by Ali Parker
“What?” I asked innocently.
“Come on,” she demanded. “You told me to drag you out of here if you got hung up.”
I nodded. “I know, I know, you’re right, just let me—”
“No. Now. You have a very capable staff; which I think you sometimes forget. Let’s go,” she ordered.
I smiled, knowing she was only doing what I asked. “You’re right. Thank you.”
I snatched my purse, then gave a few last-minute instructions before walking out the front door.
“It’s warm tonight,” she commented as we walked to my apartment together.
“It is. It’s a nice night for a walk, or a ride,” I said with a smile thinking about Mason.
“A ride on a motorcycle or a ride on someone else,” she teased.
I burst into laughter. “Do they have to be mutually exclusive?”
She made a gagging sound. “You are so gross.”
“You said it.”
“It is still weird to think you two have seen each other naked.”
I laughed again. “He is a beautiful naked man.”
“Stop! I don’t want to know these things.” She groaned.
“You brought it up.”
She sighed. “I did. I won’t make that mistake again. You know, you could hold back if you wanted to.”
“I could, but it’s so much fun to tease you.”
“Don’t be sucking his face off when you see him. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to see that,” she warned.
“Did you happen to get ahold of Mason?” I asked her as we walked inside. “Is he even going to be coming tonight?”
“I think Dalton called him. Did you?”
“I called and he didn’t answer. I didn’t want to leave a voicemail and sound completely desperate,” I told her. “I’m hoping Dalton did. That would make it way less awkward.”
She laughed. “I don’t think inviting him to drinks sounds desperate at all.”
“It does if he doesn’t want to see me anymore.”
“Stop. You don’t have to second-guess yourself. Now, hurry up and shower. I’m thirsty and hungry,” she complained.
I dashed into my room, my outfit for the night already picked out. I twisted my hair up to keep it from getting wet in my four-minute shower. Then it was a speedy makeup application. I snatched the black skinny jeans from the bed and shimmied into them before pulling on the black crop top. It was a little daring for a place like Winnie’s, but I was hoping to go to the club after and do some more dancing with Mason. I turned to look at myself in the mirror, biting my lower lip. I didn’t like it. I stripped off the jeans and went for my favorite pair of distressed jeans. I did another side and front view and decided it was much better.
I pulled on my favorite black booties, grabbed my leather jacket, and headed into the living room. Deanna was sitting on the couch, thumbing through an old magazine. She looked up when she saw me come into the room.
“I’m ready,” I announced.
Deanna gave a long, low whistle. “Damn, girl!”
I grinned. “Too much?”
“No, absolutely not. You look good, very sexy. I love the crop top. You have to let me borrow that one of these days.”
“Thank you and of course,” I replied.
“Dalton said he would swing by and pick us up in a few minutes.”
“Woo-hoo, no creepy cabbies!”
We both laughed. “If he decides to drink, it will be creepy cabbies home.”
I smiled and winked. “If all goes right, I won’t be alone when I go home.”
She shook her head. “This should be interesting.”
I grabbed my purse, checked my phone to see if Mason had called or texted, and found nothing. I was really beginning to wonder if he’d decided things were just not going to work between us. I tried not to let the self-doubt creep in. I knew I had a tendency to go down a dark road sometimes. I could talk myself right out of anything. Dalton arrived and drove us to the restaurant.
“Hey, he must have gotten my message,” Dalton said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Mason. There’s his bike.” He pointed out the sexy bike parked in front of the restaurant.
My stomach filled with excited butterflies at the prospect of seeing him again. I almost ran inside, anxious to see what kind of vibe I got from him. I wasn’t sure if Dalton knew about what had been happening between us, and I didn’t want to say anything if nothing was going to come of it.
Dalton talked to the hostess before turning to face us. “He didn’t leave our names. We’ll get a table and wait for him to find us.”
“Works for me.”
“We’ve got about a fifteen-minute wait,” he announced, coming back to sit on one of the benches.
I wondered if Mason had gotten there early and didn’t see us waiting and went to the bar. I hoped he got there soon. I was anxious to know if I was getting my hopes up for nothing. I told myself over and over I wasn’t going to be hurt if he pulled back. I knew that it was probably for the best that way, but I couldn’t deny the way things had felt when we had been together. I really believed he felt the same way, but I could have been wrong.
“Chevault?” the hostess called out.
We all got to our feet and followed her into the dining area. I saw a vaguely familiar face and looked more closely. The man looked an awful lot like Mason, minus the long hair. Then I saw him. I stopped walking and was about to call out to him and let him know we were there, when I took stock of the situation. Mason was sitting with two men and three women. They had to be his brothers, the striking resemblance between them was undeniable.
I looked at the seating arrangements and quickly saw it for what it was. It was a triple date. Mason was on a date with another woman, with his brothers he had just been telling me he didn’t get along with. I felt the fury boil within as I watched him drink from his beer.
The pretty blonde was laughing and smiling, her eyes practically eating Mason alive. She reached out and touched his arm resting on the table. He had yet to see me, his gaze seemed pretty focused on the woman sitting across from him. Why wouldn’t it? She looked like she had probably been a model or maybe even still modeled. Her boobs were huge but obviously very fake. Her perfectly manicured red nails and the long, blond hair that looked like it had just been given a blowout were everything I didn’t have. Not that I wanted any of that, but clearly, Mason did.
I immediately felt self-conscious about what I was wearing as I took in the pretty black dress she was wearing. I wasn’t big on fashion, but I knew expensive when I saw it. I hugged my leather jacket closed, not wanting anyone to see my midriff that I had so proudly put on display. The woman charming Mason had class and elegance. I didn’t. I wasn’t even going to pretend I did.
“Addy, what are you doing?” Deanna said, reaching for my arm.
I looked at her, rage filling my soul, and then glared back at Mason. “Asshole.” I hissed.
“Oh shit.” She gasped.
He had yet to see us. He was so enamored with the woman he was talking to that he didn’t even realize I was standing twenty feet away. Everything he had said came flooding back. It had all been a well-crafted sack of shit lies. He had known exactly what to say to get me into bed. He’d probably been laughing his ass off that he not only got me to invite him up to my place once, but a second time as well. He must have been very proud of himself. I had fallen for his sad, lonely story. I felt like an idiot. He was the reason I trusted no one. He was the reason I never let anyone into my life.
“Let’s just go,” Deanna whispered, pulling my arm. “I’ll come back and get Dalton.”
I didn’t budge. I continued to glare at him. One of his brothers, the one sitting next to the blond beauty queen, looked up and saw me. I could tell I made him uncomfortable. My gaze went back to Mason’s profile, staring at the lips I had been dreaming about the last couple of nights. His brother said something, and Mason turned to look in
my direction.
Our eyes met. I saw the moment he realized he’d been caught. The guilt I could see in his eyes didn’t help. The fact he knew he was guilty of being an asshole didn’t make me feel any better. I felt betrayed. He didn’t move from where he sat. He wasn’t going to try and soothe things over. He didn’t need to. He’d gotten what he wanted from me and had gone back to his world. I should have known he wasn’t really the guy he claimed to be. He was filthy rich and that meant women like her would always be coming on to him. He couldn’t be expected to turn them all down, I supposed.
“Addy,” Deanna whispered again.
I realized we were making a bit of a scene. I was standing in between a few tables, holding up the flow of servers trying to get to their tables. I refused to embarrass myself any further.
“Fuck you.” I mouthed, looking directly at him. I knew he couldn’t hear me, but those two words were pretty easy to read on my lips.
I caught the look on his brother’s face and knew he had gotten the message. It was shock and what I thought looked a lot like amusement. I was so glad they could all get a good laugh at my expense. I could almost imagine Mason telling them all about the girl he’d hooked up with. I had fallen for his bullshit story about not doing that kind of thing very often. It had been a line. I should have known better. I turned and walked out, not stopping when I heard Deanna call my name. I was careful not to outwardly shove anyone out of the way, but there was some nudging of shoulders as I pushed through the large crowd of people who had come through the door.
I hit the sidewalk and didn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew I had to get out of there. I couldn’t face Mason or his family. I wanted to scream at him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten to me.
Chapter 25
Mason
I looked at Jack, then Grayson. Both of my brothers were staring at me with smiles on their faces. I found nothing funny about what had happened. I was waiting for Dalton to appear and try to kick the shit out of me.
“What the hell did you do to that one?” Grayson joked.
I took a deep breath, trying to reel in my temper before I opened my mouth. I was beyond pissed. My brothers thought it was okay to interfere in my life. They had no idea who I was or what I did in my life. They had set me up on a blind date without even bothering to ask if I was seeing anyone. They automatically assumed I was single, or they assumed the woman I was seeing wasn’t anyone worth sticking with. Any woman I picked would of course be disposable and not one of the purebreds they would have chosen for me.
They had their own ideas about who I should be with, and despite Jack’s assertations he would stay out of my life and quit the lecturing, he’d gone and done something far worse. It hurt. It truly hurt to know they thought so little of me that they thought they had to meddle. I had never been in trouble with the law. I had never done anything terrible that would suggest I was going off the rails. My life choices were different from their own. That was it. That was their basis for disapproving of what I did and who I spent my time with. They acted as if I was incapable of making decisions for myself.
“Don’t ever fucking butt your nose into my life again,” I said, my voice low, doing my best to avoid drawing a lot of attention to our table. “You have fucked me over for the last time.”
“No one has fucked you over,” Grayson shot back, always the one who was the quickest to anger.
“Grayson,” his wife scolded.
“Yeah, Grayson, listen to your wife.” I snarled.
“Mason,” Jack started.
I turned to look at him. “You most of all. How dare you fucking lie to me? You lied to fucking get me here.” I glowered. “What did you say? Oh, I know, we’ll hang out and have a good time. Gee, is this your idea of a good time?”
“It wasn’t a lie,” he said easily. “We both wanted to spend some time with you. That’s all this was about.”
I looked at Tara, then back at him, my eyebrows raised. “Do you normally hang out with Natasha’s friends?”
“I’m sorry, Mason,” Natasha whispered.
I shook my head. “You can’t control him. These two assholes get together and think they know what’s best for everyone. You both think that what works for you must absolutely work for everyone else. Why aren’t you trying to fuck with Colt or James? Why not Channing? He’s never around here. He’s partying all around the world but none of you say shit to him.”
Grayson and Jack looked at each other. They both looked like they just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. A light went on and my mouth dropped open. I looked at Tara who was staring down at her plate, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Don’t,” Jack said when I looked at him, my jaw clenched.
“You’ve shopped her in front of them already,” I said on a breath, the realization almost making me ill.
“It isn’t like that,” Grayson chimed in.
His charm wasn’t going to work on me. I wasn’t one of his clients or one of the people he bought a business from. “Bullshit. I know exactly what it’s like.”
“It wasn’t meant to piss you off,” Grayson reasoned. “Tara is a nice woman who happens to be single. She met James at one of Mom’s fundraisers. Colt happened to be there. She’s never met Channing.”
“That’s true, I haven’t,” Tara quickly added.
“Are you shopping around to see which of us you like best?” I asked her.
“No. Nothing like that. I happened to mention I like motorcycles and they thought we might get along,” she said, her voice so quiet I almost didn’t hear her.
“Did they now?” I said, looking back at Jack.
“You like motorcycles and she likes motorcycles. It wasn’t anything nefarious. Quit acting like we’re always out to get you. There is nothing shady going on here,” Jack defended.
“Of course not. Nothing shady at all about you setting me up on a blind date without mentioning it to me at all. That’s completely honest and hell, why wouldn’t I want to trust a guy who’s always had my back, right?”
“We do have your back,” Jack shot back.
“Bullshit. This was meant to get me in line, right? Mason the black sheep hurt his mother’s feelings and must be handled. You thought you’d set me up, get me to fly right, slap a suit on me, and prop me up with the rest of the Bancroft men. Mother could look at all her boys dressed in the finest suits money could buy, all with the same haircut and the same eyes of the man who fathered us like a bunch of little clones. I’m not one of you. I will never be one of you. I don’t want to be one of you. I don’t understand why none of you can see that. Why can’t you just leave me alone and let me be happy?” I asked, looking at Grayson, then Jack.
“We want you to be happy. We’re only trying to help.”
“Don’t. Stop trying to help,” I snapped.
“I’m sorry you see it as a bad thing,” Jack muttered.
I ignored him and looked at Tara sitting across from me, a look of uncomfortable surprise on her face. “I’m sorry. I know they probably told you I was their brother, and I suppose we are by blood, but you don’t want me. I’m not like them and I never will be. Trust me when I say you’re dodging a bullet here,” I told her.
“You are our family,” Jack protested, almost pleading.
“Did either of you bother asking if I had a girlfriend? Did either of you even consider that?” I asked, looking from one to the other.
Hannah covered her mouth, her eyes wide as she slapped Grayson’s shoulder with her other hand. “Grayson! You told me he was single!”
“I thought he was,” he said defensively.
“Was that your girlfriend?” Natasha asked looking horrified.
I didn’t blame my brothers’ wives. They had no idea what the relationship was like between my brothers and me. They didn’t know me and couldn’t have known.
“She was someone I cared about, but I think as you all saw, she made it very
clear she’d rather not be with me anymore,” I muttered.
“Mason, I’m so sorry. We’re both sorry,” Hannah said, gesturing to Natasha. “We can talk to her, explain what happened.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be listening to anyone, least of all me. My big, helpful brothers, who were just looking out for me, took care of that,” I said, slapping my hand on the table and getting up so fast my chair nearly tipped over.
I shot my brothers one last glare before I walked through the dining room. People were staring. Of course, they were. I had tried to keep my voice down, but I was pissed. I was raging. The f-bombs were out of my control. Adelaide had drawn some attention as well as she stood there accusing me of all sorts of horrible crimes. I would never forgive my brothers. I stalked toward the exit, hoping to catch up with Adelaide. If I was lucky, she hadn’t been able to hail a cab immediately.
I pushed open the door, looking up and down the sidewalk. I didn’t see any sign of Adelaide or Deanna. I heard the door open behind me and spun around. If Jack or Grayson followed me outside, I was going to really let them know how I felt. It wasn’t them. Hopefully, their wives would tell them to keep their seats. I was in a ripe mood for a fight and wouldn’t be upset if one of them threw the first punch. I’d be throwing the last. They had destroyed any chance of us ever being a real family. They would never learn.
I walked down the sidewalk a little way, wondering if maybe they’d gone to the club. That had to be where they had gone. I picked up my pace, walking toward the club, my eyes scanning the people I passed. I paid the cover and went inside. It was a lot busier than it had been the night I’d been there with Adelaide.
I roamed around the place, checking every table before finding a place to scan the dance floor. I didn’t see her or Deanna. I pulled out my phone and called Dalton. It immediately went to voicemail. I called Deanna next. Her phone rang once before I was given the polite version of what Adelaide had mouthed to me. I guess that meant they were definitely together.