6. Darcy

‘So, you were definitely the star of the show last night,' Maddy tells me as she tops up my rosé. The boys and kids are blissfully absent and she, Aida, Gen and I are camped out on two of the huge daybeds. The pool is empty and tranquil, and the air is quiet. I swear, Cal makes more noise in the pool than any of the kids combined.

‘Thanks, love,' I tell her, peering dolefully into my glass. ‘Fat lot of good it did me, thanks to Cockblocker Carew here.' I jerk my head in my sister's direction.

Maddy belly laughs. ‘I can't believe you dragged your sister home so you could pimp her out and you won't let her get any action,' she tells Gen.

I twist to face her. ‘Thank you. Exactly.'

‘I'm trying to do precisely the opposite of pimping her out,' Gen protests. ‘Fuck's sake. It's one thing giving her a dancing job, but I don't want every playboy at Alchemy crawling all over her. I'm trying to protect her.'

‘Not just the guys,' Maddy says, wriggling on the day bed in her tiny white bikini. ‘I was into it. You were hot.'

‘Aww, thanks, hon.' I cock my head. ‘Good to know.'

‘You really were,' Aida says. ‘Your dancing is fucking amazing. I wish I could move like that.'

I shrug modestly. ‘Thanks. If it makes you feel better, I can't name any member of Parliament except the Prime Minister.'

Everyone laughs.

‘I appreciate that—I'll take it as a tiny consolation,' Aida says.

‘Know your strengths and limitations, right, Dots?' my sister asks.

‘Don't call me that,' I growl.

‘Want to tell the others why I call you that?' she asks with her trademark sly tone, and I want to punch her in the face.

‘I hate you.'

‘Dots is a cute name,' Maddy muses as I shoot daggers at my big sis.

‘Darcy's not her birth name,' Gen says, and there is so much fucking glee in her voice. ‘She changed it by deed poll when she turned eighteen. Right, Dots?'

I put down my rosé and crash face-forward into the mattress. ‘I'm going to fuck every guy at Alchemy just to get back at you,' I mumble into the fabric.

‘I'm sorry, I didn't hear a word you said,' my sister says airily. I hate her. ‘She was born Dorothy—we called her Dots or Dottie when she was little—and she decided it wasn't sexy enough, so she changed it to Darcy.'

‘It wasn't sexy,' I insist as Maddy's howls ring in my left ear. ‘I mean, Dottie, for fuck's sake. You got Genevieve, which is an objectively stunning, elegant name, and I got fucking Dorothy.'

‘Did your parents like The Wizard of Oz?' Aida asks.

I sigh and hoist myself up onto my elbows. ‘No. They liked God.'

That sets Maddy off again. ‘I'm sorry,' she gasps. ‘For some reason I'm finding this hilarious.'

I roll my eyes. Maybe she's not the potential ally I thought she was. I turn to my sister, who's smirking like the cat who got the fucking cream. To be fair, she did. Perched on the daybed in a gorgeous coral one-piece, huge sunglasses on and her platinum hair swept back, she looks every inch the fabulous lady of the manor. Or villa. Or chateau, or whatever it is.

‘I would think that if I was about to marry a smoking hot actual billionaire, then I'd be a little nicer to my poor, celibate, penniless sister,' I hiss at her now.

She doesn't look remotely sorry. ‘You're not penniless. We're paying you through the nose, and I've basically handed my flat over to you. You can have all the sex you like—just stay away from the Alchemy guys, okay?'

That reminds me. ‘Guess who I met last night?' I ask archly. I pause for effect and then say, ‘Max.'

‘Oh, Lord,' Gen says as Maddy starts laughing again, so hard she has to clutch her stomach.

Aida frowns. ‘Anton's friend, right? The super attractive one?'

‘Right,' I say. ‘The same guy who's taking over from Anton as CEO of his entire business. Because they like to share.' Now it's my turn to smirk at my sister.

‘They didn't share me,' Gen protests, and Aida's perfectly groomed eyebrows wing up above her sunglass frames.

‘What?'

‘Uh oh,' Maddy singsongs. ‘The journo can smell a story.'

‘Gen and Max know each other,' I chime in. ‘In the Shakespearean sense. The Big Bad Wolff got his friends to, um, service my sister while she was rejecting his advances. And by service I mean spit roast. And Anton watched.'

As Gen groans audibly, Aida runs her tongue over her lower lip in a move she's internationally famous for. She's super sexy. I really, really love that Cal fell for her. She reminds me of my number one girl crush, Aubrey Plaza. Not that I'm really into women. But if I was, Aubrey would be it for me.

Anyway.

Back to humiliating my sister.

‘That's pretty hot,' Aida says slowly. She takes a sip of her wine as she processes.

‘Was it hot, Genevieve?' I ask innocently.

My sister clears her throat. ‘It was very fucking hot, and we don't speak of it anymore. Max and I are fine now. Anton and Max are fine. Anton just doesn't need his nose rubbed in it. Okay? But honestly. Max is a great guy to be friends with, but he's at Alchemy every night of the week, fucking everything that moves. I don't want him going anywhere near you.'

‘I dunno.' Maddy cocks her head. ‘Max definitely has strong Daddy energy. I would, if I wasn't annoyingly in love with Zach. But is it icky if he fucks two sisters? I can't decide.'

‘It's horrifying,' Gen says at the same time that I say, ‘I think it's fine.'

Aida laughs and shakes her head. ‘Oh, boy. I plead the Fifth on that one.'

‘If you can get over the sister thing,' Maddy persists, ‘then I think he could be a lot of fun for you. I mean, deep down, he's a decent guy, right? He seems to be. And Anton trusts him with absolutely everything. Plus, he's gorgeous and filthy and experienced. He could definitely show you the ropes, if you catch my drift. I bet he'd be fucking amazing in bed.'

Max's words from last night drift uncomfortably through my brain.

I'd like to put you over my knee and spank that insolence out of you.

And I think you'd like that, too.

Jesus Christ. I think I would, too.

I suspect deflection is the best strategy here. ‘All I'm saying,' I tell my sister, ‘is that you can't protect me forever. I get around. I'm not some innocent little flower. If I want a big bad man to do bad things to me, I'll let him. When I'm not at the club, my time's my own. Got it?'

I'll get on that stage.

I'll dance.

I'll fluff those guys at Alchemy till they're rock fucking hard.

But now I'm back in Europe, I'm going to make sure I have fun.

And if that fun includes a few harmless spanks from Anton's best man when the wedding comes around next month, so be it.

After all, I'm my sister's bridesmaid.

It would be rude not to.