by Becca Steele
“Isn’t it?” I laughed bitterly. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like Portia’s making a move on him, and he isn’t doing anything to discourage her.”
“That’s your jealousy talking, babe. I shouldn’t have to tell you, but he likes you. A lot. I knew it before either of you, and now he knows it, too.” He gave me a smug smile. “There’s no way he’d fuck things up. Plus, you asked him to trust you. That goes both ways.”
“I know that,” I mumbled. “It’s her I don’t trust. But what if he decides I’m not worth the effort?”
“You really think that?”
I made a non-committal noise, managing to finally tear my gaze away from Caiden, becoming aware that Cassius was still talking to me.
“Sorry, what was that? I zoned out for a minute.”
He rolled his eyes but squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “We’re gonna sort out this shit with Granville. I’ve been thinking, and”—his voice dropped, so Kinslee and I both had to lean in to hear him—“things aren’t adding up. Have you got time to talk?”
I picked up my phone to check the time. “I’ve got a lecture in twenty minutes. I’ll be free after that, though.”
“Good. Meet me out the front of the Brunswick building at four o’clock. We need to go somewhere we won’t be overheard.”
“You’re not leaving me behind.” Kinslee’s tone was firm, non-negotiable.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, babe. I’ll see if West is free, too. Z’s…busy, and I don’t wanna involve him or Cade yet, anyway. It might be speculation, but my instincts are never wrong.”
“Never? You seem very sure of yourself.” I laughed.
“Never.”
“It’s dark already.” I shivered, pulling my beanie hat lower so it covered my ears, sinking down onto the large flat stone that Cassius had covered with a thick blanket from his car.
“Do we have to sit on this? Have you used it for, you know?” Kinslee shone her phone torch onto the wool hesitantly, then glanced over to Cassius, who was crouched over what the boys had told me was a fire pit.
“Have I fucked anyone on it, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Yep.” He grinned, looking far too pleased with himself.
“Ugh!” I jumped up, brushing off my jeans, as Kinslee pretended to vomit.
He rolled his eyes at us both. “You two have no sense of humour. Of course I haven’t. West’s sitting on that one.”
“Cheers, Cass.” Weston pulled a face.
“It’s been washed, calm down.”
“It better have.”
Cassius shook his head and went back to building a fire. It was basically a small circular area in the courtyard of Alstone Castle, ringed with stones. Once he was finished, and he had a little fire going at the base of the pile, he leapt to his feet. “Chuck me the lighter fluid, will ya?” He pointed to a black plastic bottle near my feet, and I threw it to him. He sloshed a load of it over the logs.
“Burn, baby, burn!” he shouted, standing back and striking a match, throwing it into the midst of the pile.
There was a loud whoosh and a huge flame shot into the air, the sudden rush of heat making us all scramble backwards as quickly as we could.
“Fucking hell, Cass, how much lighter fluid did you put on that?” Weston stared at him in disbelief.
“Dunno.” He shrugged, unconcerned, collapsing next to Weston on the large stone next to the one me and Kinslee were sitting on. We watched in silence as the flames licked greedily at the logs, burning through the lighter fluid and dying down to what I would call a “normal” fire. I basked in the warm glow, my numb face gradually regaining some feeling.
“Let’s talk.” Weston spoke softly. “Cass? You wanna tell us what you’re thinking?”
Cassius nodded, then turned to look at me, his eyes glimmering in the firelight. “First, though. I need you to tell me what happened with Granville. And don’t leave anything out.”
I hadn’t actually spoken to the Four about what had happened in any detail. I’d wanted to speak to Caiden, but when I’d realised he didn’t trust me, there was no point. Kinslee was the only one who knew all the details.
Reliving the moment only served to make me angry all over again. I spoke through gritted teeth as I recalled James forcing his lips onto mine, then his vaguely threatening words to me: “You and Cavendish deserve each other. I think I’m going to enjoy this, after all.” As I described how he’d left, bumping fists with Joseph, Joseph grasping a phone in his hand, a strange expression stole across Cassius’ face.
“Fuck. No. No. No.” He shook his head. “Why now?”
“Surely he wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?” The worry was clear in Weston’s voice, as he and Cassius exchanged glances.
“As if we didn’t have enough shit to deal with. This is the fucking icing on the cake,” Cassius growled.
“We’re gonna have to tell Z.”
“What if it sends him over the edge?”
“Fuck.” Weston buried his face in his hands.
“Uh…would someone mind telling me what’s going on?” I stared between them both, my heart racing, apprehension filling me.
They both turned to look at me, then silently communicating with their eyes, they both shook their heads.
“Listen, Winter.” Cassius stood and came to sit down next to me. “It’s not my secret to tell. We’ve had…run-ins with Joseph Hyde and his lemmings before. That’s a big part of why we have so much security.” He sighed heavily. “Granville may be a slimy fucker, but until now, he’s stayed out of it.”
“Mostly,” Weston interjected with an eye roll.
“Yeah. Anyway, if they’re starting shit again, we’ll be ready.” He slid his arm around me, gentling his voice. “I don’t want you to worry about this, okay?” Peering around me, he met Kinslee’s eyes. “That goes for you, too. We can handle it. Just…concentrate on getting to the bottom of, y’know, the stuff that we’re already dealing with.”
I frowned at Cassius. “Thanks for enlightening me. That literally tells me nothing. Can you at least tell me who or what I need to be watching out for?”
“Just stay away from Hyde and Granville, and anyone else related to them. You’ll be fine. If this is what I think it is, they’re not trying to hurt you. It’s us they want to get to.”
“If they’re trying to hurt you, then they’re hurting me,” I said, a tremor in my voice. “You guys are my family, now. Please, just let me in. Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
At my words, Weston rose from his seat and crossed to stand in front of me, pulling me up into his arms. He stroked his hands through my hair, the soothing motion reassuring me. “Winter. Trust us to handle this, okay? I promise you that if anything happens, we’ll make sure you’re not kept in the dark. We need to talk to Zayde and my brother first.”
He kissed the top of my head and drew back so I could look into his eyes. His face was shadowed, but there was enough light from the fire that I could see his serious, imploring gaze. “Trust us?” He bit his lip, looking at me uncertainly. “Trust me? Please?”
My heart.
“West.” I swallowed, speaking around the lump in my throat. “I trust you with my life.” I raised my voice. “You too, Cass.”
Cassius stood, tugging Kinslee up with him. “Good. We’ve got your back.” His blue gaze turned to ice, and his voice hardened. “No one fucks with one of the Four, or our girls, and gets away with it. No one.”
ELEVEN
I sang along with the radio as I whisked eggs for breakfast. I’d woken this morning feeling almost happy, weirdly, despite everything that was going on, even with the added James drama. After this week, the semester would be over. Kinslee’s brother was coming home for the Christmas break, and we’d soon hopefully have some answers from him regarding the ship, the Argo Navis. Kinslee had decided it was better to wait until he was home and she could speak with him in person—he was working on an oil
rig, with little to no communication, and no privacy in the small amount of contact he was able to have with the outside world.
The only blight in my day was the thought that soon I’d have to face my mother again. From what I’d learned from Weston, every year, the Alstone elite held a winter ball at Alstone Town Hall. I’d asked Kinslee for more details, but she hadn’t been able to go before, nor had she had any desire to. She was at Alstone College thanks to a combination of her grandfather’s money paying for her tuition and accommodation, and the small fact of her being the dean’s goddaughter. Although she was what I’d probably call comfortably well off, until I came along, she’d stayed well away from the elite. Unfortunately for her, now, she was coming with me to the ball, slightly unwillingly.
Stupid archaic traditions dictated that we had to turn up in male-female couples—completely ridiculous in this day and age. I was going with Cassius, and since Caiden and I were still at a kind of impasse, he was taking Kinslee. I trusted both of them together, so of all the possibilities, them going as each other’s date was by far the best option in my mind.
Anyway, that was a worry for another day. I crossed over to the fridge, pulling out the cheddar, and turned back around just in time to see Caiden saunter into the room, wearing a pair of black shorts, his torso glistening with sweat, rubbing his head with a towel.
My mouth went dry. Why was it that now we were in the friend zone, my body had decided to react even more strongly to his presence?
I placed the cheese carefully on the island and stood, just drinking him in.
“Hi.” He lowered the towel and threw it around his neck, a smirk curving over his lips as he noticed me checking him out.
“Been working out?” I managed to say. Yeah, I asked the obvious question. I couldn’t be expected to think, not when he was looking like that.
His smirk deepened. I gripped hard onto the edges of the island to stop myself from launching my body at his.
“Yeah.” He prowled towards me, and I gulped as he stopped right in front of me. “You look sexy today,” he murmured into my ear, then kissed my cheek and straightened up, carrying on to the cupboard where he proceeded to make himself a protein shake, never mind the fact that he’d left me helpless, longing for him.
“Cade. What’s going on here?” I ventured. “Is this a game to you? Teasing me?”
He slammed his drink bottle down on the counter and was suddenly back in front of me before I had a chance to blink.
“What’s going on is that I have some shit to work through. In the meantime, I’m reminding you of the facts so you don’t forget them.” Our gazes held, his stormy eyes darkening, reminding me more of thunderclouds at this point in time.
“What facts?” I licked my lips, my voice coming out hoarse.
He planted his hands on the island either side of me so I was trapped by his body, the heat and the sweat from his workout sending memories of nights spent together flashing through my mind like some kind of erotic film reel, making my thighs clench with need and my breath catch in my throat.
“Fact. You want me.”
He leaned closer.
“Fact. I want you.”
I shivered from both his words and his proximity.
“Fact. This one should come as a given, but don’t think I didn’t see the death stares you were giving to Portia yesterday. I’m not interested in anyone else.”
“But she—” I began.
My words died away as he reached out and cupped my jaw, stroking his thumb over my pulse point. “No one compares to you, Snowflake. And that brings me on to my final fact. You’d better not forget this one.”
“What is it?”
“You’re. Fucking. Mine,” he growled against my lips, then gave me a quick, hard kiss before I had a chance to even react to his words. He stalked away from me, swiping his drink bottle from the counter, and disappeared out of the kitchen.
I slumped back against the island on shaky legs, a smile spreading across my face.
Glad we were on the same page.
“Winter!” I spun around at the shout, seeing Weston jogging across the quad, and stopped, waiting for him, before I headed into the Student Union building with Kinslee.
“He’s so hot,” Kinslee muttered under her breath, her eyes raking over him as he drew closer. “I wish he wanted a repeat of our night together.”
“Does he know you want a repeat?” I kept my voice low.
“Yes, but he’s made it clear it won’t happen.” She clamped her mouth shut as he reached us, an easy grin on his lips, and I made a mental note to speak to her later. As far as I was aware, she wasn’t seriously interested in him, but in her words, he was the best dick she’d ever had.
And that was a thought I didn’t particularly want in my head, now he felt like my brother, and I knew he viewed me as a sister. Weird, really, since my relationship with Cade was almost the complete opposite.
I shook off my thoughts, realising Weston was speaking to me. “You ready for me to kick your ass at pool?”
“You think you can beat me?” I returned his grin.
“I’ll catch up with you both later.” Kinslee turned towards the cafeteria door.
Weston stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you both.”
We both stared at him apprehensively. “Yes, I can spare a few minutes. What’s up?”
“Come down to the bar.” He let go of her arm, shoving his hands in the pockets of his slate-grey Alstone College hoodie and heading for the stairs leading down to the basement bar.
Once we were seated next to the pool table, he leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the metal table in front of us. He sighed. “It’s about the winter ball. Kins, you can’t go as Cade’s date anymore. Dad’s put his foot down, and he’s arranged a date for Caiden. Some fucking shit about a huge business deal, and there’s no way he can get out of it.”
“What?” Kinslee and I exchanged glances.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. We both tried to talk him out of it, but he couldn’t be swayed. Z’s been dragged into it, too. Can’t fuck up their deal.” He deepened his voice, doing a scarily accurate impression of Arlo Cavendish. “This is our legacy, and your future. I’m depending on you to do the right thing.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Kinslee leaned back in her chair. “I may not be one of the elite, but I can try to work something out, if you want me to be there.”
“If you can, you know I’d love you there.”
“I’ll see what I can do. If I can’t make it, you know the Four have your back.” She nodded her head towards Weston, before standing up and swinging her bag onto her shoulder. “Don’t stress. I’ve got to go now, otherwise I won’t have time to eat before my next lecture.”
We waved her off, and I turned back to West, asking him the question that I didn’t want the answer to. “Who’s Caiden’s date? Please don’t tell me it’s Portia.”
The grimace that appeared on his face told me I wasn’t going to like his answer. “Jessa.”
Jessa De Witt. Hot jealousy raged through me at the memory of her sneering, triumphant face, watching me as Cade fondled her tits, right before he pulled me off Cassius and dragged me upstairs and… The jealousy melted away as I remembered his heated kisses, the way he’d relentlessly fucked me, bringing me to the most powerful orgasm of my life…
“Winter? Are you okay?” My eyes snapped to Weston’s, and I scrubbed my hand over my flushed face, trying to focus.
“I’m fine. I won’t lie and say that the thought of Cade with her makes me want to poke out my own eyeballs so I don’t have to see her, but I will suck it up and deal with it. I have no doubt that she’ll try to rub it in my face every chance she gets, but I’m hoping Cade—” I groaned. “Who am I kidding? It’s going to be fucking torture. Who’s Zayde going with?”
“Portia.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I feel more sorry for him, or for her. I bet neither o
f them wanted to go together, did they?”
“Doubt it. We’ll stick together, anyway. It won’t be all bad.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“It’s a masquerade ball. Maybe you could go for a full-on blindfold, then you won’t have to look at the others.”
“Ha. I might just do that.”
He cocked his head at me. “If you’re in agreement, me and Cass came up with an idea. You know the whole thing with James?”
I nodded. “What about it?”
“I know we said you should stay away from him and let us handle the situation, but we’ve been discussing it, and we’re both in agreement. We thought that since you’re not going to the ball with Cade, if you try and stay away from him the whole night, play up the fact you’re not together, then that might get Granville to drop his guard. Since it looks like the whole purpose of that video was to drive you apart, if he thinks it’s worked, it could be a good opportunity to get some information out of him.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea, actually.” I sat back, thinking. “So I’d be playing the angle of being grateful that I’m no longer with Cade since he’s an irrational, jealous asshole, and see if I can get him to say anything that might give us an idea why the video even happened in the first place?”
“Exactly! I knew you’d understand.” He grinned at me. “Cass won’t let you out of his sight, so you don’t need to worry about anything. Just see if you can get him to talk. To say anything at all.”
“I can do that. Or attempt to, at least. You’d better give Caiden a heads-up, though. I don’t want to actually make things any worse between us.”
“Already on it,” he assured me. He stood, scraping his chair back. “Come on. Let’s get on with this game of pool. Loser has to cook dinner tonight, winner’s choice of food.”
“Deal.” I blew him a kiss and leaned over the pool table, sending the white ball careening into the others, sinking two striped balls. “I’m in the mood for enchiladas tonight. Looks like you’ll be busy in the kitchen.”