Sakura, Akira, and Jane came down to the main hotel restaurant some fifteen minutes later. The moment they stepped across the threshold of the dining area, the loud chatter and smell of delicious food enveloped them. Indeed, the place was packed with guests, several hundreds of them. The holiday makers who were there to simply relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy themselves.

“Wow!” Akira said, as her eyes scanned the huge area. “It’s popular here, isn’t it?”

Jane nodded. “It’s a buffet. Everyone likes buffets, right?”

Sakura nodded. She, too, was very impressed with how full it was in here. She wondered if it was busy in the other three restaurants scattered across the property of the Princeton Hotel as well. She knew there was one up on the nineteenth floor that had a great view of the island, one by the pool near the bungalows, and one at the beach that overlooked the ocean.

“Hey, over here!” Conrad called out to them, which drew the girls’ attention.

Sakura flicked her gaze toward the tables near the windows, seeing only a sea of heads. Of course, it was hard spotting the Princeton brothers because there were simply too many people around. Once they did, a couple of seconds later, Akira waved.

“We’re coming,” she shouted, hopeful that the men could hear her over the noise of the chatter.

The three girls hastily made their way to join the others, having to maneuver their way carefully so as not to bump into people carrying plates filled with exotic, international food, which made Sakura’s mouth water. She couldn’t wait to sample some of those, since she was very hungry. This morning’s work exhausted her more than she had expected.

Upon arriving, Sakura noticed the Princeton brothers had divided themselves into two tables, with Nicolas, Sosuke, Tristan, Logan, and Conrad at one and Sebastian, Hayden, and Darcy at the other. There were three empty seats in a row along Sebastian’s table, and the girls were about to head there when Conrad appeared in front of them.

He wrapped his hand around Sakura’s slender wrist and said, “Come sit with us.” Then he started leading her toward his table, leaving Akira and Jane to look at each other in amusement.

Sakura said, “But I was going to sit with Akira and Jane.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine sitting with Sebastian, Hayden, and Darcy,” he interjected. “But you won’t.”

Sakura raised a brow in question. “What do you mean by that?”

Conrad didn’t answer, instead saying, “You know, they have very good food here. Roast pork, steak, pizza, Chinese, Italian, Indian, not to mention Hawaiian.”

Sakura sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to get any reply from him. She turned her attention to Jane and Akira. “Sorry, guys.”

Akira waved aside her concern. “No worries.”

Jane giggled and then said, “You’re popular, Sakura.”

Only with the Princeton brothers, though.

A moment later, she found herself sitting between Conrad and Tristan. Opposite her were Sosuke, Nicolas, and Logan. On the other table, Sakura noted Akira and Jane were sitting opposite Sebastian and Hayden, leaving Darcy to face an empty chair, which Sakura suspected would have been her seat if she hadn’t been dragged away by Conrad.

Tristan poured her a glass of spring water. “Here you go, darling sis,” he said, pushing the filled cup toward her. “There’s the tea and coffee stand over there, if you need something with caffeine.”

“No, water is good.” Sakura picked up the glass and drank her fill.

Nicolas said, “Should we get some food? We only have an hour before Mr. Tachibana expects us back.”

Logan said, “Actually, you guys can take your time. It’s me, Tristan, and Sakura who need to be back early. Our session is right after lunch.”

“So, technically, we only have half an hour?” Sakura asked.

“Yes,” Jane answered loudly from the other table. “For Tristan and Logan, that is. Sakura, you have makeup in twenty minutes with Kay and Keri.”

Sakura sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Sorry,” Jane said apologetically. “It slipped my mind.”

Akira added, “And you can’t eat too much.”

Sakura was about to ask why when Jane answered for her.

“It’ll be troublesome if you can’t fit into the dresses.” She even gave Sakura a lovely grin.

Sakura sighed in disappointment.

Seeing her disheartened face, Akira chuckled with amusement. “Better get moving, then.”

Sakura stood in response to that urging. “All right, I’d better get myself some food.” She hastily moved out of her chair and made her way toward the buffet area. Everyone followed suit.

While Sakura had no time to nitpick which dishes she’d like to sample, the others took their sweet time surveying the vast cuisine on offer, which made her more than a little envious. There were so many dishes to choose from here that it made her head spin with delight. God, if only she could enjoy the fare. Then again, most were carbohydrates and proteins, some very filling things. It’d be upsetting for her if she got too full and couldn’t get into Mr. Tachibana’s super-tight designer dresses. So, Sakura found herself at the salad bar, staring at the loads of greens.

She was so concentrated on mixing the salad to make it more appealing and colorful, with the greens of the lettuce and cucumbers, the orange and yellow of the capsicums, and red of the cherry tomatoes, that she didn’t notice a man approaching her.

Her hand, which was holding the tongs and currently hovering over the salad, was suddenly enveloped. Sakura jumped at the intimate contact, and her eyes darted up.

“Oh, hi,” she said softly, as she gazed at the man beside her.

Darcy smiled, his dark eyes twinkling. “If you have to eat like this every day, I’ll be worried sick.”

She licked her lips, staring deeply into his eyes, scrutinizing him. When she noted the gleam in his eyes and that there wasn’t a hint of that strange, dark vibe she had experienced earlier this morning, she relaxed and gave him a smile in return.

She said, “Aren’t you glad modeling isn’t my profession, then?”

“Very glad,” he said, now guiding her hand toward the next tray, which was loaded with pasta salad.

Sakura felt her throat became dry like a desert and her body heat up and tingle because the warmth of his hand on top of hers was rather intoxicating. When she thought she couldn’t handle the intimate contact, especially surrounded by so many people, she loosened her grip on the tongs, released them, and freed her hand from his.

“Don’t you want any?” he asked. “It’s still salad.”

“No, it’s not that,” she said, blushing. It was then she felt that strange vibe from him again, and her heart began to race. Should she look at him to ascertain what that feeling was? But what if it was too much for her to bear? Like this morning.

Slowly, she guided her gaze toward his.

The instant she saw him, she sucked in her breath. No, Darcy wasn’t looking at her face. He was staring at the left side of her neck.

She noticed his eyes were dark, intense, and passionate, which made her body shiver. Her neck, too, the spot where his gaze still lingered, felt sensitive and tingly. She felt as if she were being caressed by his warm hand.

“Dar...” She licked her lips. “Darcy?”

Darcy flicked his gaze to her face then and said, “You don’t have a lot of time.” He turned and scooped some pasta salad into her plate. “Now go eat.”

“Thanks.” Then Sakura turned on her heel and headed back to the table.

With her neck still feeling sensitive, Sakura sat down to eat her food while, one by one, the others returned. Of course, throughout her fifteen-minute meal, Conrad and Tristan constantly talked to her, drawing her attention from the others. By the time she finished her meal, she didn’t notice that Sebastian, Hayden, and Darcy had already left the table. When she looked up and saw the seats empty, she frowned, wondering why they’d leave so early when they had a whole hour to enjoy themselves.

She said, “I have to go now.”

Jane turned from her food and asked, “Want me to come along?”

Sakura shook her head. “No, you stay and enjoy your lunch, Jane. I’ll be fine. I know my way.”

With that, she left the table, with everyone saying, “See you soon.”

At the elevator, Sakura quickly took out her cell phone to check the time. Noting she wasn’t late yet, she relaxed a little. God, she couldn’t wait until the day ended.

The elevator door dinged open then, and she stepped in, followed by a few other people who must have been heading up to their rooms on the upper floors.

A few moments later, the door dinged opened on the nineteenth floor, and Sakura stepped out alone. Unsurprisingly, the corridor was quiet at this time of day, as most of the staff was currently at lunch. Of course, there were a few who were still around, going about doing their jobs. At this point, she wondered if both Kay and Keri had their lunch earlier so they could return to redo her makeup for her next photo shoot.

She was just rounding a corner of the corridor and about to head into the ladies’ makeup room when she felt a warm hand wrap around her arm.

Sakura halted in her tracks as her heart raced.

Calm down, heart, she thought internally. Just calm down. It’s only Darcy.

But of course, her heart only sped up even more.

She licked her lips as she turned to face him. “Darcy,” she said with a smile. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Come with me,” he said, leading her back the other way.

Stumbling after him—since she had no choice in the matter, as his hand on her arm was indeed tight—she protested. “But I have to be back now. I have makeup with Kay and Keri and then my photo shoot with—”

“This won’t take long,” he said firmly, as if to indicate no argument from her. He opened a door then and took her through it.

Sakura thought it was a suite inside but realized instantly it was a set of stairs.

“Oh!” she expressed, as she looked about their new surroundings while Darcy continued to lead her up. “I didn’t know there was another floor up.”

He turned to face her with a grin. “There isn’t.”

She cocked her head to one side. Then why are we going up?

A few moments later, Darcy opened the door at the landing and out they came into the huge open area that was the roof of the Princeton Hotel.

Sakura felt her breath was taken away as she stared wide-eyed at the picturesque scenery before her. In the distance, there was the deep-blue sea and beyond. To the left, there was the city of Honolulu, and immediately below them, on the nineteenth floor, there was an outdoor pool, complete with a bar area. However, the site was entirely empty today, and Sakura assumed it was closed off specifically for the photo shoot.

Suddenly, she was excited and couldn’t help but chuckle with glee. “Wow! It’s beautiful up here.” She turned to face Darcy and grinned in delight. “You brought me up here to show me this?”

She was expecting him to give her a dashing smile and say yes. But of course, being Darcy, she should have known he was damned good at being unpredictable.

Suddenly, she felt that strange, dark vibe from him again, and she was more than a little apprehensive.

“No,” he said as he roughly pulled her into his arms.

Sakura was taken by surprise. Embraced in his arms, her body shivered all over at his demanding manner.

She asked weakly, “Darcy, what’s wrong? Why are you behaving like this? You’re staring at me strangely. I felt it this morning, too.”

Before she realized it, Sakura found herself trapped between his manly body and the wall. They were so close, in fact, that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin, which only made her even more aware of him. His closeness was sensually stimulating her craving for him, for his kisses and touches.

Darcy’s hand cupped her chin as he gazed at her long and hard.

“I’m sorry, Sakura,” he said softly but firmly. “I felt as though I couldn’t take it when I saw...” His eyes trailed from her face to the left side of her throat. “I was certain that...”

“Darcy?” she whispered. “What is it? Why did you feel—”

He cut her short. “Fuck it!”

He claimed her lips in a scorching kiss. He was at first wild and demanding, his lips pressing hard against hers, urging her mouth to open for him.

His sudden seductive attack took Sakura by surprise, and her reaction was to stay shock still. Then, when she felt his urgency, she obliged by kissing him back and opened her mouth for him.

The moment she did so, Darcy plunged his tongue in, stroking her and playing havoc with her. Then his kiss became softer, slow, and gentle. It was then Sakura sighed in pleasure, and she groaned as her whole body became weak. She held on to him for dear life as he concentrated his attention on her lips once again, nibbling on her flesh.

Between kisses, he managed to whisper, “God help me, but I think I might just go insane because of you.”

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “I love you, Darcy. I really do, but please be patient.”

“I hate this sneaking about,” he said with a passion. “I just want you to be mine.”

She could sense the pain in his voice, and she sympathized with him. Guilt erupted within her for making him suffer. God, she felt like a villain, and her stomach churned sickly at the thought that she was responsible for such a horrible thing.

She said, “Only one day more and I’ll give you both my answer. I promise.”

“I know,” he said. “I can wait one more day. It’s not the end of the world.” He tilted her face to the side then and smiled darkly. “It looks like I can’t let Sebastian be the only one to brand you.”

Sakura blinked, confused.

Darcy buried his face against the right side of her nape and then slowly and seductively kissed her.

God, she could feel his firm lips and the wet heat of his tongue as he stroked her skin. And then he sucked at the flesh, which made her body squirm in ecstasy as she held onto him. Her mind went completely blank as she gasped for breath, and her heart raced while he continued to suck. He was wild. He was passionate. And he was driving her senseless.

When he finally moved back, she was dazed and flushed. Because she felt as though she had no strength left, she collapsed against the wall and slid down to the floor.

Darcy came along with her and cradled her in his arms. “Sorry. I think I might have overdone it.”

Once she managed to regain her senses, Sakura smiled at him. She whispered softly, “What’s with you Princeton brothers? Are necks your family’s fetish or something?”

Darcy gave her a sly smile. “Maybe.”

Sakura didn’t like the fact that he was giving her an evasive answer. But really, to have both Sebastian and now Darcy taking an interest in her neck in one day?

“Can you walk? Or would you rather I carry you back?”

Sakura raised her eyes to him again. “No. I’m fine. I can walk.” She held onto him as she rose to ensure she wouldn’t fall again.

Once she was confident that her legs were steady and she had no trouble walking, she rested her palms on his chest and made him move back a little to give her some space.

She licked her lips and then said, “I’m going to have to tell you, like I told Sebastian this morning, to please stop seducing me until I’ve made my decision, Darcy.”

“Oh? You told Sebastian to keep his distance?” he asked with one raised brow.

She nodded. “Sure did. And anyway, I must go now. Kay and Keri are probably wondering where the heck I am.”

With that, she turned on her heel and headed back toward the door. She was about to open it when Darcy halted her by holding her wrist.

She turned to him with questioning eyes.

“I love you,” he said, his gaze dark.

Sakura gave him a smile in return. “I love you, too.”

Then he let her hand go, and she opened the door and rushed down the stairs.

When Sakura came into the ladies’ makeup room a few moments later, Kay and Keri seemed relieved.

“Sakura, finally,” Kay said. “We’ve been waiting.”

Sakura blushed. She knew she was late and had kept them waiting. Of course, it wasn’t exactly her fault, but she couldn’t tell them she’d been dragged away by Darcy to some secluded spot so he could have his way with her.

As she came to sit down, she noted that both Tara and Alaina were currently in their seats, having their hair and makeup retouched. Tara was once again on her phone, texting, while Alaina was reading another fashion magazine.

Kay quickly went about undoing Sakura’s hair while Keri went about retouching her makeup. It was then that both Akira and Jane walked in through the door.

“Hello, everyone,” Akira said cheerfully as she made her way toward her seat.

A chorus of hellos came from Sakura, Kay, Keri, and the two other makeup artists, Jenny and Lena, currently working on Tara and Alaina respectively.

Jane came over to see how far they had gotten working on Sakura. A few seconds later, she said, “Haven’t got very far, have we?”

Kay said, “Sakura was late.”

“Sorry about that,” Sakura said apologetically.

From the next chair, Akira asked, “You were late? But you left a while before us.”

Sakura blushed. “Well, I, erm...”

Jane sighed. “I knew it! You got lost, didn’t you?”

Sakura shook her head. “No, it’s not that.” After all, it wasn’t that hard to simply get from the ground floor of the hotel to the top floor via the elevator. So, how could she be lost?

Kay was just lifting Sakura’s hair and brushing it when she expressed in astonishment, “Another one?”

Her voice was so loud that it caused Sakura to jump in surprise and drew everyone’s attention to them, including Tara and Alaina.

“What is it?” Sakura asked.

Curious, Akira came around to see. “What’s another one?”

Kay chuckled merrily. “Sakura has another love bite. This time on the right side of her neck.”

“Really?” Keri asked, taking an interested peek. “Oh, there it is. Hmm... It’s pretty new, isn’t it? The bruise?”

Jane moved in as well and took a good look at Sakura’s neck.

Akira said, “Wow! That’s one passionate bite.”

Embarrassed, Sakura covered her neck with her hand and shooed everyone away. “Nothing to see here.”

Akira was having none of it. She firmly removed Sakura’s hand and examined the bruise as though they had found gold. She chuckled as she said, “Sakura, you’re being loved, aren’t you?”

Jane nodded in agreement. She looked at Akira and asked, “Which one do you think did this?”

“Can we please stop talking about this now? And please stop looking at my neck, Akira.”

Akira was having none of it. She tilted Sakura’s head to one side. “So, which Princeton brother did this to you, Sakura? Come on. Out with it.”

Suddenly, Tara snapped, “God! It’s getting noisy in here.”

That drew everyone’s attention to her, and Sakura noticed how pissed the woman was. She also didn’t miss the fact that Tara was glaring at her as if she would like to strangle her.

Akira said, “Well, sorry for being loud.” Turning back to Sakura, she continued. “Was it Sebastian?”

Sakura shook her head in the negative. At the same time, Keri said, “No, I don’t think it was Sebastian this time,” as she prepared the foundation.

Jane raised her brow at Keri. “This time?”

Kay said, “There’s another one on her left.”

Upon hearing this, Akira tilted Sakura’s head the other way. “Oh, there it is. It’s faint.”

“That’s because I covered it up with foundation this morning,” Kay said.

“This morning?” Akira asked.

At Kay’s nod, Akira frowned. Then she turned her attention to Keri and asked, “Do you know anything about this one?”

Keri, now mixing the foundation, said, “If it was from this morning, I suspect it must have been done by Sebastian, since I saw him coming in here when Sakura was alone.”

Upon hearing this, Sakura blushed.

Keri continued. “And about fifteen minutes ago, I saw Darcy taking Sakura up to the roof, so I assume the right one is his.”

Akira whistled in appreciation, while Sakura went bright red with embarrassment. She couldn’t believe Keri had glimpsed the brothers sneaking about and meeting up with her. More so the fact that the jolly woman had even surmised which brothers had given her the hickeys. To be sure, the woman had great sleuth skills.

At this point, Tara snapped loudly, “Can you lot just shut up!” She brushed aside Jenny, who was applying some blusher on her face. “I can’t stand the noise in here.” She came to glare at Sakura as she said coldly, “You think you’re someone special, don’t you? Climbing your way up from the thick of the mud. Why don’t you just accept the fact that you’re a parasite who likes to suck on other people’s generosity to survive? Why can’t you just leave so everyone else can live in peace? Why don’t you just leave the Princeton brothers alone?”

Everyone in the room could only listen to Tara’s ranting in disbelief. They’d known she had a temper, but they didn’t know it was this bad.

Sakura, on the other hand, listened calmly. She knew Tara’s personality too well, and had been on the receiving end of the woman’s sharp tongue too many times to count, since they had been little in fact, and this little harangue had no effect on her, as it would have before.

She said, her voice gentle but firm, “Are you done berating me yet, Tara?” Noting that Tara only stood there staring silently at her, she continued. “Please, before you say such petty things to other people, why don’t you look at yourself first? Surely, you, of all people, know what I’m talking about. After all, you’re an expert at sucking up to other people and manipulating them just to get where you are today.”

Sakura’s relentless comeback made the others look at her in a different light. She wasn’t the quiet doormat most suspected her to be. Both Akira’s and Jane’s eyes were sparkling with pride at their friend.

Tara went bright red and marched across the room toward Sakura.

Sakura, of course, knew what was coming and stood in defense as Jane, Kay, and Keri all drew back in alarm. Meanwhile, Akira stood solidly beside Sakura, her arms folded across her chest.

Tara came to a halt inches in front of her and sneered. “What did you say, bitch?”

Calmly, Sakura repeated, “I said, you should look at yourself before saying such petty things to others. Just because you’re jealous the Princeton brothers no longer regard you as their sister, you take out your anger on someone else.”

Tara was heaving now, her hands fisted tightly by her sides. “Me? Jealous?” She chuckled darkly. “And what? Do you think they regard you as their sister? I don’t even think they remembered you until you met them again last year at Mary’s wedding.” She flicked her gaze to Sakura’s neck, to the love bites on her flesh. “To them, you’re just their fucking whore.”

That had everyone gasping loudly in disbelief.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

“Tara!” Alaina snapped, which drew everyone’s attention to her. “Stop it! That’s enough.”

Tara went red in the face as she turned her attention to Alaina now. She was heaving with anger as she said, “Wow! The first time ever I’ve seen you defending your adopted sister. What made you change sides, Princess Alaina?”

Alaina didn’t reply. She just sat there staring at Tara.

Dismissing Alaina, Tara turned to glare at Sakura once more before leaving the room.

Sakura, of course, was stunned. Not for the fact that Tara had lashed out at her and then Alaina, but that Alaina had told Tara to shut up at the most critical point of her verbal attack. Was Alaina in some way helping her? Sakura didn’t know, and she was both confused and interested in what type of friendship Tara and Alaina were currently having. Sure, she’d heard that they were fighting, but was it deep and damaging, or merely the trivial kind that friends had sometimes?

Jenny sighed. “I didn’t know Tara had such a bad temper. Wow! She really freaked me out a little bit there.”

Lena said, “Are you going to get her back? I mean, we have to finish her up soon.”

Jane said, “It’s all right. I’ll go and get her.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s my job after all.” With that, she headed toward the door.

Jenny sighed in relief that she didn’t have to deal with the pissed Tara.

As she sat back down, Sakura watched Alaina. She noted that the woman made quick eye contact before returning her attention to her magazine.

Akira asked, “You okay?”

Sakura turned her attention to her friend and nodded. “I’m fine.”

“Did you expect something like that to happen? Was that why you were so worried before?”

Sakura shook her head. “Not really. I was more worried about messing up the photo shoot and ruining Mr. Tachibana’s day.” She chuckled merrily.

“I see,” Akira said, nodding.