Page 12 of Savage Temptation

Ashley grabs my arm to draw my attention. “Wayan has a friend. Not that you’ll care.”

“I don’t know how you do it. Every place we go, you find someone to attach yourself to.”

“What can I say? I’m versatile.”

Despite how depressed I am, I laugh.

“So, are you going to mope around your hotel room all night while I shake my ass on the dance floor?”

That was what I had intended to do, but perhaps I need to get out. My obsession with Atticus has gone on long enough. It’s time to put it to rest.

“Actually, no. I’m coming with.”

Her head snaps in my direction, and I see a single eyebrow rise above the rim of her sunglasses.

“Seriously?”

“I just…need something to take my mind off all the shit I’m dealing with.”

“It still hurts, doesn’t it?”

Suddenly, I feel thankful for Ashley. She might be my polar opposite, but she’s helped me weather countless storms.

“I just expected my first time to be different.”

“You are better than Atticus, and one day, you’ll fall in love and forget all about the asshole you drunkenly hooked up with after breaking into their penthouse.” She offers me a smile. “But tonight, you’re going to make memories you’ll never forget.”

CHAPTER5

ATTICUS

I eye the guest list for tomorrow’s modification unveiling, which has over seven hundred names.

And I don’t care to see a single one of them. Even Lance.

It’s not that my friend has done anything wrong, and he certainly doesn’t deserve any of my frustration, but he serves as a constant reminder of something I can’t have.

Or rather, something I had so briefly, I can never truly say it was ever mine.

“Sir, I know you wanted to wear a crimson tie, but that’s last season. Cooler colors are in. A dark blue bordering on gray would work better.” My assistant Samantha holds up several for me to inspect. “This hale navy stunner would be perfect.”

I wave my hand dismissively. “I don’t really care. Go with your gut.”

She exits my office as Lance storms in, crashing into a chair. He looks angry, which isn’t his nature. He’s the guy that always has a smile and a joke, so unlike my real family, which is why I claim him over them.

“Have we already started drinking?” I ask pointedly.

“Tessa’s in trouble.”

For a moment, it’s as though the earth has stopped spinning. I can’t even breathe. It feels like the air has been vacuumed from my lungs.

She needs me.

“How can I help?” I snap out.

Lance scoffs. “Try luring her away from her shithead boyfriend, though the only thing you’d have to offer her is money, and I know she wouldn’t go for that.”

Boyfriend?