Page 5 of Dex

“What list?”

“The list of people you called before me.”

I laugh.“Relax, brother.You were top of the list.”

“Yeah, yeah.”He doesn’t believe me, and he knows me well enough to know that he shouldn’t.

“Lexi and I barely text anymore, and I’m not in the mood for dealing with a stranger at a bar tonight.”

Rio assesses me carefully.“You sound lonely, dude.”

I shrug.“Bored, more like.”

“You need to get out there and find someone new,” he suggests.

I roll my eyes and take another sip of beer.But before I can respond, something catches my eye.Something sitting on Rio’s fireplace.

A photo, of a woman.Framed like it belongs there.Like it’s important.I freeze.The image is familiar.Toofamiliar.I get up, walk over, and pick it up by the edges.“What the fuck is this doing here?”I growl because I know exactly who it is.

Rio scrubs a hand down his face.“Shit.”

I turn the photo around, studying it.“This has been sitting here formonths?”This is the photo the old man had at the last family dinner.

“I should’ve put it away,” Rio mutters.

I look at him, then back at the picture.

The heiress.She’s standing outside, near a huge bouquet of flowers.Looks like the backdrop to a fancy event.Head tipped back, she’s laughing, and not looking at the camera either, like she doesn’t even know someone’s taking a photo.

Whoever took it caught a moment, and caught her.The very essence of her.She’s beautiful.Full mouth, pouty lips.Bright green eyes framed by thick lashes.Thick defined eyebrows, too.She’s impossibly stunning, now that I find myself staring at her for longer than is normal.Her hair is medium brown, long and luscious.Loose curls, running riot down her shoulders.She has high cheekbones.Of course she would.A perfect nose, too.

Of course.

And she wanted to marry Jett.Have a marriage of convenience.I find it suspicious why someone who looks like her would want to be a part of that.It also disgusts me and makes me wonder what her real motive is.

“Is this your shrine to her?”I look at him in disbelief.The dude looks something I’ve never seen him look before—agitated.

Rio exhales slowly, eyes flicking to the photo.“She’s gorgeous, right?”

I let out a dry laugh.“No argument there, but you don’t even know her.”

“Do we ever really know anyone?”he counters.“You go to a bar, meet someone, it’s all based on looks anyway.”

I narrow my eyes.“So what, now you’re obsessed with some woman you’ve never met?”

“It’s not like that,” he snaps.

“Really?What conclusion do you expect me to draw from this?”I thought Rio was way cooler than that.This is odd and confusing.I’ve seen this guy in action and he doesn’t go crazy over a woman.As far as he’s concerned, it’s easy come, easy go.

He scrubs his hand over his jaw.“I borrowed it, and I meant to put it back at the next family dinner.”

He stole it from my father’s penthouse.What the hell was he thinking?

“Youborrowedit?Also, you think the old man hasn’t noticed it’s missing?”I snap.I know exactly when he took it.It was that time our father told us about the deal with the Brazilian heiress, when he expected Jett to agree to the alliance between the two families, but instead my headstrong brother turned up with his assistant, Cari, and declared his love for her in front of us all.“It wasthatdinner,” I state, my mind whirring with the possibilities of what this could mean because this behavior is out of character for Rio, and now I’m starting to get worried.

“I doubt he’s missed it,” Rio retorts.

“Why do you have this, brother?”

---