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“I don’t know that Abby is the kind of girl who is going to fall for that You saw that look It’s clear Cal Mantelli isn’t her favorite person, and I’m certain she has added our names to that list”

“That may be so But we have thirty days toevery second we have to make sure that happens”

It took everything he had not to kiss her when she was here He had taken one look at her and wanted to knohat those plump lips would taste like What kinds of sounds she would ht when he touched her

“Are you with me?” he asked his friend

Cole ran his fingers through his hair “For a chance with her? Yes I am I’m all in, if we can make this work”

“Then the opening in Vegas this weekend will be the perfect chance to show her e can give her”

“Let’s just get through dinner first”

5

Abby

It didn’t matter that the drapes were made from imported silk or that she had her own fireplace Abby didn’t care that there was a closet full of designer gowns, and h heels than she had seen in a department store

These walls were her prison A beautiful expensive prison And she hated it

She turned on the TV and sank onto the pile of pillows She scowled, despising how coave her a bed of thorns to sleep on—not luxurious linens

Who did these assholes think they were? There was nothing about thes Cal usually did business with They were refined Polished And they hadto hide how rich they were She doubted they had le deal in the back of an ally or resorted to petty theft to pay bills

From their expensive suits to the custom details in the o’s infamous bachelors were hard to s about Deacon and Cole The last article she read put together a bracket list on which Chicago socialites would be able to snag the duo She wondered what the world would think if they knew this is what they did

She wasn’t going to get caught up in the riches Abby knewShe had learned that the hard way She had seen her fa in a real estate deal They lost it all: the cars, the land, her mother’s jewelry, and their house