Like we’d done for him, because blood is thicker than justice.
“Tommy. For fuck’s sake…”
I walked out, leaving him on the floor.
This wasn’t how I wanted to start my day.
When fucked off,find something to distract yourself.
I went straight toCòctels,showering there and not thinking of Ash or Leila. I’d stopped wondering when I’d get over Leila about two years ago, and just accepted that I wouldn’t. I had to live even if she wasn’t here, and I knew she wouldn’t have wished for me to stop dreaming. Dreaming and doing.
But Leila wasn’t the woman I thought about in the shower again. She wasn’t the woman I kept looking up, hoping to see walk through the door to the bar. It wasn’t dark hair I wanted to see, it was blonde hair that fluttered in the breeze and azure eyes that matched the sea.
I shouldn’t have kissed Jameson Kearney. I shouldn’t be wanting to kiss her again. I shouldn’t be imagining what she’d feel like with my cock deep inside her, or whether she enjoyed it hard and rough, and I shouldn’t be imagining what fucking her would be like if it wasn’t just like that.
My dick was semi-hard when Jameson’s mother walked in while I was thinking about her, standing behind the bar atCòctels,sorting out the optics. The sight of Livi was pretty much enough to calm it down in the same way jumping into a freezing pool would’ve been.
Livi Finch-Cooper was an Ibizan legend. She was the legendary party girl, saved by an island that’d accepted her when everywhere else saw her as the star act of a freak show. She’d still head to the clubs occasionally. Sometimes she’d book out the whole of Bohemi for her friends and I’d seen her holding court. She’d met my uncle, and I didn’t doubt for one minute that she knew him for what he was, the boss of an organised crime syndicate, but it wasn’t something someone like her would give a shit about.
Live and let live.
They both needed the island, just as the island served both of them.
“I was hoping to find you here.” Livi headed straight to the bar. “I have a work opportunity for you.”
I put down the bottle of vodka I’d been wrestling with and faced her. She didn’t know who my family was, I was pretty sure of that. I’d never been like Ash, wanting a high profile and for people to know who I was and what power I might have. I’d kept to the shadows and enjoyed myself from there. A reluctant prince to an empire he scorned.
“I’m listening.”
She smiled, her face more like Lara’s than Jameson’s. Livi knew how to wield power, she knew how to command a room with nothing more than a smile, which was what she was doing now.
“My daughters have told me how good your cocktails are, and I noticed how frequently they were coming here when I saw Lara’s credit card statement.” Another smile. “I’m having a party, the weekend after next, and I’m in needed of a bartender who’s a master mixologist. We have servers in already, but I thought you might like to show off your skills to a market that I’m pretty sure you’d like to tap into.” She scratched neat nails against the bar.
I’d made the bar myself, shaping the wood, and using resin to add the hard coating to protect it. It was the best extension of myself and one of the things I was most proud of in the last few years.
“All weekend?”
“You choose. There’s a masquerade ball at my villa on Friday, a party on the yacht on Saturday and then a beach event to end the weekend. I can provide you with everything you’d need and you can name your price.”
The same smile was produced. It seemed genuine, but I was under no illusion that she knew exactly how powerful it was.
What she had no idea of was how she’d just presented me with the biggest fucking gift.
I named a price I knew she’d expected. No need to barter. She’d figure I needed the money, not knowing that I had enough.
“Done. I’ll have someone get in touch to arrange the details. Give them a list of what you want me to stock – all premium. There’s a dress code you’ll need to abide with but it has wide parameters.” Her accent was upper class, like Lara’s. Jameson’s was softer, less clipped, as if she’d tried to hide where she came from.
A non-disclosure agreement?” I knew what the answer would be.
“Of course. You don’t have to be serving all the time. I’d keep your session to two or three hours. Then you can enjoy the party.” She pulled out her purse from her handbag, her elegant fingers pulling out a credit card. “Here. This is for my daughters this weekend, especially Jay Jay. She hates having her way paid for. Just one favour.”
I accepted the card, knowing full well this was a test of sorts, as well as being bought. “What’s that?”
“Make sure they get home safely if they’re drinking here. Especially Jameson.” She nodded, her chin rising like Jameson’s did when she was about to be stubborn. “Lara can take care of herself, and so can Jamie, but I’d feel better…”
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Good. Thank you. And doing this favour for me will bring you business and investors. It’s a good business move.”
