This is going to be fun.
********
Young-gi
I’d hoped to greet my niece at the airport, but by the time my jet lands, it’s later than I’d planned, and I get word that she’s already arrived at the estate. So instead, I sit quietly, deep in thought, in the back seat of one of my cars as Yosef drives me through the scenic countryside to the venue. Kira beat me there by over an hour, so I’ll barely make it in time for dinner.
Although, according to the message from the staff on-site, Kira wasn’t alone. I expected her to have Lexie with her, of course. The two girls have been friends since childhood. But a man? I didn’t expect that.
I raise an eyebrow and study the photo on my screen again. It’s decent quality, even if the angle’s strange–taken discreetly from one of the security cameras. Kira is ascending the front steps of my lakeside mansion, arm-in-arm with a man who looks a few years older than she is. I pause, inspecting him.
He’s dressed well enough, although his piercings–glinting stark and gold against his dark skin–are a little surprising and make him look less like Kira’s usual wholesome type. He’s taller than she is, and in good shape; the way his shoulders fill out that shirt suggests strength, not softness. Another oddity, since Kira’s always gravitated towards…to put it bluntly, weaklings.
I can’t see his face straight on in the image, since he’s looking at Kira, but I can still see his large, intense eyes that are somehow even darker than mine. Almost obsidian.
Maybe it’s just the lighting in the photo, but it gives him an edge that makes me wonder if he’s more than he appears to be. Perhaps he has bad intentions. I’ve never been good at reading people, but something about his expression… It’s just a little off.
Kira isn’t looking at him, instead facing off-camera with her mouth parted like she’s about to speak to someone. But he’s staring down at her, those black eyes sharp and focused.
I’m not sure I like him.
I’m not sure how I feel about the way he’s watching her.
Then again, none of her previous boyfriends–all short flings, especially after I had ‘The Talk’ with them–ever looked at her with such singular intensity. Maybe I should be happy for her. If he has an ounce of backbone, and a brain, and if he worships her the way she deserves, then it would be a good thing.
But a rational person would know that Kira’s wealth and power would make her a target for greedy fortune-seekers, so perhaps it would be best to remain skeptical.
Since I can’t decide how I feel, I go with the more logical option–skeptical and suspicious.
I’ll be able to get more of an understanding of his character when I meet him in person.
My eyes drift over his face again.
“Tommy, hm?” I wonder aloud. He’s probably nothing. Not worth her time or mine. He’s after her money or power, not her heart. I scoff and lock my phone screen before shoving it deep into my jacket pocket.
Chapter 3
Tommy
Rich people are so bizarre, and this experience is only reinforcing my opinion.
After we arrive, we get a tour from the staff because–get this–Kira hasnever even beento this property before. Her uncle owns the damn place! A literalmansion–no, a literalcastle–nestled on a gorgeous plot of land and overlooking a huge, private lake lapping with clear blue water. The mansion-castle is spectacular even on its own, with pillars and columns and balconies and shit, but adding in the scenery? It’s unreal.
If Young-gi wasmyuncle, I’d be here all the damn time.
Since the house is so damn big, it takes almost an hour to be shown around and given the rundown on everything except the guest wing where the other summit attendees are resting after their journeys.
Yeah, a guest wing. What is this, Versailles?
Seeing the time, the staff member giving us the tour–wearing a real butler uniform, holy shit–suddenly redirects us and tells us we’re running late. Running late towhat? Eating dinner? How can someone be late to eating dinner in their own house?
But whatever. We’re late, apparently. Why did they spend an hour showing us around if we were late? Who the fuck knows.
We spend no time at all being whisked to our rooms, but I say ‘room’ loosely. It’s not just a bedroom, it’s ahugebedroom with its own couch and sitting area and a desk and a walk-in closet and a giant, fancy bathroom. Kira and I get one of these mansion-style rooms to share, but Lexie gets her own because apparently there are like…a billion rooms in this house? - and then suddenly we’re being summoned by another honest-to-god butler to gather with the group. The girls panic because we have barely any time at all to change clothes, but the staff has everything scheduled out and we can’t be late.
Why did we have to change clothes, you might wonder? Fuck if I know. But we do. I’m wearing pretty much the exact same thing as before–in the sense that I didn’t change into a tux or anything–but now the shirt is long-sleeved and my shoes are uncomfortably stiff.
I guess now I know that it’s possible to loathe something even when it’s new and expensive, because I hate these fucking shoes. They tap against the floor too loudly, like heels, and make me feel like I can’t walk right anymore. Maybe this is why wealthy men walk so stupid–like they need to strut and peacock around to get anywhere. Maybe it’s just their weird shoes.
