Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(4)

“When is this happening? Allegedly, that is,” Iris said.

“Any day? I don’t know. It’s just all over the local news. They announced it last night. And think about it. That massive construction site they’ve been working on out in the hills? The one everybody was having so much fun speculating about a few months back? I think I have a pretty good guess what it’s going to be.”

I was rapidly working my way through the five stages, starting with denial and moving to anger. “What gives them the right?” I demanded. “They want to turn our hometown into a circus? Is that it? They didn’t get enough satisfaction from all the shit they pulled in high school?”

Iris whipped out her nightstick and started stroking it in a way I thought was probably unconscious. Her fingertips ran down its length, and her eyes were distant. I knew she was visualizing some kind of beating.

“We need to agree again,” Miranda said. “The promise still stands, right?”

“Of course it does,” I said.

“Like it matters,” Iris scoffed. “There’s probably going to be an influx of supermodels applying for any and every part-time job they can find around town in the next few days. It’s going to be like a hunting ground around here, and the target will be the King brothers. If you think they’ll even remember us, you’re kidding yourselves.”

“She’s probably right,” I said. “If you made billions of dollars and dated celebrities, would you still be thinking back on high school drama? Would you even give any of us a second glance? No offense to us, of course.”

Miranda shook her head. “It matters. We need to all swear it again. No matter what, we won’t date the Kings.”

I watched her, feeling my stomach lurch at the memory of the last time we swore. I nodded. “I still swear it. No matter what,” I said.

“I swear it,” Iris agreed.

Miranda breathed out, then puffed up like the life was suddenly returning to her. In seconds, the in-control businesswoman was back. “Well, I’ll grab coffees and some food for that rumbling belly of yours.”

I sat back in my chair and stared at the table, mind racing. Five minutes ago, my biggest concern was how I’d avoid embarrassing myself in front of my students. Now I had to wonder what was going to happen when the Kings came storming into West Valley like horsemen of the apocalypse—except these horsemen didn’t bring plague and pestilence. They brought ladyboners, bad decisions, and enough money to make my head spin.

I was being dramatic, though. And Iris was right. It wasn’t as if they’d remember us, let alone be interested if they did. I’d be fine. We would be fine.





Chapter 2





RICH


I tapped my finger on the armrest of my seat. I knew we would just be passing over the North Carolina border, thirty thousand miles below. I hadn’t expected to feel the sharp tingle of anticipation in my chest when we arrived. I could have played psychologist and tried to dig into what that meant, but I was more focused on work.

Establishing a headquarters on the other side of the country was a massive risk. It was a risk we didn’t need to take, but I’d let my brothers goad me into it, even though I was highly suspicious of their motivations. In all honesty, I was suspicious of myself for agreeing to something so idiotic. My brothers and I all played our parts in the success of Sion. My twin brother, Cade, was good with people. He was our negotiator and our salesman. Our younger brother, Nick, had a stroke of genius in him. I could always count on him to think us out of a pinch, but he could also be too kind for his own good. He would let us shoot ourselves in the foot to avoid catching another business in the cross fire if it was up to him.

Then there was me. I was supposed to be the one with the head for business. I was the one who filtered their ideas and made the ultimate decision on whether a certain move was the right call. I pushed Nick to give me the best answer and not the nicest answer with the least potential fallout. I made sure Cade talked to the right people at the right times and got the right results. It was my job to make the tough decisions. My responsibility was to bear the burdens and be the asshole when it was necessary.

So when they pitched the idea of setting up a headquarters in West Valley, it was my job to say no.

But here we were. The building was nearly finished. We already had a stack of résumés and files on the new employees who’d be coming to North Carolina.

My brothers liked the idea because it felt right, according to them. We’d be back home. We’d be bringing business and growth to our hometown, and they missed the hills of West Valley. Nick wanted to get away from the bright lights and the crush of the paparazzi in California. Cade wanted a fresh hunting ground for women, and he liked the idea of seeing how many of our pseudostalkers were going to relocate across the country to follow us here.

That was what they told me. I thought I knew them well enough to know the truth. The three of us had done our fair share of damage growing up here. Even though we never talked about it, there were three girls who had stuck with all of us in their own ways. They were also the three who had the most reasons to hate us.

I couldn’t speak for Nick and Cade, but I knew I’d never stopped thinking about Kira and what I’d done. Not entirely. I could lie to myself all I wanted, but she was the reason I agreed to this. I had no illusions about coming back to sweep her off her feet and rekindle the relationship that never was. Seven years was a long time, and people changed. I knew I had. Chances were the girl I’d secretly longed for would be unrecognizable now. Guilt welled up in my chest when I realized I’d probably be the reason she was so different. Like everyone else who crossed my path, she’d been left with a life that was a burned ruin of what it had been before she met me.