by Becca Steele
Assholes. The words came out before I could censor them. “Yeah, we met. I wasn’t impressed.”
Arlo’s eyebrows shot up.
“Winter Huntington!” My mother’s scandalised hiss cut through the sudden silence.
Shit.
My mouth was so dry. I needed a drink.
“Not impressed?” Caiden’s voice, deceptively calm, came from next to me. “Is that why you decided to hook up with the campus manwhore?”
Everyone’s head turned to face his, mine included. He kept his gaze on his father, not even bothering to spare me a glance.
“Miss Huntington here attended a gathering at our house two nights ago. She left with James Granville.” He sneered the words.
I gritted my teeth. Was it illegal to stab your stepbrother with a fork?
“Oh, Winter.” My mother shook her head disapprovingly. “Even I know of that boy’s reputation. Like father, like son,” she said, almost to herself.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, dear,” Arlo murmured, glancing over at her.
The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth as I bit my lip, hard, to stop myself responding. Remember why you’re here. The only thing that mattered was finding answers for my dad.
“I hope you used a condom. You’ll be wanting to make an appointment at the STD clinic, otherwise.” Caiden’s focus turned to me, curling his perfect lips at me, his disdain obvious.
“Caiden. That’s enough,” Arlo admonished.
“Yes, Dad.” He dismissed me with his gaze, turning his attention to his phone.
Silence fell, then Arlo clapped his hands loudly, making me jump again.
This time Weston laughed aloud. “Jumpy, aren’t you?”
I raised my eyes to his and saw humour there. Okay, my first impressions had been correct. Weston, at least, didn’t hate me. Not as much as his brother, anyway.
Next to me, I felt Caiden glare in Weston’s direction, and Weston’s gaze dropped to his plate. Allan and a woman appeared, gliding into the room almost silently, filling wine glasses and putting dishes in front of us. I waited until the others started eating, then followed suit, hardly able to concentrate on the food thanks to the presence of the man next to me.
Arlo’s phone suddenly chimed, cutting through the uncomfortable silence. He glanced at the screen, then stood, his chair scraping back, and headed out of the room without a backwards glance. No one had any reaction to this, so I was guessing this was normal behaviour.
As soon as he’d gone, my mother turned to Caiden, her nose wrinkled in distaste. “When you come for dinner, I expect you to dress appropriately. Your standard of dress is unacceptable.”
“Excuse me?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caiden recoil, his hostility redirected from me to my mother.
“It’s unacceptable,” she repeated. “Even your brother was capable of dressing accordingly.” She waved an elegant hand towards Weston, who wisely kept his mouth shut. I glanced between the two of them. Weston had on a smart pale blue polo shirt, his hair neatly styled, while Caiden wore a faded grey T-shirt, his raven hair a dishevelled mess. My stomach flipped as I looked at him, and I groaned internally. When was my body going to get the memo that he was a complete asshole?
“Sorry, Christine. You don’t get a say in what I wear or what I do.” He stared at her, brows raised challengingly.
She slammed her hand down on the table. My mouth flew open at the sudden display of temper, but Caiden didn’t even flinch.
“I am your stepmother. And while you’re under my roof, you obey my rules. Is that clear?”
He laughed mockingly. “Nice try, Christine. Never gonna happen.”
Arlo returned to the room just as my mother was leaning across the table, preparing to launch another tirade at Caiden. She glanced up at Arlo, and a calculating expression appeared on her face.
“Arlo, darling.” She touched his arm, purring her words. “Don’t you agree that Caiden should dress more appropriately for family meals?”
Arlo glanced over at Caiden. He shrugged. “Whatever you say, my love. You’re the lady of the house and mother to my sons. If you believe he should, then I’ll back you.” Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her knuckle, and she smiled triumphantly at Caiden.
Weston’s head shot up at Arlo’s words, and identical expressions of dismay crossed both his and Caiden’s faces.
“She’s not my mother,” Caiden ground out, so quietly that I wasn’t sure if anyone but me heard him, gripping his knife so tightly his knuckles turned white. Across the table, Weston scrubbed a hand over his face, before sighing and turning to his phone, his lips curved downwards, misery clear in his eyes.
Silence fell. Again.
I picked at my food, pushing it around on my plate, my appetite non-existent.
“Why are you here?” Caiden’s low hiss came as Arlo was engaged in a discussion with my mother, and Weston was ignoring everyone, typing on his phone with one hand while he shovelled food into his mouth with the other.
“I’m here to get to know my mother. Why, do you have a problem with that?” I glared at him.
“Yes, I do.” He lowered his voice even further. “I fucking hate your whore of a mother, and I know you’re just like that evil bitch.”
I gasped, my mouth falling open. “You don’t even know anything about me. How dare you make assumptions?”
“I know enough,” he said darkly. “And I promise you, right here, right now, that I’m going to do everything I can to make your life miserable. I don’t trust you. I don’t want you here. We don’t want you here. Leave, or you will regret it.”
The threat hung heavy in the air between us as I tried to wrap my head around his words.
“Leave? You think you can scare me off?”
“I know I can.” His words were stated as fact, and I felt rage building. I welcomed it, using it to bolster me.
“Do your worst. Because I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere.” I clenched my fists, shaking with anger and staring into his eyes, which had darkened to the colour of the ocean at night, black and fathomless.
“Watch your back, Winter. You’re out of your depth, and you don’t know how to swim in these waters.”
“Big words coming from someone who relies on Daddy’s money to get by.”
“You know nothing,” he spat.
He slammed his fork down on the table and rose to his feet. “Dad, I’ve lost my appetite. I’ll call you in the week.”
His father rolled his eyes. “At least you managed to last through fifteen minutes of the meal this time. That’s an improvement.”
“Whatever. Weston, you coming.” It wasn’t a question.
Weston sighed and rose to his feet. “See you soon, Dad.” Both of them ignored my mother, but Weston sent me a half-smile as he turned to leave. I attempted to smile back.
This family clearly had problems, and I’d somehow ended up in the middle of them. Investigating my dad’s death was going to involve some very careful planning.
We finished the meal in silence, and then Arlo announced he was going to his study to work. My mother turned to me. “You’d better be getting back now, hadn’t you? Don’t your classes begin tomorrow?”
Guess it was time for me to leave. I nodded, keeping my endgame in mind. I needed to stay on my mother’s good side. “Yes, I probably should. Shall we arrange to get together next weekend?”
My mother pursed her lips. “No, next weekend won’t do. I’ll get Arlo to talk to the boys and coordinate our schedules.” She stood, crossing to the doorway, and stared at me expectantly.
“Allan will see you out. It was…nice to catch up.” She swept out of the room, and Allan peered around the door frame. “Miss Huntington? I have your coat.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him, and he gave me a genuine, beaming smile, the first proper one I’d received all evening.
The smile was wiped from my face when I walked around to the driver’s side of my car. Under th
e soft outside lights, I could clearly see the words that had been scratched into my door in deep, angry gouges.
Whore.
THREE
Kinslee led me over to the large grey stone building that housed several lecture halls and classrooms. “There. Do you want to meet at the Student Union building for lunch?” She pointed across the campus, where beyond a grassy square, a long building with huge glass walls, stood.
“Sure. Twelve? If you get there first, save me a seat. I’ll do the same if I’m there first.”
“Sounds good to me.”
I smiled. “Brilliant. See you at lunch.” She turned in the opposite direction, and I headed into the building in front of me to find my lecture hall. I peered at my schedule, trying to work out where I was going.
“Lost?” The low drawl came from my right, and I spun around to see Cassius, one of the Four, leaning against the white painted wall, staring at me.
“Uh… I have to find the Brunswick lecture hall.”
“You’re in luck. I’m headed that way.” He grasped my arm firmly, tugging me along with him.
“Stop manhandling me,” I hissed.
“No can do. I’m under orders from King Caiden.” He laughed mockingly. Guess his boyish good looks hid a sadistic bastard. Great.
“You really call him King Caiden?”
“Nah. Just messing with you. But Caiden has decided you’re not to be trusted, and until he decides what to do, one of the Four will be keeping an eye on you as often as we’re able to.”
“You cannot be serious.” I stopped dead, yanking my arm away from him. My mind was racing. None of this made any sense. What possible reason could they have for watching me? I hadn’t done anything to warrant their attention—I’d only just moved to Alstone.
“What exactly is it you think I’m going to do? And why are you listening to him, anyway? Don’t you have your own mind?” The last thing I needed was someone shadowing my every move. I needed to stay as inconspicuous as possible—to find answers for my dad without attracting unwanted attention.
Meeting his gaze, I stepped closer, gritting my teeth in irritation. “Listen to me. You can tell King Caiden that I don’t want, or need, a stalker. In fact, I’m pretty sure stalking is illegal. Not to mention, creepy as fuck.”
His eyes narrowed at me. “You’re new here, so I’ll let your comments slide. This time. But you need to get one thing through your pretty little head. At Alstone, our word is law. Do not attempt to defy us, or you will regret the day you ever set foot on this campus.”
I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing. What a sanctimonious prick! These boys had a serious case of self-entitlement.
“I don’t think it matters. Caiden already threatened me last night.”
The contempt in his gaze lessened as he frowned at me. “What?”
“Oh, didn’t Caiden tell you? We had a lovely dinner with his brother and our parents.” I spat the words out. “And I had an even lovelier surprise when I left and found what he’d left on my car.”
“What?” Cassius’ frown deepened.
“He’d scratched the word ‘whore’ into my door. Nice and deep, too, so I can’t get it buffed out, or whatever the hell they do to remove scratches in the paintwork.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he murmured, almost to himself. “I wasn’t totally on board with his plan to begin—” He clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head.
Hmm. Interesting. Was he about to say something he shouldn’t have—something I could use to my advantage? Maybe the Four weren’t as close as my initial impressions had led me to believe.
“Come on. Let’s get to the lecture. We don’t want to be late.” He gripped my arm, more gently than before, and I sighed.
“I’m coming. There’s no need to hold on to me, you know. I’m quite capable of walking on my own.”
“Okay.” He dropped my arm, and I rubbed it.
“You do realise that’ll leave a bruise? You really need to be more careful.”
He stared at my arm, and, to my surprise, a remorseful expression crossed his face. “Sorry,” he muttered, leading me down a long corridor and pushing open a large door. “After you.”
We entered the lecture hall, which had tiered seating, the seats around two-thirds full. I climbed the stairs to the top, preferring to sit near the back. I slumped down into an empty seat, and Cassius swung his large body into the chair next to mine. The seats were close together, and he was huge. Our legs were touching, and I won’t lie, I kind of liked it. I mean, yeah, he was Caiden’s friend, and Caiden had decided to make me public enemy number one, but he was sexy. As were his asshole friends.
An idea hit me, and I chewed my lip, deep in thought. Maybe Caiden’s orders to keep an eye on me, despite being completely ridiculous, could work in my favour. Since it was clear that the Four were the kings of campus, it made sense that they would be the most likely to have information out of anyone at the university. And if they were insisting on shadowing me, maybe I could use that to my advantage. If I could get one of them to drop their guard, they might have answers for me. Something, anything, no matter how small, that could help me put the pieces of the puzzle together, to find out what had happened to my dad.
Mind made up, I studied Cassius, noting the way his shirt stretched across his muscles as he leaned back in his seat, raking his hand through his hair. Getting closer to him wouldn’t be a chore, at all.
“See something you like?” he smirked, noticing me checking him out.
“Maybe.”
“You’re easy on the eyes, too, sweetheart. Shame Caiden has decreed you off limits.”
What the fuck?
Oh, I said that aloud.
“Yeah. None of us are allowed to touch you.” He sighed sadly. “Such a waste.”
“But why?”
He shrugged. “You’ll have to speak to him about that.”
Like that would happen. “Right. I know he hates my mother, but I can’t work out why or what that has to do with me.”
“I know why he hates your mother, and I can understand why he hates you.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Kind of, anyway. It’s not my place to say. And if he wants me to stop being friendly around you, I’m afraid that I’ll have to comply. My boys come first, always.”
“Stop being friendly? I must have missed the part where you started being friendly with me.”
“I just complimented your looks, didn’t I?”
I huffed and turned away from him, busying myself with getting my laptop from my bag in preparation to take notes. I was already in a bad mood, and the morning had barely begun.
Cassius didn’t speak to me for the rest of the lecture, and I was glad of that. Somehow, I managed to concentrate on what the lecturer was saying. As soon as it was over, I shoved my laptop into my large messenger bag and stepped over Cassius’ legs, ready to hightail it out of there.
“Not so fast.” Rising out of his seat, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back against him. He held me in place, bending his head to speak into my ear. “Walk with me.” I shivered involuntarily at his proximity. It was nothing like the way my body had reacted to the asshole Caiden, but it still reacted. And he noticed.
“You smell good enough to eat.” He leaned even closer, trailing his nose down my cheek, and my breath hitched.
He suddenly released me without warning, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Caiden would kill me if I did anything with you.”
I stayed silent, my head spinning. What had I ended up being involved in? I hadn’t anticipated anything like this at all when I’d made my plans to come here to investigate my dad’s unexplained death.
The best thing to do was to keep my head down and stay focused on my goals. I only had two: find out what had happened to my dad, and get my degree. Then I was getting as far away from Alstone as I could.
Mind made up, I walked slowly down the steps, Cassius a silent presence next to me. Several girls tried to get his attention
, waving and calling his name, but other than giving a few of them blinding smiles and others salacious winks, he shook the attention off and didn’t pause in his stride.
We crossed the large square of grass to the Student Union building, and he left me at the door.
“I’ll see you around.”
“I thought you needed to keep an eye on me?”
“You can’t get into any trouble here. I’ll see you soon.” He raised his hand in a wave and jogged away from me.
Shaking my head, I went to walk into the SU but realised I was almost an hour early to meet Kinslee. I glanced around me. Ah. The library. I headed over to the tall modern structure, which somehow fit in with the old stone buildings, even though it was completely different in design. The doors swooshed open gently as I neared the entrance, students hurrying past me in both directions. I entered the large, cool foyer and swiped my student ID card to get into the library itself.
Once inside, I found myself immediately relaxing. There was something about a library that always made me feel so at home. Maybe it was because I’d spent countless hours in libraries with my dad. Being a professor, his entire life had involved being surrounded by books. I had vivid memories of being left in a cosy corner of a library, a pile of books in front of me, while he lost himself in hours of research.
I spent the next half an hour familiarising myself with the layout of the library and decided the top floor was my favourite. It was so quiet up here—most students seemed to be staying on the busier lower levels, and I could see over the entire campus all the way to my apartment building from the floor-to-ceiling windows that spanned one wall.
When it neared twelve o’clock, I made my way into the SU, stopping for a moment to check the sign-up lists for the university clubs and societies. As Alstone was a small specialist business school, there wasn’t a huge range of choices, but I noticed a couple that caught my eye, and I snapped some photos with my phone camera so I could look at them in more detail once I was back at the apartment.
Making my way into the large cafeteria, I scanned the room for Kinslee but couldn’t see her anywhere. I grabbed a tray and loaded it up with a plate of lasagne, salad, and a bottle of water. I spied an empty table in front of the windows and quickly walked over to it before someone else could get there first.