Chapter 65 - Vol. 3: Noah To Haru - 65

Noah

A few minutes later, they were walking into a five-star restaurant, and a maître d' came to greet them. “Mr. Princeton, sir.”

“Table for two,” Nicolas said.

“Of course, sir,” the maître d' said and then led them to a table that had a great view of the city of New York.

A waiter was just pouring them glasses of water when a soft feminine voice said, “Oh my, Nicolas.”

Noah looked up and his gaze came to rest on one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Long dark hair, milky white skin, and a face that’d make a man dream of pleasure. He was stunned and charmed. She was the epitome of Snow White, and she reminded him of Haru.

“Sakura,” Nicolas said, chuckling.

The woman came forward, and Nicolas wrapped his arm around her.

Was she Nicolas’s girlfriend? Damn!

“You here by yourself?” Nicolas asked.

Sakura shook her head. “I’m here with Akira.”

Nicolas raised a brow. “Oh?”

Sakura chuckled. “Don’t give me that oh? We’re having lunch.”

“What about Sebastian and Darcy?” Nicolas asked.

Sakura said, “They’ll be here soon.”

“I see,” Nicolas said.

Sakura turned her attention to Noah then and said, “You having lunch with a friend?”

“Noah,” Nicolas said. “A new member of our marketing team at the company.”

Sakura leaned forward and offered her hand. Noah took it and said, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Sakura said. “I hope you like it at the office. And I hope Nicolas isn’t too hard on you, you know, working you to the bone,” she whispered. “He’s a workaholic, just like the rest of the family. Well, except for Tristan and Logan.”

Another female approached them. The moment Noah saw her, he knew she was Japanese, and she was damn hot. She looked like a supermodel.

“Oh, Jesus! It’s Nicolas,” she said.

Nicolas snorted. “Akira. I hope you’re not leading my beloved sister astray.”

Beloved sister? Noah glanced at Sakura and then Nicolas. Was Sakura his stepsister?

Damn, but he still couldn’t get over the fact that Sakura was so beautiful or that she reminded him so much of Haru.

Akira raised a brow at him. “Speak for yourself.” She turned to Noah. “Don’t get too close to this man.” She pointed at Nicolas. “He’ll drive you crazy.”

Sakura giggled. “You two, always flirting.”

Akira harrumphed. “We’re not flirting. We don’t even get along.” She grabbed Sakura’s wrist and then said, “Come on. I’m starving.”

As they headed away, Sakura said, “Bye, Noah. Have a nice lunch.”

Noah nodded, a smile on his lips.

Nicolas sighed and then shook his head. “That woman,” he said.

Noah chuckled. He had no doubt Nicolas had a thing for Akira. He wondered if they were dating. Or were they still at that stage where they were just dancing around each other, playing hard to get?

Nicolas said, “She’s a beautiful thing, isn’t she?”

Noah said, “Sakura?”

Nicolas nodded.

“Yeah. She reminds me of my brother,” Noah said. “He’s half-Japanese and very beautiful.”

Nicolas raised a brow. “You have a brother who’s half-Japanese?”

“Stepbrother.”

“Ahh.” Nicolas nodded in understanding. “Sakura is adopted,” he said firmly, his eyes on Noah. “Just so you know, she’s taken.”

Noah chuckled. “I have no doubt that she is. Just so you know, I’m not interested in her.”

The only one he had ever been interested in was Haru, since high school, in fact, and that interest seemed to be getting more intense day by day.

Nicolas said, “Good.” He chuckled. “Even if you are, you’ll need to go through seven very protective men to get to her.”

Noah raised a brow. “Seven? You and your brothers?”

Nicolas nodded. “Yes.”

They ordered lunch, and while they chatted about work, their meal arrived. Noah was enjoying his food, a steak that was perfectly charred and grilled to perfection and mashed potatoes that were so creamy, they were to die for. He was just popping a piece of steak into his mouth when he saw two men walking into the restaurant and heading over to Sakura and Akira a few tables down. He recognized Sebastian, with his tall, muscular body and pale-blond hair. The other man, who looked younger, had black hair and a lean body. First Sebastian leaned down and kissed Sakura on the lips, and then it was the other guy.

What?

Nicolas must have seen the confusion on Noah’s face because the man turned. When he saw his brothers, he said, “Sebastian and Darcy, my brothers. They’re Sakura’s boyfriends.”

Noah asked, “They’re both dating Sakura?”

Nicolas nodded. “It’s a bit...different, but they both loved her to bits. They’re happy.” He smiled. “It takes a bit of effort and a lot of trust between the three to make it work. I must admit the road for them to get where they are now was trying and complicated.”

Noah was both stunned and pleased at what Nicolas was telling him. It looked like it wasn’t only his family that had strange relationships. If Sakura could date two men, then for sure Haru could, too.

Noah hadn’t thought about his relationship with Haru that deeply. He just knew he wanted the boy as his, the way Aiden claimed Haru as his. Now, he realized he needed to openly communicate with Aiden and Haru if he wanted to be a part of Haru’s life romantically. He and Aiden would need to share Haru, that was for sure, and they needed to trust each other, which Noah could admit he was lousy at. He’d need to change where that was concerned, and very soon, too.

They were just about to finish with their meal and head back to the office when Sebastian came over.

“You two out lunching?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Nicolas said.

To Noah, Sebastian said, “You coming to St. Joseph Island?”

Noah raised a brow. “St. Joseph Island?”

“Yeah, our base,” Sebastian said. “You’re working on the next hotel promotion campaign with Nicolas, aren’t you?”

Noah nodded.

Nicolas said, “I haven’t told the staff yet.”

Sebastian turned to Nicolas. “Oh?”

To Noah, Nicolas said, “We’re planning on bringing the marketing team over to St. Joseph Island. We want everyone to experience the place and see if we can come up with more ideas to increase tourists to the island. As you know, the St. Joseph Island Princeton Hotel and Resort is one of the five hotels and resorts across America we’re focusing on in the campaign.”

Noah nodded. “All of them on small islands.”

“That’s right,” Sebastian said.

Nicolas said, “It’ll be a three-day trip for everyone, but for you, I’d like you to stay for four days, Noah.”

Noah widened his eyes. “Me?”

Nicolas nodded. “I hope that’s all right with you?”

Noah nodded. “Of course.”

The man chuckled. “Good.”

Sebastian said, “If you think you’re going to be lonely after work hours, why not bring someone with you? I know I would.” He turned to look behind him, his gaze on Sakura.

Noah chuckled, and his mind suddenly flashed to Haru. “Then I’ll do that.”

“We’ll discuss the details later,” Nicolas said. “For now, let’s head back to the office.”

The three headed over to Sakura’s table, and Nicolas introduced Noah to Darcy.

“Hi,” Noah said, shaking Darcy’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Darcy said.

Damn, Noah thought, but Darcy was gorgeous with his dark hair, mauve eye color, and toned body. Girls must swoon over him, like the female employees swooning over Nicolas and Sebastian whenever the pair was around at the office. Of course, women drooled over Noah, too, as well as his brothers, but most of the time, Noah didn’t notice. His mind was always on Haru, after all.

Nicolas said, “Darcy and Hayden, our other brother, runs the HG Game Inc. You’ve heard of it?”

Noah nodded. “Definitely. Who hasn’t?”

Sakura said, “Darcy designs quite a few of the characters and designs for the games, you know.”

“Oh, wow!” Noah chuckled. Then he thought it looked like he’d need to brag about Isaac’s artistic ability next time. Despite that he always bitched about how useless Isaac’s choice of career was, he admitted he greatly admired his younger brother’s talent.

“Well then,” Nicolas said. “We should head back. See you guys later at home.”

After saying farewell to the party, Noah and Nicolas headed back to the office and resumed work.