Nicolas sighed. Of course, all the brothers knew their dad had been asking him to take over the business, but Nicolas didn’t feel he was ready to take on such a big job as CEO of their family empire, the Princeton Group—aside from the fact that he had three of his own businesses to take care of, even though they were mostly online and his employees were outsourced.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,” he said. “I’ll take a look at it this spring and decide then.”
“Aside from that,” Alaina said, “none of you are bringing any girls home to meet Mom and Dad?” She turned to Hayden. “Where’s your girlfriend? What’s her name? Judith or Julie or something?”
“We broke up,” Hayden snapped.
“He got dumped.” Tristan gladly offered. This of course welcomed a death-ray glare from Hayden.
“And you, Darcy?” Tara asked. “What about Kate?”
Darcy frowned at Tara, telling her to piss off and mind her own business.
Tara thought Darcy’s dislike of her had grown even more in these past few years. This frustrated and pissed her off because she couldn’t understand why he was like that toward her. These feelings multiplied since she had a crush on him. Well, she couldn’t help herself, and what woman could? Especially with him looking like that… with dark hair and smoldering mauve-gray eyes. Not to mention his tall, lean body—toned and well maintained via years of training and hard work. Any woman would want that body in her bed—Tara included.
“He got dumped.” Tristan supplied.
Darcy grabbed a towel and threw it at Tristan. The force of the throw caused the towel to smack right on the side of Tristan’s face. Instead of cursing, the older brother laughed and said, as he watched Darcy walking past him toward the stairs that’d lead him up to the high-diving platform above, “Get over it, Darcy boy. She’ll come begging for you again like all of your other ex-girlfriends did.”
Darcy was over it. He was sick of women smothering him with what they thought was love but was in fact lust, clinginess, and jealousy. When he’d started dating this last one, Kate Anderson, he hadn’t known it was one of Alaina’s friends. If he had known, he wouldn’t have gone out with the woman in the first place. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t had a choice since the beginning. Alaina had cunningly gotten him drunk, and the next thing he knew, he was in bed with Kate. The next day, she practically moved in with him.
Now he was only too glad to be rid of her. Well, more specifically, she had gotten rid of herself, since she hadn’t been able to control herself from screwing another guy in their apartment, which he happened to witness by accident. Her reasoning? He hadn’t had sex with her since that first night, and it had been five months. Then of course she had the gall to accuse him of cheating on her. He hadn’t said a word—just coldly stared at her and then walked out again. The next day, he had texted her and told her it was over. Now he felt as though a heavy burden had lifted off his chest.
Standing there on the diving platform and gazing off into the endless blue horizon, he breathed in the salty ocean air. He closed his eyes, his face serene, and then he jumped and expertly did a beautiful somersault as his body soared down into the pool below.
Tara and Alaina applauded after Darcy slipped into the water with barely a splash.
Logan said, “Who wants another drink?”
Most shook their heads, and Tara turned her attention to Sebastian, now rubbing his wet, blond mane with the towel. She admired his body. She had to admit he had one of the best she’d ever seen, with firm muscles and toned six-pack abs. What girl didn’t want to run her fingers—oh ever so slowly—down those abs of his? And those blue eyes, the color of the summer sky, so vibrant they took a girl’s breath away. She was sure if she dated him every woman would envy her. Of course, she was sure guys secretly envied him as well. Not to mention, he was smart and rich and at only twenty-six years of age had accomplished so much. With his real estate business and investments going international, now he was planning to get another business up and running.
Deep down she was glad all the brothers were still single because it made her feel special, like all those times when they’d been children when she was the center of their worlds. Now she wanted that again. She wanted all seven of them around her. But most of all, she wanted Sebastian Princeton. She wanted him to love her as a woman. Then again, she also wanted Darcy—despite he was a year younger than her and didn’t seem to have any interest in her whatsoever, which of course made the chasing even more exciting. The choices. They were so hard to make, and she felt just like a kid in the candy shop.
Tara grinned and lay back, feeling the warm sun on her skin. She had this spring to work on it. Sooner or later Sebastian—or Darcy, for that matter—would be hers.
“I can see South Hampton from here,” Darcy said from the high-diving platform, drawing everyone’s attention to the one and only town on St. Joseph Island that appeared in the distance.
It was a picturesque island with Mount St. Joseph standing grandly in the middle, the lush, green woods surrounding it and the historic, Victorian town securely nestled against its bosom to the west side.
This was their hometown, had been the Princetons’ hometown since 1750 when the first generation had arrived from England and made this island theirs.
Not long after, the luxury yacht, the Lady Elizabeth, came into the harbor of St. Joseph Island, and soon they were ready to drive home to Princeton Manor, which was located on the other side of the island, about twenty-five minutes’ drive from town.
Once they were out of the busy, tourist-infested town, they pretty much had the road to themselves, and Tristan being Tristan went over the speed limit and, just to annoy Sebastian, dangerously overtook his brother.
“He’s being bloody childish,” Sebastian said under his breath.
“He wants to annoy you—again,” Nicolas commented matter-of-factly, his attention on his tablet.
“Tell me when we get home.” Conrad informed them before closing his eyes and making himself comfortable on the back seat next to Darcy.
Sebastian frowned when both Tristan and Logan waved at him from the other car, urging him to try to overtake them if he could.
“There they go again,” Darcy said, shaking his head.
Sebastian wasn’t taking the bait. He knew better than to get lured into his brother’s trap. Then just when he thought it wouldn’t get any more annoying, Tristan honked at him continuously, waking up Conrad.
“That bastard is annoying as hell,” Conrad muttered, glaring at the car in front of them.
“I see trouble coming,” Darcy murmured under his breath, knowing very well how Sebastian would respond to the challenge.
On cue, Sebastian stomped his foot on the accelerator. He quickly changed lanes and overtook the black car in front of them with ease. When he saw the shocked look on Tristan’s face, Sebastian smiled with satisfaction and sped up even more. He laughed, knowing very well he had left his brothers in his dust once again.
“Good job, Seb.” Conrad chuckled.
“Better slow down, Seb,” Darcy said, noting they were going way too fast.
A split second later, it happened. The car turned a corner onto a narrow road, which was covered by thick woods on both sides. Before he knew it, Sebastian quickly stepped on the brake, his heart pounding with dread as the car headed straight toward the person who suddenly materialized as if out of the blue onto the middle of the road.
“Holy shit!” Conrad shrieked.
“Watch out!” Darcy shouted.
Sakura knew she had a fifty-fifty chance of living or dying once she saw the car heading straight at her. Before she had time to react, she felt herself crazing against hard metal and falling back, landing on the road. She had a moment of sheer panic, wondering if she’d live when Toby ran to her and started barking at her and licking her hand with concern. Laying there motionless, she stared dazedly up at the sky through her hair covering her face, wondering if she was dead already.She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. Toby was still barking at her to get her attention, but she had no strength to respond. She needed to clear her head and get her bearing back first.Before her, the brothers rushed out of the car, their stomachs flipping in dread as they wondered what the heck had just happened. Sebastian, being the one responsible, had assumed the worst and wondered if he had just killed the girl even though he knew in his gut he’d stopped the car just in time. If he
Once she stood, Sakura finally looked at them, fully. First, there was Sebastian with the typical Princeton looks that dated back for generations and had caused many hearts to flutter recklessly and perhaps even swoon with longing. He was tall, broad at the shoulders, and too handsome for her liking.Then there was Nicolas, so much like his father, James, who looked as though he could take on the world and would still come out on top with his leader-like demeanor.Next was Tristan with his ridiculously handsome smile, the Prince of Flirt in the family. Sakura wondered how many females he had bedded already and how many hearts he had broken along the way.The same went for Logan with his very charming smile and devil-may-care manner. Sakura wouldn’t be surprised if he had bedded at least a dozen women within the past few months.Hayden, the handsome Prince of Rebel, had that rogue look about him that any good girl found hard to resist. This was enhanced by the fact that he had one gold
Sebastian was forced to eat his own words when they stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the sight before them. The Princeton Estate was in full bloom with cherry blossoms. Clouds of pink flowers stretched endlessly beyond them, and the road leading to the manor was carpeted with pink petals. “We don’t have to go to Japan to see cherry blossoms in full season,” Conrad said, smiling. “It’s nice,” Nicolas remarked. A gust of wind swirled past, releasing a myriad of flowers from the trees, petals raining down on the car, some landing on the windscreen. Sebastian was too stunned to turn on the wiper and continued driving until they reached the front courtyard of the two-hundred-year-old stately manor, which most foreigners liked to call the Grand Castle of St. Joseph Island, made of massive gray stone that had stood up against many winters. The estate was immaculately maintained with lush, green lawn and neat, pretty flowerbeds their father loved. The water feature of cupids and fairies, t
Sakura decided it was the brothers’ fault she that was so sore, and not just about the legs either, but all over now. Tired, thirsty, and her body aching, she still had to walk through this tiny, treacherous pathway that wasn’t really a pathway via the woods to get to Princeton Estate. Normally she didn’t mind, but this time she really did mind. She grumbled to herself and cursed them again. Oh, yes, she was sure they’d be very comfortable indeed right now, sitting in the lounge and drinking that horrible coffee Beth would have prepared for them. Not to mention the mini-sandwiches, scones, muffins, and slices she had made this morning. Once she reached Princeton Manor some half an hour later, she was sweating like a pig, her face was covered with dirt, and her hair was a mess. She sneaked into the kitchen—hoping like hell she wouldn’t bump into any of the brothers—when she was greeted with a, “Where have you been? Mr. Princeton was looking all over for you.” She jumped in fright, h
The brothers loved it. They absolutely loved the roast pork—and of course, none of them choked. Tristan, Logan, and Hayden couldn’t help chomping down the delicious, soft morsel and then grabbed for more. “There’s still dessert,” Mary said from across the table, smiling. “You’ll have to visit home more often to get a proper feed, boys,” Molly, their grandmother, said. Hayden nodded his head in agreement with that. “Or we could just take Beth with us,” Darcy suggested. James and Brenda glanced at each other, and Dale, the brothers’ grandfather, chuckled. Beth cleared her throat and said, “Unfortunately, Master Darcy, I still wouldn’t be able to cook you such a nice roast because I wasn’t the one who prepared that roast. Although, I sort of did since the person responsible happened to be sick all of a sudden. But that was only via specific instructions.” “New chef, then?” Conrad put in. “Finally, we have decent food to eat. Not that yours isn’t that good, Beth. Your baking is the
Darce! Darce! Laughter. Darcy could hear laughter singing and echoing all around him, calling out to him. The voice was soft and musical, and it sent a warm sensation through his body. In his state of haziness, he could see long, dark hair dancing in the wind, the strands brushing gently on his face. He could feel warm hands within his grasp, tightening as if the owner of that lovely hand was afraid he’d disappear.He was in a dream, Darcy realized, and he was lying on the ground, his body across and his head resting on someone’s lap. It was a very comfortable lap. Above him, he could see cherry blossom petals raining down on him from a tree of pink cloud. Some landed on his face. They were feathery soft and cool on his skin. He could smell the light, beautiful scent, and it reminded him of spring. Oddly enough, he felt at peace. He felt happy. And there was something else, too. He felt loved. So much love.He turned to look at the girl who was now stroking his hair. He frowned, for h
Sebastian hadn’t had such a wonderful sleep for a while. There hadn’t been any noise like in New York at all, just what he’d always wanted. Quiet. Peaceful. And he wondered why he had left home in the first place. When he woke up this morning, it had been to the sound of birds chirping outside his window and then soon after that the voices of girls talking. He was sure it wasn’t Alaina or Tara. The maids perhaps?Now fully awake and refreshed after his shower, he sighed in content. It couldn’t get any better than this, sitting here with his brothers in the morning sun in their courtyard with cherry and magnolia trees in full bloom surrounding them.The sound of a dog barking came their way.“Holy smokes!” Conrad said, perching up in his chair. “Is that?”“Toby,” Darcy supplied, more interested than he wanted himself to be.The dog appeared from the direction of the pond and dashed straight at them. Toby stopped by Tristan and greeted him by jumping around the man’s leg with delight. T
“You know,” Mary began, her eyes on the peaceful scenery of lush, green rolling hills in the distance. “You never talk about them much.”Her eyes on the road ahead, Sakura asked, “What do you mean?”“The brothers,” Mary said, adjusting herself on the seat. “You didn’t talk about them much back in high school. What was that all about?”Sakura shrugged her shoulders. “Was there any need?”“Was there any need?” Mary asked in disbelief. “You didn’t even tell me you were Uncle James’s adopted daughter until I found out myself. And that was because Uncle James himself came for the parents’ interview regarding you, and I thought he came to visit me. That was really embarrassing.”Sakura chuckled. “I suppose I should have told you, but at the time I thought it didn’t really matter.”Mary shook her head. “If you were to announce to everyone that you were Uncle James’s adopted daughter, those bitches wouldn’t have bullied you.”Sakura knew whom Mary was referring to. Those bitches were their ex