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“I’m joking.” I said to her still dumbstruck expression.
“You had me going there for a moment, Flynn. I seriously thought you meant you were taking a break.”
“Oh, that part’s true. We are. We’re all a little disillusioned with love. None of us seem to be able to find what we are looking for.”
“And what’s that?”
My gaze met hers. Usually I’d close down at this point but there was something about Serena that made you want to tell her the story of your soul. Maybe it was those bewitching green eyes?
“We’re all after the same thing, really. To settle down. But women have a habit of not accepting how close the four of us are. They want us to ditch our brothers, spend all our time with them. We get that. But it has become a non-negotiable for us. You have to accept us all.”
“Sounds like you all need to share one woman between you.” Serena said, causing my mouth to fall open in that ‘O’ shape. I realized I’d said too much. It was time to close down this conversation because as I took a moment to gather myself, I realized she’d told me nothing about Serena Ripley.
“Right, tell me what you want me to photograph.” I said, and just like that we switched to strictly business.
Chapter Six
Serena
Flynn Kelly was not what I expected. I’d been warned of a moody, storm-like quality to him and a locked down attitude. What I’d met was a friendly guy with issues. That dark hair along with those deep blue ocean eyes met for a heady mix and it was hard not to stare at him, not to lose yourself in his gaze.
The things he said, had me going over Leonie’s testimony. I was sure what she’d said was the truth. I’d developed a skill in telling truth from bullshit, but Flynn seemed genuine too. All I could do was carry on fact-finding until I revealed the whole truth about the goings on of the FRAP boys.
His face when I’d pretended not to know he’d need all his camera equipment had been a delight. One thing I was enjoying a little too much during my time here was the pushing of the FRAP boys buttons.
I was surprised that my gut reaction was to like Flynn. He seemed a complicated kind of guy, with layers like onions, that required peeling back with the gamble that they could bring a tear to your eye. He had divorced parents and his girlfriend had left him, moved to London and immediately taken up with a Lord, pregnant within months. It had got to have hurt. But now it seemed there was more to it. That he’d not just been jilted, but that Rose had had to battle the FRAP boys, maybe had tried to assert herself and lost. He’d offered the hand of friendship and I would take it. Onions didn’t sting my eyes, and I intended to get right down to the inner layer of Flynn Kelly.
As we moved around the hotel, I was surprised at how familiar with the layout he was. Flynn explained that he knew Carbon so well that the hotel was like a second home, where he used the facilities if he got bored on his own, rocking around his huge mansion for mainly one.
“Don’t you want to get your own place?” I asked him.
“Sure. Eventually. The thing is, with my father not being home much, I kinda have my own place. There doesn’t seem much point in moving and leaving my current home empty for looters.”
“I guess you’re right. I’d never thought of it like that.”
“All four of us are the same. On paper it looks like we’re living with our parents, but really they’re our homes and the parents come back occasionally when they need a touch of R&R. I’ll think about moving out when I find the right woman.”
“Which won’t be for a while seeing as you’ve all sworn off them.”
“Well, there’s no rush is there? I’m fine where I am.”
“It must be strange. Having more money than you know what to do with and then selling photographs for even more. I’m surprised you were willing to accept the hotel job, given your up-and-coming reputation as a photographer.”
“The people in Carbon are like family. I’ve known Ted all my life. If he wants me to take photographs of his foot, I’m there. Whatever he needs, he can call me for help.
The photography thing—well, it’s hard to know if I’m successful in my own right or because I’m Flynn Kelly. Story of our lives really, the four of us. We’re not sure who we are. Poor little rich boys. All that money and no idea who we are at heart. That’s the truth.”
Flynn stepped back and rubbed a hand across his mouth as if trying to stop himself from talking.
“So submit photos anonymously and see how you do. Seems simple enough.”
Flynn tilted his head toward me and under the intensity of the stare from those eyes I felt stripped bare. “I never thought of that. Why did I never think of that, Serena?”
He stood, fingers clamping across his lips and chin, deep in thought. “I’ll do that.”
I nodded.
“Serena. I have a feeling you are going to change my life. Ted's right, you’re like a breath of fresh air.”
