Minx

Interior Art: Line Maria Eriksen Instagram: @linemeriksen Cover Design: Emily Wittig Instagram: @emily_wittig_designs Copyright © 2023 by Sophie Lark All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. * * * MINX SOPHIE LARK CONTENTS Minx Soundtrack 1. Ramses Howell 2. Blake Abbot 3. Ramses 4. Blake 5. Blake 6. Ramses 7. Ramses 8. Ramses 9. Blake 10. Blake 11. Ramses 12. Blake 13. Ramses 14. Blake 15. Blake 16. Ramses 17. Ramses 18. Blake 19. Blake 20. Ramses 21. Blake 22. Ramses 23. Ramses 24. Blake 25. Ramses 26. Blake 27. Ramses Epilogue Briggs & Sadie Patreon Brutal Prince Author’s Note Acknowledgments Meet Sophie This is for everyone who’s been all the way to the bottom. Keep climbing, the sun is up there waiting for you. Xoxo Minx Soundtrack Go To Town - Doja Cat WHOLE LOTTA MONEY - BIA Kream (feat. Tyga) - Iggy Azalea 7 rings - Ariana Grande Weekend (feat. Miguel) - Mac Miller Chemical - Post Malone So Pretty - Reyanna Maria Turn Up - S3nsi Molly Freak - Doja Cat Power - G-Eazy Woman - Emmit Fenn Like Real People Do - Hozier LOVE. FEAT. ZACARI. - Kendrick Lamar Wait 2.0 - NoMBe Music is a big part of my writing process. If you start a song when you see a 🎶 while reading, the song matches the scene like a movie score. Whoever said money can’t solve your problems Must not have had enough money to solve ‘em — Ariana Grande * * * Bocca baciate non perda ventura; anzi rinnova come fa la luna The mouth that has been kissed loses not its freshness; still it renews itself even as does the moon — Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron 1 RAMSES HOWELL Today’s my favorite day of the year, and it’s already ruined because Anthony Keller just walked in with the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen on his arm. The Belmont Stakes are one of the only things that get me excited anymore. Last night it rained just enough for the grass to smell like a rainforest and the dirt to turn over like velvet. I’m in the presidential suite, best seats in the house, the finish line right under my nose. And here comes Keller, strolling in with the one and only thing that could make me give a shit what he’s doing next door. My head turns. The way a racehorse looks running—how the muscles flex and flow under the coat—that’s how her body looks inside her dress. It’s a modest dress otherwise, up to the neck, long sleeves. Only the curves make it outrageous. Her face isn’t what I expected. Beautiful, yes, but the word that pops into my head is “serious.” She’s focused, unsmiling, until she catches me looking. Then her mouth quirks with something I can’t read—amusement? Disdain? She steps into Keller’s suite. I’m left with a cold drink and the heat of being caught like an amateur. I know how to glance at a pretty girl and then turn away to examine the image in my mind. It was that goddamn body in motion that kept me staring so long. “Every dog has his day.” Briggs takes a pull of his beer, watching Keller whoop it up next door with disgust. “I fucking hate seeing that mutt happy though.” Some people Briggs hates just because I hate them. Some, he has his own reasons. Keller’s both. He was your classic balding tech nerd with a start-up. Now he’s got hair plugs and a personal trainer and he’s strutting around like King Shit ‘cause his company goes public tomorrow. I want to ask Briggs about the girl, but that’s admitting out loud Keller did something good. Right now, I wouldn’t say I liked the color of his socks. Instead, I tell Briggs, “Next year I want both suites and I want them connected.” Briggs makes that grunting nod that means he’s filing away some task I’ve asked him to do. He doesn’t write it down, but he always gets it done. No questions, no excuses, Briggs delivers. That’s why he’s my right hand, and I mean that about as literal as it gets. He does all the work I’d do if I had an extra hand. I trust him to act as me, for me. He’s the only person I trust like that. If Briggs were to die or retire, there wouldn’t be another hand. I’d just have everybody else who works for me. “Here comes Bosch,” Briggs mutters. John Bosch is sitting in my box, but I’ve heard he’s got his eye on Keller’s company. I want to know if a deal is struck. I want to know everything that happens at Belmont Park today when the air’s thick with money. Everybody has chips on the table, amped on the adrenaline of knowing someone’s going home a winner. Alcohol and loose lips…whether they leave thrilled or disappointed, they’re less in control, and that’s an opportunity for me. I’m in the main suite, full spread on the table, every single beer made in Germany laid out on ice. All these busy little bees should be buzzing around me, information flowing in… Instead, my own traders are sneaking next door. “Where the fuck did Pennywise just go?” Briggs says. He answers his own question by watching Penn duck through the doorway into Keller’s suite. “Ah.” Briggs says that syllable like he already knows exactly what’s going on. I finally crack. “Who’s the girl?” Briggs grins. “Blake Abbot.” “Who’s Blake Abbot?” “Probably the highest paid escort in Manhattan.” My face relaxes a little. It takes the sting out of Keller bringing a girl that hot, knowing he had to pay for her. Now I’m curious instead. “What’s a night with her cost?” Briggs grins. “There