Looks Can Be Deceiving

“Just when I thought the houses here couldn’t get any bigger,” I gaped, staring up at the huge structure that lay just yards away from us in awe.

Matt’s smooth chuckle sounded from beside me, “The people and houses only get bigger from here.”

I shook my head in disbelief, “I don’t even wanna know how much this place goes for. Or how much it costs to keep the lights on.”

“More than I could ever afford,” Matt nodded in agreement, looking over at me with a shrug, “I looked into a place like this a couple of months ago…I’m not quite there yet.”

I rolled my eyes at this, “I think you’ve gotten quite far enough. I don’t know how you keep up with the castle you live in, either.”

He grinned and pulled into a parking space along with all the other flashy cars in the lot. I simply stared, taking everything in. There wasn’t a single normal car in this lot. Everything was either foreign or an extremely rare, expensive American make. It gave me the shivers just to think about how much someone would rack up if they decided to carjack us all while we were inside the huge mansion, partying and drinking away as rich fucks do.

“How do we even get over there?” I heard Raychel ask as Matt helped me out of the car, holding firmly onto my waist once my feet were planted on the ground.

Lyndsey hopped out of Brian’s car, “I don’t care if I have to fucking swim to get over there, I’m going!”

Raychel giggled and I shook my head. As crazy as she sounded, I could definitely understand her. This place put Matt’s home to shame. And Matt’s house was like living royalty in my eyes. The mansion was huge, standing tall with two stories, and was waterfront. It was almost completely surrounded by the water from the harbor. It had a contemporary architectural design, looking more like a lavish building than a home.

“Evening, sir,” a young man in uniform called, headed our way on a fancy looking motorboat. I had no idea what it was called, but I’d seen ones like it in movies. It was nice and flashy, just as I expected, “Are you ready to go over?”

“We are,” Matt spoke up, catching my attention. His voice had become cold and authorative, and he’d stood up straight. His grip around my middle had also tightened some as he pulled me flush with his side. I quickly recognized that he was in business mode and kept quiet, his intimidating posture sending shivers running down my spine.

Looking behind the man in the boat, I saw that there were several others like him headed our way from the direction of the mansion across the harbor. The others wasted no time in pairing off and stepping into their own boats. I flashed Matt an apprehensive glance, causing him to smile and nod. With a heavy sigh, I squeezed my eyes shut and allowed him to lift me from the dock and set me down into the boat.

“You’ll be fine,” he muttered quietly into my ear once he’d gotten in, “You get used to going through the motions.”

“Okay,” I squeaked, clutching tightly to both Matt’s bicep and the railing of the boat. He and the boat attendant laughed quietly, to which I scowled.

It only took a minute for the boat to fly through the water and stop in front of the house. A rather large man was standing at the waterfront porch and offered his hand to me. Matt nudged me to take his hand, and when I did, he effortlessly lifted me out of the boat and set me down on the ground. I breathed out a sigh of relief, immediately backing away from the water’s edge. Matt nodded, stepping out of the boat without any assistance before handing a crisp bill to each of the men. They thanked him and went about their business.

“What do you think?” came Matt’s raspy voice as he pulled me closer to him.

“I don’t understand how they haven’t come out looking for the newspaper in the mornings and not fallen in and drowned, that’s what I think,” I muttered dryly with a shiver, causing him to crack a grin.

“I highly doubt this is their only home,” he chuckled, placing a hand on the small of my back and ushering me inside the mansion, “It’s too inconvenient for everyday use.”

“This guy has another fucking house on the side of this one?” I asked incredulously, “If this is the place he rarely uses, then what the hell does his everyday house look like?”

“Not nearly as nice as this one,” came a smooth voice from my right.

Turning, we were met with a man in a dark tux with a friendly smile on his face. His hair had streaks of gray and his skin had some age to it, but not very much. Leaning forward, the man reached over and shook hands with Matt, smiling at the two of us.

“Richard,” Matt nodded pleasantly, stepping closer to the man and pulling me with him.

“It’s good to see you, Matthew. I’m glad you could make it,” he grinned, before turning his light colored eyes to me, “And who’s this beautiful young lady?”

“This is Brittany Santini,” Matt introduced me to the older man with a half smile, keeping his straight posture as he allowed the man to take my hand in his and plant a kiss against my skin. It was kind of weird, and I knew that had my skin been a shade or two lighter, an embarrassing blush would’ve burned its way onto my cheeks.

“Santini, you say?” the man seemed intrigued, much like most people did when they discovered my last name.

I nodded with a small smile of my own, “Yes, sir.”

“Italian,” he nodded, eyeing me with interest, “Am I correct?”

I smiled lightly, “My father.”

“Would I know of him? What does he do?” Richard tilted his head out of curiosity, his intense gaze making me shift uncomfortably. I felt Matt’s hand graze my side in a comforting motion and relaxed a little.

“His name is Jerry. He runs a construction company,” I answered slowly, uncertain if the information I’d given the man was enough to jog his memory.

He seemed pensive, “Santini, Santini, Santini…construction…ah, based out of Santa Ana?”

I blinked in surprise, “Yeah, you know him?”

The two men exchanged glances as Richard smiled, “I’ve heard his name a time or two. From what I hear, he’s rather successful for a small business owner.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, “Uh, yeah, I guess…”

Matt reached forward again and shook Richard’s hand, “It was good seeing you again, Richard. Thanks for the invite.”

“You, too. Enjoy yourselves,” Richard nodded and went about his way as Matt whisked me off towards the living room.

“What do we do now?” I asked Matt, holding onto his arm as he lead us to another room filled with people.

“They’ll let us know when it’s time to eat, so for now, we just mingle,” he murmured into my ear, putting on his serious face and nodding at a few men who’d glanced his way, “Are you okay with that?”

I grinned at him, “I’m game if you are, Sanders.”

***

I giggled quietly as Lyndsey, Raychel and I made small talk with some of the other women present. Some were wives of the executives at the party, and others were merely dates or girlfriends. I’d been expecting to be stuck with a bunch of snobby, golddigging blondes, but the women I’d surrounded myself with were nothing of the sort. Each had their own sense of style and taste, and were fairly intellectual and friendly. I was thankful for that.

“Richard always insists on holding things like this,” Linda, Richard’s wife, rolled her eyes playfully, “With men, it’s always some kind of competition. Throw a party in your waterfront weekend home to show off your money even though your wife always gets motion sickness. Give to a huge charity event as a means of free advertisement for more business. Show up to parties of people you don’t even like because the people who invited you will either sponsor your business or write you a whopping personal check.”

I smiled at her honesty and nodded, “Well, if it means anything to you, he’s really nice.”

“He’s charming,” she corrected me with a smirk, pointing her finger in my direction, “It’s a valuable business skill and don’t you forget it. Though yes, he’s quite wonderful.” She grinned, locking eyes with her husband from across the room.

“What does he do?” Raychel asked curiously, keeping her voice quiet, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Nonsense!” Linda exclaimed, giving Raychel a warm smile, “If I even knew, I’d tell you. We’ve been married for twenty three years, and he’s been adding on and adding on ever since. There’s real estate, of course. Finance, accounting, and insurance. Those are the big ones. Then he has some smaller businesses all around the area. Even I can’t keep up with them all.” She explained with a giggle and shake of her head.

I nodded in understanding, smiling as a server refilled my glass of champagne. Matt seemed to be the same way. Anytime he was asked about his business in an informal setting, he would vaguely explain everything he was involved in. He usually just mentioned that he owned several small businesses throughout California, as well as a few nearby states. At first, I’d thought it was strange that he’d never gone into depth about his companies, but now I realized that there were probably just too many to name if he was anything like Richard.

Then I wondered how someone so young could be such a successful businessman. The kind of success he had took years to achieve, and Richard himself was living proof of that. It took time to acquire the kind of power and money that he and his friends simply had. He never spoke about his parents, or his father owning a company, though I figured that that was where a good deal of his fortune had come from. It was the only thing that made sense for someone so young and wealthy. He couldn’t have even been thirty years old.

A ringing noise caught my attention, and I turned to see Richard standing in the middle of the room with a wine glass and a fork in his hand, calling everyone’s attention, “Everyone, if you’d join me in the dining room, dinner will be served promptly.”

I watched as people hurriedly set down their wine glasses and rushed in the direction of what must’ve been the dining room. I blinked in confusion as the majority of people left without another word. Linda and a few other women, however, stayed behind with Raychel, Lyndsey, and I. They seemed in no rush.

“Our seats are reserved, so there’s no need to worry,” she explained calmly, eyes lighting up, “Matthew!”

It was then that I noticed Matt standing behind me with a glass of his own cradled in between two of his fingers. He placed a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed it before moving to Linda as she stood, offering her a polite hug.

“Linda,” he smiled a real smile this time, nodding in her direction. I noticed the bond between the two of them and smiled; they were close. “How are you?”

“I am well,” she beamed, setting her drink down in front of her, “I’ve been chatting with your friends. They’re all very lovely,” she smiled, fixing him with a soft, approving smile.

“They are,” he agreed casually, eyeing me with a wink.

Linda was quick to catch this, “Matthew, you didn’t tell me that this was your date!”

His smooth chuckle seemed to make the nearby women sigh, “She is. I thought you knew.”

“You thought I knew!” Linda exclaimed playfully, tossing her hands into the air, “Well, how am I supposed to know anything if no one around here clues me in?”

“My apologies,” he gave her his megawatt smile, to which she simply chuckled.

“Yes, well,” she smiled, gathering her drink as she slowly stood, “Do bring her with you more often. I’ve rather enjoyed her company.”

I smiled as she pulled me into a light, friendly hug as Matt smiled, “I just might do that. Take care, Linda.”

The other group of women followed her as she made her way to the dining room. Raychel grinned as Zacky appeared next to her, pressing a kiss to his lips and stepping close to his side. When I looked for Lyndsey, I didn’t even see her. Turns out that she’d bolted for Brian the second she’d seen him coming our way. They were currently cuddled up in the corner, struggling extremely hard to keep their PDA to a minimum.

“You ready to eat?”

I smiled as Matt snaked an arm around my shoulders and nodded, “Mmhmm.”

“C’mon,” he murmured, tucking me into his side as he followed the others through the house.

Once again, I found myself gaping at the extravagance of the place. The walls had built in aquariums, and the skylights in the ceiling gave a clear, perfect view of the night sky. The house was dimly lit and soft music was played in the background. Matt had mentioned there being a violinist here earlier.

“This is the dining room?” I looked on in awe as he pulled me into a long room with a single long table. The table was surrounded with more chairs than I could ever count, and there was still plenty of space between each seat, “More like a dining hall.”

“Told you,” he muttered quietly, nodding at a few people he must’ve already known, “C’mon. Our seats are this way.”

I allowed him to lead the way to our seats, smiling politely as heads turned and looked in our direction. It was obvious to me that Matt was some sort of hot commodity among these people, but for what reason, I had no idea. I watched as people who knew him silently acknowledged him, and those who didn’t know him simply stared in awe. And then their attention turned to me. It felt weird, to be honest.

All the proper stuff was starting to get to me. I’d done so well keeping silent and allowing Matt to speak unless I was addressed, despite the fact that neither of us followed that sort of decorum among our own circle of friends. I smiled and kept whatever comments I made polite and light. Matt’s hand danced skimmed my lower back as he pulled out a seat for me, and I slowly sat before he took his own seat.

As soon as everyone was seated, dinner was served. A long line of servers filed into the room, each brandishing a silver platter with a top over it. I felt a pat on my knee and looked over, seeing Matt discreetly motion for me to sit back in the chair. I did as he instructed, seeing that many of the guests had done the same thing before the servers began setting plates of food in front of everyone.

I inspected my plate the moment it was placed in front of me, eyeing the mix of pasta and chicken it contained. It looked alright and it smelled pretty good, so I took a delicate bite of the food without another thought. The taste seemed rather bland, but I figured that was only because I tended to throw a lot of different flavors and spices into the food I cooked. Still, I smiled politely and continued to eat, though a small giggle escaped me when I saw Matt struggling to enjoy his own food.

“Shut up,” he muttered through a tight smile. I looked down at my food, but struggled to contain my laughter.

***

“Great to see you, Sanders. And you, Miss Santini,” another of Matt’s colleagues smiled softly at me, “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

I smiled awkwardly as he reached for my hand and kissed it, “You, too.”

The man went about his way and I eyed Matt warily, causing him to chuckle, “What can I say? You’re quite irresistible to businessmen.”

I rolled my eyes, “That was the twenty sixth one in the past hour.”

“People here are intrigued by you,” he smirked playfully, pulling me gently into his side, “Even the women.”

I glared in his direction, poking his chest as he led us to a seat outside, “That wasn’t intrigue, it was jealousy. Which only means that you’ve fucked her brains out during some point in time and she has trouble letting go.”

He cracked a grin, “So painfully honest.”

“I’m gonna be painfully pissed if another one of your office skanks comes up and gives me the evil eye again, too,” I muttered, ignoring the other guests and pulling my legs onto Matt’s lap.

It’d gotten pretty old. There were a handful of women that had eyed me in a rather bitter fashion since we’d arrived. I couldn’t understand it because I’d never even met them before, but once I’d met the first one, I quickly began to put the pieces together.

Matt was a ladies’ man. I’d already figured this, of course. He was too confident and good looking not to have experience with women. Put his personality with his line of work and he was an automatic chick magnet. It seemed that women simply flocked to him like flies on dog shit. I had to admit, it was rather funny to watch. Women, whether they’d come to the dinner single or with a date, were all over Matt. And he’d simply nodded at them in acknowledgement and ignored them after that. It didn’t bother them one bit.

“I don’t even know her name,” Matt chuckled, taking hold of my legs and smoothing his hands over the skin, “It sounds bad, but it’s true. If she’s having issues because of a one night stand, then that sounds like a personal problem to me.”

“Typical male answer,” I muttered with a roll of my eyes.

I felt his fingertips skim my chin before taking hold of it and roughly pulling my face towards his. The look in his eyes was fierce, and his face held a firm expression, “No.”

I was befuddled, “No?”

“The majority of the women I’ve involved myself with have been nothing but fakes. Vain, and dishonest. Their only interest in me is what I can offer them materialistically; you’ve seen some of the women here. I’ve been through too much with women to simply settle for one of them, and I feel no sympathy for whatever they may think or feel,” he hissed quietly, his hazel eyes darkening with fury.

I was frozen. I’d gotten somewhat used to Matt’s anger coming and going, but never had I been so close when he got like this. I could tell that his anger wasn’t necessarily directed at me, just the situation that the girl from earlier had put him in. I stayed silent, placing both my hands on his wrist, though I didn’t push his hand away. For a while, his darkened eyes burned into mine, and I didn’t dare break our gaze. Slowly, his eyes returned back to their normal color, and his grip on my chin softened.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, removing his hands from me altogether.

“I know,” I murmured quietly, not knowing if anyone else had caught on to our conversation, “I don’t fault you.”

With that, I took both his hands back in mine and squeezed them tightly, causing him smile. I leaned over and hugged onto his side, grinning when he placed his own arms around me and returned the hug, I could tell from his previous statement that he’d been referring to his ex-fiancee when he’d mentioned having gone through too much with women. I knew he was still hurting from his previous relationship, whether he showed it or not.

I then realized that all of his sexual encounters with women was his way of healing, of moving on. I couldn’t and wouldn’t judge him for that.

The cool night air was refreshing. The party continued at full swing inside the house, though a few of the guests had relocated to the outdoor patio. It was gorgeous, lit up with thousands of different little lights and decorated with flowers. The smell of sea salt in the air was calming as Matt and I sat together on the bench, waiting for the others to come join us.

“I’m glad you came, you know,” Matt murmured, reaching over and entangling his fingers in my hair. I’d curled it for the night, though now those curls were starting to fall ever so slightly. He didn’t seem to mind that.

“I am, too,” I nodded, inhaling the cologne he wore as I buried my face into his neck, “Today wasn’t so easy, and you made the effort to help sort me out. I know I’m a mess.”

“You’re too hard on yourself, sweetheart,” came his raspy voice as his breath ghosted across my exposed shoulder, “Everyone’s a mess at some point in time. It’s life.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, well life was a little rough today.”

He didn’t say anything as he pressed a kiss to my temple and comfortingly ran a hand up and down my back. I sighed and leaned further into him.

Little did I know that my day – or night, rather – was just about to get a little rougher.