Alpha Bait_BWWM Billionaire Romance Novel Read online

"Mama might try to make us all meet but stay strong. Dad taught us how to handle Carmichaels."

  "Yeah," I smiled, "Beat them at their own bloody game."

  "Ready to head down there?"

  "Yes," I replied, "I'm ready."

  My brother reached his arm out and I linked mine with his. I took my first wobbly step down the staircase. As the noise from the guests drifted upstairs, a sudden bout of nerves overcame me. I clung to my brother, my greatest strength throughout my father's sudden passing, and felt thankful not just for his presence, but for all of the Holloways.

  My father had overcome so much to build his company. Why would my mother want to make peace with the very people who had attempted to take that company from him? I didn't understand. Jamal gripped the railing. I gripped Jamal. We bowed our heads in mock distress as we reached the crowd of the grieving.

  My father's golf buddies, private jet club, shooting club friends, business associates and their families greeted us with the expectation of a performance of grief. So much about being rich was about pretending. My father, the stranger, left us with the burden of tidying up his messes.

  Kendrick Holloway died and left us desperate, hungry, greedy for a love we'd never known. Calling that fact to mind was enough to make my tears very real. I kept my veil over my face, grateful for shelter from those critical, prying eyes.

  Mama and I agreed to keep the service brief and tasteful. There were speeches, tears and everything you'd expect. The funeral home carted his body out for cremation -- his special request. I said goodbye to my father and returned to my mother's side. Mama twisted her face into an expression of anguish as the funeral ushers led him out of the house. I couldn’t tell if she was certain or putting on a show.

  She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

  "Come, Indie. I gathered everybody in the small dining room. We need to talk."

  "Who is we?" I asked.

  Mama scurried ahead with surprising speed for her age. She pushed open the door to the small dining room and invited me to sit. I glanced around the room. My brother and my closest cousins gathered around on one side of the room. On the other side sat the Carmichaels.

  Mama had only managed to wrangle two of them -- Ames Carmichael and Selena Carter, his younger cousin. The Carmichaels stood off to the side with their arms folded. Selena wore her bum length red hair straight like a hippie and round tortoiseshell glasses that softened the angles of her heart-shaped face. She didn't look much like Ames, except for the height characteristic of those in the Carmichael bloodline.

  Selena must have been six feet tall and her cousin a few inches taller. Their facial expressions betrayed their paranoia that somehow my mother had led them into a trap. I kept my veil pulled over my face and joined Donnie on our family's side of the room.

  My mother sighed and clasped her hands together, eyeing all of us with an expression that I had misinterpreted as grieving at first. Mama glared at us with anger she could barely contain. Her hands shook as she spoke, in a low, serious voice.

  "I see you have all chosen different sides of the room. Thank you for meeting with me here, I appreciate it, especially Selena and Ames."

  Selena pouted and neither of them responded.

  "In the wake of my husband's death, I'd like to extend my sympathy to the Carmichael family for their own loss. My condolences."

  "Thank you," Ames mumbled. Selena said nothing.

  "I want to get one thing straight here. I haven't called you here to debate anything. I'm here to inform you of what I expect and let you know what consequences will come from your actions if you question anything I've said in this room."

  Ames and Selena exchanged glances and their discomfort intensified. I smirked. Finally, mama was standing up to the Carmichaels. Thank goodness.

  She vanquished my smug smile with her next words.

  "This feud is over. I am serious. If either of you from either side decides to take this feud out of my house, I will ruin you. I am talking to you, Jamal, Indie, Donnie, Margot, Kiana, Selena, Ames. Each and every one of you is now responsible for peace. I've lost too much this year and I don't intend to lose anyone else. These powerful men that brought us to each other's throats are dead and I will not allow this battle to take any more lives. Do you understand?"

  Silence. None of us understood. Judging by the look on everyone's faces, none of us planned to understand.

  Mama continued, "Silence? Okay. Let me put it this way. My husband left me with a lot of money and I will ruin you or end you if you defy me. Even if you are my own son or my own daughter."

  She stared me right in the eyes as she said "daughter", her face twisting into an expression of anger that I'd never seen in her before. My blood ran cold and hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

  "I want you all to speak," she continued, "Speak now and tell me that you understand. "

  "We understand," Ames replied, nudging Selena who reluctantly agreed as well.

  "I understand, mama," I replied afterward, wanting to show at least my good faith.

  I doubted my mother's tactic would work, but it wouldn't be we Holloways who defied her. It would be them. I had to make that clear. Donnie agreed after I did and reluctantly, Jamal agreed. Jamal was sullen of course, but he knew when mama wasn't playing.

  "You're all dismissed. Selena, Ames, speak with your family. I will be in touch."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Selena and Ames exited the room. Jamal rushed to my mother and started speaking to her in hushed tones.

  She replied with a loud, "Quiet, boy!"

  That silenced him and my brother sulked out of the room.

  "Jamal, wait!" I chased after him, struggling to continue standing in my heels.

  "What is it?"

  He turned around, his furrowed forehead casting dark shadows across his face.

  "Mama's trippin'."

  They won't stop fighting with us just 'cause she said so."

  "No," he replied, "they won't."

  "Listen, Jamal, we should do something... something not stressful. The funeral's over, mama's going wild, we need something to take the family's mind off of all this."

  "What are you thinking?"

  "A party."

  He chuckled, "A party? Damn Indie, you're still such a sorority girl, you know that?"

  "This is not about a sorority lifestyle. We've been through tough times, we've barely seen our friends... We need to establish that our family is still strong in the social scene and in the business world. We might not be able to fight the Carmichaels, but we'll be able to prove to everyone else that we're not going anywhere."

  Jamal thrust his hands into his pocket and nodded.

  "Okay, okay," he replied, "I see where you're going with this."

  "So it's settled then?"

  "Yeah," he grinned, "let's throw a legendary Holloway party."

  Champagne in the Hamptons

  RICH

  "Take a look at this bullshit."

  Ames slammed the invitation down on my desk.

  "What's this?"

  "A bloody invitation."

  He glanced at it as if it were bloodied toilet paper.

  "Invitation to what?"

  I opened the weighty envelope to grasp the cardstock that had been shoved inside.

  "The Holloway Hamptons Hangout?"

  I smirked.

  "This must be some sort of mistake," Ames replied.

  "Or they're taunting us. Who cares. Trash it. We don't have to go."

  "I think we do have to," Ames muttered.

  "Why?"

  "That old woman is off her rocker and she's got eyes on everybody -- all of us."

  "So what? Now it's a mortal sin not to attend a party in the Hamptons?"

  Ames shrugged, "Well, it is the Hamptons. Perhaps attending would be worth it."

  "Get Selena in here," I brushed him off. "We'll see if she wants to go."

  "I'm sure she doesn't," Ames grumbled, but he left my room for a few
moments to grab our cousin.

  Selena returned, dressed in her tennis whites with a scowl on her face.

  "We have to go," she muttered.

  "What?!"

  I'd expected Selena of all people to avoid the Holloways.

  She smirked.

  "Would you change your mind if I told you Natalia would be there?"

  "Natalia?" I raised an eyebrow.

  Ames rolled his eyes, "Not this bullshit again. Natalia's toxic, she's fuckin' crazy."

  Selena smirked, "That's what Rich likes... crazy."

  "Selena's right," I replied, "we should go."

  "Bullshit!" Ames said, "you would have never agreed if it were just me."

  "Correct."

  "It's the Hamptons, losers," Selena replied, "if you can't have fun, you're the problem."

  "What's the dress code?"

  "Masquerade," Ames answered, scanning the invitation for the answer.

  "A masquerade?" I chuckled, "These people are out of it."

  "Remember Jamal's Princeton graduation bash in '08? They throw good parties. You boys will be fine," Selena replied, walking over to me and leaning her weight on my shoulders.

  The party was only in three months. By then perhaps some of the caustic bitterness would have died down. Plus, a yacht party was a great way to start off the spring party season. I considered it for a moment.

  "We'll sail over to the beach house by that Friday then."

  "Great," Selena sprung up, "I'm going to get a new dress."

  "And masks," Ames replied, "don't forget the masks."

  "Should we RSVP?" Selena replied.

  I shook my head, "Don't bother. Whether they like it or not, the Carmichaels are coming to the Hamptons."

  Seeing Natalia again was motivation enough for me to go. Natalia... Her parents were tech billionaires who had adopted herfrom Thailand. We'd had an on and off affair for a few years, but I hadn't seen her since our last breakup, which had been our worst.

  It wouldn't take much for me to lure her back in, but since she wouldn't take my calls, showing up to a Hamptons party was my best chance of getting back in touch with her. As Ames said, Natalia was crazy, and man, did I love crazy...

  We sailed over to the beach house in East Hampton. Father left that house to Ames and he'd done work on it with his designer to update the place from an old-school beach house to a modern, minimalist bachelor pad. Selena hated it, dismissing the place as "cold", but I enjoyed it.

  Our staff arrived shortly after we did and prepared dinner for us before the party. Ames brought out casks of aged champagne from the cellar and our chefs prepared a hearty meal of steak, potatoes, and asparagus. Selena refused to touch any carbs but she drank copious amounts of champagne before the party and called some girlfriends over from the city to get ready together and crash.

  When our driver pulled around to take us to the Holloway party, we dripped in jewelry and excess. I wore a white linen suit and Ames wore a seersucker suit. Both of us wore our white gold cufflinks and pastel neckties. Selena and her girl friends wore tight white cotton dresses and diamonds -- so many diamonds.

  We approached the dock and the Holloway security guard eyed us skeptically in the car.

  "Go ahead."

  Perfect. We had ten minutes until the yacht would leave the port. We showed our invite to another guard and he pulled back the ropes to let us onto the Holloway boat. The luxury yacht had to have been one of Jamal's newer purchases. The fresh scent of white boat paint hit us as we boarded.

  Selena pointed to the name on the side of the boat.

  Juliet.

  "Who the hell is Juliet?" She whispered.

  "Dunno," I shrugged.

  I was already distracted and my eyes scanned the crowd, desperate to catch a glimpse of Natalia. Did she still have that waist length black hair or had another foray into academia caused her to shave it off again. Either way, I didn't care. I'd fixate on her regardless of what she was wearing. Natalia had that allure to me.

  Selena split off with her friends. We weren't friends with any Holloway but naturally, our social circles involved some overlap. Plus, Selena wasn't only a Carmichael, she was a Carter. The Carter family had no interest in our feud. Her cousins, Skip, Marty, and Chaz lingered around the bar, passing around a fragrant Cuban. Selena waved and disappeared in their direction, leaving me with Ames.

  Ames combed his hands through his hair and glanced around.

  "See Jamal?"

  "No. You won't try to find him, will you?"

  "God knows. The opposite really."

  "Good. This isn't about the Holloways. We're here so we can be seen."

  "By Natalia?"

  "Shut up," I grumbled.

  "Won't you give it a rest, Rich? Natalia isn't worth it."

  "She's hot."

  "So is every chick in this place. We're in the Hamptons. If you were born ugly, you can just buy a whole new nose, a whole new set of tits. You're golden. Find another chick."

  "Whatever," I scoffed, "Enough lecturing, lets hit the bar."

  "Done."

  Ames and I sauntered over to the bar and flashed winning smiles as we ordered old-fashioned cocktails and dipped jumbo shrimp into cocktail sauce.

  "This is delicious," Ames replied.

  The yacht sounded a loud honk and a cheer went up as the captain pulled us away from the port. The music started, and the celebrity DJ started spinning. The cocktail bared grazed the surface of how drunk I planned to get.

  Ames and I spent an hour talking to a few hot but air-headed blondes that had come in from Manhattan -- Jamal's friends from his first job after Princeton. They were cute, but the only woman I could maintain an interest in was Natalia.

  Once the blondes left our side in favor of vodka sodas, I nudged Ames.

  "Do you see Natalia?"

  "No."

  "Think Selena lied?"

  "No. Maybe she couldn't make it."

  "Shit."

  "Natalia stole from you, bro. She isn't worth it."

  "Whatever."

  I downed my drink and separated from Ames. If he was going to be a downer about my planned reunion, I'd find someone who would at least be willing to support me. Selena had done far more mingling on the yacht, so I figured she'd have seen Natalia if she'd come.

  Selena and her girlfriends were already plastered on the dance floor, twirling around and screaming with some of the Carters and a few of Jamal Holloway's cousins. I tapped her on the shoulder.

  "Can I steal you for a sec?"

  "Weeeee!!"

  This would be fun...

  I grabbed Selena by the arm and led her off the dancefloor.

  "Have you seen Natalia?"

  "No!" She squealed, spinning around in a circle with her arms out.

  "Compose yourself, S. You're drunk."

  She giggled and steadied herself on my arm.

  "Not that drunk."

  "Wasted."

  "Natalia didn't come."

  "What?"

  "She's not here. She's hungover from some stupid party she went to yesterday in the Village."

  "You've got to be kidding me..." I muttered.

  "You want a hookup?" Selena asked, leaning in as if she were asking a very serious question.

  I grumbled something insulting under my breath, but Selena didn't catch wind of it.

  "Find Ginger. She's easy," Selena whispered, "very easy."

  "I'm not looking for easy."

  "Right," Selena teased, "you're looking for crazy."

  "Shut up," I grumbled.

  Selena was right. I had to get Natalia off my mind. And if her easy friend Ginger could help then so be it. Selena raced back to the dance floor and I marched over to her friend Ginger who gyrated in the middle of a circle, drunk out of her mind and dancing like a wind sock at an airport.

  Ginger wasn't exactly sexy, but she wasn't ugly either. She'd worn her mouse brown hair cropped above her shoulders her entire life and her pudgy face
was littered with freckles from sailing. Summer only added to Ginger's freckles and liquor reddened her face like a cherry tomato.

  "Ginger, can we talk?" I asked reluctantly.

  Her hazel eyes gleamed, the lights from the yacht reflecting off of them.

  "Me?" She asked in disbelief as if she were an ogre that I'd asked to the junior prom.

  "Yes. I'll get you a drink."

  "Okay, Richard."

  She slung her arm in mine and we stumbled over to the bar. Yeah, easy or not, there was no way in hell I'd be sleeping with Ginger tonight, but at least I could take Selena's advice and try to get Natalia off my mind.

  Ginger wasn't one of the spoiled rich girls who refused to consume a single calorie. She ordered a thick and creamy White Russian and I stuck to a martini with an extra olive.

  "How's work been treating you?"

  "Terrible. I quit again and mummy flew me out to London. She says my father is a bad influence on me."

  Knowing the Hatchets, her mother was probably right.

  "Why did you quit?" I asked, feigning interest in the banality and indolence of Ginger's life.

  "Can you believe they had me serving coffee to people all day long?"

  "Didn't you work at Starbucks?"

  She laughed and smacked me playfully on the arm.

  "You're funny Rich. You're really funny."

  Perhaps feeding the beast more liquor hadn't been the best idea.

  "How's London been treating you then?"

  "Terrible. I hate it. Mummy's flat in Kensington has three tennis courts but they don't even have a pool. Can you believe it?"

  "Such injustice in the world..."

  "I know, right?!"

  My sarcasm was lost on her. Was this the best Selena had to offer in terms of matchmaking? I glanced away from her and my momentary disinterest sent a shiver of panic through the poor girl. She lurched forward, pressing her palm to my thigh, trailing her hand up the leg of my linen pants.

  "Richard?" She asked, "what do you say we get out of here and go upstairs."

  "Upstairs? For the view?" I asked, feigning ignorance and praying she'd drop the subject.

  "No silly!" She giggled, "I think I can make you very happy tonight."

  "Ginger --"

  "Don't worry," she said, "I won't tell Selena."