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Prologue
Presley
Through life there are things that you love . . . and things that you just can’t quite wrap your head around. Right now, I’m stuck in a dilemma on whether or not to take the much-needed break I need from school and relax for a few weeks after all my hard work or bend to my family’s wishes. After all, how would it look for the family if I took a semester off right before graduation? It would be too much publicity focused around me and my wild child ways instead of the family business. We’re not just any Texan family, we’re the Richards and my daddy is the biggest oil rigger in our grand state.
“You need to really think about what this looks like, Presley. The tabloids always love following you around, taking pictures of whatever risqué things you’re doing and publishing them in the magazines. Remember the topless photos they took of you in France? It was the biggest mess we’ve ever had to clean up! Do you understand how it makes the board feel, or the investors? They see you as my weak link, and if you’re so determined to work for Richards Energy, then you need to have a wakeup call.” He’s stern through his entire speech, but it doesn’t make me feel shitty or even remotely bad. Just because he refuses to take a vacation every once in a while doesn’t mean that I should be reprimanded for doing so. I’ve worked hard in my schooling, and I deserve a break.
I spin around on the chair in his modern, bland office. There’s absolutely no color in here whatsoever. White covers the walls while the floor to ceiling windows only offer a slight black reprieve. When it comes to his furniture, it’s as boring as the rest is.
“I’m sorry that you feel this way, Daddy. I’m simply not going to work myself into the ground like you do. Honestly, I thought that you’d be happy I’m going to Rio instead of staying here and going off to Vegas or something state side. We know it’s highly unlikely that they’ll follow me there. Would you rather I stay here?” I ask, cocking a brow as I await his answer. If he’s so determined to stop me from going to Rio, I might just have to make a scene in Vegas instead. I’m sure that willreallymake the investors happy.
He wants me to cancel my plans completely and instead I’ve given him an even worse alternative. If he’s smart, he’ll accept that I still plan on going down to Rio and that there is no possibility of stopping me. I am his wild child after all, and I do as I damn well please.
His eyes narrow in on me, “No, you go out of the country if you’re firm on doing this. But don’t you dare get yourself in the limelight. Do you hear me, young lady? They’d better think that you’re only some sort of tourist.”
“When have I ever acted any different?” I joke. Placing my arms on the chair, I push myself off and stand. He doesn’t reply, clearly understanding that I’m fucking with him, so I continue. “I’ll be sure to behave while I’m away. You won’t hear a peep out of me.” I’m making a promise to him. It’s not like I really enjoy speaking to my Daddy anyway. He’s somewhat of a bummer, if you ask me.
“I’ll see you when you get back,” he mutters, walking towards the door. He opens it for me, signaling that it’s time to leave. I’m sure he has some sort of big meeting that he’s already late for. “Just do me a favor and be safe. I’ve been hearing bad things about tourists getting kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. Human trafficking is real, Presley. So, please, be careful.”
“I will. I’m not going alone,” I say to him, turning out of his doorway and heading straight down to the elevators. My father’s building is strictly Richards Energy associates, however, at the bottom, is a type of eco-friendly mall that he had put in. It helps pay the bills for the skyscraper by renting out the bottom suites, not to mention is a good marketing tool. I’ve asked my three best friends Paulo, Heather, and Sky to meet me downstairs in a tiny Italian joint for an early lunch. I also plan on asking them if they want to come along with me to Rio.
The five-minute trip downstairs feels like it takes forever, stuck in elevators with big business buffoons who seriously need to destress. Shoot, I’m sure the plastic surgeons in this town are trying to flag them down on the streets just to use their before and after pictures.
“There’s the feisty little biatch!” Paulo is quick to say, standing up from his seat, and we walk into one another’s arms.
I pull away, looking him up and down. “The sun has been loving on you lately, hmm?”
“Sun? No, more like a lovely little tanning boy I met named Marco. Who knew I could get free tans for getting rammed? I would’ve signed up years ago!” He giggles, walking back around to his seat. Next to Paulo sits Heather who is my childhood best friend. I always feel like I have to include her in everything because we’ve been friends for over fifteen years. Although, things have changed over the last couple years and there is an obvious distance between the both of us. I just try to put more effort into our friendship so it doesn’t fall apart all of a sudden.
“How have you been, good?” I ask Heather, walking around the other side to give her a half hug. It feels awkward and completely unnatural, but I’m determined that it will get better with time. We’re simply moving at two different paces in our private lives, and things will feel a bit off.
She nods, “Yeah, just been busy with work.” As always, her reply is short and words are callous. I glance over to who I’ll be sitting next to, my eclectic friend, Sky. She’s a graffiti artist who works with various charities in local cities and paints murals on the sides of buildings. Her work is impeccable, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Shoot, I wish I could naturally have talent like that. It has to be amazing to be so gifted.
“I’m a bit curious why you called us all over here. Usually, you only do this when you have something up your sleeve.” Sky waggles her eyebrows at me.
Paulo slams his hand down on the table, causing the glasses to shake. “Yes, what is it you have planned?”
Before I can answer, our waiter comes up to the table and asks us what we’d like. I order a bottle of their finest pinot grigio for the table, and as our waiter walks off, I continue. “Sorry. I called you all to meet me here because I’m taking a quick little trip down to Rio and I’d love to have some friends go with me. I think we all need a nice break from our daily lives, and what better way to relax than to go to a fun new city and soak up the sun?”
Paulo chuckles loudly. “You’ve only asked me to come because I’m from Brazil. Didn’t you?”
“Not entirely, I thought you’d be an amazing asset because you’re fluent in the language, but what kind of girls trip would it be without my favorite queen?”
“It wouldn’t be a trip at all, darling.”
“Holy sassy pants. You never stop!” Sky laughs into her hand, shaking her head.
Paulo cocks his head over at her, smiling widely at the waiter who comes back to our table and opens our bottle. He pours us each a nice serving of wine and takes our order. I normally grab a few different things off the menu so we can all split and do the same right now. As soon as the waiter is out of earshot, Paulo speaks. “When do I ever stop, honey? Better get used to it.” As Paulo is talking, I can sense Heather’s uncomfortableness and glance over at her. She’s trying hard not to make a disgusted or annoyed face, but I can see past her bullshit. She’s obviously annoyed. I can pick up on all of her signals, even if she’s trying hard to make sure no one can.
“Are you all in?” I ask the group of them, looking around the table. Paulo and Sky instantly nod, talking amongst themselves about how excited they are to do this. “C’mon, Heather, what about you?” I ask her, smiling a good bit. If anything, I think that this trip will be the only thing that saves our friendship. I can’t do much else.
“Fine,” she grumbles out, looking anything but amused.
I take in a deep breath, truly hoping that this trip will salvage what’s left of our friendship.
