Brody - Ellie Masters Page 0,2

I remove all evidence of her. I can’t help the disappointment flowing through me. Women are entirely too predictable. Their motivations unerringly the same. They all want to be the one to snag the ‘Bad Boy Billionaire.’

Not that I’ve reached that esteemed status yet, but by the end of the year, that’s an exclusive club I’ll finally join. Which is why I’m particular about the women I invite into my bed and why I have rules.

That scene with Candice is one I’ve played a hundred times. The truth is none of them care about me. The zeros lining my bank account draw them in. I know what I bring to the equation. The question is, what do they bring? They definitely don’t see the real me. Only one girl ever did, and she hates my guts.

I wash myself clean and close my eyes. If only I could find a woman who sees beyond my bank account and the stories I wish were more exaggerated than the truth. I glance down at my cock and vent a frustrated sigh at the ruby-red lipstick left behind.

Candice definitely excelled in that department. For a moment, I think I might get hard again. There’s certainly enough frustration running around inside of me to rub another one out, but no matter how I try, my flaccid cock refuses to cooperate. Candice simply isn’t masturbatory material. Already, I’m forgetting her face. The shower ends with frustration. It’s been a long day and I’m tired.

I didn’t lie about that.

I turn off the water and dry myself with a towel. Returning to the bedroom, I notice Candice’s black, lacy thong on the foot of the bed. There had once been a time when I collected such trophies, evidence of my prowess, but I’m beyond such things now. I pick up the thong and drop it unceremoniously into the waste bin.

Lying back on the bed, I stretch out and wish myself to sleep. My frustration has been building for weeks. Fucking doesn’t seem to be doing the trick in relieving it.

Tomorrow, I’ll push my body to exhaustion. It’s been too long since one of my marathon runs. Too long since I’ve been home. Time for a drive into wine country and a visit with my mom.

I draw the cover up over my naked body and send my mother a text.

Me: Coming home for the weekend. Hoping for your famous pancakes.

Mom: Staying the night?

Me: Just the day. Need to clear my head.

Mom: You work too hard.

Me: Is Cage home?

Mom: Out on assignment.

Me: Then I get his pancakes.

Mom: Only if you stay through Sunday.

Me: !!!?

Mom: I’ve got a date tomorrow.

Me: ????

Mom: Yes, a date.

Me: Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Mom: Hush!!! You’re not too big that I won’t swat that ass.

I laugh at that comment because it’s true. Abbie La Rouge takes no shit from her boys.

Me: No need for a switch. Be safe. XOXO

Mom: You’re insufferable. Love you, son.

Me: Looking forward to pancakes.

I don’t ask about Asher. He runs La Rouge Vineyards and rarely leaves home. I wish Cage was home. I feel the need for some La Rouge triplet shenanigans, but Asher alone will do. Feeling better, I roll over and call it a night.

Two

Grace

At twenty-five, the weight of the world should not sit on my shoulders, but it is, and I’m one straw away from breaking the proverbial camel’s back. Yes, I’m aware the weight of the whole world is not, in fact, on my shoulders. I’m allowed to be a bit melodramatic.

The thing is, I’m fighting a losing battle. I see it. I feel it. I just don’t know how to accept it.

Mom didn’t teach her only child to give up, and while I may lose the vineyards that have been in our family for generations, I refuse to do it while she’s still with me. I can’t let her die with the added heartbreak my failure brings.

I scrub at my dry eyes and blink away the sting. For the past three hours, I’ve stared at the computer screen. The numbers don’t lie, and they tell the same story no matter how I mess with them. Atwood Estates is in the red, like deep in the red with little chance for recovery.

Three months.

I’m three months from losing everything and I can’t afford to fail. Not with Mother’s medical bills piling up. Not with a crew of twenty depending on me to meet payroll, and definitely not with the work I need to do to bring in this