Page 64 of Nothing to Do

Hand on her arm, Alessia inched in, lowering her voice. “Have you seen him? Roman?”

“Since when?”

“He came out to see us yesterday, but he was really quiet. Everyone’s worried this Sway thing has set back his recovery. We can’t believe she would do this to him.”

Oh, it was so difficult to keep her sanity sometimes. These women, these young women, idolized a man who didn’t deserve their adoration. It wasn’t their fault. Maybe it was a little naïve, but their interest came from a place of love… unfortunately.

She’d never met Sway, the woman could be an angel or a demon. More likely, Sway existed somewhere in between, as most people did. Whichever it was, she couldn’t help but prickle.Why were Roman’s negative choices being placed on another person? And a woman at that? Wasn’t he responsible for his own actions? Wasn’t everyone?

“Do you need anything?” Changing the subject was better than shattering her sister’s illusions. They’d only disagree on the subject anyway. “You want to eat with us?”

Alessia’s smile got saucy as she twirled a length of hair. “I want to eat that guy.”

Another look back to Zane and Tripp.

“Tripp Breckenridge?” she said. “No, you don’t.”

“Is he an asshole? That’s okay sometimes.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, little sister, I love you so.” She pulled her close to kiss her temple. “You can eat with us if you want, but just you, I don’t want crowds harassing Zane all night.”

“Is Tripp single?”

“No!” she said, taking her sister’s hips to guide her around until her back was to the deck. “He lives in New York.”

“What does where he lives have to do with anything?” Alessia asked, trying to look back over her shoulder as they walked toward the bonfire again. “Tell him I think he’s cute.”

“Every woman thinks Tripp’s cute. He accepts that as the default.” That was certainly the impression she got from dinner the other night. “You’ll start a riot if you get involved with him.”

“Everyone thinks Zane is cute and no one hates you… not that they’ve told me anyway.”

“They won’t tell you they hate your sister.”

“Hmm, good point.” Alessia cheered when they stopped a few feet from her friends. “I’ll come say hi later, when he’s had a few drinks.”

“Okay. I’ll keep topping off his glass,” she teased.

Her sister was beautiful, and she had a kind soul, any guy would be lucky to have her. Tripp might be a good guy, but shedidn’t want him and her sister hooking up, then forgetting each other existed.

In their final hug, Alessia tensed and squealed. “Oh my God, is that…?”

The hubbub grew in its excitement. Alessia vanished into her group. With so many important stories to share, it was nice her sister found kindred spirits.

Walking toward the deck before she got an eye on who riled the crowd: Zairn.

If these were the kind of people who loved celebrity. They’d have to know him. Chatting away with Tripp and Zane, he raised a hand in hello and that was all the encouragement the women needed. The swarm rushed toward the deck. The wave of them collided with her back just a breath before the guard edged aside to allow her through and no one else. The stairs were immediately blocked by more than one guard. A dozen guys were dotted around the fenced deck. Now she got why they were above and protected by a perimeter.

“Everything okay?” she asked when Zane put an arm around her.

“We were waiting for you.”

He held out a seat for her and as she sat, so did the men.

“No Struan tonight?” she asked Tripp, then immediately wondered how that worked.

Not only was Struan’s livelihood attached to his brother, he also had to be careful how he lived his own life. No one recognized him, instead, he’d be his brother in everyone’s eyes whenever he went anywhere.

“Logan’s plane lands in five minutes,” Tripp said, doing the honors of ladling out punch for everyone from the bowl in the center of the table. “Figured I’d give the brothers their space.”

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