Brutal Blueblood

obviously, because you’re choosing my stick-up-the-arse brother, Owen, when you could be choosing me, but whatever.”
“You know what? I think this conversation is over.”
He put up his hands. “Look, I already said I’m an arsehole. I get it. But you looked like you needed someone to talk to, so I’m offering to drink with you.”
“I’m not sure I should be talking to you.”
“You know what? That’s fair. No one talks to me anyway. Especially not Owen. As you see, we’re nothing alike. He hates talking to me.”
“Yeah, because you are a prick?”
Felix shrugged. “Yeah, I saw that one coming.”
“Well, I mean, it’s the truth, so . . .”
“I’m not a prick. I just don’t care.”
“Why? Do you like being alone?”
He frowned at me. As if no one had ever called him on his bullshit before. “Are you drinking or not, sweetheart?”
What the hell. I could relax my “watching a drink being made” rule just one time. Especially since he’d been drinking from the glass himself.
I grabbed the glass from him and tossed it back, immediately regretting it. “Oh God,” I sputtered, coughing. “Jesus, wow. Oh my gosh. That burns.”
“Yeah, it does.”
I huffed and continued to cough and sputter. “Geez.”
“Yeah, girl. That’ll put some hair on your chest.”
“Do I need hair on my chest?”
His gaze flickered down to my tight black dress. “You know what? Your tits are perfect. Don’t grow hair on them.” He took the glass back. “Pity Owen is the one who gets to see them. A waste, really.”
God, this guy made me feel gross. “First of all, can we get off the subject of my tits?” I eyed the balcony door. “Second of all, no one is going near my body, period.”
Liar.
“Third of all, why don’t you just talk to your brother? You clearly have a lot of baggage going on. Your whole family is odd.”
“Let’s just say that Owen and I have never gotten along.”
“He’s your brother, though. If this were one of my sisters, I’d try and work it out.”
“You don’t know the Montgomerys. Besides, Owen hates me, and he’s ruined job prospects for me before.”
I frowned. “Owen’s a prick and he’s judgmental. Proud. Thinks he knows everything. God he’s so damned annoying, but I can’t see him going out of his way to ruin something for you. That just doesn’t even sound right. He’s all about doing the right thing, or having the appearance of it, at least.”
Felix’s expression grew bleak as he took a step closer to me. I stepped back, the alcohol still working its way through my system, warming everything. “You don’t know him like I do. He’s the worst. You think you can trust him? Wait till he turns on you. Quick. Watch your back.”
“I’m wondering if maybe you didn’t tank your own prospects and Owen was just adjacent to your own bullshit.”
Felix frowned at me. “So you’re defending him? After that mauling in the hallway?”
Why was I defending him? I knew him to be condescending as hell, and selfish on top of it. But despite all the ways he’d pissed me off, despite his possessive, caveman vibe in the corridor, I just couldn’t see him intentionally fucking someone over. Especially not a member of his own family.
“I—” I cleared my throat. “You know what? What happened in that hallway is something between me and Owen. It’s none of your business. What you should care about is your relationship with your brother. And again, him going out of his way to do something to ruin you is odd in the sense that we both know Owen always does what he thinks is right. Maybe you need to check yourself and the troubles you’ve gotten yourself into.” With that, I turned back toward the house.
Best advice you could give yourself too.
I was not going to let Owen Montgomery derail me, which meant staying the fuck away from him.

Chapter 9
Owen
With the help of Grandmamma van Doren, we hustled Phin out of there before the mayor could murder him.
“Wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Phin mumbled drunkenly as Lennox and I walked Phin across the street to my family’s townhouse.
“Right,” Lennox said, “tell that to the mayor whose daughter you just deflowered.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but neither of us wanted to hear it. I was already to my front door and unlocking it, and then with him between us, we somehow maneuvered him upstairs to the guest bathroom with strict instructions to brush his teeth and go to bed.
“You’ll be a good dad one day,” Lennox said dryly as we headed back across the street to the van Doren house.
“If my future son is anything like Phin, military school will be in order. He needs to get his shit together,” I muttered as we slipped inside the van Doren entrance and back into the party. Rhys and Grandmamma van Doren were currently on Operation Mayoral Calm, charming, placating, and soothing the angry politician at turns. It was surprising and kind of sweet to see Rhys working so easily with Sera’s tiny but fierce grandmother, getting her and the mayor drinks, laughing at her jokes, gently flirting with her as they kept the mayor engaged long enough for us to sneak Phin out of the house. I gave him and Grandmamma an, it’s done nod when I spotted them, and Grandmamma van Doren nodded back, a regal gesture made even more regal by the jewels dripping from her ears and neck, and set into her dark, silver-streaked hair. Rhys’s eyes slid over to us in silent acknowledgment, but he quickly returned his attention to the mayor and the venerable matron at his side. When he decided to do something, he committed completely.
“Phin will never get his shit together,” Lennox finally replied as we passed into the ballroom. “Because my sister will never forgive him.”
“He’s that gone for her?”
Lennox gave me a look that could almost be pity if the heartless fucker were capable of it. “Oh, my sweet summer child. Just wait