I pressed my brow in opposition to the tile and closed my eyes.

I stayed there till the lump in my throat dissolved, and as droplets of water cascaded down my face, I pretended they had been tears.

CHAPTER7

Xavier

Ididn’t sleep nicely for the second night time in a row.

As a substitute of the bridge dream, I used to be haunted by photos of Sloane’s face earlier than she left final night time.

What the hell had I mentioned mistaken? She normally took my feedback in stride, and he or she by no means left a dialog once I had the higher hand.

She couldn’t be that upset a couple of silly bad-dancer joke, proper?

My foul temper worsened once I woke to an empty villa. Her baggage was nonetheless in her room, however she was a ghost from morning to early night.

I attempted to place Sloane out of my thoughts and concentrate on Luca. He’d been fairly bummed since he and Leaf broke up, although my sympathy for him had dwindled once I noticed him flirting with my fucking publicist on the seaside.

She wasn’t even his sort.

I brooded over my drink whereas my pals engaged of their regular shenanigans on the resort’s personal seaside membership.

I ought to be having the time of my life, however ennui had grabbed maintain of me and refused to let go. I’d seen all of it and carried out all of it. After the preliminary rush of a superb time, these events had been all the identical.

I might’ve given the membership proprietor some recommendations on the way to enhance. The sound system wasn’t selecting up the music’s underlying bass, and the girl-to-guy ratio was off. The decor, the leisure, the meals…they had been good, not nice, however how individuals ran their enterprise wasn’t my enterprise, so I stored my mouth shut.

Don’t you become bored with doing nothing?Sloane’s query echoed in my head.

I pushed it apart, downed my drink and confronted Luca, who lounged subsequent to me by the pool, nursing a hangover and a beer. The solar had set, however the seaside membership was simply stepping into the swing of issues. “Dante know you’re hanging out with us once more?”

Luca’s brother and CEO of the Russo Group, the multibillion-dollar luxurious items conglomerate, wasn’t a fan of anybody in our circle.

Actually, I didn’t blame him. If I’d had a youthful brother, I wouldn’t need him hanging out with me both.

“He’s not my warden.” However, Luca glanced round just like the intimidating older Russo was going to come out from behind a potted plant. “I get trip days like everybody else, and I can spend them nevertheless I like.”

“Hmm.”

“Talking of which, the place’s Sloane?”

An disagreeable burn ignited in my chest. “Most likely studying a boring nonfiction ebook someplace. Why?”

Luca shrugged. “She’s sizzling. She’s single. I might use a distraction from the Leaf scenario.”

The burn exploded right into a wildfire and set my enamel on my edge. “She’s not the rebound sort.”

“How are you aware?”

“I simply do.” I slammed my empty drink on the facet desk. “Go for the Daugherty twins. They’re in search of a superb time.”

“Can’t. Their household is in textiles, which jogs my memory of goats, which reminds of Leaf.”

For fuck’s sake. “What about Evelyn? She simply broke up together with her boyfriend. You’ll be able to rebound collectively.”

“Nah. I attached together with her years in the past.” Luca stared up on the sky with a drunk, dreamy expression. “I feel Sloane works greatest. She’s so…shit!” He bolted upright once I knocked over a champagne ice bucket and its contents spilled throughout his chest. “What the fuck, man?”

“Sorry. Should’ve had extra to drink than I believed.” I stood. I didn’t know why the concept of him and Sloane bothered me a lot, however I knew I wanted to get out of right here earlier than I did one thing extra unforgivable than dousing my buddy in ice. “I’m calling it an evening.”

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