Chapter Three — Remy

“It’s quite the talent, you know,” a voice purred over to me as I re-entered the ballroom.

I cut a quick glance over to my rapidly approaching mother.

“Shit,” I whispered.

She came alongside me and wrapped her arm through mine. It all looked friendly, maybe even sweet, but her grip on my bicep and her fake nails digging into my forearm were a silent warning. “How is it that you always manage to root out the absolute sluttiest woman in the room?” she whispered, all the while keeping a broad smile on her face as we began a stroll on the outer edges of the party.

All I wanted to do was get the fuck out of here. I cursed myself for not thinking ahead and jumping the bushes that fenced in the terrace and making my escape.

“She wasn’t slutty, Mother,” I replied, hoping against hope that would be the end of it.

Madge released a tittering laugh as if I’d just told a splendidly candid joke with her. “Oh, my darling son, you could be a pig snuffling out truffles.”

My blood started to simmer in my veins. Granted, I’d only spent ten minutes with the gorgeous creature who called herself Livvie, but I felt it necessary to defend her honor. Or maybe I was just pissed that I was twenty-seven fucking years old and still getting lectured on who I was with, and when, where, and why by my mother.

“Is there a point to this conversation? Or just an old-fashioned scolding that you didn’t feel could wait till tomorrow?” I asked, smiling down at her. “If I recall, you were the one who insisted I find a date in the first place.”

“Yes, Remington, a date. Not a whore. That tart you just left with looked like she was here on business, if you catch my drift. Honestly, I’ll have to speak with Henry about how closely he watches the guest lists for these events.”

“I assure you, Mother, she was not a whore.”

“Well, her dress told a different story. But then, that was probably the reason you chose her in the first place. Absolutely distasteful. Her companion has already been asked to leave.”

My eyes darted over to where I’d first approached Livvie. She’d been standing with a friend, although, her friend had been too busy throwing herself at Stephen Williamson to pay much attention to me. Once I started talking to Livvie, everything else had faded to the background. The space they’d occupied was now abandoned, like some sort of socialite crime scene.

“Well, then it will make you happy to know she wasn’t interested,” I said, bringing my gaze back to my mother.

“Mmm.” Her attention was already divided again. She’d said her piece and apparently had moved on to other interests. I followed her gaze and she was watching one of the couples she had introduced me to earlier. “You know, dear, Charles mentioned that Janice has a younger sister who is still single. She’s new to the city. Maybe I should set something up for you.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a command.

“Sounds delightful. As for this evening, I think I’ll be heading out before dinner is served,” I said. There was no way in hell I’d normally agree to something like a high-brow blind date, but since Madge seemed to be on edge already, I knew not to push it further. I had clearly crossed some sort of line and embarrassed her in front of her friends and now I’d have to do penance to make it up to her.

I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“Don’t forget to make your donation on the way out, dear,” she said into my ear as we were cheek to cheek.

I pulled back and smiled. “Of course. Good evening, Mother.”

***

Three days ticked by and I still hadn’t been able to purge the image of Livvie from my mind. I seemed to automatically cycle back and forth between the image of her flirtatious eyes and perfect smile, to the way she had reared back with shock and disgust at my suggestion that I could help her with her business. It was an odd dichotomy and had left me tangled up and frustrated for days.

Most women would have jumped at the opportunity. Not only to fuck me—or, more precisely, be fucked by me—but for help with a new business. The fact that Livvie had reacted like I’d left a stack of bills on her nightstand with just a handful of words was a puzzle I was struggling to figure out.

A puzzle I knew I could only solve if I could see her again. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about the woman. I hadn’t even gotten so much as her last name.

After a few days of churning it over, I had finally caved and done the only thing I could think of:

Made a trip to our friendly family PI.

James Jenson. JJ, for short.

My mother had originally hired him to keep tabs on my wandering stepfather, Marty, and had done such a good job that she discreetly passed his name to others in the family over the years. He’d caught my aunt Lucinda in the midst of a nearly five-year affair with one of her employees, uncovered my cousin Grant’s gambling habit, and revealed that my half-sister, Vanessa, was dabbling in drugs.

In short, he knew all of our families’ dirty little secrets, and my mother kept him well-compensated to keep him quiet and on retainer for future needs.

Personally, I’d never gone to him for an official job, but we’d turned into unlikely friends when he was working the case to get to the bottom of Vanessa’s lying and scheming years.

“Remy! Hey, man. How’s life?” JJ greeted me as I stepped into his office on Tuesday afternoon.

I flopped into one of the wingback leather chairs and offered him the best smile I could muster. “I’m all right. How’s business?”

“Whoa, back up. I’m not buying it. What’s going on?”

“Are you a PI or a shrink?” I asked, half-heartedly joking.

The truth was, the whole Livvie situation had fucked me up. I’d stooped so low as to go clubbing to find a distraction, a last ditch effort to get Livvie off my mind, and even the pair of leggy brunettes I took back to my place weren’t enough to shake her. And believe me—the sight of those two going at it like they were high-schoolers experimenting at a slumber party should have more than done the trick.

Something was seriously wrong with me.

“It’s about a girl, isn’t it?” JJ asked. He sat down behind his desk and propped his elbows on the edges of the oak surface as he leaned in to prepare for my story.

I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. “God, this is so fucked up, but yeah. I need your help tracking a girl down.”

“Bro, this isn’t a dating service.”

“No, no. It’s a girl I’ve met before,” I said, giving him a sneer. He knew I had no trouble finding ladies to entertain me. He’d gone out with me a handful of times and had begged me to teach him my tricks. I’d tried, but then this girl, Amanda, came along and he got lost in puppy love like I’ve never seen before. They got married last year in Cabo.

“All right, start at the beginning.”

It took me less than ten minutes to tell him what had happened. Especially since I left out my mother’s disapproval of Livvie. JJ was technically on my mother’s payroll so it was already going to be a sticky situation to get him involved, but I didn’t know who else to trust. I’d tried to find her on my own but without a last name or any other information about her—it had proved to be pretty pointless.

“All right. So Livvie, most likely short for Olivia. Twenty-four. Just graduated, but we don’t know from where. Has a business, something to do with entertainment, but no name or place of business. Am I missing anything?” JJ asked.

I shrugged. “That’s all I know.”

JJ laughed under his breath. “Wow, she must be something special.”

I felt my chest tighten. “How so?”

He straightened in his chair and waved off my question. “Nothing, man. I’ll see what I can do. But to be honest, with this little information, it’s not gonna be easy.”

I nodded. In a city as big as Los Angeles, it would probably be even harder than the whole needle-haystack thing, but I was hoping that at least checking into it would somewhat relieve my overly consumed mind.

By Thursday, I had my answer. My phone rang as I was on my way into the gym in my building.

“Dude, I found her.”

My heart raced and I hadn’t even done a warm-up yet. Holy shit, the hold this girl had on me was starting to scare me. I paced back to the locker room. “Really?”

I tried to keep my voice cool, but I’m pretty sure it was an epic fail.

“Her name is Olivia Sanders. Her business is called Conquer Entertainment and she registered it with her name as the sole proprietor. So, from there I got her name, address, phone number. I emailed you a link to her social media feeds so you can see it all. And might I say, I can understand what all the trouble was for. Damn!”

I had to fan out a jealous flame. “Aren’t you still considered a newlywed?”

JJ laughed. “Have fun, man.”

We hung up, and I immediately logged into my email and tore apart all of the information JJ had sent over. I couldn’t keep my body under control. My heart raced and I was starting to get a stiffy just thinking about seeing her again. Her social media pages were flooded with pictures, little update posts, and opened up a very intimate, first row seat into all things Livvie.

The best part was that she had RSVP’ed to a new club launch downtown for the following night.

I saved the details to my phone and went back to the gym where I shattered some personal best records without feeling a thing.

***

The music poured into the streets and I could see the spotlights flashing in the sky before I’d even got in the vicinity of the club. I’d heard about the event months ago, but had passed it up. However, upon finding out Livvie was going to be there, I had quickly changed my RSVP from NO to YES.

My driver, Kent, pulled up alongside the curb and I surveyed the scene from the backseat for a moment, wondering if I’d waited long enough, I’d see her pass by. The sidewalk in front of the club was full of people—mostly women looking to get laid. I knew that inside would be even crazier and sleazier, and for the first time since JJ’s call, I wondered if I was making a fool out of myself.

As I sat there mulling it all over, I saw women wearing practically nothing parading by my car. I knew as soon as I stepped out, they’d be all over me like I was some fucking movie star. Once I’d been at the same party as some boy band superstar and I’d still gotten more pussy. The kid had gotten all pissed off and stormed out when he saw me scooping up all his ladies.

I laughed at the memory and got out of the car.

Just as predicted, every woman in my line of sight had their eyes on me as I made my way to the front of the crushing line. Any other time, I’d play the game and go home with a few of them—all at once—but tonight, I wanted Olivia.

I gave the bouncer my name, he checked his tablet, and ushered me right inside. Several women called out after me, begging me to go party with them, but I didn’t even bother looking back.

Also, as predicted, the inside of the club was ten times louder and more crowded than the street outside. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts as the music amped up in some beat made to get bodies on the floor as quickly as possible. The dance floor occupied the majority of the space and people were taking advantage of it. No doubt about it—as I scanned the room, I was pretty sure I saw more than just one couple fucking in the midst of all the other people dancing.

For the first time, an ugly, unpleasant thought crossed my mind. What if Livvie was here with another man? Trickles of jealousy crept over me as I searched the room even more laser-focused than before.

The room had two bars, one on each side of the floor. I went to the one on the right and ordered a whiskey from the very hot bartender. She looked young, like nearly too young to be working in a bar, and her top was so short that with every move she made, her tits were nearly exposed. The teasing effect had caught the attention of every other man at the bar and I smiled at the thought of how much she’d walk away with in tip money when the night was over.

Normally, this would have been my perfect opportunity. I loved situations where I zeroed in on the girl all the guys wanted to fuck and then showed up, in front of all of them, and walked out with her at the end of the night. The look of envy and anger on their faces was priceless. Childish, but fun. And it stroked my ego.

Not tonight, though. Unless things turned south, the only girl I wanted to fuck was Livvie. She had thrown down some sort of gauntlet and I wasn’t capable of giving it up until I’d made her scream my name.

As if on command, the crowd parted, just for the briefest fraction of a second, and I saw her.

She was at a corner booth with three other guys. They were talking and laughing and sharing a bottle of champagne.

This ends tonight.