Page 1 of Lost Love

1

Connor

She was drunk.

Perfect.

I never said I was a saint. Far from it. I’d fucked my way through most of Manhattan, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. Women swarmed around me like moths to a flame. Who was I to deprive them?

With my back against the wall, I watched her. Pepper Little swayed to the DJ’s beat, her hourglass curves seductively drawing me in.

I’d just learned Pepper and Jake, her long-time boyfriend, had broken up. As of tonight, they were no longer an item, and by the way her eyes zeroed in on mine from across the room, she wanted to forget about him. She was my sister’s best friend, but I could forget tonight and give her that, if only for tonight.

I’d never fancied Lourde’s best friend. Not like that anyway. Pepper was much younger. Eight years to be exact, at just twenty-three. But I never saw age as a barrier before. She was cool and gorgeous, just not my flavor of gorgeous—tall, skinny, blonde, and pillows for titties.

Pepper was the opposite, with olive skin, long black curls, and dark brown eyes thanks to her Greek roots. She was petite, had curves that wound into a tiny waist and a booty that made both men and women alike turn their heads.

Challenging her to make the next move, I lifted the tumbler to my lips without breaking her gaze. The amber liquid slid down the back of my throat like liquid candy. Her lips peeled upward into a grin before she closed her eyes, letting her hands sink over her scarlet dress, then ran them over the curves of her breasts, down the sides of her body to the swell of her hips. My dick thickened in my pants, watching her touch her body so seductively.

It was only when my sister, Lourde, and her friend, Grace, started dancing next to Pepper did my attention wane, and so did hers.

I wandered back to the bar table where my friends were seated. Ari and Barrett were engaged in conversation while Magnus stared at me like I had two heads.

Had he seen me gawking at Pepper?

Lightheadedness and haze swept throughout my six-foot-three frame, and I steadied myself, putting my arm against the wall. It took an awful lot to get me drunk, but clearly, tonight, I was reaching that threshold.

Along with the last few weeks, I’d been giving an alcoholic cause for pause with the amount of alcohol I’d been consuming. It made me forget about what was coming—my future obligations as an heir to a billion-dollar media empire and an arranged marriage decided for me at an early age.

Alfred—who I stopped calling Dad since I could remember— was about to step down as the President of Diamond Incorporated, which meant it was my turn to step in. Not only into a position and responsibility I didn’t want but with the announcement of my arranged marriage to Francesca, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cavendish.

With the new role came the impending jail sentence to her. Okay, maybe, a jail sentence was a slight stretch. She was gorgeous. My fake type of beautiful and not too bad of a fuck, either. But that was it. She was blander than a cracker, and oftentimes, I found the ground more appealing when she spoke.

The alcohol numbed the pain, and after the week of hell my father had put me through as Vice President, I needed to let off some steam.

“Where did you go, man?” Ari slapped me between the shoulders, nearly sending me off balance.

“Noo… wherrre.”Did that come out in a slur?

“I think you better hold back on the booze,” Ari cautioned, moving the bottle of Hennessy closer to him.

“What the fuck, Ari?”

“Hey, man. Just trying to help is all.”

“It’s a party, lighten up,” I snapped, grabbing the bottle from his claw-like grip.

“Man, you’ve got a set of balls,” Magnus said to Ari, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“Hey, bud, we’re all concerned, that’s all,” Barrett reassured.

“I’m fine,” I leveled back, but looking around the table, all I saw was concern on my friends’ faces.

“Geez! All right, here,” I conceded, sliding it back across the bar table. “Take the fucking bottle. Now, will you leave me the fuck alone?” I questioned with an over-the-top hand gesture that nearly sent me tumbling over my own feet.

“Jesus fuck, Connor.” An arm circled my back, propping me back upright. Blinking a few times, I tried to regain my composure and shake off the umbrella of haze.

“See, I’m fine.” I straightened. “Now, who’s getting laid? Magnus, since your wife cheated on you, you up?” I gloated like the drunk dick I was.

---