Diamonds (All that Glitters #1)
K.A. Linde
BROKEN—mind, body, and soul.
Begging to forget her meaningless existence, to be commanded and molded and remade into someone else, she needed the embrace of the nightlife, the pounding of the music, the sweat, the intoxication just to feel again.
If even for one night.
Allure wasn’t Bryna’s usual scene. She preferred exclusive nightclubs in Beverly Hills and house parties that catered to her and her überwealthy friends at Harmony Prep. She favored places where everyone knew her name, and she could rule as queen bee. But, tonight, she didn’t want to rule her throne.
She wanted to forget her own reality and get lost in the imagined one that Allure provided. The room was full to the brim with bodies grinding to the music and people drinking top-shelf liquor and indulging in the dark secret desires of their hearts.
She swirled the gin martini in her hand and pursed her lips as she surveyed the room.
It was easier here.
Easier to forget about her Hollywood parents and their pathetic divorce. Easier to forget that her high-profile director father had remarried this summer to some Valley trash he’d been having an affair with while he was with her mom. Easier to forget that she had three new stepsiblings and that the oldest, Pace, was only a year younger than her and the new starting quarterback at school.
Easier to forget about everything.
At least everything that was cluttering up her picture-perfect life. Despite the heinous drama consuming her, she needed to remember who she was and what she stood for.
She was f*cking Bryna Turner.
A goddess at Harmony. Queen bee. Head cheerleader.
She had started dating Gates Hartman before his breakout role, and now, he was the hottest up-and-coming actor who had hit Hollywood since Ryan Gosling.
She refused to give two shits about what anyone thought of her, especially her parents. Her world might have shifted with the upheaval of their marriage, but she had remained strong for all the eyes always watching her.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, no one was watching.
Tonight, she could lose herself, lose control.
And maybe that was what brought him closer.
“SCOTCH NEAT.”
The bartender nodded at the man standing next to Bryna at the bar and grabbed the top-shelf liquor.
Perfect.
Bryna tipped back the last of her martini and set it down on the counter. She licked her lips. “One more for me.”
The man turned to take her in. His eyes snagged on her slinky royal-blue dress, her chest popping out of the deep scoop neck. Then he looked up into her baby-blue eyes. He grinned. “Put that on my tab.”
She met his gaze and arched an eyebrow. “Thanks.”
“I’ve never seen you here before,” he said a moment later.
“Maybe you weren’t looking hard enough.”
Oh, he likes that.
He angled his tall muscular body toward her. His hair was dark as night, cut short and styled like a European soccer player. His eyes were milk chocolate and danced in the dim light. “I’m glad I’ve found you now.”
A smile stretched across her face. She couldn’t disagree with him.
He splayed his hand out on the bar to reach for the scotch resting before him, and her stomach dropped.
Third finger on the left hand.
Silver band.
Married.
It might as well have been a brand on his skin. It was screaming at her to walk away.
No. Don’t walk.
Run. Run far away from this.
Bad, bad idea.
She dropped the seductive smile from her face. As soon as the martini was set in front of her, she took the drink and backed away. She wouldn’t do that. Even flirting with him made her skin crawl. She liked bad ideas, but she had lines she wouldn’t cross. Her parents’ marriage had been torn apart by this very thing. Her stepmother, Celia, had destroyed everything sacred, walked across every line, and forced Bryna’s father to leave her mother.
Vows were supposed to mean something, and Celia hadn’t cared about them. Bryna barely saw her father now as he was always out working on-site. Instead of moving out with her mother, she had stayed in his house with that wretched woman because of Harmony. She only had one year left. Leaving now and starting over at some other school would be impossible.
“Are you all right?” he asked, lightly placing his right hand on her slim shoulder.
She recoiled from his touch. How dare he!
“You’re married,” she spat.
“Oh.”
He looked down at his hand, and his face fell. The sadness in his eyes was all-encompassing before he recovered and locked everything away inside of him. She only recognized the reaction because she had been doing it every day for the last year as her whole world had split apart, leaving her in perpetual free fall.
“I’m…we’re separated.” He slid the ring from his finger and held it out in front of him. “Honestly, I forgot I had it on.”
She pursed her lips. She didn’t want him to bullshit her. Who forgets they are wearing a goddamn wedding ring?
“You don’t believe me,” he said, taking in her appearance. He tucked the ring into his pocket, out of sight.
“My tolerance for married men is very low.”
He smirked. “Daddy issues?”
“Like you’d never believe.”