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me. You need to be careful about showing your disdain for him. He’s well-connected and if you want to move up, you’ll need to at least pretend you like him.”

  I huffed out a breath. “I don’t dislike him.”

  “Good.” She handed me a folder. “Here is the paperwork, including the bill owed to the Roarke. You know the drill.”

  I nodded as I took the folder. “Why me?”

  “One, you know him. It’s good for the company to work those connections. Two, you want to move up in the company, right? Your acquaintance with him can help you do that. I’m looking out for you, Rena, even if you’re not.”

  I felt like a bratty teenager. “Yes, of course. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She walked off leaving me alone in the event space.

  I finished my work, psyching myself up to talk to Devin as the professional event planner that I was.

  “Ms. Moore, Mr. Roarke is in the lounge when you’re ready to settle,” a staff woman told me.

  “Thank you.” When I’d checked and double-checked that we were leaving things the way we found them, I headed out toward the bar and into the lounge area. It was late, so the restaurant was empty. A handful of people sat at the bar. I didn’t see anyone but Devin in the lounge.

  He sat in a leather wing-back chair overlooking the Manhattan skyline with an amber drink in his hand.

  He stood when he saw me. “Can I get you a drink?”

  I shook my head. “No. Thank you.”

  He motioned for me to sit in the chair next to his. “The event went well.”

  “It did, yes.” I pulled the paperwork from the folder and handed it to him. “The payment info is there.”

  He glanced at it and set it on the table between us. “I have another job I want you to do.”

  “Oh?” At least he wasn’t trying to find out why I didn’t show up five years ago or ask about my personal life.

  “My parents are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary in a couple of weeks and I want to host a party for them.”

  “A couple of weeks? That’s not much time.” For my parents, I could pull off a party in a matter of days, but high powered, old-money families like Devin’s needed months of planning to pull off a good party.

  “My father has Parkinson’s so it was uncertain whether he’d be up to it. We’d like a small event out at the beach house in the Hamptons.”

  I nodded. “I’ll let Nikita know.”

  “No.” His green eyes held mine. “I want you.”

  I swallowed hard and had to remind myself he was talking about wanting a party, not my body. “Important people like you are handled by Nikita.”

  “You seem more than capable. I’m sure it would look good to your boss if I hired you.”

  I pursed my lips. “I don’t need any favors.”

  He studied me like I’d grown horns. And I suppose I had. I was being a royal bitch.

  “What did I do to you?” he asked and I could see he was truly baffled. I couldn’t blame him. As far as he knew, I simply didn’t show up like I said I would when we planned to run off together.

  “Nothing. Sorry. I’m just tired.” Even so, it was strange how insistent he was around me. “Five years is a long time, Devin. We’re not the same people.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean?”

  I meant that we couldn’t go back to what we had before, but I knew I couldn’t say that. Wh
at if I was misunderstanding him? I didn’t need him laughing at me for assuming he wanted me again.

  I looked down. “I just don’t understand your…” I couldn’t find the right word.

  He laughed. “Sometimes I think you’ve changed and then you say something like that. You said the same thing five years ago. What do you think is wrong with you that someone wouldn’t be interested in you?”

  “Is that what you are? Interested?” Part of me wanted him to say yes, and yet I knew the answer had to be no. Not if I was going to protect Andrew. “Or is this more of the thrill of the chase?”

  He gave me a smile that was a mixture of affable and coy. “I don’t know yet.”

  “We’re too old to play that game,” I said standing. “I’m sure there is some other woman out that would enjoy being chased by you.”

  He shook his head. “Actually. There isn’t. I don’t normally have to chase.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Right. I’m the only woman who can resist you.”

  “So far.” He stood.

  “Your arrogance is showing.” What was worse was that there was something sexy in his arrogance.

  “Probably. You don’t get why I’m attracted to you, and to be honest, Serena, these days, I wonder too. The last time we were together, it was a lot easier. You seemed to enjoy my attention. And if I remember correctly, it turned out it wasn’t the thrill of the chase that had me. I was ready to start something with you. You’re the one that chickened out.”

  He was right.

  “What baffles me more is why all the hostility toward me.”

  “I’m not the same person anymore, Devin. I don’t have time for flings.”

  He laughed, but when he finished his drink, I noted annoyance in his eyes. “Fling. Right.” He set his glass down. “I’m going to be at the house tomorrow.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “If you want this opportunity to put on a party for the Roarke family, be there…let’s say about nine. If not, I’ll find someone else.”