Chapter 6

• REMY
• Empathy was not a word anyone would use to describe me but apathy? Apathy, was me in a nutshell.
• That’s why when I found myself sitting next to Cash in my private jet, heading for Santa Monica, I told myself it was all him and his big mouth.
• “Snitch,” I muttered under my breath when the plane took off. “Mouchard.”
• “You wanted a challenge or something of the sort,” Cash smirked and raised his sparkling water. “You can thank me later, French Fry.”
• Jerome Torren Cashmere was a softie and also a squealer. When I told him about Zack’s dilemma, he assumed I was going to run to brother dearest’s rescue. Wrong.
• Remember apathy and me? It still applied in this case. I was a selfish bastard. I didn’t care. What was it to me anyway?
• So, when Cash failed to talk me into bailing out my stepbrother, what did he do? He ratted me out to the rest of the crew. And we spent the greater part of last night on a group call. Of course, they supported Cash and jumped on the humanity bandwagon. Which is the sole reason I went to Zack’s rescue. I was going to do my bit for humanity and all that.
• The rest of my close circle were pretty much all-round good guys like Cash, from Kylo King, Ryker Pierce, Corbyn Coleman and my mentors Jordan and Kyle Kinley. We were all young, rich, and famous but remained grounded. Out of all of them, I was closer to Cash. He was tight with Kylo too, but since Kylo got shackled Cash gave him space and hung out with me. We were the last two single guys left in the group and we intended to keep it that way.
• Labeled the Hottie Hood by the media and the name stuck. We kind of stood by the motto, ‘All for one and one for all’. One of the good things that came out of being welcomed into the brotherhood was they treated me as an equal and family. These guys always had my back no matter what and in return, they expected the same from me. And for some reason, only known to them, they saw good in me and expected better from me.
• The first thing I did when we landed, was I roped in a good attorney to represent my stepbrother. The guy was worth his expensive legal fees, and Zack made bail that very day. But the battle wasn’t over. It was just beginning.
• “I can’t thank you enough,” Zack said as I drove him back to his house on Vista Hill. I was going to be staying with Cash on his estate in Brentwood. And I always drove myself. I hated being chauffeur-driven. Bodyguards could always tail behind. “I owe you one.”
• “You owe me joint custody of our baby sister.” Reaching out for the folder on the dashboard, I flung it at him. “Make sure your mother signs this or the deal is off, comprend moi? ”
• Ouais, about that. Some terms and conditions apply to my being here.
• I was only helping him for purely selfish reasons. When my father died, his homewrecker of a mother was upset that he hadn’t left her anything in his will. She took my sister and refused any visitation rights on my part. But, being the gold-digging skank that she was, she always took my money. I sent generous monthly checks for my sister’s upkeep, though I wasn’t naive as to think it was used on her alone. It wasn’t an issue for me, she was my flesh and blood.
• “And I’m going to need my watch back, merci beaucoup,” I added with an upturned palm. “You had no right to take it. It was rightfully mine.”
• He fished it out of his rumpled varsity jacket and dropped the Swiss watch in my hand. “He said you didn’t were it-when he gave it to me. I didn’t mean to-”
• “He had no business giving you any of my stuff. My mother gave me that watch on my sixth birthday.” I was already regretting it. Helping him. Why was I even here, when I hated his mother as much as I hated him? “It belonged to her father and she had my name and date of birth engraved on the back.”
• “I’m sorry,” he slumped back on the leather seat and stared out the window. “I heard you’ve already met, Dani.”
• “I did.” And what a first impression I must have made.
• “You were banging some chick in her car?”
• “She’d left the top down and I needed to get off.” I’d gone to the varsity to check it out and as the dean to take me on as an exchange student for just a semester-not that I’d need that much time to get Dani. The dean jumped at the opportunity, grabbing it with both hands. Who wouldn’t want a mega-super intelligent star at their school? “You need a bath really bad. Gosh!” I wrinkled my nose, running a hand over it. “You smell worse than a dumpster.”
• “You’ve ruined everything,” he said, running both hands over his messy hair. “She hates you now.
• “Girls love bad boys,” I snickered, sticking a cigarette in the corner of my lips and patting down my pockets for a lighter. “She wants me more than ever now.”
• “Dani is different.” The poor idiot was still in love with her.
• “Is that why you smashed the cougar instead, brother?”
• Sliding down the window, I blew smoke out the window, my gaze quickly swinging back to the road ahead. “She uncultivated land? Une vierge? She definitely wasn’t your type then.”
• “So how are we going to do this?”
• “We are not going to do anything,” I clarified. “I will handle this my way. You stay away from her. You’ve done enough damage, imbécile.”
• “I was trying to get my phone back.”
• “You broke into her house, stupide.”
• “I didn’t think it would be a big deal if I’d been there countless times.”
• “Zut!” My hand slammed on the steering wheel. “What you need to do is back off! You wanted me to handle this so step back and let me do my job.”
• “I know you I said you should seduce her if you have to but please don’t do that unless you really have to.”
• “I will get the information by any means necessary.”
• “Maybe we’d better change the strategy.”
• “Afraid I’ll get a taste of the sweet cherry before you?”
• He shifted in his seat, tugging at the sleeves of his sweater. “Dani isn’t like that.”
• “She’s a woman. One size fits all, mon frère.”
• “Just don’t go that far, that’s all I’m asking.”
• “Très bien.” Turning on the radio at high volume, I tuned him out, humming along to Kid Cudi’s Memories.
• I was about to do a lot of crazy stuff alright.
• Santa Monica was not ready for me.