Page 5 of My Rose

Dean Van der Hall was sitting on my black velvet armchair, his voice grating against that layer of peace I thought I’d just gained as he asked, “Was wondering when you’d show. Where the fuck were you?” He was my father’s best friend and main business partner, but he was also the only other person who acknowledged my father for what he was and had taken over the role of my mentor after Beck died.

“Out.” I walked over to my dresser and started to unclasp my watch.

Dean released the curtains from his hold as I turned to face him. “I see. A certain woman I should know about?”

I swiveled back to the dresser, putting the watch in its case. “Is that who you’re looking for out there?” I shook my head. “You know I don’t engage with anyone. What would be the point?” There was no point. He sighed as he pushed his feet wider apart, his back sinking deeper into the chair while cupping the back of his neck with both hands. Dean’s silence was enough of an answer for me. “Why are you here? Does Father need me to do something while he’s away?” I cringed as the words rolled off my tongue. Calling him ‘father’ was so ingrained in me, quite literally beaten into me, that a flash of pain rippled through me at the memories of those early days of filling Beck’s shoes. Being the perfect son, the perfect exampleof what being the heir to VanAndrews looked and acted like, was all-consuming.

“Cut the shit, Briggs. We both know you don’t want in on whatever he’s out doing right now.” His finger looped behind the curtain again, tugging it back to look beyond the window that showed the estate’s driveway.

“As if it’s my choice.” My chuckle lacked all humor as I yanked the towel from the corner of my four-post bed and tossed my phone on top of the comforter. I didn’t bother to close the door as I walked into the massive en-suite, stripped down, and turned on the shower. “So, why are you here?”

Dean’s hand flew up to shield his eyes. “Shit, I can tell you what I didn’t come here for, andthat’sit.“ He gestured with his other hand over the entirety of me.

A laugh escaped me as I walked into the shower. “Don’t act like you haven’t seen me like this before. I think you’ve seen me fuck more women than you’ve actually taken yourself.” Being involved in the business meant meetings, and we hosted some of those meetings at our exclusive gentlemen’s club. Those meetings aimed to relax and entice—to persuade thatwewere the right choice to merge with or sell to. What was more enticing to a bunch of middle-aged men whose wives were no longer putting out than a selection of young, and willing, naked women? Throw in high-grade medicinals and most didn’t refuse whatever deal we offered.

“Right, well. On that note, make sure you get tested this weekend. I’d hate for you to spread shit to all those women. Last thing we needis the media leaking a story that the heir to VanAndrews has a sexually transmitted disease.”

I rolled my eyes before closing them beneath the water. A few years ago, a news outlet reported me as one of the hottest eligible billionaire bachelors, and ever since then the media has paid extra-special attention to my father and me—as if the burdens on my shoulders already weren’t enough. “What do you think I do the first day I get back?” I raised my voice, cutting through the steady stream. “Don’t worry, the media will still only have numbers to report, as usual. I’m clean.”

Dean kept his head low as he leaned against the door frame of the en-suite. He ran his fingers through his bright red hair before grazing his knuckles over his fiery five-o’clock shadow. “And you haven’t been with anyone in town, right?”

“Why the sudden interest in my personal life?”

“You were gone, for”—he lifted his wrist, glancing at his diamond-coated Rolex—“almost three hours. So, I’m going to ask you again. Where thefuckwere you?”

“I told you, I was out. That’s it.” My molars ground together as I thought about Rose and the way she thanked me a million times over for being there and taking her home. She wouldn’t be thanking me if she knew the kind of man I was. The things I’d done. I switched the shower to the coldest setting, dulling that bitter taste and the gut punch her name alone caused as it circled my brain again.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’m not buying it.”

“You could try ignoring it, for once,” I suggested.

“As your mentor, I’m inclined to make sure you make the right decisions.”

My tone sharpened. “Are you going to try to beat it out of me?”

“You know beating you has never been my—“

“No, you’re right. That special treatment is saved for your best friend,” I cut him off, glaring at him through the glass.

He sighed as I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I stepped up to the vanity he stood beside, the Italian-imported marble that spread over the top and down to the floor and was covered in long grey streaks like lightning bolts reminded me of how broken I’d become since I was thrown into Beck’s role.

It reminded me of his death—my twin’s death.

I fucking hated it.

“Look, kid. One day, you won’t have to deal with him anymore. One day, it will all be yours. Isn’t that enough?” His light brown eyes lifted to meet mine through the mirror. It wasn’t enough. It would never beenough. But the damage was done, and there was no going back in time, no saving Beck for the role he was destined for. Father wouldn’t have needed to beat him down, to turn him into a shred of a man only to build him back up into the one he needed him to be. That treatment was saved exclusively for me.

“Sure.” I reached for my toothbrush and covered the bristles with toothpaste.

“That was the least convincing thing I’ve heard from your mouth tonight.” I could feel his eyes watching me as I brushed my teeth. Usually after a meeting or business dealing, I’d scrub my body—every inch of skin and every strand of hair. It would take anhour or more sometimes until I’d feelcleanagain. I half expected the night to end like that after I laid my eyes on Rose. For years, I’d known about her every move, who her friends were, where she worked and studied, even what her grandparent’s favorite food was. Money could buy some crazy things, and private investigators were well worth the relief of my guilt. But I didn’t expect her to give me so much shit for extending the offer of my safety, or for her hands to feel as soft as they did against mine. The way she seemed like a skittish girl only to lash out at me and make me put my car in reverse when I was blatantly wrong. When it came down to it, I guess I didn’t really knowher. And I couldn’t exactly say I’d wanted to scrub that revelation away.

“Do I need to have Rhonda make up a room for you, or are you flying out tonight?”

His jaw worked at the change in subject. “I’ll head out. I just needed to make sure you were okay. Some random alarm went off in my head after I dropped off Clarissa at her mother’s, so I figured I’d stop by.”

“Ah. So you were here for your daughter, and I was the afterthought.” I smirked over at him as I put the toothbrush back. His daughter’s very single, very cougar-like mother vacationed in one of the beach houses about thirty minutes or so from Shuster Springs. The area was exclusively reserved for the grotesquely wealthy, and Clarissa preferred the attention she got there rather than the ‘rat-hole’ that was Shuster Springs. “Thanks for stopping by. I’ll make sure Father knows you came to check up on me while he was away.”

His palm tapped against the doorframe. “I don’t need the bonus points for ‘putting you in your place,’ as he would say. I was worried about you. Ever since you turned down Princeton, you’ve been…off.”

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