The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

Lark was waiting by the door of the restaurant waiting for everyone. Max was settling the bill which he insisted he cover. Johan was flirting with a girl near the bar of the restaurant and Ollie was in the

bathroom, likely furiously texting the guy from Houston in the stall. Lark decided she needed some air and a bit of space to collect her thoughts so told them all she'd meet them outside.

She leaned against the wall and stared out towards the water unable to curb her smile. It had been a fun dinner where she laughed more than once at antics of her friends. She was glad she tagged along on their adventure.

"You!" Oona appeared out of the shadows.

Lark looked at her and shook her head. She knew Max and Ollie's security were hovering and there was nothing this woman could do to her physically but even being around someone Max slept with was making her stomach roll. "What do you want?"

"I want to warn you about the man you're dating."

"I'm not dating anyone." Lark folded her arms and stood up away from the wall. "But if I was, it would be none of your business."

"Max Villeneuve is a player. He goes through women like socks."

"No s**t?" she made wide mocking eyes at the woman's accusation. "He literally is posted on the cover of

GQ holding a dildo telling men he can please their women more than they can. I think I figured out he's a player."

"He used me."

"Uh, pretty sure you used him."

"He's a liar. I'm not with my father's security guard. He clearly created the videos to break the contract he has with my dad.

Lark snickered. "Really?"

"Yes. He's going to extort the family. I know it."

"To what end?" Lark asked curious as to where this was going. "What's in it for him if he blackmails you?" "He wants my father's tech company."

"Oh. You mean the company, which is in steady decline, demonstrably over the last two quarters, because it cannot stay relevant in today's competitive market?"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Let me guess," Lark sneered at her, "did Daddy's loss last quarter impact your allowance? You didn't get to buy your new Hermes handbag because your credit card suddenly has a limit?"

"You don't know me. How dare you?"

Lark stepped right up to her and looked her up and down and then plucked the arm of the woman's coat. "The coat costs easily eight grand. I know because the owner of the firm I worked for in Houston has the same one, but she bought it herself so on her it looks good. Your nose is far too perfect not to have been bought for you and you clearly had your jaw and cheeks done when the nose was done. Your hair probably gets styled every very two to three weeks and your shoes," Lark clicked her tongue condescendingly, "well, let's say those little pegs you're walking around on cost more than the average person's monthly income. Women like you disgust me, Oona, and not because you like beautiful things. You are repulsive because you've not worked for anything you own yet you think it's owed to you. You act like you're a goddess amongst men, but you've contributed nothing to society other than excessive consumerism at the cost of your father's wallet." "You're a b***h. You don't know anything about me."

"When was your last job? What do you do for a living? When is the last time you gave something to someone without expecting something in return, and I don't mean the blowjob you gave Max last week. I mean, really, when have you ever done anything to benefit the world you live in? I'm guessing never." "Why are you so mean?"

"You came at me, Oona. You approached me thinking I'm some doormat looking to get f****d by Max and you were hoping it would piss him off but all it's done is piss me off. You're a nobody without your daddy's money. You're nothing. You're less than nothing. For the record, your security guard is only f*****g you for the money. I bet right now, he's f*****g someone else back in Atlanta and talking about how after he marries you and then divorces you, he and his mistress will live off the benefits of the prenup." Lark c****d her head as tears streamed down the woman's face, her mascara running at the brutal delivery of Lark's commentary. "Huh, who knew despite all the work done in your face your tear ducts can still work. Impressive."

Oona turned on her heel and ran away sobbing, jumping into a waiting limousine.

She gave a careless shrug and was about to lean back against the wall when she caught sight of Ollie grinning at her.

"What?"

"There she is."

"What are you talking about?"

"The girl from high school who would belittle anyone to tears the minute they rubbed you the wrong way." "She came at me."

"Oh, come on, Lark. She came to you to warn you to be careful of Max, yes, probably to piss him off since he ghosted her, but you went right for the throat. I bet the ice princess," Ollie looked to the car pulling away from the curb, "has never cried so hard in her life nor faced so many harsh truths."

"She deserved it," Lark argued and then Ollie was giggling. "What is so funny?"

"Why did she deserve to be ripped to shreds like that? You mocked everything from her clothing to her physical features and the fact she's a trust fund baby. I mean I'm here for it because she tried to swindle Max, but you really were ruthless."

"Who was ruthless?" Max and Johan came out of the restaurant.

"Nobody."

"Lark," Ollie grinned as she exposed her. "Oona showed up to tell Lark how you," she poked Max in the chest, "were a playboy who was going to break Lark's heart and Lark told her off."

"Let me guess," Johan laughed draping an arm over Lark's shoulder and grinning down at her, "you called her a trust fund baby who will likely never contribute to society in any meaningful way?"

"Probably also gave her hell for having plastic surgery."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a pair of winners," Ollie was giggling as Lark grew more affronted by the

second. "Lark, don't get angry with us. It's your schtick and we love you even when you're being judgy and confrontational."

Her mouth opened and closed, and she looked up at Johan who was beaming at her and Max who was smirking and Ollie was flat out gleeful.

"You made her cry, didn't you." Johan snorted.

"Well," she stammered as they called her out. "She came at me first."

Max pulled her out from under Johan's arm and tucked her to his side. "Don't listen to them, Lark. I like how you'd fight to the death for my honor."

"I wasn't wrong," she protested as Johan and Ollie were chortling with glee behind her.

"Remember the time the captain of the hockey team asked you to give him the answers for the final exam?"

"His idea was stupid," Lark scoffed.

"He sat in the same seat as you. It was multiple choice. If you simply wrote your answers twice, once on the scrap paper they provide and once on the test sheet and slid the paper in the desk he could simply use your answers and his scholarship was secured. He thought it was genius."

"He took too many pucks to the head," she gave a derisive flick of the hand. "Seriously. As if the teacher wasn't going to figure out his dumb ass cheated."

"You could have simply said the teachers check the desks between each exam but instead you ridiculed him, his plan, his hockey playing skills and his intelligence telling him he was too stupid to actually get the scholarship on his own because he clearly was using performance enhancing drugs which affected his brain function. Enjoy this chapter for free and stay updated with the latest version on Jo b ni b.com. Don't miss out, visit it now. Then you took it the next step and said his d**k probably shrunk from all the roid use and asked the girl he was dating if she used a magnifying glass to find it."

Johan was laughing at his story telling and Lark grimaced when Ollie added on.

"And you did this in front of the entire cafeteria despite the fact he asked very quietly to help him cheat. You boldly and loudly berated him in front of everyone."

She folded her arms defensively. "He got what he deserved. Asking me to risk myself for his stupid ass." Max hugged her to his side, "come on. Leave Lark alone. She did nothing wrong. She only defended herself back then and tonight. If someone wants to try to make her uncomfortable, she has every right to defend herself."

"Hey, we agree," Ollie said happily bouncing towards their waiting car. "I really missed seeing her in action. I bet she does this when people are on the stand too."

"I want to go home," she whispered suddenly. "This is all too much."

Ollie stood in front of her as Max's arm slipped off her shoulder and Johan moved to stand beside Ollie. "Hey," Johan reached out and put his hands upon her shoulder while Max and Ollie stared worriedly at her. "Lark, listen, our group, we've always had our strengths and weaknesses, but we embrace them within one another. Ollie is the feisty one who thinks with her fists firsts and gets us into s**t. Max is the sexy one who also creates all our diversions and manages to get us out of the s**t Ollie creates. I'm the hype man. I'm the guy who will always back all three of you up and I'll be throwing fists right next to Ollie to protect you. You, you're the one who makes sure everyone leaves us alone and you do it by getting rid of anyone who would f**k with us. Can you be a bit blunt and more than a little lethal? Sure, but I mean look who you grew up living next door to? You're meant to be ruthless, and we love this about you. Don't get into your head and ruin such an incredible night where we all are reconnecting the way we were meant to by overthinking our teasing you a bit."

"Are you hyping me up right now?" she asked pursing her lips.

"I'm hyping us all up right now. I mean, it's my job. Marketing guru that I am."

She giggled and then sighed sadly, "I don't know why I get so mean. I never noticed it until Ollie pointed it out last weekend and I proved it. Why am I such a b***h?"

"It's because I rubbed off," Ollie giggled, "but since you hit like a girl you use your words not your fists." "I never realized," she trailed off.

"Who cares?" Ollie snorted. "We don't. We're your ride or dies, Lark. Even after all this time, we don't care. We love you, Lark. Always and forever. Besides, we've been way crueler to you than you ever were to anyone else. Tonight is about us showing you how much fun it is when the four of us are together. No judgement on our part. We really hope you can stay with us. Please?"

Her three friends hauled her into a tight embrace.

"Still want to go home, chère?" Max asked quietly brushing her hair behind her ear. "I was hoping we could all go to Ollie's condo and play video games like we used to. We each had a thing we wanted to do tonight. Ollie picked paintball. We were going to dinner because Johan wanted us to have a meal together. I wanted us to hang out and play video games and relax a bit more with one another. I remember how much you used to laugh when we played video games and I want to watch you laugh." "What about me?" she scowled up at him, her brow furrowed. "You all picked things, but I didn't get to?" "What do you want to do?" Max asked with raised eyebrows and when she grinned the group all groaned. This was going to be fun.