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“Idid it and I’m not ashamed.”
“Right after my party?” Lucas laughed, slapping his thigh. “Holy shit, I’m not even mad.”
“Mad about what?” Danny asked as he stepped through the red velvet curtain, giving me a glimpse of the sparkling ball, low lights, and cabaret dancers just beyond the booth.
“Sebastian fucked Scarlett in the limo driving away from my party,” Lucas laughed, taking a drink from his beer. Danny’s brow shot up and he smirked lightly, taking his own seat.
“I had her the next day against the wall in her new hotel,” he grinned.
“You sly dog,” I said calmly, eyeing them both. The conversation lulled for a moment as a woman wearing a silver studded corset arrived carrying another round of drinks. She set them down and swiftly left. Danny grabbed a beer, and I replaced my empty bottle with a fresh one.
“Hold on.” Lucas smacked his lips together and frowned. “New hotel?”
That caught my attention, too and we focused on Danny who paused mid-drink and nodded. “Yeah. She got kicked out, pulled funds she said.”
Danny didn’t need to say anything else. Toby must have pulled his card. Was that his attempt to try and make things harder for her? It didn’t sit right with me that she was being treated this way, not when all I had learned – all any of us had learned – was that she was sweet, kind, and we were utterly undeserving of her attention.
“Fuck,” Lucas breathed. “I had no idea.”
“We need to get our stories straight,” I said, and I straightened up, lightly adjusting my tie. “We’ve all tasted what should have been forbidden fruit and I get the impression that none of us regret it, am I correct?”
“Yup,” Danny and Lucas replied in unison.
“There’s just something about her,” Lucas sighed, tipping his bottle back and forth. “I think I’m in love. Or something like it.”
“She’s definitely something,” Danny agreed. “She’s not what Toby hopes, at the very least. She’s just… she’s real if that makes sense.”
It did. It was no secret that many of the women either of us had ever been interested in saw the dollars in the bank before they saw the man behind them. Sometimes that was fun, but it wasn’t real, and none of it ever lasted. Scarlett had been clueless about all of us and somehow, that genuine interaction had gotten us all hooked.
“She’s certainly something,” I agreed. “And now we’ve all had a taste or two, none of us plan on stopping, right?”
“Not unless she asks me to,” Lucas stated.
“I like her too much,” Danny agreed. “And she clearly has no reservations about the three of us or we wouldn’t have gotten close enough to have a taste.”
Danny spoke the truth but there was a worrisome voice in the back of my mind that alerted me to one piece of information that had been kept from Scarlett. None of our first interactions had been truly genuine, other than Lucas. We all had, after all, been tasked by Toby to find dirt. Now we had all fallen for the genuine life in Scarlett’s heart.
“I’m telling Toby just as much,” Lucas said, draining his bottle. “I found nothing, and I don’t plan ever to find anything. She’s sweet, she’s warm, she’s funny. She thinks of others before herself. She’s not the twisted snake he thinks she is, which might be because she’s not from this world but that doesn’t even matter. I’m not helping him.”
“We need to help him,” I countered softly, toying with my drink. “But not in the way he wants. He’s in pain and he’s angry. I understand that. I think… I think we can help them both by encouraging him to change how he looks at this. Help him see that she should not be the focus of his anger.”
“Do you think he will listen?” Danny raised a brow. “He’s not exactly famous for that.”
“It’s usually his way or the highway,” Lucas snorted.
“True but we’re his best friends and he’s grieving. We need to support him, and I think we can redirect him. At least enough for him to drop this ridiculous vendetta. And in turn?—.”
“We help Scarlett save her home,” Lucas cut in.
“Exactly.” I groaned softly and shook my head. “So, we’re agreed?”
Two nodding heads met my plan, and I settled back into my chair. There hadn’t been much doubt that they would feel differently but I liked things in my life to be clear, and their vocal confirmation helped me here. The conversation turned light, discussing a few business things as well as Lucas’ attempts to mend things with his family while persuading them to trust him and the night wore on until finally the curtain parted once more and Toby walked through.
“Evening boys. Sorry I’m late.” Toby snatched up a bottle from the ice bucket and dropped into the last chair. “You have news for me?”
Lucas and Danny immediately glanced at me. I straightened up and steepled my fingers together.
“In a way.”
