Prologue

Delaney

“Are you sure you have everything?” Mom asks, standing at the front door of our penthouse suite as the bellboy loads our bags onto a luggage cart.

After one of the best weeks of my life, we’re leaving, setting off to Rose Briar Hill to begin our new lives. I’m both excited and nervous about all the new changes to come.

Mom’s fiancé, James, is crazy rich and owns a chain of resorts. He was kind enough to give us the best room at one of his Florida locations for free... because that’s the perk of knowing the owner, I guess. Something that’s going to take some time for me to get used to.

Not that Mom and I were poor, but we’ve never been this well off. I’m not sure how I feel about being around this kind of money. Mom said not to overthink it. Thing is, I don’t care about James’ money. As long as he loves my mom and is good to her, that’s all that matters to me.

I’m just grateful he’s giving me a place to live while I go to school.

As fun as this cross-country trip with my mom has been, I’ve made some interesting choices.

Like sleeping with three sexy strangers. I don’t regret it, not at all. It’s my life, my body, and I was owed some fun. After having my nasty ex cheat on me, I deserve to take back my life and enjoy it.

However, I need to be a little bit more careful when it comes to letting loose and having fun, which was made glaringly clear when I had a slip-up with one of the guys and forgot to wear a condom. It had me staying up most of the night while thinking and decidingon a few things.

I’m going to enjoy myself, enjoy my life, and do what makes me happy. But sleeping around with men that I don’t know—as much fun as it was, and while I don’t regret it—it’s just not my thing. And even though I am on birth control, it doesn’t protect me from other things like STDs.

I do plan on casually dating and seeing where things might go if someone catches my eye, but I’m not setting out to find a boyfriend. I also won't turn away from love if it happens to fall into my lap. Everything with Kyle, my ex, has made me realize that I shouldn’t settle. That I deserve respect and someone who won’t sleep around on me. Someone who is kind and caring. Not someone who controls me or belittles me.

I’m single, and as of right now, I plan on staying that way. I’m going to go to college and spend the first year finding myself before picking a major. Because it’s okay to not know what I want to do for the rest of my life right out of high school, but I won’t waste my time being idle while I find out.

“Yup,” I tell her. “You know me. Checked every inch of this place at least three times, and then another for good luck.”

She laughs, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and kissing me on the side of the head. “Your over-checking has saved us a few times.”

“I mean, you almost left your credit card that one time, your phone that other time, and then your whole damn purse in the last hotel before we got here.” I grin, raising a brow.

“Okay, okay, don’t rub it in.” She messes up my hair before walking away.

“Butthead,” I mutter, making her laugh harder. Taking one last quick glance around, I follow her out and down to the lobby.

“Hope everything was to your liking, Miss Jones.”

“It was, thank you.” Mom smiles at the valet. The bellhop helps us load up the car, and when we're done, Mom tips him well.

“Ready to start the rest of our new life?” Mom asks, holding her hand out. I smile back and take it, weaving our fingers together.

“I am. As long as I’m with you, I’ll go anywhere.”

Her eyes well with tears. “I love you, Laney girl. You're my world.”

“You're mine too, Mama.”

She kisses the back of my hand, and I try not to cry too as we pull away from the resort.

Over the next two days, we pretty much stop every twenty minutes to eat, use the bathroom, gas up, or do some sightseeing.

We wind up staying in a hotel another night before making it to Rose Briar Hill the next afternoon.

As soon as we pass the sign welcoming us, the whole vibe changes. It’s like we step over a threshold into some fairy tale world.

My head is hanging out the window like a dog in awe. I’ve done a little research on the place. It’s not as big as a city, but it's not something you would call a small town either. It has a school and tons of houses that range from middle-class to mega-rich, along with a few hotels, a hospital, restaurants, shops, and other things to make living here comfortable. It’s only an hour from Orlando, so anything else we might need isn’t far away.

“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Mom asks me as we drive past the shops and turn off onto another road.

“It’s nice. Really damn nice. I don’t think I’m going to fit in here,” I sigh, sitting back in my seat.

“Of course you will.” Mom gives me a funny look.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I grumble. “I’ve dealt with the rich type back in San Francisco. The private school is full of them, you know?”

“This is university, Delaney. You're all adults. So, hopefully, everyone will act like it. Just go to school, work hard, and stay out of the petty drama.”

“Easier said than done, Mom.” I give her a blank look.

She laughs, shaking her head.

“So, how long until we get there?” I ask, watching as we pass stone gate after stone gate.

“It’s just down here,” Mom answers.

The road comes to an end, bringing us to yet another stone gate. Only this one is bigger and taller than the others.

Mom drives up to a little box with buttons and punches in a code. A few seconds later, the gates open.

“Now, James will not be the only one living in the house with us. Your stepbrothers will be here too—at least until school starts in the fall. But the place is big enough, so if you don’t get along with them, I’m sure it won't be hard to avoid them. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. James has told me a lot about them, and they sound like good young men.”

“Not my brothers, Mom. You're not married to James.”

“Yet,” she points out. “Only two more weeks and everything will be official.”

“I’m excited to do some more wedding planning.” I smile over at her. They already have all the big things done; the only thing we really need to do is go dress shopping for the both of us. Yes, she doesn’t have a dress. She wanted to try them on in person and every place she has been to, she didn’t like any of the options available. So we're hoping the very fancy shop James told her about in town will have something for her to wear, or I’m going to have to get on her ass for being so picky, especially because she looked stunning in every single one she’s tried on.

“Here we are,” Mom announces. My gaze shifts to the front window, and my jaw drops.

“You're fucking kidding me, right?” I ask, stunned as I take in the massive mansion before me.

“Language,” she scolds me.

“Sorry, but Mom, look at this place! I thought the resort was over the top, this is... I’m speechless.” I blink as I take in the literal castle in front of us. Like, no joke, I’m about to ask if she’s been keeping secrets from me, and she’s about to marry some prince or royalty of some sort.

We pull up to the front door, next to a large marble fountain. “I’m dreaming, right? Like I have to be.”

“Delaney,” Mom lets out an exhausted sigh.

“What?! You can’t blame me, Mom. This is going to take some getting used to. We lived in a damn townhome my whole life. I know we were well off, but this is... this is a lot.”

“I know. And I’m still getting used to it myself. This is a big change for me, too. But please don’t make this a big deal all the time. Don’t make James feel weird about his wealth. He is a very nice, caring, humble man... who just happens to have a lot of money.”

“Okay.” I nod. “Okay, you're right. I’ll try to keep my shocked comments to my inner monologue.”

“Thank you.” She gives me a grateful smile

We get out of the car, and I look over at the front door to see a well-dressed, tall, handsome man. He has dark, styled hair and a nicely trimmed beard.

“You made it!” he says with a big smile. “How was the trip?”

Mom giggles and takes off, running toward James. He chuckles as he wraps his arms around her. The look he gives my mom before kissing her deeply is one filled with pure love. Fuck, they’re adorable together.

Smiling, I shake my head, letting the two love birds have their moment, and head to the trunk.

“Boys!” I hear James shout as I open the trunk door. “Come help your sister with the bags.”

Sister. Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to. As I wait for my new soon-to-be stepbrothers to help, I start to pull bags out and place them on the ground next to me.

“Here, let us get those,” a deep voice comes from beside me.

“Thanks.” I step back, tucking my dark brown locks behind my ears. “I think we have to—”

Lifting my eyes, they instantly widen as I see who’s standing there. Not one, not two, but three men stand there next to me, staring back at me in equal amounts of shock and horror.

“Delaney?” they all say at once. I’ve never heard my name so full of confusion and disbelief.

Ah, No. Nope, this has to be some sick, fucked up joke. Because there’s no way in hell this is happening. Remember the three strangers I mentioned that were my three summer flings? Yeah, well... they just so happen to be standing here before me.

I’m dreaming. I have to be. I bet if I pinch myself, I’ll wake up, and Mom and I will still be driving the car on our way here.

“Ouch,” I mutter as I pinch the underside of my arm. Not a dream. Fuck me.

“Boys, what are you waiting for? Get your sister’s bags.”

Sister? Holy fucking shit. That means... I did not just recently fuck my stepbrothers, did I? God, I totally did.

How the fuck is this my life right now?!