Chapter 1
Sam
I opened my eyes, and with the slight turn of my head, I cringed when I saw her lying there.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself as I brought my arm up and laid it across my forehead.
“Good morning.” A bright smile crossed her lips as her finger slid down my bare chest.
“Morning.”
I climbed out of bed, went into the bathroom and shut the door. Gripping the edge of the sink, I leaned forward and lowered my head for a moment before looking in the mirror and asking myself what the fuck I’d done. My head was pounding from all the alcohol I drank last night at our birthday bash. Did I regret it? No. The only thing I regretted was sleeping with Kendra.
My brothers, Stefan, Sebastian, Simon, and I rented out the Rhythm Room in L.A. where a hundred of our friends and office staff attended to celebrate our thirty-second birthday. We all drank too much, and I didn’t remember getting home, nor did I remember Kendra accompanying me. Shit. Walking back out to the bedroom, Kendra laid there and scrolled on her phone.
“Kendra, we need—”
“Come back to bed.” A smile overtook her face as she held the sheet up.
“I can’t right now.” I walked over to my pants that were lying on the floor, pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a text message to my brothers.
“Need to surf. Anybody up for it? I’m heading out there in a few.”
I looked up from my phone and over at Kendra who was still in my bed.
“Listen, Kendra,” I said as I walked over to her. “Last night shouldn’t have happened and I’m sorry. I was really drunk, and I crossed the line. It will never happen again, and I just want to make that very clear.”
“But Sam—” She brought her hand up to my cheek as tears filled her eyes.
“No buts, Kendra. It was a mistake, and I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” Her voice whispered as she slowly nodded her head.
I stood up from the edge of the bed, grabbed her clothes from the floor and handed them to her. Walking over to the dresser, I pulled a pair of board shorts out of the drawer and slipped them on.
“I’m heading out. I’ll see you on Monday.”
I stepped out the sliding door off the kitchen, grabbed my surfboard from the deck and headed down to the beach.
“Why, Sam?” I heard my brother Stefan shout as he walked towards me. “I’m so hungover right now.”
“So am I. But once we hit the cold water, we’ll feel better. You know that.”
Looking over Stefan’s shoulder, I saw Simon and Sebastian heading towards us.
“Are we going to do this or what?” Sebastian said as he ran by us and put his board in the water.
The four of us paddled out and I had to tell them about Kendra. They were my brothers and we told each other everything.
“I slept with Kendra last night.”
“What?!” Stefan exclaimed. “Come on, Sam. Not again.”
“I honestly don’t remember anything. I was just as surprised as you when I woke up and saw her lying there.”
“Isn’t she like the fourth assistant you’ve slept with?” Simon smirked.
“Shut up.” I splashed him.
“She’s going to quit,” Stefan said. “And then we’re going to have to hire someone else. She’s only been there three months, bro.”
“She’s a mature woman. She’ll be okay.”
“Women are not okay after sleeping with you,” Sebastian said.
“Like any of you can talk. You’re no strangers at leaving a trail of broken hearts.”
“True. But at least we don’t work in the same office with the women we sleep with.” Simon smirked.
My brothers and I were quadruplets who were conceived naturally when our parents were twenty-two years old. They said ninety percent of quadruplets that are conceived, are done through fertility treatments and IVF. We were the natural ten percent. The second we were born, our mother had her tubes tied. Four children all at once was enough for her, our father, and their marriage. Unfortunately, the stress of raising the four of us at the same time was too much of a strain on their marriage. My father was just starting his architect firm and was barely ever home to help. His work consumed him, and he used the excuse of having to put in the time and effort to make sure the company made enough money to provide for us. They ended up divorcing when we were just five years old. I remembered the fights, the screaming, the arguing, and the tears that fell down my mother’s face more times than not. In the custody battle, my father was awarded joint custody of us, and we traveled back and forth between homes. Since that time, my mother married a man named Jacob. They were together ten years before he cheated on her and she divorced him. Then she met her current husband, Curtis, and they’ve been together since. As for my father, he’d been married and divorced four times and was now getting married for a fifth time to a woman named Celeste.
My brothers and I had never seen a healthy relationship. We’d only saw the destruction and chaos it caused. It was enough to turn us off from having any type of relationship with women, except a sexual one. We’d made a pact. One that would keep us single and living the bachelor life with no strings and no drama. Except for my brother, Stefan. He ended up getting a girl named Monica pregnant when he was twenty-three years old. When Lily turned three, Monica dropped her off at Stefan’s house for his weekend visit and never came back. That was five years ago. Now, he was a single father to an eight-year-old girl whom we loved very much and would do anything to protect her.
We finished our surfing and headed back to our homes. A few years ago, our father bought a stretch of property along the beach in Venice. He was going to build high rise condos but instead gave it to us to build our own homes. I designed them and Stefan built them. We both worked at Kind Design & Architecture. The company my father started when we were babies and grew to be one of the largest architect firms in the country. I ran the architect division and Stefan ran the building division. As for my other two brothers, they had other interests. Sebastian loved to cook and owns his own five Michelin star restaurant in Los Angeles, and Simon became a homicide detective for the LAPD.
I said goodbye to my brothers and stepped inside my luxury beach house praying that Kendra had left. When I walked into the bedroom, I saw the bed was made and she was gone. Monday was going to be uncomfortable to say the least. I couldn’t help that I always hired beautiful women, and I couldn’t help that I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants. I’d done good keeping away from Kendra the past three months, even though she tempted me on more than one occasion. Maybe I needed not to drink so much in the presence of beautiful women.
Chapter 2
Two Weeks Later
Sam
Things with Kendra were out of control. She started to come to work in very provocative clothing. More so than before. Her blouses were unbuttoned a little further, her skirts were shorter, and her heels were higher. One day, she walked in wearing a sheer blouse without a bra. When I told her that was inappropriate for the office, she said she figured I’d like it and found it sexy. It was, don’t get me wrong, but it was still inappropriate.