Pretty Hate (New Adult Novel) (27 page)

“None,” he said.

Patrick turned down a narrow road made of shell that wound through dark green trees. As I looked through the windshield at the house looming in front of us, I covered my mouth and shook my head.

“This is your...”

“Yep, my humble abode,” Declan said and massaged my shoulders.

“Humble?” I said and shook my head and stared at the mansion.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It was covered in red stone with gold veining that caught the sun and it seemed to sparkle. As you walked through the winding paths of the front garden toward the house, you approached two stone staircases facing each other capped in cobalt tiles. A koi pond lined in black granite joined the two staircases. I looked up at the five-story monstrosity and all the shutters to the tall, arched windows were open and billowy sheer curtains of gold drifted in and out of the windows with the breeze. We approached the ancient, arched wooden door to the house at the landing and I stared at Declan.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” I said.

“Just enjoy yourself, Beth,” he said and smiled as he opened the door. “My home is yours.”

“Assunta!” Declan said as we walked into the huge, round foyer. “My guests are here.”

An older woman walked into the main area of the house wearing a conservative dress. She looked at India and smiled as she clapped her hands and ran toward her.

“Beth, Assunta runs the house,” India said as she hugged her. “She’s been here forever. Assunta, this is Beth.”

She walked up to me and kissed me on both cheeks and smiled.

“Anything you need,” she said, “you tell me and I will see to it immediately, okay?”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Assunta, have Henry get all of the bags up to the house. Bring Beth’s to my room and India’s to whatever room she wants,” Declan said and walked to a long, mahogany bar. “Drinks?”

“Yes!” India said and ran across the stone tile toward the bar. “I want the room nearest the hot tub on the second floor.”

“Fine. Beth?” Declan said. “Are you okay?”

I looked out the floor to ceiling windows toward the back of the living room, past the cobalt infinity pool on the terracotta terrace and stared at the Mediterranean.

“Beth?” India said.

“I-I’m fine,” I said as I looked at them. “I just can’t believe...”

“I’m texting Nando,” India said. “What are we doing tonight?”

“Well, let’s go to the club after dinner,” Declan said. “Sound good, Beth?”

“Um, yeah, whatever you want.”

A man with platinum blond hair with a towel wrapped around his waist walked in from the terrace and kissed India on the back of her head.

“Hey, Chickie,” India said and took a sip of her drink. “You bleached your hair.”

“Yes, last week. Tricia and Sara are sunning in the garden,” he said and stared at me. “Oh, hello. Who are you?”

“Chickie, this is Beth,” Declan said. “Beth, this is the infamous architect Chickie Forrester. Chickie and his wife Tricia and their friend Sara are here from California.”

Chickie walked up to me and kissed me on both cheeks and held my hands.

“Very, very, very pleased to meet you, Tess,” he said.

“Beth,” I said and smiled. “My name is Beth.”

He looked at me and then back at Declan.

“Oh! You’re the Kiss song girl, right? The one with the crazy family. Wonderful! I must hear all about it,” he said as he walked out of the room.

I looked up at Declan and shook my head.

“You told him my family was crazy?” I said.

“You told me your family was crazy, didn’t you? Anyway, whose family isn’t crazy, right, India?” Declan said.

“I’ll drink to that!” she said and finished her cocktail and slammed the glass on the bar. “Another, please. Beth, come here, you didn’t get your drink. Mojito, delicious.”

“Beth, grab your drink,” Declan said. “I want to show you my room.”

I looked up at the high, white ceiling with the dark, wooden beams and told myself to push the feeling aside as I took Declan’s hand and we went up the black stone stairs toward his bedroom.

We walked down a long hall, paneled in dark wood and Declan told me about the paintings on the walls as we walked toward a heavy, arched wooden door with metal strapping running across the wood at the end of the hall. Declan pulled on the brass ring bolted into the door and the door’s hinges popped and creaked as he opened it.

His bedroom was the size of a small house and cool and dark.

“It’s kind of like a cave, isn’t it?” he said as he opened the French doors that led out to the private terrace and overlooked the sea.

“Your bed is, huge!” I said and walked over to the four-post, canopied bed.

“It’s custom from Italy. It has two king-size mattresses built into the frame. Very comfortable. Here, feel for yourself,” he said and picked me up and dropped me on the bed.

He crawled on top of my body and unbuttoned my sweater.

“Hey,” I said as I held his hair back from his face, “I really missed you.”

“I missed you too, Beth. I really did. I need to feel you.”

We undressed each other as the sheer curtains floated in and out of the room. As he entered me, I pulled him in as deep as he would go and wrapped my legs around his back. He stared into my eyes as his long hair brushed against my face.

As he went deeper, his thrusts came faster and he grabbed my arms and pinned them to the bed. He lifted himself and looked into my eyes.

“God, I love fucking you!” he said as he slammed into me and moaned as he came.

“I love you!” I said as I felt myself falling.

He looked down at me and breathed slowly as my words hung in the air like mustard gas.

He kissed my neck and rolled off of me and sat up at the side of the bed.

“You know, you didn’t even get a tour of the place. I’m sorry,” he said and walked across the room and stood at the terrace door. “It’s going to be a beautiful sunset tonight. I’ll tell Assunta we’ll eat outside, sound good?”

“Uh, sure,” I said and closed my eyes, “sounds great.”

“Are you tired? Maybe you should take a nap. I’m going to make sure they’ve turned the hot tub on so the water is warm.”

He grabbed a towel off the back of a leather chair and wrapped it around his waist.

“I-I’m not tired,” I said and sat up. “Unless you want to come and nap with me?”

“Oh, I can’t. I have a bit of work to do. You rest, I’ll see you in a bit,” he said and walked out of the bedroom.

“Stupid!” I said as I fell back on the pillow. “Why did you say that?”

I grabbed my phone and tried to call India, but it wasn’t working. I threw a casual knit dress on and went outside on Declan’s bedroom terrace. There was a beautiful view of the sea and the flower gardens below. I looked over the railing and Chickie was on a blanket naked with two naked women on either side of him.

“Hedonism,” I said as I watched them kissing each other. “Lovely.”

I saw Declan by the pool talking to a worker and he looked up at me and waved.

“Rapunzel, let down your hair,” he said and laughed.

I grabbed my camera and wandered downstairs to look for India and found her in the study talking to two handsome guys.

“Beth!” she said when she saw me in the doorway. “This is Nando and his cousin Anthony. Guys this is Declan’s girlfriend, Beth.”

“Hello, nice to meet you,” I said.

They both walked up to me and kissed me on both cheeks while I gave India a thumbs up.

“So,” India said as Nando and Anthony walked away, “aren’t they hot?”

“Totally hot,” I said.

“Where’s Declan?”

“In the garden.”

“What’s wrong?” she said and brushed my hair off my shoulder.

“It’s nothing. You have your friends here. I’ll tell you later.”

“No, tell me now.”

“I blurted out you-know-what while we were having sex.”

She looked at me and shook her head.

“I love you? No!” she said.

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Yeah, I did, India. I wished I could take it back as soon as I said it. And I felt it between he and I after I said it, you know, that shift.”

“Okay, you need to be really cool while you’re here, Beth. This is critical. People in Spain, women, especially, are really friendly. You cannot act jealous. You can’t even act like a girlfriend.”

“But I am his girlfriend.”

“Beth, I know, but he is going to think you’re possessive, especially since you said
it
. There is no bigger turn-off.”

“Hey, there you are,” Declan said as he came into the study. “I was looking for you. Change of plans, Chickie wants to take us all to this really cool restaurant that just opened down the way. We can get there through the beach so we’ll walk.”

“When?” India said. “Nando and Anthony just got here.”

“Bring them. We’re leaving in a bit.”

Chickie came into the study with a beer and the two women from the blanket and smiled at me.

“Tess! I want you to meet my lovely wife Tricia and our third, Sara,” Chickie said.

“Her name is Beth, Chickie,” India said.

Chickie stood behind me and massaged my shoulders as his wife Tricia, a tall, beautiful blond walked up to me and smiled.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Beth. Declan’s told us a lot about you,” she said and kissed me on both cheeks. “He did not do you justice, however, in his description of you. Men always leave out the details.”

“Oh, thank you,” I said.

“This is our third, Sara,” she said.

Sara, an equally tall, equally beautiful brunette smiled and waved.

“Hi, Beth, great to meet you.”

“Oh, Tess,” Chickie said as he massaged my shoulders, “you’re so tense.”

I looked at Declan and he winked.

“Now,” Chickie said as he leaned down and rested his head on my shoulder, “you may have noticed that we refer to Sara as our
third
. Did you notice that, Tess?”

“Chickie,” India said, “her name--”

“It’s okay, India. Yes, Chickie,” I said as I tried to turn my head to face him, “I did notice.”

“We, that is, me and Tricia, are poly,” he said.

“Poly?” I said and shook my head.

“Yes,” Tricia said and took a deep breath, “polyamorous. Just recently, really. We’re trying. Well, I’m trying. Chickie is...”

“I enjoy it, Tess,” Sara said and stood on the other side of Chickie. “I’ve never known such freedom. I love Chickie and I love Tricia and they love me.”

“Learning to love,” Tricia said.

“So, are you guys Mormons?” I said.

Declan choked on his beer and Chickie, Sara and India laughed.

“What?” I said and looked at India. “I was serious.”

“No, Tess, we’re not Polygamists,” Sara said. “It’s very different from being poly.”

“Oh, I see. Um, cool,” I said.

“Yes, the difference is there’s no God in their fucking,” Declan said and laughed. “Alright, let’s go to dinner. I’m starving.”

Declan and I held hands as we walked down the beach with India, Nando, Anthony, Chickie, Sara and Tricia.

“The sunset is so beautiful,” I said as I stopped to take a picture. “Hey, look at me.”

Declan turned around and I snapped a picture of him just as the sun touched the water.

“I think you’re really going to like this place. Chickie and I went the other day. The food is amazing.”

“You’re pretty amazing too,” I said.

“You’re so sweet, Beth,” he said and put his arm around my shoulder. “You really are.”

“I feel like I should say something about earlier. I don’t want things to be weird. I didn’t--”

“Oh, no,” he said and chuckled, “is this where we have to have a conversation about our feelings?”

“Well, no, I felt I should clear the air.”

“Look, Beth, Barcelona is a place where I come to relax. I have a big tour ahead of me and I really don’t want to get into any intense conversations, okay?”

“Well, okay, it’s--”

“Good,” he said and kissed me on the top of my head. “Here we are, just up this hill.”

We sat outside on the terrace at a big rectangular table with a view of the water. There were small lights strung through vines that formed a canopy over our table. Declan sat at the head of the table and I took the seat next to him. Chickie sat next to me and Sara sat on the other side of him. Across the table from me sat India, Nando, Anthony and Tricia.

When our waitress saw Declan, she ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. I looked at India and she closed her eyes and shook her head.