Chapter Eighteen

Ben

The ladies are here, and they’re hot.

And they come in a spectrum of colors.

From the darkest brown to the fairest white.

Four women, all with bodies to die for and luscious racks too, of course.

We’ve moved from the beach into one of the ballrooms. The ladies gyrate around us, and one by one, they shed their bikini tops.

They crowd around Braden, dancing for him.

And of course he’s got a scowl on his face. “Jesus Christ, Ben. What did I tell you?”

“I believe you said no strippers.” I smirk. “These ladies aren’t strippers. They’re topless dancers.”

He shakes his head.

“Good call, son,” my father says.

He gets up and starts dancing with the half-naked women, taking each one in his arms and twirling her around in a makeshift waltz.

I’m not surprised. My father likes them young. Kathy, one of Skye’s friends here in Jamaica, used to date my father. I have no idea how or why that ended, and I’m not asking.

Braden finally lets his lips curve into a smile.

“You seriously thought I was going to let my big brother leave bachelorhood without a true party?” I chuckle.

“They’re not hookers, are they?”

“No,” I assure him. “Like I said, they’re not even strippers. They’re not taking the thongs off. Just topless dancers. No lap dances or anything. They’re only here to party and have some fun with us.”

He narrows his gaze. “Dad seems to be having fun.”

Braden and I get along well with our father now, but we didn’t always. During most of the formative years of our childhood, he was an alcoholic. Things I don’t like to think about much.

But even those aren’t the darkest secrets I harbor.

I have demons not even my brother knows about.

But tonight is not the night to think about those.

Tonight is the night to celebrate the end of my brother’s life as a bachelor. I’ve never seen him happier than he is with Skye. My brother isn’t the happy sort. He’s carried a load on his shoulders for far too long, and Skye has helped him bear the burden.

He’s finally forgiven himself—I hope—for his part in our mother’s burn scarring and eventual death.

I’ve forgiven him, too.

Because God knows I’ve done way worse when I knew way better.

Braden was just a child.

I was not.

But again…

I erase the thought from my mind. I can’t have those memories tainting this party for Braden. My father and I both owe him a lot. It was his genius that created the product that made us millions. We gained our billions through outside investments, and Dad and I both had a huge part to do with that. But we wouldn’t have been able to do that without Braden first creating the company that put us on the map.

I take another sip of my Wild Turkey. “Get up and dance, brother. This is your sendoff.”

He chuckles. “I’ll leave that to Dad. And you. Why aren’t you dancing?”

Yeah, I should be, actually. I haven’t been able to get Tessa Logan out of my mind, but I also need to remember that tonight is about Braden and not me. I should participate in the fun.

I rise, head toward Dad, who’s twirling one of the dancers around. I grab the first one I see. She has tanned skin and light brown hair.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Teresa,” she says with a Jamaican accent.

Teresa.

Tessa’s given name.

So much for getting her off my mind.

I twirl Teresa, let her go, and turn to another—this one with fair skin and blond hair—and grab her. “What’s your name?”

She smiles. “Amy.”

Amy.

Good enough.

I take her into my arms.

Normally, holding a nearly naked woman like this would get me hard.

But not tonight.

Not a problem. These women aren’t going to sleep with any of us anyway, no matter how much my father would enjoy having all four of them in his bed. The resort planner made that very clear when I booked them to perform.

“I’m Ben,” I say to Amy. “I’m the best man.”

“The best man for what?” she whispers in my ear, her voice seductive.

I pull back a bit, gaze into her dark brown eyes. “I thought…”

“You thought what?”

“Nothing.”

Then she whispers in my ear again. “You’re better-looking than your brother. You have a…sexy darkness about you.”

Interesting.

Braden’s eyes are blue while mine are dark brown, but most people say he’s the one with the darker edge.

Of course, since he met Skye, he smiles more than he has his whole life.

And I…

Demons I thought were dead and buried have since risen.

Nothing I want to bother Braden about.

Not when he’s the happiest he’s ever been, not to mention his impending nuptials.

“A darkness?” I ask, my voice low.

“Oh yeah. I can always tell.” She pouts her lips. “What are you hiding, Ben?”

Nothing I’m going to tell her about.

I crush her to me, move in a slow dance. “I’m not hiding anything. What are you hiding, Amy?”

“I don’t think I’m hiding it.” She gyrates her hips into me. “I’m very attracted to you.”

“I see.”

“Are you not attracted to me? Not even a little?”

I blink. “Of course. You’re a beautiful woman. All four of you are beautiful.”

“Your father seems to like Stephanie.” She glances toward the taller woman with dark brown skin still dancing with my dad.

“My father likes anything with tits.” I smirk. “Correction. Anything young with tits.”

“And you don’t?”

“Sweetheart, I love all women.”

She trails her fingers up my arm. “Do you have a girlfriend, Ben?”

“Nope. Not looking for one, either.”

She frowns, an adorable little pout on her coral lips. “That’s a shame.”

“Why? You looking for a boyfriend?”

“No.” She cocks her head and smiles. “Just a night of fun.”

I grab her then, hold her to me, and hiss in her ear. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.”

“Don’t I?”

My tastes in the bedroom run dark. Though I recently left the BDSM lifestyle, I’m not the kind of lover who is soft and gentle.

I like to fuck, and I like to fuck hard.

“No, you don’t.” I remove her arms from around me and step back. “And I’m not looking for a bedwarmer tonight. If you are, maybe you’d better find another dancing partner.”

“What if I’ve found the dancing partner I want?”

“If you can be content to just dance, maybe you have.”

“I think I can convince you otherwise,” she says.

I smile. “Don’t let my friendly personality fool you.”

“Oh, I don’t.” She wiggles her boobs. “I like things dark.”

I dance with her for a few more moments, but then I let her go. “Thank you for being here, Amy. Thank you for helping to make my brother’s bachelor party something to remember. But I think I’m done dancing.”

I head back to the table where Braden still sits. He’s not dancing with any of the women, but he is watching them intently.

“Fuck,” he says. “They’re all so gorgeous. Where did you find them?”

I laugh lightly. “I’ll never reveal my secrets, brother.”

“Do you like that one you were dancing with?”

“She liked me more.”

“You’re not attached. You left the club, and you left the lifestyle. What the hell are you looking for, Ben?”

My brother doesn’t realize it, but he just asked me a loaded question.

I want what he and Skye have. I long for it. But I’m not looking for anyone because I already know who I want. I need to go slowly for her. And for me, because there are things I have to take care of first.

If Braden knew what I’ve been hiding all these years, he’d disown me. It’s so much worse than him asking our mother to go back into a burning house to get his comic books. Indeed, that was our mother’s fault more than Braden’s. He was just a kid. She should have known better, but that was Mom. She’d do anything for either one of us.

She was an amazing woman, and she was taken away from us way too soon.

Braden and I often wish she were here—that we could give her everything that our fortune would allow.

But then I wonder, if she were here, would we even have made the fortune?

If she’d been there when I was seventeen, would I have gone down those paths best left untrodden?

That dark time.

Something I thought was resolved, but clearly is not—at least not as of three months ago.

This is a road I must travel alone.

Without Braden. Without my father. And certainly without Tessa Logan.