The awkwardness lasted all of two seconds, right after Carter left. Then, Bryant pulled his chair closer to Tori, and pointed to the folder she was looking at.

“How about that one? I think I found it a little too showy.”

She nodded her agreement. “Totally. I mean, you can always get rid of the chandeliers, but big circular windows on top and the grand staircase… that’s just too much.”

He took his white Montblanc pen out of the inner pocket of his jacket, and drew a little cross at the top of the folder.

While they worked through his pile of possibilities, Bryant started picturing her in the homes, and scratched out the ones that didn’t seem to fit that vision.

Fucked. He was utterly fucked. He was man enough to admit it.

“Ten noes, three maybes. That’s not too bad for an evening’s work,” she approved. “Although it might help to actually know how much they’re supposed to cost. Why are they all marked ‘price on request’?”

“So we don’t run away screaming?” he joked, although the price range Carter had given him didn’t even make him raise a brow. He’d expected it, having checked the real estate in Manhattan.

It wasn’t all that different from the prices in London.

Bryant had never been as frivolous as most guys in his position, staying careful with his money, because he recalled the time when he hadn’t taken his next meal for granted. His biggest splurge was the membership of The Tower. But the one thing he wasn’t going to be cheap with was his house. The very first house in his actual name. And, sure, there was a chance that he would only make use of it for five years, but he still wanted it to be a place he could be proud of, a place where he could relax – his home.

Tori snorted, commenting, “Yeah, like a Croft would be scared of a mere dozen zeroes.”

He had to laugh at that one. “I’m a Parker, luv, remember?”

“A Parker who used to be called Croft.”

He could have let her carry on believing what she wanted about him, but although he never spoke of it, he found himself correcting her assumption.

“Oh, I’ve always had that name.” His mother had named him Bryant Croft from day one. “I just didn’t use to have the dozen zeroes in my bank account associated with it.”

She frowned, understandably. She’d probably known that his family had been rich for generations, and James never shared Bryant’s story, with good reason. It painted their father as the cold, disgusting pig he was. The press would have just loved to hear about it, and no one wanted their dirty laundry aired that way – particularly when a scandal could affect their company.

“I’d say I’m surprised you haven’t heard about that mess, but that would be a lie. We’re in Croft secret territory, luv. You’re sure you wanna hear it?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “You have to tell me now. Who doesn’t love a good secret?”

Bryant didn’t even bother to ask her to keep it to herself; something told him she would.

“Okay, so, I’m told James Croft, Senior, was a decent bloke way back when, when James’ mother was still alive. She died - car accident - and he never recovered. Started acting out, left his company to be run by his employees, and travelled the world, drinking and fucking his way through his grief.”

Tori was listening; not just hearing him, but hanging on to his every word with a little frown, taking it in.

“He met a stripper in Vegas, paid her a few hundred, and nine months later, she gave birth to yours truly. I don’t even know how she was so certain I was his, or how she got in touch with him – but he got a paternity test done, and once he knew for sure I was his kid, he signed his rights away for a hundred thousand.”

“Fucking asshole,” Tori bit out, fuming on his behalf.

Chuckling, Bryant said, “You haven’t heard the half of it, luv. We could have had a decent life, a hundred grand could set anyone on a merry way, but mom wasn’t all that responsible. She overdosed when I was eight. I had grandparents, but they were both struggling, financially and health-wise. So, my gran decided to reach out to the sperm donor. She saved up for months, then bundled us all up and flew us to London. I can’t tell you what it was like, seeing the city for the first time. It was the first time I went anywhere.”

He’d felt like there couldn’t be a more beautiful city in the world and, over two decades later, he still thought the same.

“So, your dad took you in?”

Sweet, naive woman.

“He shouted at the housekeeper for letting us in, and called me a bastard, which was rather accurate.” Tori gasped. “Said something about not soiling his ancestral home with my kind. They were talking behind closed doors, but, as he was still yelling, I heard it all.”

“What a fucking prick! How could he? You’re his son!”

Bryant shrugged cluelessly.

“Anyway, a few days later, he changed his mind. Came to pick me up from my grandparents’.”

Tori looked like she didn’t understand, and he couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t understood it, either. It took years for him to learn what had really happened during that handful of days.

“How…”

“Well, bear in mind that I only heard the details when I turned twenty, alright? While James, Senior, was shouting at pops and gran, I was meeting up with a cool kid with a red scarf. He was in his twenties, all hip, but he dressed like an older man.”

She beamed, recognizing the description. “James.”

Bryant smiled. “You got it. I don’t know why, but we clicked right away, you know? He was home from college. Must have heard the whole thing, too; I can’t say I remembered a lot after I heard my own father insult me. Gran got me out of there as soon as possible, and she made my stay in London awesome after that. Then we went home.”

He stopped talking for a while, drinking his wine and wishing it was something stronger.

“I knew something had happened. I knew it. But I would never have asked James, Senior – I didn’t speak to him if I could help it – and Junior never told me. As I said, he came to pick me up days later, and enrolled me in a boarding school. I was sent to my grandparents’ during the holidays, or I stayed at home with the servants. Senior was never there. He couldn’t stand me, I could tell every time he looked at me with utter disgust. I saw enough shrinks to know it wasn’t about me. He felt like he’d betrayed his dead wife, so he was never going to give a shit about me…”

He’d been tiptoeing around the subject long enough, so he just dropped the bomb. “The housekeeper spilled the beans right before she retired. James made it happen. He swore to our father he’d just demolish the house, and give all of his money away to charity as soon as he inherited it, if Senior didn’t take care of me. He told him he wouldn’t be his heir; it was me, or no one. He also said he’d be on the first flight to come get me. He’d said he’d tell the world I was his brother, and raise me himself if he had to. James had gotten some money from his grandfather a while back. Not a lot, but enough for a year of college and a little nestegg. He took it, and packed up for Columbia. That’s where he met your dad; a year later, with what was left of his cash, and what William invested, he founded Croft Advertising.”

Tori was just speechless. Finally, she managed to whisper, “Holy fuck.”

“I still haven’t talked to James about it. I owe him. All I am today is because he decided to take pity on a little punk. He truly struggled for years, although he was born with a silver spoon in his hand, because of me. I came to town because I wanted him to take our father’s estate. I’ve inherited it all, as per their agreement. He doesn’t want it - wouldn’t even take half. But he’s asked me to be CEO of his company; that way, he can retire. So here I am.”

He owed the man everything, and all he’d asked for was for Bryant to take a cushy job with a ridiculously high salary.

“Here we are,” she echoed.

His story had put a damper on the mood, to say the least. Eventually, Tori managed to crack a smile, and hit the bottom of her glass against his. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here.” He lifted a brow, smirking, and she amended her statement. “Possibly. Maybe.”

“Yeah, right,” he wanted to say. “You like me, Victoria Brown. That’s why you’re coming Saturday. You know I want you, and you may just want me back. You’re just wondering whether you can take all of me.”

She was right to be cautious. He wasn’t like Carter. He hadn’t started to hit a BDSM club after college and stopped a couple of years later. Bryant had been struggling with everything he’d learned about himself, about James, when his brother took him to The Tower for his twenty-first birthday. It had been over a decade, and he always went back.

Taking care of a Sub brought him a peace nothing else achieved. The longest stretch of time he’d spent away from BDSM was the two years he’d dated Naomi, and there was a very good chance that had been part of the reason their relationship had gone sour. Although the fact that she was a manipulative shrew probably hadn’t helped.

Tori…

He could see it. He could see a future with her. Only, if he was honest with himself, he wanted part of that future to be intense, passionate. He wanted to give her his whole self. That meant the Dom as well as the charming Bryant Parker everyone got to meet.

All the cards were in her delicate hands, and she didn’t even know it.

“I’m also rather glad to be here, luv.”