by Ruby Vincent
“Does that make me your stand-in?” Carter asked.
“No, of course not. I indulge my snuggle time with you too. This is all I’m allowed until we discuss that ex-friends-with-benefits package.”
His brow shot up his forehead. “Any discussion of that kind takes place after I’m wooed and subdued. All the stuff I did to seduce you before was when we were heading toward being newlywed enemies. If you want the real thing out of me, it’s your turn.”
Pushing him down, I placed my hands on his chest and rested my chin on top of them. “First of all, what part of the start of summer was you seducing me?”
“We had our second date that night in the water.”
“The night we were surrounded by skinny-dippers?”
“The first was our breakfast date,” he continued.
“The one where I swore to take you down.”
“And the teaser was our speed-date when we first kissed.”
I hummed. “If all of that counts, we can call the clowns foreplay.”
He shuddered. “Don’t bring up the clowns.”
“You two are so ridiculous.”
The muttered sentence swung our heads around. Nathan gave us both a look.
“You’ve been dancing around it for weeks. Preston and I had an easier time making up with Belle and she punched him dead in his face, and swore she’d throw my cheating ass in front of a truck if she ever saw me again.”
“We get your history is a tangled, complicated mess,” Preston said, swinging our heads the other way. “But just fuck already.”
My face lit on fire.
“Damn, guys,” Carter said. “Aren’t you her boyfriends? Shouldn’t you be having an entirely different reaction?”
Nathan scoffed. “If we were going to get possessive about you and Belle, it would have happened a long time ago and this”—he pointed at us cuddled on the blanket—“wouldn’t be going down so smoothly.”
“Besides,” Preston piped up. “It’s suddenly freaking obvious now how Carter Knight became the ice prince. You fell for Belle years before any of us came along and she got away. As her fellow victims, we know something like that cuts you deep and permanent. You’ll never get over her, and we’re your boys. We can’t condemn you to misery.”
“It’s you, man,” Nathan said. “If Asher rolled up and tried to sling his shot, he’d get his ass beat into the sand despite that stuff we said about being willing to share.”
“But not you,” Preston agreed. “I told Belle we were three guys connected to her by fate. It makes sense that it’d be the four of us.”
I smiled at him. “Did you guys rehearse that?”
“Yep. Had to be said. You two needed a push.”
“Apparently that’s my fault and I need to up my seduction.” I flashed Carter a smirk. “If we go out on the boat and I toss you overboard, is that tantamount to an I love you?”
“Do you love me?” he asked, throwing my smirk back at me.
“Sorry, but in this love story, you don’t get it that easily.”
“Belle! Nathan!”
Zion and Owen waved from the water.
“You guys know how to surf,” Zion said. “Why are you sitting there? Come join us.”
I got up and dragged Carter and Preston with me. “You too. It’s time you learned how to surf.”
“Babe, we were named the kings of Blackburn Academy,” Preston said. “What will it do to our reps to be seen wiping out on a flimsy piece of foam?”
“Won’t look too good.” I blew him a kiss. “Good thing high school is over.”
I led them out into the waves, and if I held on to both their hands longer than needed, Carter didn’t pull away.
PRESTON
“Never thought I’d get tired of parties.”
I hauled a jacket out of the closet and tossed it at Nathan. The three of us were in my room, kicking back and lining up clothes for the party coming the next night.
He snatched it out of the air. “A black and white party to go with the glamour party, to top the Hollywood party. Everyone is copying each other at this point.”
“Better than the Queen of Hearts party knock-offs,” Carter said. “A Snow White and a Peter Pan theme before they accepted they couldn’t pass them off as anything other than a children’s birthday party on our budget. Queen of Hearts did it right.”
“Belle and her team killed it,” I agreed.
Just like that, we were talking about Belle.
Talking about Belle. Thinking about Belle. Sleeping with Belle. Running my fingers through Belle’s sudsy hair while she jacked me off in the shower. It blew my mind how the girl I ran into one day at the museum suddenly became the fixed point my world revolved around.
“I finally understand why my mom makes us do this,” I said. “So we appreciate the time, money, and effort that goes into coordinating fifty events a year, and stop complaining and sneaking off five minutes in.”
“She teaches us in so many ways,” said Nathan.
We chuckled.
“Guys,” Carter began. “About earlier on the beach. Did you mean that stuff or were you saying it for Belle?”
“I meant it.”
“Me too,” Nathan echoed.
“It comes down to if you want her,” I said. “She’s making it pretty clear that she wants to be with you.”
Carter looked away. “That’s not what it comes down to.”
“Then what does it?” asked Nathan.
“Mal.”
The name dropped the temperature in the room twenty degrees.
“Think about it,” Carter said. “Even if there was no Delilah or Colonel or any of the other stuff in our way, Belle would still leave us because of him. She’s terrified he’d hurt us or worse and”—Carter touched his scar—“I can say without a doubt that he would. I was fucking twelve and the man nearly killed me.”
Nathan vaulted off the bed. “What the fuck are you saying? We just let her go?”
“I’m saying she won’t give us a choice!” He jumped up too. “I wouldn’t change what happened that day. I’d run at that bastard a thousand fucking times to save her. And Belle knows that. She knows it of all of us. The summer is all she’s promising us for a reason. At the end of it, she’s cutting us out of her life to protect us, but you know what? I’m not losing her again.
“This is what it comes down to.” Carter grabbed our shoulders, meeting our gaze with a look I’d never seen on his face, but knew well. “If we want to be with her, we fucking get rid of Malcolm Byrne.”
Nathan and I shared a look. “What are we waiting for?” I asked. “I was willing to take him out the second I realized who her friend truly was.”
“What do you have in mind?” Nathan echoed.
Like it was a surprise that we agreed with Carter one hundred percent. There were endless obstacles in our future with Belle—Malcolm Byrne would not be one of them.
“She and her parents have tried cops, restraining orders, bodyguards, and cross-country moves. The fight has to be brought to him and he needs to be put down,” Carter said. “Permanently.”
“We don’t disagree with anything you’re saying,” Nathan replied. “But we still come back to how. How do we find him? Belle’s folks have more money and experience with the guy and they can’t track him down.”
“We don’t have to,” I said, recalling something I told Belle. “Don’t need to know where he is when we know where he’ll be. And that’s wherever Belle is. You don’t search for a shark in the ocean. You throw a bucket of chum in the water and let it come to you.”
“The chum in this case being Belle?” Nathan’s voice was laced with disbelief. “Are you saying we use her as bait?”
“Yes.”
“No!” They shouted me down.
I put my hands up. “Listen to me. We don’t actually put her in any danger. Belle won’t be anywhere near this trap.”
“Explain,” Carter said.
“He does
n’t know where she is right now. He’s assuming she went away for the summer. Likely in England with the extended relatives. We let him think that,” I said. “Splash about on social media that she just got home from a great trip with her new fiancé in tow.” I inclined my head at Carter. “The two of you are crazy in love and excited about living together in your apartment while you plan your Christmas wedding.
“Mal is going to see that. The twisted fuck won’t be too pleased, and he’ll come after her and run into the lethal arms of my private security instead.”
Now it was Carter’s and Nathan’s turn to share a look.
“All right, but there’s a problem,” Carter said. “Belle stays off social media because of him. She for sure doesn’t shout her plans and location. If she suddenly starts posting that stuff, he’ll see right through it.”
“Belle isn’t going to do it.” Crossing the room, I leaned against the dresser and folded my arms. “You, her oblivious fiancé, are going to write a post that shares a little too much and tag her in it. It’ll be deleted quick, but if he’s watching her as closely as we believe he is, he’ll see it and act.”
Nathan nodded along. “Where do we send him?”
“Carter, your dad keeps an apartment near the office. Penthouse. Security twenty-four seven. Just the place a careful person like Belle would agree to live in. Mal would buy that she’s there and he’ll stake the place out. Maybe even approach the staff or install himself somewhere nearby. When he does, my security will find him and take him out.”
“Kill him,” Carter said bluntly.
I gave him a level look. “Legally, we can’t ask them to do that. We can have Mal brought to us... and take it from there.”
Nathan rubbed his knuckles, squeezing his fists. “Don’t care what they say about you, Desai, you’re more than just a pretty face.”
I chuckled. “Is that what they say? Good. It’s always better to be underestimated than for them to see you coming.”
“Malcolm fucking Byrne won’t see us coming,” said Carter. “Let’s find Belle. Tell her we’re ending this once and for all.”
“Not now.” I stopped him halfway to the door. “She’s off with Mila and Kelli shopping for the party. She’s happy, relaxed, and having a good time. She’s asked us to stop talking about Mal because she doesn’t want to think about him. If we tell her what we’re planning, that’s exactly what she’ll do. Worry, stress, and try every day to talk us out of it. We’ve got four weeks of summer left,” I told them. “We can let her have a few more.”
“He’s right,” Nathan said. “We’ll tell her in a couple of weeks. Gives us time to work out the plan and her less time to talk us out of it.”
“Mal won’t get his hands on her again,” Carter hissed. “I don’t care what we have to do.”
“Agreed.”
“This ends.” I put out my hand. “Now.”
We shook.
BELLE
That night, I knocked on Carter’s door.
“Come in.”
I walked in as he was getting off the phone.
“Great. Thanks, Dad. Bye.”
“Dad?” I prompted as he tossed the phone aside. “Did I witness you wrapping up a civil conversation with your father?”
Carter openly raked me up and down, taking in my lace, floral romper and bow tie sandals. Pleasure rippled through my body at his appreciation. The way clothes made me feel was just as yummy as the power they had over other people.
“You did,” he confirmed. “Civil is the way to go when I want something from him.”
“What do you want?”
“Use of his city penthouse,” he said. “How’d shopping go?”
“Cecilia had a few things to say about my rising shopping bill. She had a point though. A new dress or gown for every party was getting excessive. Instead, we went to this amazing vintage shop and I got an ivory sweetheart gown from the fifties. You’re going to come in your pants when you see me.”
He laughed. “Exposure therapy to your daily outfits has me under control. I think I can make it without a public incident.”
I rounded the bed, holding out my hands. “What about a private one?”
“Depends.”
“On?” I asked as I drew him up.
Carter secured our hands behind my back and pressed our bodies closer than two people could be. “If those clothes are on you or the floor.”
A thrill warmed my cheeks. I’d been waiting weeks for Carter to speak like this. It surprised even me how quickly those old feelings returned. Though if I thought about it, they never truly faded. Carter Knight was quick, witty, passionate, and his eyes saw straight to my soul. Whenever I was around him, I felt stripped and laid bare.
It was terrifying being challenged by someone like that, but if I’d learned anything that summer, it was that a life playing it safe wasn’t one worth living.
“You going somewhere?” he asked. “Hanging out at the bar?”
“I am going somewhere, but we’re not going to the bar.”
He cocked a brow. “We?”
“I believe it was you who said if I wanted you, I had to seduce you.” I smacked his ass. “Put something sexy on. We’re going on a date.”
“I now take back everything I said.”
“Too late,” I sang. Rising up, I caressed his jaw with my lips. “I have it all planned. Dinner, conversation, and then—spoiler alert—my clothes will be coming off.”
His cock twitched against my leg.
“Are you sure you have this guy under control?” I asked. “Because he’s saying plenty in your place.”
“We’re saying the same thing. I’ll be ready in five minutes.”
Carter made good on their word. He changed into dark pants and a buttoned shirt that opened at his collar. I bit my lip as he slid on a pair of shades and a watch. He didn’t need those things, especially at night, but the man knew style had nothing to do with practicality. There was something incredibly sexy about that.
“Where are we going?” he asked as we left his room.
“You know it. It’s the place where you first let me view the goods.”
Together we descended the stairs and slipped out into the night. It was a peaceful scene. Friends and couples gathered on the pool chairs, talking in low tones. Zion and Owen lazily floated in the pool. We passed them and continued on, letting the villa grow small behind us.
“Wait.” Stopping, I bent and took off my shoes, squidging my toes in the cool sand. He followed my lead. As he rose, Carter laced our fingers together, initiating contact for the first time.
“I hope you like it,” I said. “Hendrix helped me out a little. I think he’s rooting for me.”
“I am too, Belle. Everyone who meets you is overcome. We want to help you. Please you. Make you happy.”
“People don’t care that much about me.”
“How can you say that after everything that’s happened?” He grasped my chin, tilting me to look at him. “You’re surrounded by people who would sacrifice everything for you. Because unlike Mal who has to own and possess, you ask nothing. You expect nothing. I think a part of you even believes you deserve nothing. You can’t walk away from someone like that.” He dropped his hand. “Ask me how I know.”
I tucked myself under his arm, burying my face in his side. Carter said he couldn’t walk away. But how far could I go from a man who says things like that?
A gleam shone in the distance. We crossed the final patch of beach to the blanket.
Hendrix and I put it together pretty quickly. Asking the chef to pack our dinner. Buying a picnic basket and candles in town. Choosing a playlist based on Carter’s evolved musical taste. The result was better than I imagined.
Flickering candles encircled the blanket. We stepped over them and stretched among our feast. Fresh bread, fruit, caprese salad, turkey panini, cider, and chocolate brownies.
Carter whistled. “I did say I wanted to be wooed.”
&nbs
p; “Does it live up to your expectations?”
“This is great, Belle.”
We dug in, piling food on our plates, and mostly using them to feed each other. Carter rubbed the sweet grape on my lips and hitched a breath as I closed over it and his fingers. The next one he threw me, whooping when I zipped to the side and caught it open-mouthed.
“You haven’t lost your touch,” he said. “I swear, I could blindfold you and you’d still catch it.”
“I’ve only gotten better with age, Knight. In every way.”
He smiled. “Yes, you have.”
I shivered in the warm night. I felt as beautiful as my boys told me I was when he looked at me like that.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“What do you want to do with a bigger inheritance?” I asked. “Very few people would give up this lifestyle, I get that, but with you there’s always more. Living on every continent isn’t your dream, Carter. What is?”
Carter glanced out over the sea. The champagne glass hung from his fingertips, its contents swirling around as the silence stretched. When he spoke, it almost startled me.
“Did Preston ever tell you about his sophomore roommate?”
“The one who smelled like moldy milk cartons and frustration?”
“He’s such an asshole,” he muttered. “But yeah, that’s the guy. Did Preston also tell you that guy was me?”
“He did not, but that makes a lot of sense.”
“I was working on a way to break down those trash gyres. There are five—fucking five— floating patches of garbage in our oceans causing terrible harm to marine life, and no one is doing a thing about it. Cleaning up the large debris is one thing. It’s the microplastics that pose the biggest challenge. They can be as small as five millimeters and have sunk as far as the ocean floor. How do you devise a net fine enough to scope them out and not catch fish, turtles, and all the rest in it?”
“I don’t see how you can,” I said.
“That’s the answer I came to,” he replied, voice wry. “Hence the frustration. But just because it’s difficult and expensive, doesn’t mean we give up and watch our planet die. An argument I’ve made to my father numerous times as I’ve pushed him to adopt environmentally friendly alternatives and eventually get the Knights out of the oil business.