XAVIER

“One woman, for life. Hell, no.”

Xavier waited until his brother Tobias was well out of earshot to state his observation. They were sitting outside on leather couches, on the rooftop terrace of The Oasis, the bar his friend Luke owned.
Tobias was flying Luke and his team to his wedding on Kawaya, his three-hundred-acre private island in Fiji. The bar owner and his staff were taking care of the drinks for the four-day wedding extravaganza.

“He’s your brother. Be happy for him,” Luke drawled.

“I am happy for him,” Xavier insisted. Tobias seemed more relaxed these days, and it was all due to Savannah and Jacob. “It was about time he met someone. I could say the same about you.” He glanced at his friend, but Luke kept quiet.

“Not me.” Luke shook his head. “I’m too busy running bars to be dealing with women.”

Girlish laughter bubbled around the room making Xavier glance over his shoulder. Even though it was late evening and the night sky had darkened to a rich navy-blue, the soft lights from the lamps made it easy to see everyone. He raised his glass to the group of women who sat around a table scattered with jewel-colored cocktails. A couple of them acknowledged him with an interested smile.

“Know them?” he asked his friend. Luke seemed to know everyone who came here.

“Lawyers and legal eagles, celebrating an engagement. That’s all you need to know.”

Xavier eyed them slowly, his gaze lasering in on a woman with long wavy hair and what looked like a big and beautiful pair of breasts. His mouth watered at the sight of her hard-to-miss nipples poking through her silk dress. He flashed a smile at her, appreciating the view.
Even with the slight chill in the air—a promise, in this last week of September that fall was around the corner, it wasn’t that cold because of all the heaters Luke had placed around the terrace. Or maybe the woman wasn’t cold and was just excited to see him.

“Quit bugging my clientele.”

“I don’t see them complaining.” Xavier lifted his beer bottle to his lips.

“That’s because they don’t complain to you.”

“Bullshit.” Xavier looked at his friend dubiously. “Nobody’s ever complained to you about me. You’re making that shit up.”

On second thoughts, he decided it was probably better not to risk anything while Tobias was around. With his wedding to Savannah a week away, his brother was easily irritated. In fact his family, especially his parents, seemed to get annoyed when it came to Xavier and his love life. He didn’t understand why. He was young. Maybe not so young. But twenty-seven wasn’t exactly old.
Tobias was going to celebrate his thirtieth birthday the day before his wedding. Talk about hitting two major milestones one after the other.
Luke’s gaze drifted to the table of women before returning to him again. “Is Xavier-The-Stud-Stone in action again? Won’t your girlfriend mind?”

Xavier rolled his eyes at the mention of the nickname Luke had given him many years ago. “I’m only looking.” Gisele wouldn’t like him ogling other women, but she wasn’t here, and he wasn’t about to do anything silly. He wasn’t that much of a douchebag. “You all set for the wedding? All set to show off your mixologist skills?” he asked, his fingers curling around the glass bottle.

“Don’t call me a mixologist. I don’t need any fancy, stupid labels.”

“Okay, calm down.” But Xavier guessed that his cocktail making skills behind the bar helped him pick up a lot of girls. Not that the dude needed to be behind the bar. “Think of the shit ton of publicity you’re going to get from it.”

“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Luke protested.

Xavier snorted in disbelief. “It’s not as if you would have turned this opportunity down.” It was Tobias Stone’s wedding, for fuck’s sake.

“Tobias doesn’t want any press,”

It was true. Tobias was an intensely private person. “My brother’s anal like that.”

Luke leaned forward. His sleeves had been turned up, revealing hard, tattooed forearms that had Xavier wondering if he should get a couple of tattoos himself. Chicks loved that stuff. And that, along with the handful of bars and clubs Luke owned in and around New York, made him a babe magnet. Xavier envied him a little, and for having a thriving business which didn’t seem like that much hard work.

“I don’t blame him. He wants no paparazzi and nothing leaked. I respect that, and I haven’t told anyone outside of my team. My staff is discreet, and they won’t leak anything to the press. I’m honored that Tobias asked me.”

“He’s asked you based on my recommendation.”

“He’s been here plenty of times without you.”

Xavier scratched the side of his jaw. “When?” Tobias wasn’t a party animal. “He’d rather watch the stock market than hang out in a bar.”

“He’s been here a few times with Savannah.” Luke’s eyes twinkled. He seemed to enjoy telling this news. Xavier angled his head. Yeah, well, things were slightly different now that his brother had met Savannah. These days Tobias was a changed man who had gone from spending most of his time in the office, to having a life outside it.

Another shriek of laughter bubbled across from the table behind him, forcing him to cast another look over his shoulder. He quickly scanned around the table and zeroed in on the same woman again. His gaze settled on her a moment longer than usual, until she returned the stare, and then he turned his back on her.

Show interest, but not too much. Raise their hopes, get them excited, and then pull back.

“His fiancée seems like a nice girl,” Luke remarked. “He seems very happy.”

“He is. He never used to go out much. I had to drag him out so he could mingle and get some pussy.”

Luke slanted an eyebrow. “That was considerate of you.”

“I thought so, too.” Xavier leaned in, eager to know, “Are you getting any?” Luke’s mouth twisted as if he was trying to formulate an appropriate reply. “For a twenty-seven-year-old, you still talk like a teen.”

“I’m being serious, dude.”

“I am too. Quit the pussy talk.”

Quit the pussy talk? It made him wonder. “Are you batting for the other side?”

“You idiot.” Luke gave him one of his you’re-a-shithead-looks. “Some of us don’t like to talk about it as much as you do.”

“Where were we?” Tobias rejoined them, slipping his cell phone away.

“You were about to order a glass of whiskey,” Xavier replied, then raised his hand to summon a server. He should have ordered Tobias a drink while he was taking his call.

Tobias turned to Luke. “Do you have everything under control?”

“It’s all taken care of,” Luke assured him. “I’ve met with your security guys. We arrive the morning of your birthday, and I’ll be there to oversee everything. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

The server placed the whiskey glass down, and Xavier slid it over to Tobias. “Here you go, bro.”

Tobias dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “No thanks. I’m good.”

“Since when did you give up drinking?”

Tobias gave him a hard stare. “I haven’t. I don’t need one now. Get me a Coke will you?”

“Coming up.” Xavier caught the server’s attention again and ordered the drink before turning to Tobias. “You need to loosen up.”

“I still have work to do before we fly out. We can’t all work from home in our PJs.”

Luke sniggered. “What is it that you do again? I’ve never been able to figure it out.”

Tobias grinned back at him. “Let me know when you find out, because I still can’t figure it out myself.”

“He drives a 488 Spider, though,” Luke remarked casually. “He can’t be doing too badly.”

Xavier bit his tongue. It pinched his nerves, the two of them talking about him like this. “I’m here, guys. I’m right here. And I’m doing fine.” He raised his bottle and waved it at the two of them for ganging up on him. Tobias and he were opposites. His brother was far too rigid, far too organized. But then, he was a billionaire running a hedge fund. People assumed that because he was Tobias Stone’s brother, he was as successful and as wealthy. But Xavier was nowhere near being a billionaire, and never would be, though he’d almost made it to millionaire status a couple of times.

Sad thing was, a million was nothing in today’s world. It took at least ten mill to get by. “Not all of us get Daddy’s trust fund.” This was aimed at Luke.

“I gave my old man the middle finger,” Luke shot back. “And I’m building my empire with my own blood, sweat and tears. I haven’t taken a cent from Daddy.”

Tobias listened and nodded his head, keeping silent. He was a self-made billionaire who counted politicians and captains of industry as his friends. Not particularly close friends, Xavier assumed, but close enough that he could call them up if needed.

It wasn’t that Xavier was jealous, but he couldn’t rival that. He had never been as smart or as astute as his brother, and he was painfully aware of the fact. “Laugh all you want, but I’ve been creating and running businesses ever since I graduated from high school,” he said, a little too defensively. “And I can afford the Ferrari just fine.” He lifted his chin in defiance.

“To confirm,” said Tobias, ignoring him and turning to Luke again. “Have you got the agenda?”

Luke nodded.

“And you’ve signed the agreement?”

“Yes. No talking to the press, no pictures, no exclusives for any of the papers or magazines. Understood and noted.”

Xavier suppressed his breath. His brother’s paranoia bordered on OCD at times. He took a swig of his drink and listened to Tobias and Luke discussing the wedding details. He felt like a third party in a business meeting for two.