Page 1 of Seductive Hearts

1

COLTON

Very few things could ruin a night out with my closest friends.

A text from my father was one of them. Bonus points if he was good and pissed.

Dad: Get your ass home. Now. My study.

He was definitely good and pissed. It didn’t matter that I had a home of my own, nor that I was in the middle of having drinks with the guys. The great Barrett Black had made a proclamation and expected the world to comply.

I settled back in my chair, staring at the message while holding a glass of scotch in my other hand. “Fuck me,” I muttered before finishing off the rest of my drink, savoring the heat which spread through my chest. It was a lot more pleasant than the burning, seething heat Dad’s constant scrutiny usually stirred up in me.

“Fuck you? No, thanks.” My cousin, Lucian Diamond, laughed before lifting his hand to get our server’s attention—a cute girl but too perky for my taste, somebody who probably would never rub shoulders with people like us if it wasn’t for her job. She knew it was in her best interest to smile brightly and be a little flirtatious, and she had given us plenty of both.

She flashed that blinding smile again when she joined us. Her gaze darted around the small corner table, taking us in one at a time—Lucian, Noah Goldsmith, one of my oldest friends, Evan, and me. Tipping her blonde head to the side, she asked, “Are you all brothers? I swear, you look so much alike!”

We did, somewhat—tall, dark-haired, athletic. Maybe the similarities appeared stronger in the bar’s dim lighting, or perhaps she was kissing ass for a bigger tip by starting a conversation, getting personal. “Something like that,” I settled for.

“Wow. What a gorgeous family.” She shook her head like she couldn’t believe it before asking, “What can I get you, boys?”

Noah had been my best friend practically since we were born, so it didn’t come as a surprise when he leaned back in his chair and deliberately looked her up and down. “I don’t know. Are you on the menu?” he asked before sharing the kind of grin that normally sent a woman’s panties sliding to the floor.

“Don’t listen to him.” Evan shook his head and pretended to scowl at Noah. “He has no manners.”

Lucian lifted his hand to regain the girl’s attention. “I was going to order another round. How does that sound?” he asked, looking around the table.

“Not for me.” I knew I would catch hell for it, but I refused the offer. “Gotta go take care of something.”

“Or someone?” Evan asked, snickering once the server bounced away. He gazed at her retreating ass before grunting out, “Dibs on that one.”

Noah knew me best and laughed knowingly. He narrowed his eyes, looking me up and down as I patted my pockets to make sure I had everything. “No, not the way you’re thinking,” he predicted with a snicker, elbowing Evan to get his attention. “I know that look.”

Shooting him a cold glare, I demanded, “What look?”

“The look that says your balls crawled up into your belly when you got that text from Barrett,” he announced with a laugh. “Sorry. I could see the screen from here.” The others laughed with him, which was no big surprise, while I quietly seethed.

“Go fuck yourself,” I grumbled once they calmed down. Certain topics were off-limits as far as I was concerned, at least in public—no busting each other’s balls about our demanding parents.

And in my case, disappointed parents. No, parent. Singular. There wasn’t much I could do or say that would get my mom too upset. The few times I’d ever witnessed my parents arguing was over me and the fact that Dad thought she was too easy on me. More than once, he’d called me a spoiled brat. All because he’d worked to get where he was, while all I’d ever had to do was rely on him and my trust. It’s not my fault I wasn’t driven like he was, not having goals and ambitions and all that shit.

“He can’t know about Veronica yet, can he?” Lucian’s brows knitted together before he winced. “I mean, unless he got word from my dad.” He winced again, almost like he felt guilty for his father making a phone call.

Yes, trouble seemed to find me again this evening, but then again, Veronica never could handle her liquor. To think her wild temper was one of the things that had drawn me to her in the first place. That and a killer pair of legs that went up to her neck and tits with the power to make me drool. I couldn’t keep my dick from waking up a little at the memory.

But not for the first time did I ask myself what the point was of having a media empire in the family if stories about a good-for-nothing playboy having a public blowout with an internationally famous model couldn’t be suppressed.

Would that be too much to ask?

A little family loyalty?

No, instead, our dads lived by their ancient bro code. Uncle Connor would have rather gone behind my back and rat me out to my old man than bail me out for once.

“I’ll deal with it, either way,” I told him, then lifted a hand before leaving the table and making my way to the exit. The bar was pretty damn close to packed, full of beautiful bodies, some of which I would’ve liked to get to know a little better. Instead, I settled for nodding at the blatant come-hither looks I received from one eager woman after another.

Something told me getting chewed out by my father wouldn’t be nearly as pleasant as what I could get up to with one of these willing partners.

The night was warm but still cooler without so much body heat pressing in from all sides. After signaling the valet, I rechecked my phone. The text wasn’t any more pleasant than it had been when I first read it, and my jaw ached thanks to my grinding teeth.

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