Page 71 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

I shook my head. “For such a nosy little shit, I’m shocked you didn’t know Zac is part of the Fletcher family’s business. I thought you had your finger on the pulse of all of Manhattan’s high-end establishments. The Cellar locations extend far beyond that.”

All he could manage was a few curses while he tried to process this new information. “Look, talking hasn’t been our strong point.”

“You never bothered to ask what Zac’s doing after graduation?”

“I’m asking now.”

Zac grabbed a bag from the sand. “You want to ask questions, you have to get a sack in the hole. But it’s my turn.”He used an underhand throw this time, managing to land on the top of the board before it fell in. Zac let out a loud whoop and said, “All right, King, I have to know: why did you become a professor in the first place? If you’ve got all this, why waste time with delinquents like East?”

“I take offense to that,” East said.

“I meant you to. Well?”

“It was kind of by…accident, I guess you could say,” I replied.

“Accident?” East scoffed. “How do youaccidentallyend up with one of the most boring jobs on the planet?”

“I’m so glad you hold me in such high esteem.”

“Oh, I do. But not because of your job. In fact, it never made sense to me that someone like you wasjusta professor. Sorry, but you don’t fit the mold. You’re too fucking hot.”

“Well, for your information, I enjoy being a professor, but you’re right—it’s not what I set out to do. I started up TerraKohr before I graduated, and that was my sole focus until a few years ago. My favorite professor at Astor, my mentor, was forced to retire unexpectedly, and I stepped in temporarily to take his place.”

“Okay.” Zac nodded, twisting one of the bags in his hands. “But that doesn’t explain why you stayed.”

“No, it doesn’t, does it?” I reached for my drink and took a long sip, letting the alcohol warm a path down my throat. “Yousee, I was going to leave a little earlier and continue to pursue my other business ventures, but then…you came along.”

Zac’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“Wait, you stayed forZac?” East asked.

I could tell from the stunned look on Zac’s face that he wanted to know the exact same thing, and while that technically would count as two questions, I didn’t have the heart to make them wait.

“I stayed because I saw Zac’s potential.” I put my drink down and went to pick up another bag. “We worked well together, and I knew I could help you.”

Zac licked his lips, completely and utterly blindsided by my response. “Wow, I…I had no idea.”

“I know. There was no reason for you to. You’re going to go a long way in life, Zac. I just wanted to help you get there.”

East made a gagging sound. “Sorry, but would you two like a moment?”

“Oh, shut it,” Zac said, and threw a bag at the imp sitting on the bar. “Do you not have one sensitive bone in your body?”

East spread his legs, and I shook my head. “Doesn’t count.”

“Well, it should. Anyway, I didn’t come here for hearts and flowers conversation.” East hopped off the bar and sauntered over to Zac. “So if that’s all you’ve got, move out of the way and let me have a turn. It’s time to get someactualdirt on King.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

zac

WE DIDN’T GET shit from King. East’s aim was even worse than mine, never even landing a sack in the hole—which I planned to give him hell about for the foreseeable future—so that meant King had been the one asking all the questions.

But today was a new day. There was plenty of time to find out more about our mysterious professor turned billionaire. Or was it billionaire turned professor? Billionaireandprofessor?

Who are you, really?I thought as I watched him standing thigh-deep in the ocean with East. They’d spent the better part of the morning bodysurfing, only after I insisted I was happy to go for a run before grabbing a book from King’s collection and laying out on a beach towel.

Not that I’d gotten any reading done. How could I with that view?

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