by Becca Steele
His eyes arrowed straight to mine, and he smirked at my blatant ogling. Sauntering over to me, all sexy, powerful male, he threw himself onto the sofa, kicking up his legs onto the coffee table.
“Fooooood time!” Cassius shouted, making me jump, grabbing the tray of sandwiches and brandishing it in our direction.
Finally, after yet another delay, everyone had eaten, and we could discuss the events of the morning.
Cassius, Zayde, and Weston listened attentively as Caiden and I ran through what had happened at the hotel. Or, more accurately, I ran through the events, while Caiden grew more and more tense next to me as I described my harmless flirting, and the others agreed it had been a genius idea. Cass seemed to find it hilarious that I’d given Caiden the name “Barry,” but after Caiden threatened to punch him in the face, he stopped taunting him. As I described how I’d touched Petr’s hand to get a closer look, on the pretence of admiring his jewellery, Caiden growled under his breath and suddenly tugged me into his lap, putting his arms around my waist and burying his face in my hair.
I froze for a moment, noticing the mixture of surprise and amusement on the boys’ faces.
I knew not to read too much into it. He was just possessive. And jealous, even though he wouldn’t admit it.
It didn’t stop my heart beating faster, though, and those damn butterflies from starting up again.
I finished describing the rest of the morning, minus the part where we ended up parked in a field thanks to Caiden’s display of temper, and forwarded the selfies I’d taken with Petr to Weston’s phone so he could put them into his computer and work his magic on them.
“Never underestimate a woman,” Cassius said, as I trailed off. “I doubt any of us would have been that resourceful.”
“Well, unless he’d been gay, I suppose,” I mused. “Lucky for me, Petr seemed to like what he saw, and that worked in our favour.”
“Course he fucking did,” Caiden muttered in my ear. “He’s got eyes, hasn’t he.”
“Was that a backhanded compliment?” I murmured.
“Take it however you want,” he said dismissively and started tracing tiny patterns across my stomach with his fingers. I shivered at his touch.
“Anyway, back to business,” Cassius instructed, spreading out a printed map on the table in front of us, with several highlighted squares, and ran his finger across it. “Alstone Holdings offices.” His finger trailed lazily across the paper to a square marked on the coastline. “Then the docks, where some of the construction shipments come in. They’re only small.”
He tapped an area marked out on the map, almost directly between Alstone itself and the next town marked on the map, which happened to be Highnam, where Cade and I had been earlier.
“That’s the warehouses, where most of Alstone Holdings’ construction materials are stored, before they get taken around the country.”
His finger moved to the last marked area. “Final place of interest, and the hardest one to gain entry to.”
“AMC,” Weston told me.
“What? Like the TV channel?” I stared at him.
“Obviously not.” He rolled his eyes. “Alstone Members Club. Aka the boys’ club. No girls allowed.”
“I see.” Visions of rich, misogynistic men smoking cigars and dressed in suits popped into my head. Probably not far from the truth, I’d bet.
“We’re not allowed to officially join until we’re twenty-one,” Cassius said. “But we’ve started working on our dads to try and gain early entry. With my charm, I’m confident I can make it happen.”
“If you say so.” I leaned forwards, as much as I could with Caiden’s arms still wrapped around me, shuffling on his lap to try and find a more comfortable position. “So, what happened?”
Caiden tugged me back and I fell against him. “Stop wriggling,” he hissed in my ear. “You’re making my dick hard.”
“Oh. Shit. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Save it for later, though, when I can do something about it, yeah?”
“Uh, yeah. Okay,” I mumbled, flustered. Now he’d mentioned it, I could feel him pressing into me. I squeezed my legs together, suddenly needy and aching for him, and he groaned into my hair.
“Snowflake.”
Weston turned to me, thankfully either oblivious or choosing to ignore what was going on right in front of him, and I forced myself to stay as still as possible and concentrate on what he was saying. “We split up and covered all the marked areas. Z took the docks and warehouse; me and Cass took AMC plus a quick drive by of the offices.”
“Did you find anything?” Caiden and I both listened intently as the boys took it in turns to describe everything. As it turned out, they hadn’t discovered much. Security at all four locations was high, despite it being a Sunday. It was understandable for the docks and warehouses, since there was always the threat of theft of valuable construction materials. The offices were closed, and there was no way to get in without being security cleared. As for AMC…no chance. Not unless you were a member. Cassius and Weston had even prowled the alleys to try and find a back way in but came up empty-handed.
“We’re not giving up, though,” Caiden reassured me. He moved me off his lap and leaned forwards to grab a blunt from the ashtray in front of him, lighting it and inhaling deeply. He passed it to me, and I took a long drag, relaxing into the sofa.
“I’m gonna run those photos through the software now,” Weston announced. “If I have no luck I’ll have to get in touch with my contact, but that could mean it takes a few days. I’m also waiting on another contact who’s going to hook us up with some amazing tech. Once that’s here, I’ll get everyone together to go through it.” He picked up his phone. “In the meantime, I need everyone to use the app I installed on your phones. It means we can track each other with GPS through a secure connection that only the five of us can access. Can’t be too careful.”
“And I’ll pay a visit to my parents today, work more on getting Dad onside for getting into the club early,” Cassius promised.
Zayde looked at me. “I’m going to meet with an old friend.”
“Are you going to elaborate on that?” I raised a brow.
“He knows people. Shady people.”
“Right.”
Cassius spoke up. “Everyone clear on what’s happening?” No one spoke. “Good. Think we’re done here. I’m off to my parents’, then.” He stood and headed out of the room, Zayde following. I heard the front door slam shut behind them, and I was left with Caiden and Weston.
“I’ll be in the computer room if you need me,” Weston announced, getting to his feet and stretching. He padded out. Just me and Caiden left.
I suddenly felt awkward, remembering Caiden’s earlier comment to Cassius about having plans later today. He was probably waiting for me to leave. “Um… I’m…going to take my bag upstairs and change into something else.”
Practically running out of the lounge, I made my way up the stairs towards the guest room, stopping to grab my bag, which I’d left in the hallway.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I turned in the doorway of the guest room at Caiden’s voice.
“I thought you said this morning you had other plans for later.”
He took a step closer. “Yeah. I do. Your mouth, and my dick, Snowflake.”
“Caiden!” My cheeks heated.
He smirked at me, his usually stormy eyes gleaming with amusement. “I seem to remember you saying yesterday, and I quote, ‘I really want to suck your cock.’”
Oh, yeah. I did say that.
“And you owe me. Big time.”
“For what?”
“Earlier. The hotel.” He flashed me a savage grin, and I gulped, suddenly nervous.
“Uh…”
He took another step towards me. Then another.
Then he lunged for me. I squealed and darted into the room, dropping my bag and slamming the door in his face.
He kicke
d the door open with a loud crash and prowled towards me with intent, and I raced around the bed.
“Why are you running from me?” His voice was curious, his lips tipped up at the corners.
Fuck, he was sexy.
“Because it’s fun?” I shrugged, a smile curving over my own lips.
“You can’t escape, you know.”
He vaulted onto the bed and over the other side, scooping me up in his arms. I put up a token struggle, but I couldn’t really resist him.
I clasped my arms around his neck as he carried me out of the guest room and into his bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot. He laid me on the bed, and I kept hold of his neck, trying to tug him down with me.
“Oh, you want me now, do you?” he drawled.
I responded by wrapping my legs around his hips to drag him down on top of me. “Less talking, more sex, please.”
He was totally on board with that plan.
TWENTY-FIVE
I woke to an empty bed. Padding into the guest room, I stood under the shower until I felt human again, letting the hot water soothe my sore, aching muscles. Not that I could soothe the ache between my legs. I shivered. The things I’d done with Caiden yesterday. His tongue…his fingers…oh, and his dick…
Focus.
I had a plan for today. After my morning classes, I had the rest of the day free thanks to a cancelled afternoon lecture, and I was going to use it to meet my mother, if I could persuade the others to help me out.
First things first. I had to call her.
“Winter? Why are you calling so early?” was her greeting.
“Mother. Are you free this afternoon? I thought we could meet for coffee.”
I heard her sigh heavily. “I am going to be in Alstone this afternoon, so I suppose we could meet. Do you know the Wilson Lounge?”
“No, but I’m sure I can find it.”
“Meet me there at two thirty, sharp. Dress smartly, Winter. It’s an upmarket establishment, not a student hovel.”
Ha. Had she even seen Alstone College? “Yes, okay. See you then.”
“Goodbye.” She ended the call before I could say anything else.
Step one complete. Next step, see if someone could drop me in Alstone. I couldn’t wait to get my car back so I could stop relying on others to take me everywhere.
“Cass, can you do me a favour?” I eyed him hopefully over my bowl of cereal as I sat at the kitchen island. We had a lecture together first thing, so he was driving me to university. Apparently, Cade and Z had gone to the gym. Why, when they had an amazing gym in their basement, I had no clue. “Could you drop me in Alstone town later? I’m meeting my mother. I want to try and get her to talk to me about my dad.”
He rose from his seat and came around the island, giving me a quick one-arm hug and dropping a kiss on my head on his way to the dishwasher. “Yeah, course. What time?”
“Two thirty. Actually, better make it a bit earlier so she doesn’t complain about me being late.”
“Will do. Come on, we’d better get going, or we’ll be late.” I followed him into the hallway, grabbing my bag, and he shouted for West. He came running down the stairs, and together we headed out.
“Winter?” West leaned forwards from the back seat of the car, and I twisted around to look at him. “I couldn’t get any matches for those photos of Petr. I’ve forwarded them on to my contact to see if he can come up with anything.”
“Shame. Thanks, though.” My face must’ve fallen, because he squeezed my shoulder comfortingly.
“Don’t worry. If anyone can dig up info on this guy, Mercury can.”
“Mercury? What kind of name is that?”
“Code name,” Cass informed me.
Of course. I rolled my eyes.
“This isn’t just for fun,” West told me. “It’s way too dangerous for us to give our real names online. We have a policy to never reveal anything about ourselves.”
“Oh.” That actually made sense. “Are you sure we can trust him with this?”
“Positive. He’s always come through for us before. He won’t let us down.”
His voice was confident, certain, and I relaxed at his words. At the moment, it felt like all we had were a few random puzzle pieces, but hopefully, once we had some info on Petr, we could start putting the pieces together.
Later, sitting in our morning lecture, Cassius leaned over and told me in a low voice about his successful dinner with his parents the previous night—how his dad had seemed receptive to the idea of letting the Four join the Alstone Members Club early, after Cass had pointed out that they were technically adults, and some shit about it being good for networking and male bonding or whatever.
We were making our way out of the lecture hall when the TA, Joseph, who insisted on students addressing him by his first name, pulled me to one side. “Winter, can I have a quick word?”
I nodded and told Cassius I’d meet him later, then followed Joseph to the desk, where our professor was gathering his jacket and laptop bag. He smiled at me, clapped Joseph on the shoulder, and left the room.
Once he’d disappeared from view, Joseph turned to me. “I’m concerned, Winter.” His eyes narrowed as he studied me. “I noticed you whispering with Mr. Drummond instead of paying attention to the lecture. You’re a strong student—I don’t want the bad influence of Mr. Drummond and his little crew of degenerates to be responsible for your grades dropping.”
What? The words came tumbling out of my mouth in an angry rush. “Look. I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention today, but my grades are consistently high, and you know that. What’s more, Cassius’ are even higher than mine. When you’ve got a valid concern, speak to me then, but don’t try and insinuate that there’s an issue with my grades when we both know there isn’t one. And”—my voice rose—“how dare you call his friends degenerates? Do you realise I could report you for slander? I don’t think the dean would take too kindly to one of his star PhD students speaking like that about other students.”
He gaped at me, then straightened up. “I think we’re finished here,” he said stiffly.
What was his problem? Asshole.
I turned on my heel and left without another word, almost running straight into Cassius, who was lurking just outside the doorway.
Oh, no. “I thought you’d left. Did you hear that?”
He stared down at me, his eyes wide and serious. “Yeah. You defended us.” His voice was full of wonder.
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t let anyone speak like that about any of you.”
He suddenly reached out and pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head, before releasing me. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Cass.” I watched him jog away from me, then, shaking off the TA’s weird behaviour, I focused on the task at hand.
After going back to my apartment to change into a black wool dress, thick tights, and flat black ankle boots, and wolfing down a quick lunch, I met Cass, and he dropped me in the centre of Alstone outside an elegant white building with a pillared entrance and a smart black door, which was open. “The Wilson Lounge” was engraved in a small plaque next to the door, above an old-fashioned brass doorbell.
Inside I was greeted by a hostess in a crisp white shirt and black skirt, who led me to a small round table covered in a white cloth, next to a tall sash window. As I sat down to wait for my mother, my phone vibrated, Weston’s name flashing across the screen.
West: Just heard from the garage. Your car’s delayed by another day. Sorry.
Me: It’s OK. It’s not your fault. I can wait an extra day.
West: You’ve got more patience than me.
Me: Says the person who’s been waiting over 6 months for his dream car.
West: *laughing emoji* True. Some things are worth the wait.
A throat cleared, and my nose was hit by a waft of expensive floral perfume. I dragged my gaze upwards to see my mother eyeing me with disapproval.
; Me: Got to go.
I stood and greeted her, both of us with forced politeness—my mother, constantly aware of the presence and hushed conversation of those around us, her eyes darting around the room, and me, because I needed to dig for information.
After we’d ordered coffees, she leaned forwards in her chair, clasping her hands together on top of the tablecloth.
“Did you have a reason for wanting to meet with me today?”
I made a snap decision to go with a direct approach.
“I just wanted to ask you when you last saw my dad.” I kept an innocent, bland expression on my face as I continued. “He was going to visit you the day I left for university, wasn’t he? I’m sure that’s what he’d planned to do, anyway.”
“I don’t recall the last time I saw him. Not since I married Arlo.” Her eyes met mine, glacial and completely devoid of emotion.
Lies.
I knew she’d met my dad—because he’d sent me the text to say so. He had no reason to lie to me, and the only reason she’d be lying right now is if she had something to hide.
Dredging up every bit of self-control I could, I kept my voice even and my posture relaxed. “Did you ever hear anything from him?”
“Winter. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him for a very long time. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but your father and I didn’t part on the best of terms, and our relationship never recovered.”
We were interrupted by the waitress with our coffees, and my mother jumped on the chance to change the subject.
“I’ve been meaning to speak with you regarding your relationship with your stepbrother.” She pursed her lips disapprovingly as she stared at me.
“Which one?”
“The eldest. Caiden,” she said, as if I wasn’t aware of who she was talking about. “I’ve heard some distasteful rumours that there may be something going on between the two of you. I want you to keep your distance. I shouldn’t have to remind you, but he’s your stepbrother. And, my dear, that boy is nothing but trouble.”
I bristled. “Really? In what way is he trouble, exactly? Please, enlighten me.” Shut up shut up shut up. Why was I provoking her?