Chapter Text
“There are bigger fish in the sea, Brother,” Caroline insists to her own reflection, swiping the pad of her thumb against the tasteful sheen of gloss on her lower lip.
“Bigger than the Vice President’s daughter?” Lucien challenges, quirking an eyebrow.
They stare at each other in the mirror for the barest moment before Caroline’s eyes flick away with seeming indifference.
“Keep up, Lucien. Annie Grover is old news. We need Selene Cartier.”
“Cartier?” Lucien repeats, curiosity piqued. “As in…?”
Caroline shoots him a withering look. “Diamonds, yes. But more recently Silicon Valley.”
Everyone knows the Cartiers, especially Remy Cartier, who had grown his share of the family fortune exponentially with savvy investments in cutting-edge tech and daring entrepreneurial ventures. If the Belmont family is fabulously wealthy, the Cartiers are in another league entirely.
And Remy’s only daughter is enrolling in Manchester College this fall.
“What do we know about her?” he begins, perching the edge of his thigh casually on the dresser beside Caroline.
“Nothing,” his stepsister sighs in exasperation, ignoring the prickle of hyper-awareness his proximity always elicits. “She’s absurdly private. No social media. No paparazzi. No scandals.”
“Impossible,” Lucien scoffs. “Her father’s the richest man in the world. Either he pays off anyone who has anything on her or she’s hideous and boring.”
Caroline considers this. The latter seems more likely. She narrows her eyes at her stepbrother. “And you need to find out which it is.”
He leans lightly against her shoulder, dropping his chin to gaze up at her with those infernally bewitching eyes – as soulful as they are wicked. “What’s in it for me?”
Caroline doesn’t shrink from the heat of his body against hers… and promises him the only thing he really wants: what she’s denied him for years.