Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 144435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“Yeah, she’ll be here for a few weeks before she heads to Boston,” he says. “She wants time to get familiar with the city before classes start.”
Ah, shit. I forgot Raven graduated last month. She starts college at Berklee this fall. She’s a voice major. Brant was proud as hell when she got accepted early admission. He says she sings like an angel. Even Marnie says she’s good. That’s a ringing endorsement from a woman who doesn’t leave her own world often enough to notice anyone else exists most of the time.
Marnie isn’t a bad woman. She’s just self-absorbed and shallow. Then again, when you’re the heiress to a literal gold mine, I guess you can be. Her family owns the oldest mining company left in the United States. Owned. Her parents died when she was younger, leaving everything to her. But Brant is crazy about her, and she’s crazy about Brant, so I mind the business that pays me.
I’m curious about Raven, though. From the way Brant talks about her, she’s the exact opposite of her stepmother. There isn’t a shallow or self-absorbed bone in her body. Her life revolves around music and volunteering for a music program in NYC. She graduated at the top of her class, never gets into trouble, and is an all-around good girl.
Either she’s the most well-adjusted billionaire’s kid on the planet, or she’s one hell of an actress. Call me cynical, but my money is on the latter. No one grows up in the lap of luxury without a few demons. When you can have whatever you want, and the whole world caters to your every whim, you leave a few skeletons in your wake. I’ve seen it far too often to believe any different.
This city is overrun with spoiled rich kids who think the rules don’t apply to them. I’ll bet my left nut Raven’s the same way. She may have Brant fooled, but he hasn’t spent the last fifteen years in uniform. I was cleaning up the messes of rich kids long before I started working homicide. Hell, I grew up with the blood of one running through my veins. My mother has been a spoiled brat her whole life. Everyone in her vicinity has suffered for it, my baby sister the most.
I don’t tell Brant any of that, though. His kid is his business.
“She should be down soon,” Brant says as I pop the top on my bottle and take a pull. “She and Marnie had a…disagreement about her swimsuit.” His expression tightens, displeasure pulling his lips down at the corners. “I had to intervene.”
My gaze flickers to Marnie. I’m not sure how she has a leg to stand on regarding what Raven wears when she’s dressed like she is. Her suit consists of a few tiny gold triangles held together by several even smaller strings. It leaves nothing to the imagination. Not that she seems to mind how every man in attendance looks at her. Jack’s ogling her tits so hard I’m surprised he hasn’t given himself an aneurysm. Marnie’s relishing in the attention where she holds court beside the pool. But that’s not my business either, so I keep my mouth shut and take another drink.
“I’m taking Raven out on the boat tomorrow. Are you free?” Brant asks.
“Where are you headed?”
“She wants to see the whales.” He smiles indulgently. “I figured I’d take her on a cruise around the islands, see if we can’t find a pod for her. Marnie has a meeting, so it’ll just be the two of us.”
I open my mouth to agree, only for movement at the door to catch my attention. A tall, raven-haired beauty steps outside, her arms wrapped around her curvy body, her cheeks stained pink.
My breath gets lodged in my throat, every thought in my head vanishing. Christ Almighty. She has legs for days. And curves sweet enough to make my cock ache. Her all-black, two-piece suit is modest compared to what most women here are wearing, but it looks indecent on her full figure anyway. Her breasts nearly spill from the scalloped top, the creamy swells making my mouth water. The high waist leaves a tantalizing strip of her pale stomach visible. It’s clear she’s not entirely comfortable in the suit, but she looks gorgeous.
She’s beautiful in a timeless way, fresh-faced and innocent. Her big blue eyes and pouty lips are straight out of the old black and white movies my sister loves. She’s captivating, enchanting. I can’t pull my eyes away from her. Unlike most of the women here, she isn’t reed thin but big and beautiful. Her stomach isn’t flat but round, her hips and thighs wide. She’s the kind of woman you sink into and take your time with. The kind you ride bare just because you can’t fucking resist.