Jason, drink in hand, found Zach insolently leaning a shoulder against one of the pillars near the door as he plotted his escape. “Don’t let her get to you,” Jason advised.

“Who?”

“Kat.” Sipping his drink-bourbon straight up-Jason smiled.

“What do you mean?” Zach asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Jason snorted and cocked his head toward the dance floor. “I saw that little exhibition.”

Mortified, Zach gritted his teeth.

“Christ, she can be a bitch.” Jason raked an impatient hand through his thick, chestnut-colored hair. “I know what she’s up to, saw her coming on to you. She damned near laid down and spread her legs right in the middle of the dance floor.” He took a swallow of his drink and stared at Kat and Witt. “It’s some sort of game with her.”

A muscle worked in Zach’s jaw. He felt the angry tic and couldn’t control it.

“She did it on purpose, you know. Decided you needed putting in your place, which, I might add, she did.”

“I hate her.”

“Don’t we all?” Jason replied, his eyes following his stepmother as she danced. “But she might just be the most incredibly sexy woman on this planet. I wonder what she’s like in bed.”

“I don’t want to know.” Zachary scowled and refused to look at the object of their discussion.

“Sure you do. Every man here would like a little piece of the Kat.” He flung a brotherly arm over Zach’s shoulders. “But she doesn’t play her games with them. No way. For some reason she’s picked you to toy with. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she might have her sights set on you.”

“Oh, Jesus! No way!” Zach said, though his heart skipped a beat.

“I’m not so sure. She sure hasn’t come on to me like she just did with you and I’ve seen her, when she thinks no one’s watching. The way she looks at you. Christ, it’s hot.”

“Stop it.”

“But you can’t mess with her. If Dad ever found out-”

“Cut it out, Jason,” Zach said, suddenly anxious. First Kat and now his brother. “I’m not going to mess with her.”

Jason lifted a shoulder. “Everyone’s always said you were different-I guess Kat just wants to find out if it’s true.”

“God, Jason, listen to what you’re saying! No, don’t! It’s sick.”

“You know what you need to do?”

Zach didn’t answer.

“Go out and get laid.” Leaning closer to Zach, he pointed a finger at a swarm of teenaged girls, their makeup and hairstyles right out of Seventeen magazine. Compared to Katherine they seemed young and gawky and…desperate. “But not with Kat. Like I said, the old man would tan your hide if he found out. But Alicia Kramer is so hot for you she can barely stand it. I’ll bet she’s creaming all over herself just looking at you.”

“Stop it!” Zach hissed, but Jason laughed, obviously pleased that he’d gotten such a violent reaction.

“I’m telling you, sliding into her would be like sticking it into hot pudding.”

“For Christ’s sake, cut it out!” Zach slid a glance in Alice’s direction and caught her hopeful gaze. She was a petite girl with big boobs and a bad complexion she disguised with thick makeup. Her teeth were straight, compliments of the braces she’d worn for two years. She wasn’t bad looking. She giggled and blushed when she caught Zach’s eye. But Zach wasn’t interested in the daughter of some big-shot banker. No way. Compared to Kat, Alicia seemed like a child.

“She’s so horny she can barely keep her dress on. Look, I can tell you from my own experience that the Kramer girls are definitely hot-blooded. My guess is Alicia will give you a ride you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”

“No thanks,” Zach replied.

“I’m telling you, little brother, it’s time. I can hook you up with-”

“Forget it, Jason.”

Jason grabbed his arm. “Really, Zach. I know how you feel, like a powder keg ready to explode, and believe me, you can only take it so long.” His voice lowered a little. “There’s a girl I know…well, a woman, really. She…well, she knows just what to do to make a man feel good. She’s expecting me tonight.”

“A hooker? Are you talking about a hooker?” Zach demanded, shocked, yet a little intrigued. Did Jason really know a prostitute? Holy shit!

Jason took his arm and steered him to a quiet corner of the room, far away from the guests and the linen-clad tables of food and drink. “Now, just listen. This girl, Sophia, she’s…well, believe me, you’ll like her. She’s a good person.”

Zach snorted. “Good people don’t sell their bodies.”

“She’s not a streetwalker. In fact, she does this because she likes it. She’s always ready.”

“Oh, God-”

“She’s pretty and clean and will only do what you want to do. You can fuck her brains out if you want to, or, if you’d rather just talk…she’ll listen. Really. It’s up to you.” Jason’s voice was filled with brotherly concern.

Zach knew he should walk away, but he couldn’t. An honest-to-goodness hooker. Waiting for Jason? A hooker who would just listen?

“I know you and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but this time, for the love of Christ, listen to me. You need a woman. Bad. And it can’t be Kat.” Frowning slightly, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a room key, and pressed the cool metal into Zachary’s sweating palm. “Three blocks down. The Orion Hotel. Sophia. Don’t worry about money. It’s all been arranged.”

“I don’t want-”

“Do yourself a favor. Forget about Kat. Get laid.” With a friendly smile, Jason headed toward the bar, leaving Zach to clutch the damned hotel key in his clammy fingers. Swallowing hard, he opened his hand and stared down at the key to room 307, the key to his manhood, the key to his freedom from Kat.

Suddenly aware that any number of his father’s guests could have overheard his conversation with Jason, Zach jammed his hands deep into his pockets and wondered how many of the other people at the party had witnessed his humiliation on the dance floor. How many eyes other than his brother’s and his father’s had seen Kat’s lips brush against his ear, or watched as his sweaty fingers had itched to delve beneath the zipper of her dress to grasp one of those firm buttocks? Jesus, he had to quit thinking about her like this! The key felt heavy in his pocket.

The band broke into “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Though his mind was still on the mysterious Sophia, the hooker with a heart, Zach watched as a huge cake in the shape of a fir tree was wheeled into the room on an elaborate cart. Sixty candles arranged in a string, like holiday lights decorating a Christmas tree, had been placed upon the needles of green frosting. Tiny flames flickered and danced as Witt, with Katherine and London’s help, blew out every last spark.

Laughter and applause erupted and Witt, like a bridegroom, cut a fat piece of cake and fed the gooey concoction to his wife. Everyone cheered and Zach thought he might get sick as Katherine returned the favor, then smiling up at her husband, licked her fingers slowly.

By the time London was hustled upstairs to one of the suites reserved for the Danvers family, the old man was starting to look a little tipsy. He hazarded a hard glance Zach’s way, and even in the crowded room, Zach read the warning in his father’s eyes. His heart sank. From years of experience Zach knew that Witt had not forgotten that his young wife had been flirting with his son. Nothing escaped the old man, and sooner or later, there would be hell to pay. Zach already bore several scars on his backside from the slap of his father’s belt. By this time tomorrow, he’d probably wear a few more-at least psychological scars. Witt Danvers was nothing if not brutal. He wouldn’t spare Zach’s feelings and would let his rebellious son know that he was no good, didn’t live up to his expectations, would never amount to anything in life.

So who gave a shit what the old man thought?

The key pressed hard against his thigh.

Witt and Katherine began dancing again and his father’s attention was diverted from his second son to his wife. Zach seized the opportunity for escape. Without a glance over his shoulder, he wended his way past loud groups of guests, slipped through ballroom doors to the landing where he stopped to catch his breath and fight the dizziness in his brain from too much champagne.

What was he doing? He couldn’t just leave the party. The old man would come unhinged.

Good.

Maybe Witt Danvers might even worry a little.

Before he changed his mind, Zach steadied himself against the rail and hurried down the wide staircase.

“Hey, Zach. Where’re ya goin’?” Nelson, his younger brother, demanded. At fourteen, Nelson, now hanging halfway over the rail, his shaggy blond hair flopping over his eyes, idolized his hellion of an older brother.

“Not now,” Zach growled. He didn’t need the kid’s adoration any more than he needed Witt’s disapproval.

“But-”

“Just keep quiet, Nelson. Okay?” Refusing to acknowledge Nelson as the kid ran down the stairs, Zach strode through the front lobby where club chairs, brass lamps, and glossy dark tables were positioned around a massive fireplace. Past the main desk and a forest of potted palms, he walked quickly, trying not to think about the ramifications of his actions when Witt discovered him missing.

Outside, the night was humid. The smell of the river drifted on air so still it seemed to cling to Zach’s skin. He yanked off his jacket and began walking fast, heading north, trying to cool his blood and clear his head.

What he was contemplating was crazy, and yet, he’d consumed enough alcohol to feel bolder than usual. So what if the old man found out? What could he do? Kick Zach out of the Danvers family mansion, force him to live with his mother? That thought was a bitter pill to swallow.

Deep down, a part of him still cared for the woman who had borne him, but she didn’t deserve that love, not after she’d abandoned them all and left them in the lonely house on the hill with Witt. Zach didn’t know the full story, but the gist of it was that Witt had caught his wife in bed with his most hated rival, Anthony Polidori. She’d been carrying on with him for years and rather than expose herself, or her lover, to the media, she’d had no choice but to accept Witt’s terms for the divorce: he’d get the kids and most of the wealth, she’d receive a stipend and be spared the ugly scandal of testifying in divorce court that she was an adulteress. Her social position had been left unscathed; her children’s lives had not.