Chapter 2
Aiden
Hearing my mother’s ringtone was like hearing an alarm, and nothing could wake me from a dead sleep quicker unless it was her own voice. I rolled over to answer, seeing that I wasn’t alone, still. I’d hoped that by the time I woke up, Zep would have gotten rid of the young ladies we’d picked up at the club the night before.
I nudged her as I rolled over as I sat up with the phone in hand, but my mother had already hung up. By the time I went to call her back, a text buzzed through the device and three words appeared on my screen that sent me into motion. On my Way.
Fuck.
I got to my feet and hurried down the hall to Zep’s room, hoping my live-in best friend and soul brother would act fast.
I threw open his door and walked in before I noticed the look on his face or the redhead who was leaned back and riding his cock. She covered her breasts but continued to work him as I stopped in my tracks unfazed.
“She’s on her way!” Those words sent Zep into motion and growled out as he lifted her up.
“The party is over, princess. It’s time to leave.”
“But you didn’t even come.” She pouted and dragged ass to the hall where her friend had come to see what all the commotion was about and Zep dressed as he ran down the hall beside me like two soldiers preparing for inspection.
The girls headed for the door, and the redhead turned and called across the room, “Call me.” I shook my head and hurried them out the door, but it was no use, they passed right by my mother on the way down the path of my house.
“I’m going to make the two of you move back into the main house if this kind of behavior continues. You’re not a child anymore, Aiden.” She glanced over to Zep who was still buttoning his shirt. I’d been smart enough to grab a tee, but it was wrinkled, and I wasn’t sure I hadn’t used it to wipe up my come the night before. I checked it for spots and realized that my sexy waitress was probably wearing the stain. You’re welcome.
“You’re not one either, Zep.” She rolled her eyes and then turned her attention back to me. As her son, she was going to have the most opinions about me and the bigger expectations.
“We just went to the club and met some ladies.” I had defended my right to pussy more times than I cared to in my life.
“Those strippers were not ladies,” she barked.
“They were waitresses,” said Zep as if it would help.
Patricia shook her head. “Now, I let you get away with acting like a scoundrel after your father’s death. I knew that it was a way for you to release your emotions, but now it’s time to settle down and preferably with someone who isn’t wearing a name tag.”
“Heaven forbid I end up with someone beneath my status and income. Like I’ll find another billionaire in the world who wants to settle down.” She was always riding me about my kind of friends.
“I’m not going to sit around while one of these common gutter trash skanks moves in on you for your money. You know plenty of good girls from fine, wealthy families who are not looking to be gold diggers or suck off the Prince family tit.” Zep laughed at the word and then I gave him a nudge.
“Sorry, I wasn’t aware there was a tit,” he mumbled. I shook my head as my mother rambled on about how things were going to change.
“I’ve decided to host another gala. It’s been a while, and I’d like to focus more on the younger generation, so I’ll be sending out invites accordingly.” My blood boiled. Mother had been known for hosting lavish events before my father’s death, and they were usually a way for her to find a new lover, which is what the tabloids had all said over the years. I wouldn’t have held much stock in those sources if I hadn’t known it to be true, but aside from that, it seemed like a terrible time and a huge waste of money. I didn’t need her using me as an excuse to do her trolling.
“Is it really appropriate for a ritzy event? It hasn’t even been a full two years. Don’t you think you could give it more time?” I kept my tone clipped, but she wasn’t having it.
“You dare talk to me about what is appropriate when you’ve been bringing in women like this guest house has a revolving door? I’ll decide what’s appropriate.”
With that I met her eyes, mine still narrowed with anger and hers equally as fierce. “You always have, Patricia.” Calling her by her first name instead of some maternal endearment was like throwing ice water in her face, but then she stood a bit taller and squared her shoulders.
“We’re having the gala. I suggest you be prepared to use the event to find a nice girl and settle your ways before you impregnate some gutter trash waitress and spoil the family name.”
“I don’t know, Patricia, your gutter trash reputation didn’t spoil it.”
Zep stiffened beside me and mother’s shoulders drooped for a moment before she held her head high. She’d had a troubled life and spent her teen years rebelling again an abusive mother only to claw her way up in the music business as a producer.
“I want better for you, and with the opportunity you have, that I didn’t have, that I had to beat a path to, you will have better.” She turned and stormed away, her heels clicking against the floor like a soldier’s march until she was gone.
“Wow, that was a little brutal, don’t you think?” It was a bad thing when even Zep thought I was being too hard on Patricia. As a master at insults, I’d have thought he’d be proud, but then again, he’d always had soft spot for my mother. She had taken him in when his father had been killed in a plane crash along with the rest of his band, when he was just a kid. He’d never known his mother, and Patricia had filled that role long enough to earn his respect.
“You’re always taking her side.” I turned and went to the couch where I plopped down, covering my temples with my fingertips.
“It’s a party. Even you know the Galas always attract the ladies, and this one is for you. Hey, I know, let’s talk her into making it one of those masquerade things, then you can hire a body double and slip out.” He poured himself a drink at the bar as I sat straight up.
“That’s not a bad idea. If everyone wears masks, then she’d never know who I invited.”
He threw back his bourbon and stood in front of me. “I was only kidding. Those parties are a teenage girl’s wet dream as it is, all fairy tales and magic and a reason to dress up in a gown. It’s bad enough we’ll have to get tuxes.”
“Yeah, but we’ll do that anyway, and with Patricia hell-bent on me meeting the girl of my dreams, I’d like the guest list to be more than just rich bitches and trust fund brats. I’d like to meet a real girl, one not spoiled by wealth, who has a simple life with hobbies and a job. You know, brain cells.”
Zep laughed. “Good luck with that, man. You know your mother will be sending out the official invitations. No one can get in without one.” He was right. She always took special care to make sure that the guest list was nothing but the elite.
“That’s why you’re going to help me send out duplicates of our own. We’ll simply have the same company make extra invites, and we’ll hand them out all over town. Everyone gets to bring a plus one, and we’ll make sure to tell them to bring a friend.”
“Patricia is going to kill you when she sniffs them out at the event. She can smell cheap perfume a mile away.”
“That’s because she grew up wearing it. The only reason she doesn’t want me to end up with someone real, whose parents aren’t in our social class, is because she’s afraid the girl will remind her of her youth.”
“You’re serious about this? Surely there’s a girl out there with money and enough brains to have a hobby, be a freak in the sheets, and still make your mother happy.”
“We’ve been through them all, and I haven’t met her yet. No, I have to try. So, are you with me or not? Who knows, you may find yourself a nice girl too.” I gave him a sly smile, but he shook his head.
“Fuck a nice girl. I don’t care if she is a rich bitch or not, I want someone with big tits who’ll let me fuck her in the ass when I want, preferably a matched set.”
“Your twin fantasy is a bit outdated, but I’m sure you’ll be pleased that the Blue Twins will surely be on the guest list.” His infatuation with the girls started when he hooked up with the freakier of the two, Halle six months ago. I didn’t know what she’d done to him, but whatever it was, it had gotten his attention, and he’d been hung up on her since.
“Even if they don’t show up, with you chasing locals, I’ll have my pick of the others. So, count me in.”
He leaned forward and extended his hand, and we shook on it. This would be the gala to end all galas if I could help it, and I’d show my mother she couldn’t control me. My life was my own.