set him, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren’s grandchildren up for the rest of their lives. But not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s years before he sees a cent of that money,” Zion explained. “But Nathan is still... Nathan. He can drop a girl’s panties with a wink, and more than a few of them are happy to take him on as an investment that will pay off tenfold in the future.”
“Lovely.” I shook my head. “Next name on the list. Carter. Does he want a wife?”
“No one knows what that guy wants. He blew through hookups at the academy, refusing to get serious with anyone. He’s got three older brothers who work with their dad and he’ll take his place after college. But he doesn’t have to. No one is hanging their hopes or the future of the company on him. He can do whatever he wants. If anyone is here by choice, it’s Carter, but again, I don’t believe he’s looking to get engaged. Plenty of girls want to marry him, though.”
I held the question in for as long as I could, but with her as name number four, I might as well ask. “What’s the deal with Delilah? Why are she and Preston a sure thing?”
“I said the Desais had the second-largest real estate company,” he replied. “The Winthrops have the largest. Between the two of them, they’ll own the entire country. It’s a massive merger that is sealed with their I dos.”
“So Preston was never going to be with anyone but her.” The knowledge didn’t sting. On the contrary, it killed the niggling doubt and confirmed nothing about the other night was real. “Thank you, Zion. You’re a wealth of information.”
Bending over, I dug into my pack and pulled out a pen. “This will be quicker if you mark a star next to the guys on the hunt for an heiress.” I eyed him. “Please tell me you’re not one of them.”
He snorted. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against meeting someone and flinging it up in one of the chillest places I’ve ever been to.”
The man didn’t lie. The world unfolding outside of my window was gorgeous. Dancing coconut trees, miles of untouched beach, and more sunshine than a Bracknell girl could stand. Under normal circumstances, I’d love to spend my summer here.
I nudged his shoulder. “Why do I feel a but coming on?”
“But you’re not my type.”
“What? Opinionated?”
“Violent.”
A laugh ripped out, startling and amusing me. “Because of that little scuffle with Ivy? Afraid you’d be in for a lifetime of being dropped on your ass whenever I’m pissed off?”
“Yes.”
“You’re perceptive as well as informative, Zion Mitchell.”
We cracked up.
“Friends?” he asked, sticking out his hand.
“Friends.”
I would not for any reason use the word enjoyable, but I would say the rest of our scenic route to the villa wasn’t complete misery.
Zion marked off all the guys on the hunt for an heiress—any heiress. Dad was clear that I had to choose a husband among those who proposed to me, and I’ll make sure Charlie, Dillon, Jax, Andres, and the rest of them didn’t get that idea into their heads for a second.
That done, we turned our attention to Hendrix, our tour guide.
“—acres of orange groves. On a hot day, it’s the perfect place for a picnic,” he said. “Everything you see around you is Desai land. You can roam to your heart’s content.”
One of the girls up front raised her hand. “Will we have time for that? The schedule we were given is packed. Are all of these events mandatory?”
“Mandatory is a strong word. There aren’t penalties if you miss activities, but these are designed to help you get to know each other better and aid in the decision most of you will make at the end of this summer. Tonight’s mixer for example is an opportunity to get reacquainted with old faces and meet the new. After the mixer, your time is yours.
“Everyone at the cove is over eighteen. You don’t have curfews or such things. Spend your free time how you will.”
The bus was abuzz following that announcement. Lives stuffed into uniforms, pinchy shoes, and bow ties to be paraded through academies and formal events, did not prepare us to hear “your time is yours.”
Ivy’s hand shot in the air. “Will you separate those who are serious about this summer from the guys just looking to get some? It’s not fair to us to wade through jokers spouting whatever we want to hear to