Chapter Nineteen
Serena
I woke to find myself wrapped in Flynn’s arms. I was comfortable, the heat from his body soaking through mine. It felt like a stone sank in my stomach as I realized I didn’t want to leave; I didn’t want to get out of bed. I was letting my feelings win out over common sense and my job. If I wasn’t careful I’d be Leonie mark II. I needed to get my head back in the game. I slipped out of Flynn’s embrace. He never disturbed as I went downstairs, dressed quickly, and snuck out of his house. It was a little after 6am.
I was glad of the stroll back to the hotel, the slight breeze in my hair. I needed a coffee more than I needed oxygen right now. Tonight was my meal with Jayden and I decided that tonight needed to be the night I really ramped things up.
After my coffee and a shower I hit the office and at eight am I placed a call to my boss in New York.
“Hey, Morgan. It’s your star reporter checking in.”
Her laugh tinkled down the phone. “Serena! I was wondering how you were getting on. We miss you here.”
“Well, I don’t think it will be long now before I’m home.”
There was a beat of silence. “Really? You have the story already?”
“I’ve formed a relationship with three of the four. The story is incredible. They want one woman between them. They are so close that anything different to that threatens to tear their close friendship apart. It’s why Leonie got dumped so unceremoniously. One of the guys didn’t click with her.”
“They sound awful.”
“That’s just the thing though. In real life they seem like really nice guys. I’ve yet to get to the core of them, the selfishness that makes the woman a commodity, not a person. But I’m close, I can feel it.”
“What if it doesn’t come? What if they have fallen for you?”
“I’m seeing Jayden tonight. He’s the final piece of the puzzle and then I need to get our quintet going, see where it leads us.”
“Well, keep me informed.”
“I will. Oh, and also, I’m working on another story alongside this. Something that came up.”
“Oh yes?”
“Yeah, Smith’s mom, the surrogate. I reckon she could be Linda Cannon. I need to gather more evidence. At the moment it’s no more than a hunch.”
“Well, be careful. We need a lot more than a feeling you're having.”
“I know.”
I ended the call and got on with my day’s work. I was eager to get to the evening and my meal with Jayden.
Morgan
I put the phone down and smiled. Serena was my star journalist, and I liked her immensely. However I knew the cravings Serena had for her career—for the story that would secure her a promotion—would never satisfy her fully. You see I had known Serena’s mother. Unlike what Serena believed, her mother hadn’t been a whore in the usual sense of the word. She’d been a succubus—seducing men for her life source. That blood ran diluted in Serena’s veins. It made her crave. But what I wanted to know was which was the strongest—the craving of the expose of the Filthy Rich Playboys, or the craving for love and sex within a polyamorous relationship?
I hoped I’d chosen well, but the next few days would reveal if instead I’d made a huge mistake.
Serena
I dressed in a simple slip dress with no underwear. The day was hot and so was I. Jayden had decided to cook for me at his home, rather than us dine out. This suited me because I hoped before long he’d be feasting on me.
What had gotten into me? I was becoming addicted to sex. Don't get me wrong, I’d always enjoyed it, but the thought of all of them at once had me creaming my panties in seconds. I had questions to ask first though. Yesterday, I’d let my sexual side overrule me and hadn’t managed to ask Flynn about Leonie. I needed to make sure I didn’t make the same mistake again.
Jayden had set out a table on his patio right in front of the beach. It looked beautiful and far better than any restaurant table he could have booked for us.
With his hand in the small of my back, he guided me over to the table, pulled out my seat and gestured for me to sit down.
“Would you like some wine?”
I smiled at him. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
We dined on steak, and he served a chocolate mousse for dessert. Conversation had flowed, and he’d told me about growing up with television cameras following him and about the affair that had brought everything to a stop.
“How did your mother take to the fact you screwed her best friend?” I dabbed at my mouth with a napkin.
“Better than you’d expect. It’s different for our kind. Sex is a big deal. She was annoyed that it ended her role on the program though. The producers were more annoyed that they’d not known about it to screen it, than the fact it had happened. Mom’s friend apologized, just said it had been a moment of madness. She left and Mom refused to be gossip fodder. Instead she started her own movie company and won an Oscar.”
“She sounds like a formidable woman.”
“They all are; all our parents. They’re vampires who have been around for many years. Their life experience is second to none and they brook no nonsense. The reality show fell apart, my mom made sure of that. The people who had crossed her found themselves with no future employment prospects.”
“Wow.”
“It could have been worse. In the past betrayal would have found them drained of all their blood and left to die.”
That thought made a shiver run down my spine. I was about to reveal the truth about the playboys. How would that go down with all their super rich parents? I was an anonymous reporter, but these people had more money than you could imagine. I’d have to tread very carefully.
“What would your parents think of your arrangement to share one woman?”
“I’ve talked it over with mine. They think it’s a great idea if it happens. They look forward to meeting you.”
“I’d like to meet all the parents. If I agree to enter into a relationship with you all, I’d like to know more about you.”
“We’ll arrange it.”
I toyed with the stem of my wine glass and then stared directly into Jayden's eyes. “How far did you get before me, with plans for one woman?”
Jayden rolled his eyes. “Not very.”
“Really? All the hot women here and you couldn’t find one?”
“Not that everyone liked.”
I crossed one leg over the other making sure Jayden got a clear crotch shot. “So before me, who got the closest? Please tell me Cynthia wasn’t one of them.”
“God no. Cynthia’s just a hanger on. Another rich kid. She’s not interested in a relationship with anyone other than her coke supplier. No, the only person who came close was a woman called Leonie.”
I tried not to show my excitement at the fact her name had been raised.
“Was she like me?”
“No. She was nothing like you. You are like a fine wine, Serena. We’ve never met anyone like you before. The others have told me what it’s like when they take you. I’m hoping to find out…”
“Well, it’s early yet, there’s time. So, this Leonie. How far along did things get? I want to understand you all, how you tried to do this before.”
“Huh. We fucked up. Every single one of us fucked shit up with that woman. We’re not proud of it and after her we stopped looking for a while.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” I leaned forward giving Jayden a look straight down my slip at my breasts as I placed a hand on his. “Don’t feel you have to tell me anything further.”
I removed my hand and sat back.
“No, if you’re going to be part of us it’s only right we’re open and honest." He took a sip of his drink and then placed the glass back on the table. "Carter made the first error. He pretended to work in a restaurant before he seduced her, so straight away that connection was based on lies. Then there was Flynn. He also hit it off with her, to the point that they filmed themselves. It’s kind of one of his things. He likes to film and he likes to watch after. I slept with her at a party. She seemed nice. I wasn’t hooked on her but I’d been willing to give it a try. We arranged to meet her to try to explain, to see if she'd be interested, but none of us had prepared ourselves for Smith.”
“Did he not like her?”
“Smith was in the grip of his love affair with alcohol. It gives an extra kick to the feed and some vampires just can’t handle it, they have a sensitivity. Smith is one of them. He’d seduced her in a hotel room and told us she was okay but nothing special. I guess the rest of us were so intent on this one woman thing that we tried to railroad him. It went very wrong.”
“What did he do?”
“We arranged to meet Leonie at a gallery where Flynn had a display of his photography. The plan was Carter would tell her the truth about who he was. We’d all be open with her and we’d see if she’d like to try to date us all as a first step. Unbeknown to us, a wasted Smith had taken stills from Flynn’s home movie with her and had had them printed out. On his way in to meet us he’d taken some of Flynn’s photos down and put up posters of Leonie and Flynn.”
“Oh my God.”
“He came and sat with us and acted like nothing was untoward. When Leonie came in and we’d been talking he started spouting shit and told her she was a six out of ten for him. We were horrified. To treat a woman like that was disgraceful. She went running out, and I was about to go after her, but then Smith produced a stake from his inside pocket and threatened to kill himself.”
“Fuck.”
“He was a mess. Our brother was a mess. We got the stake off him and rang our parents. They got him into a facility. But by the time we were done with all that, Leonie was gone. She’d left town. We never found her. She’s out there somewhere, and we never got to do the compulsion that could clear all this from her mind.”
I placed a hand over my mouth in shock. What he’d just told me changed everything. I needed time to think, to process, but the usually strong looking man in front of me looked beaten.
“We’ve never treated women like that. Our parents brought us up to respect people. It still churns me up that we haven’t found her yet. She must be working under a different name, not wanting to be found, because we aren’t without our resources.”
I pulled my chair closer to his and slipped an arm around his neck. “It wasn’t your fault. Smith had a problem. At least it got dealt with. He’s okay now, right?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He takes a medication now that means the alcohol doesn’t have that effect on him though he chooses to avoid it completely these days.”
I’m stroking his cheek and he places one of his large hands over mine.
“We’d never want to hurt a woman. We just want to love one.”
“Take me to bed, Jayden.” I commanded him. “And call the others.”