39
BENOIT
One Month Later
THE VALENTINE’S DAY soiree was in full swing as Shep and I stepped out of the elevator and onto the eighteenth floor of our private Libertine building. Located off Park Avenue in Manhattan, it was where the most powerful, influential members of international society gathered to network—and where my brothers and I headed up the organization down in our underground headquarters. The influence we had on governments and corporations around the world couldn’t be understated, and with the cutting-edge technology Alessio created and procured, along with the latest and greatest weapons from Dimitri, we were a secret, elite group that even our members didn’t fully grasp the entirety of. It was a privileged life I led, no doubt about that, and one I’d always enjoyed.
At least until I’d left Santorini weeks ago.
I’d gone back to business as usual and long dinners with Archer and my brothers, but every night when I went back home it was always the same—empty. Quiet. Alone.
It shouldn’t have felt so lonely, not when I always kept my one-night-only conquests confined to places outside my bedroom. But the weeks spent with Dimitri had changed all that, and God I hated admitting it.
I was perfectly fine before he and all that dangerous swagger walked into my life, or rather, bought their way into my life—before King had issued a challenge I couldn’t stop myself from volunteering for, before I laid eyes on the man I was now unable to stop thinking about.
I hated it. Hated that I thought of him every day and had to hold myself back from reaching out. I’d sent him a text weeks ago to feel things out, even embarrassing myself in front of Alessio to practically beg him to track down Dimitri’s number, only to get nothing in return.
Total silence.
Now that I thought about it, it was the first time I’d ever been rejected by a man, and of course it had to be the one I wanted and couldn’t have.
Wasn’t that always the way? At least from what I heard. I’d never had the unpleasant experience, and it wasn’t something I wanted to repeat or dwell on.
“About time you two showed up. I was about to ping your trackers.” Alessio smirked as he headed in our direction, tapping the shoulder of a waiter carrying drinks on his way and pointing them in our direction.
I didn’t bother asking what the different drinks were, simply took the cutest one—garnished with a swizzle stick of strawberries lying across it—but instant regret hit me when I brought it to my lips and noticed the heart design floating on top.
Ugh. Just drink it down fast and don’t think about any of this lovey-dovey Valentine’s stuff.It wasn’t like this was in the Kings’ usual wheelhouse; it was because King was in a happy throuple relationship and wanted to spread the monogamy vibes, or whatever this was.
But as I looked around at all my brothers, I had to laugh. He was barking up the wrong tree if he thought this group would find love. Well, except for Lucien, but he was always more of a lover than the rest of us. And who could blame him for falling for the cutest young thing I’d ever seen?
A far cry from a certain Greek arms dealer, that was for sure.
Shit, and Lachlan was with someone too, but I couldn’t be blamed for forgetting that anyone found him loveable. He may have been easy on the eyes, but he was a little too hotheaded and trigger happy for me.
Also like someone else I knew, butwasn’t thinking about.At all.
I drained the fruity cocktail, set it on the tray, and then went to choose another, but the love theme was killing me. I flicked off the cupid figurine sitting on the lip of another glass before taking it, and Shep grunted beside me.
“Good to see someone else finds this shindig as nauseating as I do.”
I side-eyed our second-in-command, who was clutching his glass tumbler so hard that I was surprised it hadn’t shattered. It wasn’t that unusual for him to sport such a serious expression, but the irritation coming off him was new. Shep was used to smiling under false pretenses, having been raised in the world of politics.
He was also one of the most recognizable people in the world, constantly under surveillance from the press, whether it be for his fashion choices or political affiliations. So you could imagine the kind of shit that would hit the fan if someone were to find outthe son of a former U.S. president was the second-in-command at Libertine.
But that wasn’t what was bothering him tonight.No, that was the two men hanging off the arms of our boss—Shep’s ex.
“It’s a little on the nose, I’ll give you that.”
“A little?” He swallowed his drink and glanced my way. “Is this really the kind of image we’re hoping to portray?”
I scanned the bustling floor full of partygoers laughing and zeroed in on King’s most interesting choice of partners: James “East” Easton. He was an obnoxious little shit, that was for sure. I’d heard about him first through Archer and his man Preston, the latter of whom had gone to Astor—our alma mater. But never had I expected to have to deal with him in person.
Good thing King knew how to rein him in. And maybe that was half the appeal for him. East and Zac—King’s former teaching assistant—allowed King to be his natural, dominant self. Whereas Shep had always bucked against it.
Two alphas could never work.Hell, I’d learned that firsthand. One had to be willing to bend. The problem with Shep and King was that neither had been willing to.
“I mean, everyoneseemsto be having fun,” I said.
