Temptations - The Complete Series

by Annie Jocoby

  I went over to them to greet them and tell them congratulations.

  “Thank you,” Iris said, looking around. “I never thought that I’d take part in a wedding quite like this one. When Ryan and I got married, it was in his backyard, and we had Stroud’s chicken to serve to our guests. Here we are at the fancy-schmancy yacht club, and I really have to pee,” she said in a low voice. Her hand was on my shoulder, as if she were telling me a great big secret. “And I don’t think that I can leave until I have greeted all the guests.”

  I had to laugh when Iris’ conspiratorial words and tone told me exactly why she was looking so uncomfortable. “You better go. When nature calls, it won’t be denied.”

  She looked aecross the room with a worried expression on her face. She turned to her husband, who was busy chatting with Slade.

  “Go,” Ryan said, gesturing to the restroom that was all the way across the ballroom. “I’ll hold down the fort. But don’t take too long.”

  At that, Iris walked purposefully across the room and disappeared. Ryan looked at me and smiled. “Serena, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. You’re the first one of your family to arrive. I think that Christopher is stuck in traffic, as he’s coming from the city, and your father and stepmother will be here any minute. I’ve also heard from Mark and Amy, and they’re on their way as well.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said, although I felt vaguely apprehensive about seeing my family. They hated me, or they did hate me, for so many years. Luke finally got them to turn around and see me for who I was, and that meant that they hated me a bit less. But Amy had always judged me, and so did Mark. They were both too straight-laced for their own damned good. Chris had judged me much less, probably because his life was filled with drama, drugs and jail stints. He really had no room to judge me. And Luke was always so laid-back. He was therefore the easiest to win over.

  There was little love lost between myself and my father, but I had always hoped to change that as well.

  Ryan smiled, big, and I was briefly mesmerized. He certainly had a smile that would light up any room. I looked over at Slade and again thought that Slade was going to age like this man – Ryan just kept getting better-looking with every year.

  Ryan put his hand on my shoulder. “Now, you and Slade are at that table over there,” he said, pointing to a table that had red roses as its centerpiece. It was then that I noticed that every table had a different bouquet of flowers in the middle. Some of the tables had tulips in different colors, and others had roses in all different shades. Still others had bouquets of different wild flowers and one table had a centerpiece with birds of paradise, the tropical flower that had a magnificent orange color and had a very unusual bud. “You’re going to be seated with a United States Senator and a CEO of a multimillion dollar hedge fund.” He shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, but I swear, this will be a fun evening.”

  I raised my eyebrows at Slade, who smiled at me. “Don’t worry, I got this,” he said, as we left Ryan and headed to our table. “I know how you hate the men in the monkey suits.”

  I smiled at Slade. He did know me so well, even if we had only been together for less than a year. “Now, how did you know that?”

  “I remember that party that I had for the ASPCA full of important people, right when you and I first met. You looked like somebody who would have rather been sitting in front of a firing squad than being around all those people. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.”

  We sat down and Slade didn’t even have to introduce himself. The two men at our table, the Senator and the CEO, already knew him. They were like old friends.

  “Slade, my man, what are you doing here?” asked an older gentleman with white hair and a large bald spot. He was dressed in a high-dollar suit, and, next to him, was a 40-something woman who looked like she was a former supermodel. She was in better shape than somebody half her age, and, with her light hazel eyes, olive skin, and dark hair, she was truly a beautiful woman. She wore an off the shoulder black number and daintily sipped a glass of champagne.

  The two men embraced and we sat down. “Serena, this is Senator Hodges. He’s from the great state of New York. Senator Hodges, this is my significant other, Serena Roberts. She’s the sister of the groom, Luke.

  “Good to meet you, Serena. This is my wife, Leda,” he said, putting his arm around the gorgeous woman. “Leda, this is Slade Bridgewell, but you probably already know that, and Serena Roberts.”

  Leda smiled warmly and held out her hand for Slade to shake and then did the same for me. “Nice to meet you both.”

  We made some small talk before being greeted by another man that came over to Slade. He put his hand on Slade’s shoulder. “Slade, you bastard. I’m still waiting for your phone call about getting Alecta approved.” This man was middle-aged and handsome. He was smiling as he was talking, so I had to assume that he was joking around with Slade.

  Slade stood up and embraced the man. “Alex, what are you up to these days? Sorry I didn’t get back with you about that drug, but, as you know, I’ve been a bit preoccupied these days.”

  “I know. I’m just busting you. Congratulations on beating that murder charge, by the way.” He looked over at me. “She with you?”

  “Yes. Serena, this is Alex Moore. Alex is the CEO of a biotech company in Palo Alto.”

  We shook hands and Slade turned to him. “What brings you clear across the country like this?”

  “I’m good friends with Ryan. I do a lot of work and giving to his charity, because protecting animal rights is a big passion of mine.” He looked around. “This place looks like a ‘who's-who’ of the high society types.”

  Slade looked around too. “Sure does.” Then he turned to me. “Don’t worry, Serena. I won’t be schmoozing tonight. I’ll stick by your side.”

  “Slade, you don’t have to. If this event is going to be like a networking opportunity for you, then I say go for it. I have to reconnect with my family anyhow.”

  Slade just shrugged his shoulders and Alex sat down next to him. “What a happy coincidence, we’re at the same table,” Alex said with a smile. “My girlfriend is around here somewhere. She’s always ditching me. She’s kind of a climber.”

  “Aren’t they all?” Slade asked. Then he looked over at me. “Except Serena. She’s as far from a climber as you can get.”

  Alex just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then he bent down to say something private to Slade, and Slade just nodded his head and looked sympathetic.

  I looked around the room, trying to see if anybody from my family had show up. A few minutes later, I saw Chris. He was standing in a group of people, trying to look interested, but I knew better. He was probably bored to tears. He clearly looked like he wanted to have a guitar in his hand, and he probably did. His guitar was like his crutch, I thought ruefully. Chris, out of all of my family, had the most problems dealing with my mother’s death. It was obvious why he had so many issues with it. He saw our mother die, lying dead in a pool of her own blood, shot and killed while trying to protect him. Add to that the mere fact that he was involved in a mass shooting, and he would have died himself if the gunman hadn’t run out of bullets, and you had a perfect storm for poor Chris.

  I went over to him and embraced him. He looked almost startled, but he was soon hugging me back. “Sis, it’s good to see you,” he said. He sounded sincere, and I felt a bit more positive.

  “Good to see you too.” I took a look at him. His hair was a bit long, just past his shoulders, but he had it in a ponytail, so it didn’t look too bad. He looked like he had been working out. I always remembered him as being skinny, but he was really looking muscular. With his hazel-green eyes, chiseled features and a new muscular frame, Chris was really a great-looking guy, I thought, even better looking than his identical twin, Mark. I guess the reason why he seemed better-looking to me than Mark was that Mark could be such a straight-laced douchebag sometimes. Chris, on the other hand, was sens
itive and kind and creative. He had a lot of darkness in his life, but he channeled it into his music these days, instead of into drugs like he did in his youth. And he was completely non-judgmental. Basically, for Chris, if you’re not hurting other people, you’re good.

  He looked around the room nervously. “I never thought Luke would be involved in a shindig like this.”

  “Me neither. Then again, who would have ever thought that Luke would be taking the art world by storm at such a young age.”

  Chris smiled a shy smile. “It was inevitable, wasn’t it? After all, his soon-to-be-wife was the one who put Luke on the map. Her and that cray-cray Nottingham.”

  “We won’t speak of that,” I said as I sipped my drink. “That’s all behind us.”

  “Yeah. Anyhow, I don’t know if you heard or not. Probably not, but my band was just signed to Liam Gallagher’s record label. I’m totally stoked about that, because he’s discovered some huge names. I just hope that Metronics is the next big name to come out of his label. We go into the studio next week to record some demos.”

  I hugged him. “That’s great! See, I knew that you’d be signed. And you’re right – Liam has discovered some major names along the way. I’ve heard your music, and I think that you guys have the stuff to make it big.” Chris’ band fused some good ole’ fashioned grunge sound with some other influences, including Ska, Punk and even some MoTown funk. It was a sound that was fresh and new, yet one that I could imagine emerging as huge in the next few years. Who knows? Maybe Metronics would be the Nirvana of grunge fusion and would really put that particular genre on the map.

  “Here’s hoping,” he said, lifting his glass. I lifted my own and clinked it with his.

  He smiled. “Dalilah might be responsible for my success as well. After all, Liam is her cousin, and she introduced me to him. Liam has also sold a few of Luke’s songs that he has written, and they’re going to be recorded by some major artists. Luke really struck gold when he met that girl.”

  “He did strike gold, and not just because Dalilah has helped you and Luke in your careers. She’s really an awesome girl, too.”

  Chris smiled. “Yeah. Too bad I don’t have my awesome girl tonight.”

  I wasn’t aware that Chris had been seeing anybody. Last I heard, he had dumped his lady love because she didn’t support his dreams. “Who are you seeing?”

  “Nobody. That’s why I don’t have an awesome girl here tonight.”

  I lowered my voice. “Well, sometimes it happens when you least expect it. That’s what happened with Slade and me.”

  “I guess. Anyhow, did you have a chance to meet your two new step-sisters? I think that they’re around here somewhere.”

  “I don’t think that I would recognize them even if I did see them. Where are they?”

  He motioned over to a girl who was standing in the corner. She clearly knew nobody, and, like the rest of my family, including me, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. “That’s Bailey,” he said. She was just how I had described her to Slade, having seen pictures of her before. Her hair was a dark shade of purple, and was really quite beautiful. She had a nose ring and a sullen expression. She turned her back to us unveiling a backless gown that showed off an enormous tattoo.

  Next to Bailey was apparently Rayanne. She looked exactly like Bailey, except her hair was dark and looked to be her natural color, and she had on a good deal less makeup than her twin sister. She, too, had on a backless gown, but her back didn’t have a single mark on it.

  Both girls were gorgeous.

  I went over to talk to them. “Hello, I’m Serena,” I said, extending my right hand to the two girls. “I guess I’m your step-sister.” It seemed weird to be introducing myself in that way. I was 28 years old and I never imagined that I would be getting a new stepsister, let alone two new stepsisters.

  Rayanne smiled and gave me a hug. “I would say welcome to the family, but I guess that goes both ways.”

  Bailey, for her part, also came over and gave me a hug, albeit much more reluctantly than Rayanne. “Yay,” she said without enthusiasm. “I’m so excited.” She sounded anything but excited, however. She looked around the room. “I really need a drink or some pot. I can’t imagine getting through this evening sober.”

  I was amused that Bailey seemed to be so open.

  Rayanne gave a little nudge to Bailey, who rolled her eyes back at her sister. “What? Tell me that you’re not thinking the exact same thing.”

  “Of course I am, but that’s just because we don’t really know anyone here. And there aren’t any hot guys here just yet, except for our new stepbrother Chris, of course.” Then she spied Slade across the room. “And that guy right there,” she said, pointing at Slade. “But he’s with you, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  Bailey kind of threw her hands up in a gesture of frustration. “Well, there you go. The one hot guy, besides the one that we’re stuck being related to, is taken.”

  “Story of our life,” Rayanne said with a laugh. “Anyhow, Serena, it’s great to meet you.” Then she looked over at Slade a little more closely. “Oh, I know where I’ve seen him. I was thinking he looked familiar. He’s the hot rich dude who was up for murder, isn’t he? He just got the charges dropped though, right?”

  “You got it,” I said. “It was a crazy thing, and it’s not over yet.”

  Rayanne nodded her head knowingly. “Right. It seems that he gets over that murder thing, and gets right back into another charge. Sucks to be him, doesn’t it?”

  I laughed. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” If only Rayanne knew about crazy Charlotte, she would really know just how much it sucked to be Slade.

  “Maybe you can tell me sometime,” she said. Then she looked towards the entrance of the ballroom, where Mark was walking in through the door. She sighed. “Mark. Goddamn, our stepbrothers are hot.”

  Indeed, Mark was looking particularly “hot” that evening. He was dressed in a suit that looked tailored, and his dark hair was cut short. He had just a hint of a goatee growing on his face, and, like Chris, it looked like he had been making an effort at working out.

  I felt badly about not being in touch with Mark. After all, he and I lived in the same city. He was studying marine biology at the University of California-San Diego. Yet, I had lived in San Diego for almost a year, and I had never once called him to meet me for lunch or for a drink.

  Mark approached us, and, to my huge surprise, he put his arm around me. “Serena, you made it,” he said. “I should have asked if you wanted to travel with me. I actually drove here, across the country, because I wanted to see America.” He smiled. “But I understand that you took a private plane here, and if you’d like to offer me a ride back, I won’t say no.”

  I cocked my head and studied him. It was strange that he was being so friendly, but it was also heartening. “I’d love for you to ride back with us, but where would you put your car?”

  “I need to sell it anyhow. It’s a hoopdie.”

  “Then sure, sell it and ride back with us. I think that we’re leaving on Monday morning, though. You’ll have to miss your Monday classes.”

  He shrugged. “So be it. The professors know that I’m here this weekend, anyhow, so that won’t be such a huge deal.”

  Truth be told, I was actually looking forward to the plane ride back with Mark. I was eager to find out any of the gossip that was happening while I was away and not in touch with the rest of the family. I also really wanted to find out how my siblings and father were feeling about me these days.

  Mark then gave Bailey and Rayanne a big hug. I thought that Rayanne blushed a tiny bit, and I had to smile. She had a little crush, that much was sure. I could recognize it anywhere. I had a crush on my first cousin when we were growing up, and I’m sure that my face looked just like Rayanne’s did in that moment.

  For her part, Bailey looked as disinterested in Mark as she did the entire affair.

 
; My father arrived with his new wife, and he looked dapper and happy. He also seemed to want to let bygones be bygones, because he gave me a big hug and told me that he was thrilled to see me. Caroline, his new wife, was dressed in a gorgeous gown that was perfect for the mother of the groom. Her naturally dark hair was cropped short and had streaks of auburn running through it. She must have been in her fifties, but you would never know it by looking at her, because she was super-fit.

  Next to arrive were Amy, her husband, and her new baby, whose name was Addison. She was just a bit more standoffish, but I put her off-guard with a big hug, and she looked astonished and awkward at the same time. “Serena,” she said, “um, I’m glad that you could come.”

  I smiled and put my arm around her. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” I looked at her baby, who was smiling right at me. “Can I hold her?”

  “Of course,” she said, handing me the infant. “You’re her aunt.”

  The docile child smiled at me and reached a chubby hand towards my face. I laughed a little and touched her nose. “Beautiful baby,” I said.

  “She is.” Amy seemed to genuinely be happy to see me, and that heartened me. “I need to find Mark,” she said. “I have to tell him something. But I’ll find you later, huh?”

  I nodded my head and handed her back Addison, who started to cry. Amy rolled her eyes. “Of course, once I get her back, she starts to fuss. But it was nice to see you, Serena. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

  “I won’t.”

  Next, I spotted Nick and Scotty, who were Dalilah’s godparents. Nick was Ryan’s best friend from the time that they were kids, and was a nice guy. He, just like Ryan, looked amazing. He was a natural blonde, and his hair wasn’t getting grey at all. He was still fit and trim, and his gorgeous wife, Scotty, was in her forties and didn’t look a day over 25. I approached them and shook both of their hands.