by Becca Steele
“Um…sorry. I need a minute.”
“Winter.” Weston slid down off the arm of the sofa, squashing up next to me, and pulled me into his arms. I curled into him, and he stroked my hair, Cass gripping my hand.
I breathed deeply, gathering myself, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of Caiden’s hoodie. “Okay. Let me get the rest of this out. It was the day I left for university. Dad drove me there and I’d waved him off, and I guess he decided to take a detour to Alstone on his way home. He…he sent me a text, when I was just falling asleep. It was the last time I heard from him.”
I swallowed hard, fumbling in my pocket for my phone and handing it to Weston with a shaking hand. The tears obscured my vision, and I buried my face in his chest as he read out the text.
“Winter. Just left your mother. I have something important I need to speak to you about. I’ll call you tomorrow morning and update you. Hope you’re settling in well. Love you.”
“The next day I got a visit from a police officer,” I sobbed, “and-and she said there had been an accident.” The memory that I’d managed to keep buried for the past few months tore through my mind, and I curled myself up into a tight ball, huddling into Weston as I broke apart all over again.
I sat, numb, as the police officer told me that there had been a “catastrophic gas leak,” which had caused my entire home to explode, with my dad inside. The fire service was going to investigate, but it was thought to be a freak accident. I couldn’t care less about the fact the house was gone. Never mind that it had been my home for the past thirteen years and everything from my childhood was blown to smithereens. My dad was gone.
“Miss Huntington? Are you okay? Is there anyone I can call?” The female detective placed a gentle hand on my arm, her soft brown eyes full of concern.
I swallowed hard, darting my tongue out to moisten my dry lips. “N-no. Thank you.”
She remained unconvinced but let out a heavy sigh and rose to her feet. “Here’s my card. Please don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything at all.” She flicked her eyes to the male officer with her, and he gave a tiny nod. As one, they headed towards the door. She paused, turning back to me. “I mean that. Anything at all. We’re here to help.”
“Thanks.” My voice came out as a hoarse whisper.
Then they were gone, and I was alone. I felt the bile rise in my throat, and I stumbled over to my wastepaper basket, retching until my throat was so raw from stomach acid that I was coughing up blood and tears were streaming down my face.
Curling into a ball on my bed, I succumbed to the sorrow that was pulling me under, sobbing until there were no tears left to cry, and the darkness swallowed me whole.
“A few weeks later, after they’d officially ruled that his death was an accident, I received a box, addressed to me. The return address was the university my dad worked at. I opened it to find a note on the top from one of my dad’s colleagues, saying he’d packed up the stuff from his work office, and all his personal effects were in the box. He thought I might like to have them.” My voice broke again as fresh tears streaked down my face, remembering opening the items, carefully packaged in bubble wrap. The first thing I’d unwrapped had been a framed photo of the two of us, taken one summer when I was around ten years old, sitting on the beach eating ice cream. It was his favourite photo of us. There had been other things that had sentimental value to him—his crystal ball with a 3D model of the solar system suspended inside, that I’d given him for Christmas, his favourite heat changing mug, and a bunch of star charts and diagrams of constellations he’d had on his walls.
I cleared my throat, swiping the tears away. “Sorry. Um…underneath the other stuff, there was a manila file, that just said ‘Personal’ on the front. I opened it up, and there was a load of scribbled notes, most of which don’t make any sense to me, some printouts about Alstone Holdings, and a photo of my mother.”
“Do you have the file?” Cassius interrupted before I could continue.
“Not here. It’s in a safe place.”
“What do the notes say?”
“They’re mostly just words or really short sentences and dates. I realised that the first dated note corresponded with that first day my dad went to Alstone and started acting all weird, and all the dates match with the times he went to Alstone. I’ll get the file to show you when I can, but it set off alarm bells, and from what I can make out, he thinks my mother is…planning something that’s quite possibly illegal, and dangerous, and worth a lot of money. And somehow Alstone Holdings is mixed up in it, maybe even behind it.”
“Babe, you need to get that file to us. With our knowledge, we might be able to work it out.” Cassius stared at me, his gaze serious.
“I know, and I will. Thanks, Cass. I’ve been feeling so alone,” I whimpered, my voice hoarse and my throat raw from crying. “I want to get justice for my dad, but I didn’t even know where to start. And then last night I find out that you think I’ve been working with my mother, the person who I believe might have had something to do with his death…”
“No, Winter.” Zayde’s voice, firm and steady, had my head shooting up. I’d never heard that tone from him before, not directed at me, anyway. He held my gaze, a flicker of remorse in his eyes. “We were wrong.” He nodded at Cassius, who continued.
“Yeah. Look. We had our suspicions about your mother, and your dad, for that matter, because we knew she’d had contact with him. And then there was you… Anyway, now isn’t the time or place to go into details, but we’d heard about your dad, and it seemed suspicious that you’d left home the same day it happened, and then West found out you’d been in contact with your mother.”
“That’s because I needed to get closer to her so I could come here to investigate!”
“We know that now. As soon as you told me last night why you were here, I was sure of it. You know, West and I have believed you’re most likely innocent for a while now, but it took these two dicks a while to catch up.” He jabbed a finger at Zayde and Caiden, who, while I was talking, had left the sofa and was crouched on the floor next to Zayde’s chair, facing me, his expression shuttered.
“There’s no way you were putting on an act just now. No one can act that convincingly,” Cassius continued.
“You’re not alone anymore.” Weston kissed the top of my head. “You have me. I’m appointing myself as your official brother now.”
“And me. Not the brother part, but we’re now officially friends. Maybe even fuck buddies.” Cassius nudged me, and I laughed, feeling like a weight had been lifted.
“I don’t think you could handle me, Cass. But thanks. And thanks, West. I’d really like that.”
“I could handle you. I’m very good with my hands. And did I mention the size of my di—”
“Shut the fuck up.” Caiden finally spoke. “No one wants to hear about your dick.”
“Rude,” Cassius muttered, but he was grinning.
“We’ll help you, and in return, you help us,” Zayde told me, and I nodded.
“Sounds fair.”
“Cade?”
Everyone looked at him as he got to his feet, crossing his arms across his impressive chest and staring down at me. “One thing straight, Snowflake. This doesn’t mean I like you. I don’t. Don’t expect us to be friends. But the Four will have your back, and we expect you to have ours. Understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Sorry, what the fuck did you just say?” His eyes narrowed.
“I said. Yes. Your. Highness.” I enunciated each word clearly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cassius collapse back on the sofa, laughing.
“I’m so glad I was here when you said that. His face!” He succumbed to hysterics again, and Caiden shot a look of pure ice at us both.
I shook my head at Cassius. “I really don’t know what was so funny about that, but as long as I’ve amused you, I guess.”
Finally, he managed to calm himself and lumbered to his feet, pull
ing me up with him. “Now you’re one of us, let’s forget all the heavy stuff for now. I’m gonna cheer you up by showing you around our house properly.”
I followed him out the door as he mumbled something about a hot tub, leaving Caiden standing there, his arms still folded and his brows pulled together in a frown, staring after me.
FIFTEEN
“Afternoon! You’re back later than I thought you’d be.” Kinslee looked up from her laptop screen. She’d covered our kitchen table with books, papers, and her laptop.
“Busy? Want a cuppa?” She nodded, turning back to her screen, and I dumped my bag in my room, then filled the kettle with water and set it to boil. “In answer to your comment, I had brunch with the Four before I came here.”
Pulling out two mugs from the cupboard, I waited for Kinslee’s brain to catch up with my words. I heard a sharp intake of breath, then a loud screech, and I turned around, grinning at the shock on her face.
“You what? You had brunch with the Four? How did that happen? What’s going on? Are you friends with them now? Wait, are you fucking one of them? Or all of them?”
“Slow down,” I laughed. “Let me finish making our tea and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Sitting at the kitchen table, my hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea, I gave her a rundown of the situation, minus the parts about my dad and my suspicions about my mother. Her eyes grew round and her mouth dropped open, and she peppered my story with her interruptions.
“The Four in suits, with those tattoos underneath? I would have come on the spot!”
“Dog fighting? That’s barbaric!”
“You kissed Caiden Cavendish?”
“You’re so lucky. If I’d slept with Cassius, I would’ve made the most of it.”
“I want to be dickmatized by that boy.”
“Zayde. Cooked. You. Brunch. Zayde, possibly the sexiest, but definitely the scariest man I’ve ever seen in my life. He can cook? Fuck me sideways.”
“So you’re all best mates now?”
I finished recounting what had happened with a shake of my head. “Not exactly. Caiden explicitly stated that we weren’t friends and he didn’t like me. The others? I’m not completely sure, to be honest. I still get the feeling that they’re just waiting to catch me doing something bad. But I think they’re thawing out. I hope so, anyway. And because the others have said they’ve accepted me now or whatever, whether they mean it or not, Caiden’s going along with them.”
“You need to have hate sex with him. So hot.” She fanned herself dramatically.
“No thanks. Yeah, he’s sexy, and from what I could feel of his dick when I was grinding all over him last night, it’s biiiiig. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that, one, he’s not interested, and, two, he’s an asshole, and he proved that again to me this morning with his comments to me. If the Four are the kings of Alstone College, he’s King Asshole.”
“True. But I still think you should. Have you even slept with anyone since James?”
I shook my head. “I—”
“Whose hoodie is that?” Kinslee interrupted me, jabbing an accusing finger at me.
“Uh. It’s Caiden’s.” I could feel my cheeks heating as she raised an eyebrow at me.
“Oh, I see. And how, pray tell, did you end up wearing it?”
“I was cold, so he let me borrow it.”
“Uh-huh. Right.” She gave me a knowing look over the top of her mug. “Let me guess. Was he wearing it at the time?”
“Maybe. Anyway, can we please stop talking about him now?”
Kinslee huffed but relented. “Come on. Help me brainstorm for my assignment. It’s enough to take anyone’s mind off their problems.”
“Go on, then.”
The next day I struggled through my university lectures, not really able to concentrate. The weekend’s events kept playing on my mind. After my lectures ended, I headed to the library, knowing I needed to at least attempt to work on the assignment that was due at the end of the week.
There were a few students around, but most had left campus for the day now that classes were over. I reached the back row of the stacks and stopped, taking a moment to look out of the window. From my vantage point on the top floor, I could see lights flicker on all over the campus, as the sky began to darken with the setting sun.
As I added another book to the teetering pile on the table I’d commandeered, I turned around to see a small group enter through the electronic sliding doors.
Ocean eyes arrowed straight to mine. Caiden looked almost angry to see me. Shocker. I squared my shoulders and approached the table where he was now lounging with Cassius and a couple of girls.
Cassius’ face broke into an easy grin when he saw me standing there. “Hey, babe. I was just talking about you. You up for a party at our place on Friday? Just a small gathering. You can bring Kinslee if you want—tell her to wear something short and tight.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes to the party, and I’ll ask Kinslee, but it’s a hard no for asking her to wear something short and tight.” I thought for a moment. “Although knowing her, there’s a good chance she’ll be wearing something along those lines anyway.”
“Why are you inviting her? That’s scraping the barrel, Cassius.”
Bitch. I took a good look at the blonde girl who was sulkily pouting at Cassius like a petulant child.
I made my voice syrupy sweet. “Aww, sorry, hon, didn’t you hear? Cass is my BFF. And maybe more—who knows what might happen.” I smiled widely and slid onto his lap, both to piss her off and to see what Caiden’s reaction would be. I knew Cass would play along, shit stirrer that he was.
Cassius chuckled in my ear and put his arms around me. “She’s right. Winter here is not only a very good friend of mine, but I’m working on us becoming very, very good friends, if you catch my drift.” The blonde girl looked genuinely shocked, her mouth falling open, and I laughed to myself, stealing a glance at Caiden. He was acting like I wasn’t even there, his attention on the other girl, but I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw, and his posture was tense and rigid. In some small way, I managed to affect him, as much as he clearly disliked it.
“Anyway, it’s been a pleasure, but I have work to do. Call me later, babe.” I jumped up from Cassius, and he blew me a kiss as I walked off, grinning.
I looked up from my laptop about an hour later and noticed it was fully dark outside. Cassius and the girls had long gone, but Caiden was still sitting at the same table, staring at his laptop and every now and then running a hand agitatedly through his dark, messy hair. I saw him let out a breath and rub his hand tiredly over his face, before he shut his laptop lid with a bang and stood up to leave. I should do the same.
Gathering up my pile of books, I headed for the stacks to place them back where they belonged. I spun around the corner and collided with a solid body, books raining down onto the floor, and all the air was knocked out of me.
Flustered and winded, I raised my head to see Caiden standing there. He still had that same dark stormy look on his face. Fuck.
I licked my lips, suddenly feeling parched.
His eyes flashed, and he bent his head towards mine. Grabbing the back of my neck roughly, he slanted his lips on to mine in a hard, angry kiss. My arms reached up of their own accord, tugging on his hair and drawing him closer. Pressing his chest into mine, he pushed me into the stacks, and I distantly heard books crashing to the floor, but I was too caught up in him to care. He set me on fire, and I was burning up.
He moved his hand from the back of my neck to lightly grip my throat, biting at my bottom lip. I moaned and scraped my nails down his back, making him shiver.
Abruptly, he wrenched away from me. Breathing hard, we stared at one another, the mixture of confusion and lust that he seemed to spark in me making my head spin.
“Caiden, what the fuck is going on? Is this a game to you or something?”
“That shouldn’t have happened.” He turned on h
is heel.
“You don’t just get to walk away from me like that!” I grabbed his arm, spinning him back round to face me, seriously pissed off.
“Leave me alone,” he gritted out. “I want you to stay the fuck away from me.” He shook my hand off his arm as if I’d branded him.
“Fuck you, Cade. You’re the one who keeps instigating the kisses!” He. Was. So. Infuriating. How dare he act like that? He was the one who had kissed me first, both times. And yet he claimed to hate me. “Do you know what I just realised?” I got all up in his face, practically breathing fire. “I. Don’t. Like. You. At all. I want you to stay the fuck away from me.”
“Good. Fine.”
“Fine!” I stormed off, uncaring that I’d left books scattered all over the floor. King Asshole could pick them up.
Men.
SIXTEEN
Tuesday, Cassius leaned over during a long, tedious economics lecture and asked if I could bring the file with me to their party and stay over so we could go through it at the weekend.
Wednesday, I skipped my afternoon classes and drove to the locker I rented at an out-of-town storage unit around ninety minutes’ drive away from Alstone and retrieved the file.
Thursday, I was feeling overwhelmed with everything, and I rode my borrowed bike to the castle ruins, where I spent a couple of hours trying to untangle my thoughts. Something about the fact the ruins had been standing there for hundreds of years, plus the sound of the sea against the cliffs, soothed me like nothing else.
Friday was the party…
Strolling up the pathway, arm in arm with Kinslee, my overnight bag slung across my shoulder, I had a strong sense of déjà vu. We’d turned up slightly early so I could get settled in and talk to the boys without the others being there.