Be With Me: Chapter 12

It was a humid day in the Hamptons. The air was thick with the scent of sunscreen and apricots. The surround-sound speakers hidden throughout the property blasted Sabrina Carpenter’s latest hit.

We were scattered around the pool, each doing our own thing. Fabi floated on an inflatable swan, a glass of rosé in hand. Zo sat on a lounger, painting her toenails a deep purple. Nina and I were hunched over a canvas I’d impulsively bought online. The piece depicting a mask was now getting an excessive amount of rhinestones glued on. I was going through a phase. I had about three of these already completed back at my apartment. Somehow, I’d convinced myself bedazzling was a valid form of therapy.

“I think we should go to a party,” Zo announced as she finished off her pinky toe.

I carefully glued on another black rhinestone. “We already agreed we’d stay in.”

We’d cracked open the alcohol as soon as we’d arrived three hours ago, and while I appreciated the buzz, day drinking in the sun wasn’t the kind of thing that made me want to go anywhere afterward. I was looking forward to making dinner with the girls, passing out in bed by ten, and then doing it all over again tomorrow before heading home on Monday.

Zo took a long slurp of her Aperol Spritz before plunking the glass onto the coffee table. “I know. But that was before I got this text.”

She grabbed her phone and held it out to us. Nina and I leaned in to read.

“Who is this?” Nina asked.

“A billionaire whose company hired us for a project a year ago. We’ve kept in touch.”

“You’re telling me this is a fully grown man?” Nina sounded unimpressed. “Because he texts like he’s a frat bro with a trust fund.”

Zo laughed. “He’s a fully grown bro. I know, the worst. But he’s got a nice dick, and this party is gonna be out of this world.”

My brows rose. “You slept with a client?”

“After the project was over,” Zo said. “Bumped into him at a bar in Austin, and it seemed like a good idea. The three shots of tequila might have had something to do with it.”

I sighed. “I can’t even remember the last time I had sex.” It was probably with my ex, Sergio. Which was over two years ago. We dated for about nine months before it became glaringly obvious he was secretly in love with his best friend.

And our sex life? Nothing memorable.

Why did I even date him? I pressed my wineglass to my cheek, trying to recall. I guess he was nice. Maybe that was all I needed at the time.

“Same,” Nina muttered.

Zo shook her head. “What a sad life you two live. You know what your problem is? You overthink it.”

“I’d rather overthink it than underthink it,” Nina said, dabbing some glue on the canvas. “I have high standards. And I’m not about to lower them just for an orgasm. My own fingers do a perfectly fine job.”

Zo smirked. “Your own fingers don’t have a sexy male body attached to them. Don’t you miss big, strong hands? The scent of a man? The little sounds they make when you’re gobbling down their⁠—”

“I didn’t until you put it like that,” Nina interjected, slicing her a glare.

Zo laughed. “I can keep going. Just picture tracing those thick veins on their arms, squeezing those rounded biceps⁠—“

I threw a rhinestone at her, somehow landing it straight into her drink. “Okay, enough.”

She fished it out, still grinning. “All I’m saying is, we should go to this party. It’ll be packed. I’m sure you’ll both find someone to end your dry spell.”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel like going to some insane rager.”

“You never feel like going to an insane rager,” Zo said. “But that’s exactly why you need one. You never have fun. You’re always working.”

“There’s nothing wrong with always working,” Nina said.

“Thank you.” I clinked my glass against hers.

“You’re both workaholics.” Zo tugged on her bikini top, fixing it into place. “It’s time for an intervention.”

“We’re not the ones working for a company that sends you on week-long business trips with no weekends off,” Nina pointed out. Zo worked for a white-hat hacking firm that was hired by companies to test their cybersecurity by trying to break through their firewalls. At least, I thought that’s what she did. Whenever she got too technical, I struggled to follow.

Zo looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes with her hand. “Yeah, but then I get to take entire weeks off where I do nothing but play video games, go on dates, and spend all my hard-earned money. It’s a good trade-off.”

“She’s got a point,” Fabi called out, apparently listening to the conversation from her float.

Nina just shook her head. We both worked like crazy because we ran our own businesses. The only difference was that Nina’s chocolate company was thriving, while mine… Well, as already established, my business was in not a great place.

Although, if Romolo actually followed through on his word about getting me into The Golden Circle newsletter…

He wouldn’t. Also, that wasn’t why I’d agreed to work for him.

He’d been right when he said I’d never agree to dress him only for my own benefit. I wasn’t worth the risk. But my dad and Fabi were.

“Hey, Fabi,” I called out to her, watching as she lazily drifted across the pool. “How are you doing?”

She lifted her glass of rosé in a half-hearted salute, her curls piled on top of her head in a messy bun. “I don’t know. Fine? But I’m with Zo. I think we should go.”

I sat up straighter. “Really?”

Nina groaned. “What happened to our plan?”

“Yeah, but…” Fabi hesitated, pushing her heart-shaped sunglasses up her nose. “I don’t know. I just feel like this might be the last time we get to do this kind of thing, you know?”

Something twisted inside my chest. I put the rhinestone picker down. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what life will be like when I’m married. Or what rules I’ll have to follow.”

Rules? I rose and walked over to the edge of the pool. “Are you saying Cosimo might not allow you to see your friends?”

I’d been waiting for the right moment to bring him up. Fabi was in a good mood when they picked me up, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

But clearly, her engagement was also on her mind.

She blew out a breath. “Honestly, who the hell knows.”

Zo and I exchanged a worried look. That didn’t sound good.

Nina just sat there with a grave expression, like she wasn’t at all surprised by this.

“Has he said something about these rules to you?” I asked.

Fabi took a big sip of her wine. “Nope. Not yet. He’s refusing to talk to me. And after what happened earlier this week, I just⁠—”

“What happened?” Nina called out.

Fabi kicked at the water to float closer to us. “I messaged him to ask if we could meet up for dinner and actually talk about, you know…our upcoming marriage.”

“Okay,” I said cautiously.

“And he texted back with one word: ‘Busy.’”

My nostrils flared. What a jerk. This woman was about to become his wife, and he was too busy for her?

I was offended on Fabi’s behalf.

“Asshole,” Zo muttered.

Nina pursed her lips. “That’s not right. You should talk to Rafaele about it.”

Fabi stared into her wineglass. “What’s the point?”

“He can get Cosimo in line,” Nina said.

Frustration pulsed at my temples. “Or maybe if he knew your fiancé was actively ignoring you, he’d change his mind about this whole damn wedding.”

What they were doing to Fabi was awful, and I didn’t care if “that’s just how things were done” in their world. This whole situation was barbaric. She was being handed off to a criminal and expected to smile through it.

Given that their own mother’s marriage had been a nightmare, I couldn’t understand how her brother could do this to her.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Fabi said, defeated. “I always knew I’d have to get married to someone I didn’t choose for myself, so I’m not expecting fireworks, you know? Honestly, I was prepared for apathy. But it seems like he hates me. Or maybe he’s just disgusted by me.”

“There’s no way,” Nina said. “He doesn’t know you yet, which is why he doesn’t understand you’re a damn catch.”

“Well, he doesn’t seem to have any interest in getting to know me,” Fabi said. “Maybe the best I can hope for is that he’ll just ignore me once we’re married. I mean, one day, he’ll expect kids, but it’s not like that day has to be anytime soon.”

I clenched my jaw. “And what if that’s not what happens?”

Fabi stared out toward the ocean. “I’ll just have to figure it out.” I watched her float to the edge of the pool and set her empty wineglass on the patio. “Guys, let’s just go. I want to have a good time tonight. I want to dance. I want to drink.” She hauled herself out of the pool, looking a little buzzed already. “I just want to forget he exists for one night.”

I bit my lip.

Maybe if Fabi spent tonight like a normal person, she’d realize what she was giving up. Maybe she’d put up more of a fight.

But then again, I understood family loyalty. I understood duty. God, better than anyone.

Still, what I was doing for my dad’s campaign was temporary. It would end.

For Fabi, this was the rest of her life.

Zo twisted the cap back onto her nail polish and tossed it onto the coffee table. “It’s settled. We’re going out.

I dragged my palms down my thighs. “I didn’t even bring anything to wear.”

Zo smirked. “Come on. I’ve got plenty of things you can borrow.”