Then her gaze rips from me to the fence and house. The fence is splintered, and the house looks the same—old and tired. She draws her eyes away from the home to my cuff links—hammered gold, from Milan.
She nibbles on her bottom lip in an expression I’ve seen before—the realization that I’ve got wealth.
And she hungers for it.
Yet surprisingly, the longing vanishes and is replaced with unease. She seems to shrink right in front of me, tugging on the collar of her thin white T-shirt and tucking one booted foot behind the other.
“Goodbye and good luck,” I tell Sunbeam before jogging back to the SUV.
When I get in, Stone coughs into his fist. “You stink like a pig.”
“As if you know what one smells like.”
“I do now.”
I roll my eyes. “You could have helped.”
“And miss out on watchingyou? No way. That was a memory worth imprinting on my brain forever.” I put the SUV in drive and hit the gas. He watches the farm as we roll past. “Did you get her number?”
I bark out a laugh. “No.”
“Why not? Maybe she’s not a social climber.”
“As far as a Maddox is concerned, they’re all either social climbers or fortune hunters.”
“So Sylvia says,” Stone says bitterly. “I don’t know. Looked like the two of you were hitting it off. Oh, wait. Maybe I’m thinking of the pig that was climbing all over you. Let me know when you plan to introduce your new girlfriend to the family. Does she have a special diet? Slop, maybe?”
“You are hysterical,” I say dryly.
“I looked up the farm while I had all of eternity to wait for you. It’s a petting zoo. You can also buy a piggycorn, but from the looks of the place, no one’s visited in the last decade. Not like that unicorn farm over there.”
He nods to a glossy, white-washed fence. The whole place practically glows, it’s so beautiful—green meadows, frolicking unicorns. Allergy attacks.
“Why don’t I have one of those?” he says. “I would love a unicorn. Look how cool that is.”
I eye a white horse with a golden horn poking out of its head. “Too common for folks like us.”
My brother smirks. “Does nothing impress you?”
“No.”
“Pane, your black heart will one day be softened.”
“Doubtful.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He wags a finger in the air. “If unicorns and piggycorns can’t melt you, nothing can.”
As we drive off, my gaze flicks to the rearview mirror, where I get one last glimpse of the brunette as she disappears behind her fence.
Just thinking of what she said—Whether it gets done today or tomorrow, it’s got to get done—pisses me off all over again.
Good. Stay pissed off. I don’t have time for fortune hunters in my life. Don’t let the country-girl persona fool you—where money’s concerned, she’s like all the rest, willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get it.
Stone’s phone rings and he puts it on speaker. “Hello, Sylvia.”
“Boys, where are you? The plane leaves in fifteen minutes.”
My shoulders tense. Thanks to Sunbeam, I’m all worked up, and I have to bite back the growl in my voice. “We’re on our way.”
“Good,” my mother replies just as sharply. “Because I’m about to choose the next president of the Maddox Hotel Group. It’s going to be one of you. But which one?”
