Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Elliot

The place was too crowded, and the music was too loud.
I was starting to sound like my fucking old man.
Swirling the whisky around in the bottom of my glass, I peered over the rim at the chaos that was unfolding before my very eyes. Frankie had jumped on stage and had begun serenading the room with an out of tune version of a Bon Jovi song, it made me want to rip my own eardrums out. People were lapping it up though, he was the birthday boy after all, everyone couldn't get enough of him. The women especially couldn't get enough of him. Nothing new there.
Unable to look at it a second longer, the second-hand embarrassment coursing through me, I swiveled back around on my stool located at the corner of the bar in The Sky Bar.
I needed another drink.
I sat there and silently cursed Frankie for convincing me to come to his stupid karaoke party, but I knew I had to play up to the whole happy family stuff that our dad was expecting from me in order to win him and the board of Directors over. Besides, I had an ulterior motive anyway, I was in the market for a wife now. And what better place to find an eligible woman than a rooftop bar on a Saturday night. The hard part was going to be finding one that either I or my brother hadn't already slept with.
When the bartender served me up another double whisky on the rocks, the appearance of a womanly figure caught the corner of my eye. A whisp of brown curly locks was all I could see without turning to face the figure, but I knew exactly who it was hovering by my side without having to give them a sideways glance. Even before she opened her incredibly large and incredibly annoying mouth. I knew exactly who it was.
"You gunna buy a lady a drink?" The voice crooned.
"Yeah, just point out the lady and I'll order right away." I smiled into my glass then finally turned my head. My suspicions were confirmed. Stood before me, clad in a scarlet-coloured dress and matching designer stilettos, was Millicent Truman.
She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow at me as she rested her arm on the side of the bar, turning her body so she was facing me head on. "Surprised to see you here Smelliot, dear cousin of mine."
"Well," I flagged the bartender down again as I spoke. "Frankie said you were still out of town, so I thought I'd attend this one without the fear of bumping into you."
She grinned at me, a megawatt smile, exposing two rows of perfectly straight pearly white teeth. My teasing only spurred her on. "And here I was thinking Mr Frosty's heart had finally thawed with brotherly love."
The bartender had come back over and was patiently awaiting Millie's order, his jaw a little slack and his eyes frosted over as he looked at her longingly. That was the Millicent Truman Affect.
She shot him a cheeky wink, "Hey gorgeous, I'll take a White Wine Spritzer if it's not too much trouble?"
He blinked a few times before nodding his head and shuffling off to make her drink, bumping clumsily into a keg on his way. The power that us Truman's wielded really wasn't fair, I felt a slither of remorse for the guy. He didn't stand a chance.
Millie Truman was a 23-year-old powerhouse of a woman, with a sharp wit that could cut you down and disarm you before you even realised it. She was the closest thing me and Frankie had to a sister growing up. She was one of the few family members I could actually tolerate.
Pulling a compact mirror from her purse, she grabbed the powder puff and started touching up her seemingly perfect makeup. When she was happy with her work, she snapped it shut loudly and looked up at me. "What really brings you here Elliot? I'm not daft enough to think you actually wanted to come to this thing. You've never come to these sorts of events before."
Another thing about Millie, she always saw right through me.
I ran my finger over my stubble in contemplation, the bristles tickling my fingertips. I'd not had chance to shave since I'd been busting my arse at the firm all week. Between the early starts and late finishes, I'd barely had time to eat or sleep. And with the added stress of the family diamond that now sat in my safe at home, and the implications of having that diamond, I'd thrown myself into work to take my mind off it.
Millie snapped me out of my thoughts, literally. She snapped her fingers in my face as the barman served up her drink with shaking hands. She didn't even give him a second glance. "Earth to Elliot!"
"Let a man think will you." I ground out.
Taking a glug of her spritzer, Millie handed her platinum credit card to the bartender and tossed her chocolate brown hair over her shoulders, narrowing her blue eyes at me. "What are you up to Elliot Truman?"
I ignored her question, wincing as Frankie tried and failed at a high note in the distance.
"Say, you don't happen to have any single friends do you?"
Millie spluttered into her glass, almost choking. She took a second to compose herself before rolling her eyes at me.
"You want me to believe that you came to Frankie's 21st birthday party to pick up women?" She considered her next words before continuing. "Besides, we all know what happened last time I introduced you to one of my friends."
Ah yes, Maya. The elephant in the room.
I shuddered involuntarily; the mention of Maya had that effect on most people.
But, unfortunately for me, Maya was one of Millie's closest friends. So Millie had been present for most of the lows of our relationship.
Who was I kidding.  90% of the relationship was a low. But that final blazing row at Millie's going away dinner before she left for New York, the last argument before Maya broke off the relationship for good, that was a day none of us would forget quickly.
I shot Millie a glance and found her grimacing, most likely recalling the events of that night over in her own head. After a beat, she softened her face and spoke again. "Anyways, its good to see you Cuz. I've been waiting to speak to Frankie all night to wish him Happy Birthday, but he's been preoccupied." Millie scanned the crowd; it was only then that I realised his horrendous assault on my ears had come to an end. Looking up, I instinctively followed her gaze and searched through the throng of people for my brother. Millie found him first, she smiled and pointed one of her manicured fingernails in the direction of the dance floor.
"Women follow him everywhere, don't they."
There my brother was, leading a group towards a table next to the stage.
When I saw her copper hair, my breath caught in my throat.
Juliette was walking leisurely behind Frankie, wearing a tight silk slip dress that hugged her curves so closely I thought she'd surely suffocate in the fabric. Next to her was a stocky looking guy, wearing a plaid button-down shirt and a pair of black Timberland boots, he looked like a lumberjack. They were chatting intimately, the guy throwing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to him as she laughed into his embrace.
She has a fucking boyfriend?
It made my heart thump loudly in my chest. The sight of her in someone else's arms, it stirred something uncomfortable and unfamiliar in me.
Millie shot me a lopsided look, her gaze lazily moving between me and the group, the cogs visibly turning in her brain as she tried to figure out the connection. "Friends of yours?"
"Something like that." I frowned, picking up my glass and knocking back the remainder of my drink. My eyes didn't leave them for a second, not even when the burning liquid hit the back of my throat.
I realised she was with her friends, Miss Goulding and the drunk friend I couldn't remember the name of. When Frankie showed them to their table, the lumberjack held out a chair for Juliette which she accepted graciously. As she turned to sit, I got a decent enough glimpse of her face, the first time I'd seen it since she'd been beneath me in my bed.
She looked good, really good.
Her full lips were stained a deep shade of red, setting off the colour of her hair perfectly. The way her copper curls were piled up artfully on the top of her head, it made her look like she was on fire.
I felt like I was on fire.
I'd slept with more women with boyfriends and husbands than I'd care to admit, but usually my one-night stands didn't reappear at my family events to parade their boyfriends or husbands in front of me. My face instantly set into a scowl. She'd done it on purpose, why else would she be here with him.
"Oh, Frankie's coming over with one of them." Millie announced cheerfully. I managed to tear my blazing gaze from the back of Juliette's head and focused on my brother as he tipsily made his way to the bar, closely followed by the lumberjack.
When Frankie spotted us, his face erupted into an ear-splitting grin. Rushing forward, he pulled Millie into a bear hug and squeezed her tightly. "Oh my God Millie!"
She let out a laugh, struggling for air and space as she wriggled out of Frankie's embrace. "Happy Birthday Crankie!" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek then smoothed out her dress and hair, both had gotten crinkled from Frankie's overbearing hug.
Frankie adjusted his stance, so he was stood next to me, patting me on the back in greeting. He was always over familiar when he was drunk. "Hey big bro. Can you believe she's here?" He gestured towards Millie with his thumb like she wasn't stood before me too, his stupid grin still plastered on his face as he used my shoulder to keep himself upright.
The lumberjack cleared his throat awkwardly, the three of us turned to him in unison.
"Where are my manners!" Frankie exclaimed too loudly, bringing one of his hands up to his face and almost knocking Millie's wine glass out of her hand. "This is Teddy, he works with Ashley, Carol and Juliette."
So they were work colleagues?
I gave Teddy a steely eyed stare as he shuffled around Frankie and looked between us all. He was a big guy, probably around 5ft 11". I could take him if I had to.
"Teddy, this is my cousin Millie Truman." Frankie gestured between the two of them, stepping back slightly so they could shake hands. Teddy mumbled his hello as Millie ran her eyes across the length of his body, sizing him up.
"Lovely to meet you, Teddy." Millie hummed, fluttering her eyelashes at him as she took his hand. I'd never seen my cousin stare at a guy for so long, it was almost uncomfortable to watch.
Eventually, Teddy turned to me expectantly, his eyes flashing with dread as he caught wind of my mood.
Frankie was still using my shoulder as a resting post; I shrugged him off as he continued his introductions. "And this steaming pile of angst is my older brother, Elliot Truman."
In a split second, I flipped the internal switch, plastering a cool and cunning smile on my face as I held out my hand and grasped Teddy's palm firmly in my own. "Nice to meet you Teddy, it's a shame we missed out on meeting you last weekend. We had a wild night."
My voice was dripping with suggestion, our hands still motioning up and down between us. His eyes faltered and his large jaw tensed as he finally broke away from the handshake. "Yeah, I'll be sure to catch you on the next one though."
Whoever this guy was to Juliette, it was clear he was into her. What wasn't clear was if he knew I'd been inside her.
Millie and Frankie watched our exchanged closely, sharing a confused smile as me and Teddy sized each other up at the side of the bar.
When the crackle of the microphone hissed in the background, I inwardly groaned at having to experience yet another assault on my ears.
The music started blearing from the surrounding speakers as Teddy turned to order some drinks, Millie shuffled up next to him and began her barrage of questions about what he did for work.
Then, the most beautiful voice echoed around the bar, and when I looked up to put a face to the heavenly sound - there she was. Juliette, signing into the microphone like she was in a world of her own.