by Becca Steele
He pulled a face. “Why would I want my annoying sister hanging around?”
I punched him in the arm.
“I like her.” Lena grinned at him.
“Fuck me, Lena’s proper smiling. It’s a miracle.” Cassius staggered backwards with an exaggerated gasp.
“You wanna dance? Or get a drink?” Weston murmured to her, shooting Cassius a glare.
“Can we get some air?” She looked up at him, and his gaze softened as he turned away from Cassius and met her eyes.
“Course. Come on.” He slid his arm around her, and I watched as he manoeuvred them away through the crowds, using his strong body to protect her from being jostled.
Next to me, Cassius gave a heavy sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, muttering, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Cass. Talk to me.” I put my hand on his arm.
“Nothing. I don’t like seeing them together, that’s all.”
“West and Lena?”
“Yeah. I know our dads forced them to come here together, but I’m not blind. I know West’s got a bit of a thing for her, even though he denies it. It would be a fucking disaster if anything happened between them. My best mate and my sister? No fucking way.”
I stared at him, deep in thought. “Are you sure he’s interested? She’s still at school, isn’t she? I thought he liked older women.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, she’s still at school, but she’s eighteen now, as of last week. Not that it matters, West likes women, generally. He doesn’t care if they’re older or not.”
“Do you think she’s interested in him, though? And is he really into her? I don’t think he’s any different with her than he is with other girls.”
“He’s…I dunno, protective of her.” He shrugged.
“He’s protective of me, too,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, that’s true. Maybe I’m paranoid. I just don’t want anything getting fucked up, and me having to choose between them or something.”
I stepped closer to him, putting my arms around him, unable to bear his downcast expression. “Hey. You’re worrying about nothing. West likes having fun with girls, he doesn’t get serious about them. A bit like someone else I know—” I did a fake cough. “—you.” And he laughed. “I’m positive he wouldn’t do that to Lena. Your friendship with him is far too important.”
“Look at you, being all wise and shit.” He kissed my cheek, his expression brightening. “Thanks, babe. I appreciate it. You wanna dance some more?”
“Why not?”
During a lull in the music, I was catching my breath after being dragged all over the dance floor by Cassius, both of us hoping to spot James, when something, or should I say, someone caught my eye.
“Cass!” I hissed. “Don’t look, but is that…? Is that the prime minister? No, it can’t be.”
He followed my gaze, then nodded slowly. “Hard to tell with the mask, but I think so, yeah. Look over there at the security, trying to be all discreet and blend into the background.”
“Wow.”
“Alstone elite, baby. These people are connected.”
“I’m starting to see that,” I murmured.
“Oh, fuck,” Cassius mumbled under his breath, staring over my head, and the prime minister was forgotten as I spun around to see Caiden. With Jessa.
FOURTEEN
There was no denying how good they looked together. Jessa’s long dark hair shone under the spotlights, and her slinky jade-green dress clung to her body. A matching jade mask, feathered and embellished with crystals, sparkled as they moved to the music.
I’d been expecting the hot jealousy that burned through me at the sight of them, but it still hurt, and I gripped Cassius harder, making him hiss. “Winter.”
“Shit, sorry, Cass.” I loosened my grip where my nails had been digging into his arms.
He pulled me closer, speaking into my ear. “Are you ready? You know when she sees you, she’s gonna want to rub it in your face?”
“Yeah, I know.” I gritted my teeth.
“Look at him. He’s not enjoying it, babe.” His tone became lighter, amused, as he twisted us round, then spun me back to face them. “Look at Z.”
I became aware of Zayde with Portia, stunning in a deep blue ball gown. He, like Cade, was dressed all in black. Black suit, black shirt, black tie. His mouth was set in a grim line, his body stiff, holding Portia as far away from him as he could. To be fair, she didn’t look any happier to be with him. I smirked, before my eyes returned to Caiden.
I noticed the exact moment he saw me. He grimaced, and Jessa looked up at him, and then her head shot round towards me. She deliberately stepped closer to Cade, clinging onto him, running her hand up his arm, a satisfied smile on her lips as she watched me shoot daggers at her with my eyes. Caiden’s jaw tightened, but he let her touch him, playing his part, just as I was.
I hated it.
Cass spun me away, before I could do anything stupid like launch myself at her. What was it about Caiden Cavendish that made me so fucking jealous of any woman that was around him?
Like a magnet, my eyes kept going straight to his, catching glimpses of him across the dance floor, and every time, he was looking right back at me.
“James. To your left,” Cassius suddenly hissed in my ear. “Act like Caiden is invisible to you. I’m moving us closer.” He skilfully twisted us between dancing couples, until I lost sight of Caiden and we were next to James and his date. I steeled myself, wishing Kinslee was here as backup. Despite her assurances, she hadn’t been able to get a date at such short notice, and with the ball being so exclusive, we couldn’t work anything out.
Mentally shaking my head, I prepared myself.
“James.” I pasted a small, hesitant smile on my face, not too wide, in case he got suspicious. “Could I have a quick word with you?”
His eyes were shadowed behind his gold mask, so I couldn’t make out his expression, but I heard his sharp, surprised intake of breath. He glanced between me and his date, who was staring at me intently, before her eyes were drawn to Cassius.
“Hi, Cassius,” she murmured softly, and then her focus returned to me. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Bea.”
“Winter.” I smiled at her, not sensing any hostility, and she returned my smile.
“Bea, how have you been? Haven’t seen you for ages.” Cassius took control of the situation, nudging me as he moved in front of Bea, and I took the chance to lean into James.
“Please? Just a quick word?”
He looked back at his date, who gave a small nod before returning her attention to Cassius and followed me from the dance floor. I needed to go somewhere I could talk to him without being overheard, but at the same time, I needed to be within eyesight of Cassius. For lack of other options, I headed towards the back of the room, rounding one of the marble columns to give us a small amount of privacy.
“We need to talk, don’t you think?”
He glanced around us, then nodded slowly, moving deeper into the shadows and leaning against the wall. I could see Cassius and Bea out of the corner of my eye, not close enough to overhear our conversation, but close enough for Cass to watch out for me.
“Listen, I’ve actually been debating whether to get in contact with you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react.” His shoulders slumped, and he sighed heavily. “I wanted to apologise to you for what happened in the library.”
“Why do it, though? I thought we were friends.”
Scuffing his foot against the floor, he hesitated for a moment, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” All thoughts of my plan to pretend to be grateful to him for driving a wedge between me and Caiden went out of the window at the undercurrent of fear in his tone. When he didn’t answer, I moved even closer, placing a hand lightly on his arm. “James?”
He spoke low and quickly. “When I kissed you, I was
feeling pissed off—I’d heard about Cavendish’s little display claiming you in the cafeteria, and it made me…I don’t know, jealous, in a way, I guess. He’s never been interested enough in any girl before to do anything like that, and it had to be the one that I had first, the one I’d been friends with. It didn’t take much persuading to kiss you, and when you reacted so angrily, it made me angry in turn, and at that point I was glad I’d done it.”
My head was spinning, as I tried to process what he was telling me. “Okay. I understand all that, I suppose, not that I agree with your reasons. At all. But why, James? Why didn’t you have a choice? Who’s behind all this?”
“I can’t tell you. I wish I could stay out of it, and I’m sorry you got caught up in everything.”
That told me nothing. I needed answers. “Joseph’s involved, though, right?”
He stiffened at the mention of his cousin. “You’re a nice girl, Winter. But you being here, being related to the Cavendish family…” He sighed. “Whether you wanted to or not, you’ve chosen your side. You wouldn’t be willing to go against your family, would you?”
“What do you mean by ‘side’?” I tried to keep the impatience from my voice, so fed up with all this secrecy. Why couldn’t anyone speak like normal people, instead of being all cryptic and shit?
“I’m telling you this because I like you, and you’ve been nothing but nice to me, and despite what you might think of me right now, I’m not the bad guy here.”
Beckoning me closer, he bent down to speak into my ear, and I held my breath. “Understand this. Alstone has rivalries dating back for generations, in some cases. When you first turned up, I honestly didn’t know who you were. If I had, I would’ve kept my distance. To begin with, it seemed okay—the Four clearly didn’t want you around, and I thought that you and I could be friends. When it became obvious that Cavendish had a thing for you, and especially after he threatened me, I backed right off.”
His voice lowered even further. “My cousin’s family, and my family, to a lesser extent, are bitter rivals with all the founding members of Alstone Holdings. Sometimes, you have to do things for your family that you may not want to do, because they’re your blood.”
Drawing back, I peered at him, trying to see his eyes behind his mask. “I get that, but no. You don’t have to. If it goes against your beliefs and morals, you say no. And you know what?” I waved my arm in the direction of the dance floor. “Those four boys? They’re my family. Yeah, we’re not related by blood, but the fact remains that we’re a family. And while I’d do almost anything for them, I wouldn’t blindly follow orders that went against my instincts, and not only that, I know they’d never ask me to compromise my beliefs or standards.”
He shook his head. “Count yourself lucky, then, but you wouldn’t be saying that if you were in my position.” Straightening up and moving away from the wall, he stared at me again. “That’s all I can tell you. I’m sorry, but I want to stay out of it as much as possible. Just…try and do the same, okay? Stay away from trouble.”
I couldn’t help laughing, a low, bitter laugh. “Trouble seems to follow me around, ever since I came to Alstone.”
“Be careful. Goodbye, Winter.” With that warning lingering in the air, he strode away, beckoning to Bea, who returned to his side, and they were swallowed by the crowd.
Cassius was in front of me in an instant, and I gave him a rundown of the situation.
“As I thought,” he muttered. “Another fucking complication we could do without.”
“Do you think there could be any connection between this shit with James and Joseph, and my mother?” I voiced the question that had been bugging me since the boys had alluded to past issues with them.
Cassius paused for a moment, thinking, then shook his head slowly. “No. there’s no way. It wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Okay.” He was right. It didn’t make sense, not really. I was just grasping at straws, sick of not having any answers.
“Come on. I’ve had enough dancing for one night.” Taking my hand, he led me towards the doors at the back of the room.
I was halted by a manicured hand on my arm. “Winter. Come and dance with your stepfather.”
I stared at my mother. “Sorry, what?”
She huffed, pursing her red-painted lips. With her delicate silver mask, her mermaid-style silver gown covered in hundreds of tiny crystals, and her dark hair, so similar to mine, falling down her back in soft waves, she was stunning. “Come and dance with Arlo.” Stepping closer to me, she lowered her voice. “Remember what we spoke about on the way here.”
Right.
She turned to me, the privacy partition up so the driver wouldn’t overhear our conversation. “Winter. Tonight is important for us, and for Alstone Holdings. There’s been some…gossip regarding your little incident at the Wilson Lounge. You know how people are. I’ve managed to smooth things over, for the most part, by explaining that you’ve been having a difficult time adjusting to living here, and you’re having trouble dealing with the loss of your father.”
I sat silently, my teeth gritted, my nails digging into my palms. I didn’t trust myself to speak.
“Winter,” Arlo cut in, a slight frown on his face. “As you’re well aware, I’m in the process of negotiating this business deal, and it’s important that we present a united front. This deal is worth a huge amount of money, not to mention the additional employment opportunities it will create.” He leaned forwards. “Your mother and I aren’t asking for much. Be polite, be seen interacting with us during the evening, preferably somewhere prominent. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” Despite my relationship with my mother, I wasn’t about to purposely try to ruin things for Arlo. Especially since he wasn’t the only one who’d be affected.
“Good girl.” He leaned back in his seat, dismissing me, and my mother smiled at me, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Caiden seemed more than happy to be taking Miss De Witt to the ball as his date. Lovely young lady, isn’t she? Very pretty.”
“Lovely,” I gritted out, picking up my phone and making a point of unlocking the screen and scrolling to my messages. This conversation was over.
At the sound of a throat clearing I came back to the present to see Arlo holding out his hand, a brow raised expectantly. “Shall we?”
Nodding once, I placed my hand in his.
“Christine, you’re a vision of loveliness.” Cassius laid on the charm, and my mother lapped it up. Their conversation faded away as Arlo led me back to the dance floor and placed one hand on my waist, keeping a respectable distance between us as he spun us between the dancing couples. He didn’t try to speak to me, either, which I was grateful for.
Our dance was interrupted by a man dressed in a black suit with an earpiece, who tapped Arlo on the shoulder.
“Sir? We have a situation.”
“Excuse me, Winter.” Arlo nodded to me, then strode away, and I stared after him, debating. It could be nothing, but I wanted to follow him. I made my way off the dance floor in the direction Arlo had gone, passing my mother, who was dancing with an older man with white hair. I vaguely recognised him from the party at her house. Cassius was deep in conversation with a man and woman, so I decided to take my chance while he was occupied. I knew I shouldn’t disappear on my own, but really, what was the harm? I mouthed bathroom to him as I passed on my way to the back of the ballroom, and he gave me a half nod before returning to his conversation.
Stepping outside the doors, I headed down a corridor at a fast walk, keeping an eye out for Arlo. I caught a glimpse of a suited figure turning into a room up ahead and slowed my pace, not wanting him to be aware of my presence.
Reaching the room, I bent down, pretending to adjust my shoe, listening intently to the conversation I could hear snatches of through the partially open doorway.
“Who? … told you to take care of it … docks … I don’t have time for this … That’s what I pay you
for … be discreet.”
The door was suddenly thrown open and Arlo stormed out, in the opposite direction to me, to my relief. I don’t know what he’d have done if he’d caught me right outside the door, but I didn’t want to find out. I straightened up and continued down the hallway, discreetly peering into the room as I passed. All I could see was the security guy who had come to get Arlo on the dance floor, and the back of a man’s head, with a small round bald patch in his greying hair. Something about him felt familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
As I walked by at a snail’s pace, I saw the security guy mutter something to the other man, so low and quiet that I couldn’t catch his words. He gestured angrily, throwing his hands up, before following Arlo out of the room.
I made a mental note to think about it later and followed the signs to the bathrooms. There wasn’t anything else I could do right now—the last thing I wanted was to get caught, unable to explain myself. Being Arlo’s stepdaughter, I wasn’t exactly able to fly under the radar.
My head was swimming, though. I could’ve sworn Arlo had mentioned the docks. It could be a coincidence—after all, they were owned by Alstone Holdings. But I couldn’t ignore the feeling I had that something more was going on.
Lost in my thoughts, I was washing my hands in the ornate marble bathroom when the door swung open, and Jessa and Portia stepped inside. I groaned under my breath, steeling myself.
“Having fun, Winter?” Portia smirked at me, coming to stand in front of the mirrors, pulling a blood-red lipstick from her purse. “How does it feel, knowing Caiden ditched you for someone who’s actually in his league?”
Jessa met my eyes in the mirror, flicking her long hair back with a triumphant smile. “You did me a favour, babe. He’s been all over me tonight. I can’t wait for the after-party.”
“Private party for two,” Portia sang, before pouting in the mirror, slicking her lipstick on, then smacking her lips together.
“You know it.” Jessa pulled her own lipstick out of her purse, deliberately holding eye contact with me. “With my father negotiating this deal with his father, I just know we’re going to be spending much more time together. To grow a lot closer, if you know what I mean.”