Page 22 of Mr. Aster
“No, far from that,” he answered. “The man is just an idiot. I find it odd that you know anything about him.”
Keep turning this back to him, Darcy.
“I find it odd that you hate someone so much. You’re smiling at the thought of buying up his failing empire after his tenth wife divorces him, and he develops a heroin addiction that rehab can’t even help,” I said, prompting him to grin again.
Damn this asshole. His wolf grin was sexier than he was intolerable. I kept a straight face and severe expression, holding firm against the man’s stupidly good looks. I had to pat myself on the back for this later, though, because I hadn’t seen this daring smile before. It was a smile that made a girl want to…
Oh, no, you don’t, cupcake. No thinking about sex with this Ebeneezer Scrooge-ass son of a bitch.
“Not ten wives. My prediction was five,” he answered before finally looking over at my mom, who was silently watching us spar over a man I was sure had stolen Sebastian’s one true love. “Good morning, Martina,” he greeted her. “I trust William is excited about our journey to the fermentation tanks today?”
Mom chuckled while I studied him, trying to charm her for the first time since he arrived. “Anything that allows him to taste wine before nine in the morning will always excite him,” she laughed again.
Sebastian’s lips pursed in humor, “And thank God for that because it will be yet another long day. I went there last evening to find out the tanks must be updated. At least seven fail to ferment properly, costing this winery time and money.”
“He mentioned that last night after you returned here at midnight.”
“It was extremely late,” he answered while I looked at my mom in shock that Dad would ever work so late. “However, we got to the source of the problem. An element is going out, but it is good to know we can stop it. I’m excited that we will begin replacing them with more state-of-the-art machines and then move toward the other tanks that I’m sure are about to fail soon. They are as old as this place itself, and until we can get that area up to par, we may be outsourcing where the grapes are sent for fermentation until ours is up and running the way it should be.”
“Well, you two enjoy your morning,” I said, bored with the conversation. I was much more excited about meeting with Avery and Ashley Mitchell tonight. Ashley’s husband, Jake, was having a party on their yacht, and Avery had invited me last week when she called to chat. She asked me after I’d vented about what it was like to have Sebastian here with us for most of the call, so she probably felt sorry for me and thought I could use a break. I sure as hell wasn’t about to turn down a party on afucking yacht with a bunch of cool billionaires, so I was ready to go.
“You’ll be back in a few days?” my mom asked with a smile.
“I should be, but if I’m not, don’t worry.” I looked at Sebastian’s curious expression, “I’ll be back before Sebastian makes plans to repave driveways and change anything else he thinks isn’t up to par.”
“I mean no offense by stating that the fermenting?—”
“No offense taken,” I flashed a fake smile. “It’s just that every time I’ve heard you in conversation with my parents, you’re telling them that something must be replaced. While I’m gone, I’m curious about what else you’ll find. Until then, have a good day, and I’ll see you all later.”
“Don’t mind her…” I heard my mom’s voice fade in the distance as I pranced out of the kitchen.
I was not about to continue with any more business talk. Sebastian was sure to find more issues with this place, and I wasn’t lying when I said he’d repave the driveways next because, my God, there were cracks in them, and wecan’thave that!
Chapter Ten
Sebastian
Ihad to admit to my miserable self that I found it entertaining to interact with Darcy on the rare occasions we had a chance run-in, and yesterday’s conversation, which was basically me poking her about Maxwell Barbison, was the perfect example as to why.
Was Maxwell a total dipshit? Absolutely. Was he going to lose all his newfound wealth? Probably not. But I would be shocked if he didn’t go through at least four marriages. He was an upstart, which meant that unlike me and many others who came from old money, he didn’t realize the only way to navigate the social construct was to marry within your class.
Women raised with old money understood her and her husband’s place in the caste system. Marriage was a business first, then romance followed. It all worked very well so long as everyone was on board. Sadly, men like Maxwell would learn the hard way. Most women would want him for his money orpossiblyhis heart, but not both.
It was none of my business either way, and I didn’t particularly care how the man ended up, but I was curious about how Darcy Burke, a failing winery owner’s daughter, knew who Maxwell was. All I knew of the man was that he chummed around with people in my circle and was the brother of my brother Mark’s stupid mistake of a girlfriend.
Mark had been entirely off the rails since he walked out on his wedding to theright womanand disappeared for almost a year, only to return with Anne Barbison on his arm around six months ago—a twenty-two-year-old model who rose to mediocre fame by appearing in ads for her brother’s resort,Whispering Palms, in Florida. She was a beautiful young woman,youngbeing the key term that would end up landing Mark in even more trouble. The man had spun his life out of control, and it was only a matter of time before my father had to bail him out of a Costa Rican prison or something.
The way Mark was behaving was a complete insult to my family’s name, and hopefully, his little fling with Anne, who was constantly stirring up shit, would end.
So, the reality was that I didn’t know much about these upstarts, but the little I learned came from being forced to have a connection through Mark’s poor decision-making. I suppose that was why Darcy’s knowledge surprised me. IfIdidn’t know much, how could she? Perhaps she Googled my family after Ihurt her feelingsfor the umpteenth time and that’s how she found out about Mark?
“Good God, if that’s the case, she’s got some good ammunition to use on my ass if she wants to,” I said softly to myself.
I sipped on my nightly glass of tequila out by the pool, the only place around here I found relaxing enough to retreat to. And since this was my second glass, I could admit that I did enjoy the one night I saw her sexy ass in a swimsuit. I know I’dturned almost as quickly as it started turning me on, but her taut ass was something I hadn’t been able to remove from my mind since I’d seen it for a brief couple of seconds.
Ping!
“That’s enough of that shit,” I said to myself, thankful that an incoming text interrupted my thoughts that I had no business thinking.
