Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
"Nothing."
"Right. You're usually this big of a pain in my ass for no reason."
I turn to glower at him, only to find Trystan smirking at me like he knows something I don't. "What's so funny?" I grumble, crossing my arms to glare at him, too.
"You, motherfucker," he chuckles. "I've never seen you bent out of shape over a girl before."
"What girl?" Bastian asks, glancing between us. And then he growls a curse. "Son of a bitch." His eyes narrow on me. "Are we having this wedding here because of some girl?"
"What? No. Trystan is just an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about," I say, which is only partially untrue. Trystan is an idiot, but he's got me pegged to a fucking T. "We're having the wedding here for safety reasons."
Trystan snorts softly, shaking his head.
I don't think Bastian believes me, either. But he just mutters another soft curse. "Wedding preparations are handled. I put Haven and Lucy in charge of overseeing plans. Trystan and Oliver have security handled. And the restaurant is handling catering."
"Good," I grunt. "Need help with anything?"
"Yeah, actually. We hired a new marketing person. I want her to film parts of the wedding."
"Fuck no," I growl. "The whole point of having the wedding here was to avoid it turning into a circus."
Bastian scoffs at me. "We won't turn it into a circus, and we won't film anything important or anyone in attendance. We need footage of the vineyard all set up, and shit like that."
I hesitate for a moment and then nod. "Fine. I'll run it by Nadia. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Who's the girl?"
Trystan cracks up at the question.
My future wife.
I flip them both off and stomp toward the door instead of telling them a damn thing. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Jesus Christ," I mutter, gripping the edge of the stone bar as Zoya and her dick of a boyfriend stride into the restaurant with their arms linked and their heads together later that evening. He's grinning down at her, whispering something. And she's fucking laughing up at him.
That laugh should be mine. So should her smile.
She looks like an angel in a pale blue dress, her hair in a pile on top of her head. Every inch of her has me ready to stomp across the restaurant and haul her out of his arms like I did yesterday.
Am I jealous? Fuck yeah, I am. She's mine, goddammit.
As if sensing my eyes on her, she glances up, her gaze locking with mine.
The laughter dies on her lips, her eyes going wide.
I can't resist lifting my bottle in a mock salute. Something about the way she looks at me like I'm haunting her is cute as hell. Does she have any idea that I'm the reason Nadia and Teo are getting married here instead of in LA?
Judging by the suspicious scowl on her face, yeah, she knows.
The thought amuses me. I hope she's looking over her shoulder, just waiting for me to appear like the goddamn Ghost of Kisses Past. That's pretty much the entirety of my plan. I've got two weeks to convince her that she belongs with me, not her dick of a boyfriend. If I have to play dirty to make it happen, I'm more than happy to do so.
"I have a plan to expand operations."
"Good for you," I grunt to my cousin, Ridley, as he slides onto a barstool beside me, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. I don't care about his plan. I'm too busy watching the way Zoya's hips sway as Connor leads her across the restaurant to the private dining room where the wedding party has convened for dinner.
Why the fuck did I open my mouth and practically demand that they stay at my place with me? That was a goddamn stupid decision. If he sneaks into her room and I hear them fucking, I'm going to lose it.
Christ. She wouldn't do that, would she?
Something tells me no, but I had to listen to her giggling for an hour while she was getting ready for dinner. I finally stomped out before I lost my mind.
I've been sitting at the bar since, trying to drink my way to sanity. Waiting for her to show up. I can't keep my eyes off her. Connor doesn't seem to be having the same problem. There's just something…off about the man. I can't even put my finger on it. But he looks at her like she amuses him. And the way she looks at him is nothing like the way she looks at me. There's no heat, no intensity.
And the way he keeps ditching her? Yeah, no loving boyfriend willingly dips out on a girl like Zoya five minutes after arriving in a paradise like this unless he's up to some bullshit.
I don't like him, and I don't trust him.