Page 11 of The Professor: Ep. 2
He considered that for a moment. “True. But sorority girls are free.”
“And young,” I added. “Not nearly as skilled.”
“But they can learn,” he argued.
That they can,I agreed, thinking of Kayla yet again. “Now who wants to be a professor?” I asked him, arching a brow.
He chuckled. “I’ll happily teach sexual studies to all the women in this damn bar, Kane.”
I just shook my head. “You’d fail them all in a day and run right back to your fantasy club in New York.”
His lips twitched. “Sin Cave. Honestly, I can’t believe you passed me up on the offer to visit. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, Kane. Trust me.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. But I have no interest in Elite Brides or trained escorts.” I kept my voice low but underlined it with steel. He knew better than anyone how I felt about the whole industry. Some of my best friends ended up with arranged marriages and wives specifically trained to meet their every need. Hell, my own mother was one of those women. And my father had arranged for me to live the same life.
Hard pass.
I wanted nothing to do with the elite bullshit of the world.
He could take his corporation and shove it right up his ass.
“That’s because you haven’t tasted them,” Dustin replied, his tone just as soft. “You’ll probably get the chance at Julian’s wedding in the spring. He’s planning to share his bride after the wedding.”
“And no one sees anything wrong with that,” I muttered, signaling the bartender. I needed another beer if we were going to talk about Julian Jovanni and his pending nuptials. We all grew up together, our families running in the same circles, living theelite lifestyle. Whatever the fuck that meant.
Julian had no choice but to follow in his father’s footsteps. The Jovanni family empire was one-fourth of the Sin Cave enterprise, making them a founding member by association. It didn’t surprise me at all that he had an Elite Bride waiting for him. She would come from the right kind of “stock” to produce his heirs.
“It’s a way of life,” Dustin returned. “Julian’s just doing what he was born to do.”
I grunted. “We all are.”
“Except you.”
“Except me,” I agreed. “For now, anyway.”
“The old man driving you hard to conform?”
“Threatening me, yes.” The bartender chose that moment to deliver another round, and I nearly kissed her to show my gratitude. Instead, I took a long sip and glanced sideways at Dustin. “You know I’m not buying your act of showing up unannounced, right? I know he sent you here.”
All the families in our circle had a buddy system. Sort of like a mentorship program where male heirs were paired at birth, their future friendships already decided.
Dustin had been my destined best friend.
We’d been roommates in boarding school and then roommates in college.
There wasn’t a damn thing he didn’t know about me and vice versa. So it stood to reason that my father would send him to coax me back into the fold after I flat out refused to conform—again—during the holidays. My mother’s little phone call might have persuaded me to give up my evening plans and return home immediately, but nothing she or my father could say would convince me to stay indefinitely.
“Your father’s not getting any younger, Kane.” Dustin uttered the words in the serious tone he reserved for elite business. “You’re the heir, whether you want to accept it or not.”
“Then I’ll sell the company.”
He snorted. “No, you won’t. You’ll go manage it because you’re Maddox Kane and responsibility is your thing.”
“Is it?” I countered, arching a brow at him. “Because I’m quite content to stay right here.”
He glanced around the room, eyeing several more country girls in skirts. “Then buy a handful of the women and create a harem.”
I chuckled. “You know that’s not why I’m content, McCoy.”
