by Becca Steele
I passed him the folder, and a few minutes later we were looking at the scribbled notes. “See, there’s the first date, and that corresponds with his first trip here.”
Underneath the date, it said:
CC MTG MAN. ALS HLDS. PLANNING?
There were other words and dates.
TRANSACTION. ILLEGAL???
DEAL WORTH ££££££
TRANSACTIONS ONGOING. WHAT??
CC PLANNING. TRANSPORTING MERCH.
The paper had a few water spots, and thanks to my dad’s penchant for making all his notes with a fountain pen, a couple of the words were difficult to make out, but the Four came to the same conclusion I had—that the words were Arlo and possibly Davis.
AR(letter missing)O (letter missing)AVIS. TUES NIGHTS.
Underneath the final date, the date he’d sent me the text, there was a woman’s name and a sentence that still sent shivers down my spine.
ANDROMEDA. CC KNOWS I KNOW.
“I know it’s not much to go on, but putting together the notes with the picture of my mother and the printouts, plus the way he’d been acting, and the text…it seemed too big a coincidence. Maybe I’m just grasping at straws, but I owe it to my dad to get to the bottom of it. He was obviously concerned enough to make a file.”
Caiden straightened up, removing his hand from the back of my neck. “I think we have something here. We’ve had suspicions about your mother for a while. We haven’t done much, mostly background checks, watching her where we could on the security feeds, having her followed on occasion.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Clearly the wrong occasions since we missed all this shit. Oh, yeah, and we knew about you and your dad, and we kept a basic file on you both.”
“A file on us?”
“Standard procedure for any person who becomes involved in Alstone Holdings. They do a background check, investigate their relationships, criminal records check, and so forth. West here has worked out how to bypass their security systems, so he was able to get hold of copies of all their checks.”
“So you found something that made you suspicious?”
“Not in the checks, no. It’s her shady as fuck behaviour. The way she wormed her way into dad’s life, and…” Caiden’s voice trailed off as he glanced at Weston. “Just the way she works people. She gets them wrapped around her little finger, and she’s managed to go from a disowned school dropout to the wife of one of the most powerful men in the country and a shareholder in Alstone Holdings. None of the four of us trust her, and we won’t make the mistake of underestimating her.”
“I see. I guess that makes sense.” I held his gaze. “The file wasn’t the only thing you had on me, was it?”
“No.” His eyes flicked between the others, and Zayde gave an almost imperceptible nod. “We’ve been watching you. On and off.”
“Yeah, that was pretty obvious, from the way you shadowed me all the time.” I rolled my eyes. “Other times, too, though?”
Caiden nodded. I’d gathered as much, from what Cassius had mentioned before, but I was glad he’d actually admitted it. I decided not to mention that I was more than a little pissed off with their invasion of my privacy. They didn’t know me when I’d first arrived, and to be honest, I’d have been suspicious of me if I was in their position.
“Also,” West added, leaning forwards in his chair and placing his hand over mine, “we got a code blue notification when your dad died. The day after, if you wanna be precise.”
“Code blue? Huh?” I stared at him.
“Yeah.” He removed his hand from mine and tapped on the computer screen, indicating a small icon in the bottom corner. “If any kind of serious issue happens relating to anyone either involved in, or related to someone in Alstone Holdings, they have an alert system so the other board members can be notified. Since I can access their systems, I have a connection to that, too, and that got sent out as a code blue alert at the time. Because we knew he’d met with your mother—we didn’t know he was investigating her, but we knew he’d been up here—and because you happened to be away at the time it happened, we weren’t sure what was going on. Whether you were involved or if it was just an accident.”
I was starting to get a clearer picture of the situation, and I was now almost positive that she was somehow involved in my dad’s death. At the very least, she was planning or already involved in something shady, and that deserved to be investigated.
“You know what, I bet he had a load of stuff on his computer. Like, proper evidence. Everything was destroyed in the explosion, though.”
“What about his work computer?”
“Nothing. Or if there was something, the hard drive was wiped, but I don’t think he would have risked storing anything on there. We’re lucky that we even have this file.”
“Let’s go through the other notes and write them out.” Weston brought up the document where he’d started making the to-do list.
“Well, CC has to be Christine Clifford, my mother. Since my dad had the photo, and from what he said in the text to me. So I think the first bit says ‘Christine Clifford. Meeting man. Alstone Holdings. Planning?’ That’s all pretty obvious, right?”
“Yeah.” Zayde agreed, and the others nodded.
“The other notes seem fairly self-explanatory, but we need to know who these people are. Davis, if that’s what it says, and Andromeda.”
“So you think my dad’s meeting or somehow connected with a Davis on Tuesday nights?” Weston mused. “I’ve lost track of his schedule now I don’t live there anymore, but there were plenty of evenings I was home alone.”
“Davis could be a first name or a surname,” Cassius interjected. “It might not even be Davis. Could be Mavis. All we can see is the first bit of the letter.”
“Good point. Add it to the document,” I said to Weston.
“And then we have Andromeda. No fucking clue who she is. Or what.” Weston turned to the others. “Anyone?”
“Sounds like a stripper to me.”
“Hey! It’s a lovely name, don’t be rude.” I reached over and smacked Cass’ arm playfully.
“Sorry.” He grinned, clearly not sorry at all.
We brainstormed for another ten minutes or so while Weston finished making all the notes, and we had the beginnings of a list of things to check.
Leaning back in my chair, I rubbed my hand over my face. “Okay. I think I’m done here for now. This is a lot to take in, and I need more sleep. Can we come back to this once we’ve had time to process it all and come up with some ideas?”
“Sounds good to me. I need to go back to bed,” Cass yawned.
I stood and made a point of looking at each one of them in turn. “I just wanted to say thanks to you all for helping with this. I know you have your own reasons, but it means a lot to me.”
“I told you. You’re one of us now.” Cassius winked at me, and I smiled.
“Yeah. Right, I’m going to head back to my place. Do you want me to leave the file?”
“Nah, take it and put it in a safe place. I’ve scanned in everything, anyway, and I’ve saved it to my secure storage. No one else is getting hold of that info.” West handed me the file.
Caiden and Zayde both disappeared without a goodbye while I was talking to Weston, but I shrugged it off. The dynamics of the Four intrigued me, so much. Weston and Cassius, making me feel welcome. Yeah, Cass was probably a little too welcoming…but Caiden and Zayde? Those two were a lot harder to read.
As I drove home, my mind raced with all the new information I’d been given this morning. One thing was for sure: I needed to speak to my mother and subtly ask questions, to see if I could find out anything at all that could be of use, no matter how small.
I groaned aloud. No way was I going through that alone. I guess it was time to set up another family dinner, so Caiden and Weston could be involved, too.
Fingers crossed it would go better than the last one.
NINETEEN
I parked in my usual spot
outside my dad’s mansion. As West and I got out of my R8, he nodded at Snowflake’s car.
“You gonna do something about that?”
I stared at her car for a long moment.
“Yeah.”
Pulling out my phone, I checked the time and made a call to my usual garage. “Alright, Joe. It’s Cade. Glad I caught you before you left… Can you fit in a car for a complete respray? A rush job if you can… Yeah…it’s a burgundy Fiat 500. There’s some damage to the driver’s door… Matte black… Yeah. Put it on my account. Cheers, mate. Appreciate it.” I ended the call and turned to my brother. “Done. Booked in for eight a.m. on Tuesday. It’ll be in for at least a week, so you might want to break the news to her. Can you get hold of her keys?”
“Matte black?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Just get the keys, will ya?”
“Alright, alright. No need to bite my head off.” He stomped up the front steps and stopped at the top, waiting for me. “You ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
The game plan we’d agreed with Winter was simple enough. Act nice, no arguments, start some subtle digging. No mentioning the names we’d found written on Winter’s dad’s notes—it was too dangerous. We probably wouldn’t find out much this first visit, which meant we’d have to return. Couldn’t fucking wait.
As well as that—Z, Cass, and I were going to be taking a more active interest in Alstone Holdings, and West, to a lesser extent since he was younger. We were due to receive our shares and take our places on the board once we graduated from university and received our trust funds, so we’d use that reason to gather as much information as we could. We were part of Alstone’s three founding families, after all, and it was about time we took advantage of that. The trip to the hotel was postponed for now, until we could agree on who should go, and when.
Sauntering into the house, we were greeted by Allan, who led us into the formal living room where my dad stood at the window, a tumbler of amber liquid in his hand. Snowflake stood with her back to us, her hair tied up and some kind of tight knee-length black dress that made her ass look amazing. Fuck. Images flashed through my mind—her, kneeling on the bed, ass pushing back onto my cock as I thrust in and out of her tight pussy… I adjusted my dick, trying to act normal, casting around to think of anything to make my hard-on go down. I glanced up—reluctantly—and caught my brother’s eye. He frowned at me, nodding his head towards Christine, and just like that, all thoughts of what had happened with Winter disappeared. Her mother was talking to her, a disdainful expression on her face, and I clenched my jaw. Fuck, I hated that woman.
“Evening.” I silently moved behind Winter, and she jumped about a mile as I leaned close to her ear, sliding my arm around her waist. “Remember, we have to act like we can tolerate each other,” I hissed under my breath.
She turned into me and threw her arms around my neck, catching me off guard. “Cade! I’m so happy you could make it,” she announced loudly, then went up on her toes and pulled my head down, whispering into my ear. “Try not to act like an asshole, and we’ll have no problems.”
She stepped away from me quickly, smirking, and threw her arms around Weston with genuine enthusiasm. “Hi. Did you get your grade back for the assignment yet?”
“Yeah, my lecturer was so impressed, he wants me to present it to the rest of the class.” He smiled down at her a little shyly, their arms still round each other. What the fuck was going on?
“That’s great! I’m so proud of you, West. If you need to talk through anything else, I’m always here.”
“Thanks. Couldn’t have done it without you.” He kissed her cheek as he released her.
“What’s going on?” I struggled to keep my voice even, as Christine stared between the three of us curiously.
They both blinked at me as if they’d just remembered that I was there. “Uh, Winter’s been helping me out with some stuff. Remember I told you I have Professor Andrews for one of my modules—he’s the worst at explaining concepts.”
“I see,” I bit out through clenched teeth. What the fuck was wrong with me? I had no reason to be angry at my brother.
He flashed me a knowing grin and turned to Christine, switching on the charm. “Christine. Thank you for hosting us this evening.”
She gave a gracious, completely fake smile. “It’s a pleasure.”
West moved over to greet my dad, and I stared at Christine, swallowing hard, trying to force myself to greet her.
“Cade.” Snowflake put her hand on my arm and squeezed lightly, a warning. She kept her hand where it was as I hissed out a greeting to the bitch.
“Christine.”
“Caiden.” Her tone was as hostile as mine. Fuck. I hated having to play nice with her. I’d managed to ignore her for the most part, these last few years, but ever since Winter had come into the picture I’d been forced to interact with her.
“Cade, show me where the drinks are.” Winter’s grip tightened on my arm, and she tugged insistently.
“The staff will bri—” I stopped speaking as she signalled at me with her eyes. “Fine. Come on, then—Dad keeps the best ones in his office. Fucking hurry up, will you.”
We walked down the hallway, entered my dad’s office, and she closed the door behind her, then stood with her arms folded, staring at me, her eyes narrowed. “Look. I know you don’t want to be here. I know that my mother is fucking awful, and I know you have a problem with me. But can you please get it together? You’re going to ruin this whole evening, otherwise.”
“Fuck.” I slammed my fist into the nearest object. My dad’s solid oak desk. “Fuck!” I shouted again, grabbing my throbbing wrist in my other hand.
“You idiot. What did you do that for?” I glanced at her, and it looked like she was struggling not to smile.
“Are you laughing at me?” My voice turned low, deadly.
A laugh burst out of her, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head. She visibly composed herself and moved closer to me, amusement still dancing in her eyes.
“Let me see.” She lifted my hand and examined the knuckles, lightly running her finger over them, before dropping a light kiss on my clenched fist. I bit down on my lip to stop a groan escaping.
“I think you’ll live,” she announced, letting go of my hand. “Come on, while we’re in here, let’s see if we can find anything.”
“No.” I shook my head, moving closer and tilting my head down to whisper in her ear. “We don’t know what he has in here. There could be cameras, or bugs, or anything.”
She turned to speak into my ear, pulling my head closer. “I didn’t think of that. Sorry. Is…” Her voice trailed off as she took a step closer, our bodies flush with one another.
My control snapped.
I stopped fighting myself.
I gripped her chin and twisted her head so our faces were lined up and slanted my lips over hers.
Fire blazed.
She opened up for me, hungry, demanding, tugging my head closer, pulling at my hair. I slid my hand down from her chin to her throat, feeling her pulse kicking wildly under my hand, and she moaned into my mouth. Reaching my other arm around her, I gripped onto her ass and pulled her even closer, grinding my dick into her.
I barely registered that she was shoving me away, until she was collapsed against the desk, breathing hard, her lips swollen and lust still thick in the air between us. “No. No. We can’t do this. Not here, not now.” Her voice came out hoarse and shaky.
Fuck.
“That—”
“—shouldn’t have happened? Or were you going to say it was a mistake, again? That you don’t want me?” she said bitterly. “Yeah, I know. I know all the lies you tell yourself, that you tell me.”
She straightened up, smoothing her dress down and wiping a hand over her lips as if to scrub our kiss away. “I’m in agreement this time, though. This shouldn’t have happened. It isn’t the time or the place, not just because of the fact we mi
ght be being watched right now, but regardless of where we are, I wish it hadn’t happened, because you just can’t stop lying, to both of us. You’re blowing hot and cold all the fucking time, Cade. You’re messing with my head, and I can’t deal with it anymore.”
I didn’t have anything to say back to her.
She looked at me expectantly, then when the silence between us stretched to breaking point, pushed away from the desk with an angry growl and stalked out of the room.
The rest of the evening went as well as could be expected—i.e. it was awkward as fuck. We ate a strained dinner, Winter avoiding even looking in my direction, West carrying most of the conversation with my dad. I did get my dad to agree to let me start shadowing him in the business, so at least the evening wasn’t a total waste. He was very cagey about Tuesday nights, though, so that line of questioning was a dead end.
By the time we’d finished eating, we’d all reached our limits of patience.
Outside, I got into the car without saying goodbye to Winter but rolled the window down so I could hear her conversation with West.
“You need a new back tyre. Look.” He pointed, crouching next to the wheel arch and shining his phone light onto the wheel. “The tread’s really worn.”
She sighed. “Really? Great, more money to shell out.”
Weston climbed to his feet and glanced over at me, then back at her. “Leave it with me, I can sort it for you. I know a place that does them cheap. Part-worn ones.”
Because it was Weston, and she trusted him, she didn’t even question it. “Thanks, that would be great. Let me know how much I owe you.”
“No problem. I’ll pick the car up early Tuesday morning, is that okay? You can give me your key on Monday at uni if you don’t want to get up early.”
“Yeah, perfect. I don’t think I’ll need to use it that day.”
“Sorted.” They hugged each other, and then he walked around and opened the R8 passenger door. He paused for a moment, leaning across the car roof. “Hey, Winter? You coming to the big bonfire night party next Saturday for Guy Fawkes?”