by Becca Steele
She delicately sipped her coffee and threw me a disdainful glance. “Don’t insult my intelligence by playing stupid, dear. He’s rotten to the core. In and out of trouble ever since he was a child. It’s no wonder his mother took her own life, with a son like that.”
What. The. Fuck.
I reeled back, stunned, suddenly short of breath. There was a loud ringing in my ears, and spots danced in front of my eyes.
“Winter! Winter!” I blinked, the room coming back into focus as my mother’s face appeared in front of me. “You’re causing a scene,” she hissed.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. I wiped my sweating palms on my napkin and tried my best to get my erratic breathing under control. Swallowing hard, I met her gaze. “What did you say about his mother?”
“She took her own life.”
My heart lurched in my chest. “That’s awful. I’m so—”
“Coward.”
“Excuse me?”
“She was a coward.”
“Tell me you did not just say that!” My mouth dropped open in shock. “How fucking dare you call her a coward! She must have really needed help, help that she never got, to feel that was her only way out. Bloody hell, Mother, your heartlessness astounds me.”
I lurched to my feet, shaking with rage and staring down at her. She stared back, not even a flicker of remorse in her gaze. “I’m leaving, before I say something we both regret.”
“Don’t tell Weston. Arlo and Caiden don’t want him to know. Poor boy,” she tutted with faux sympathy.
I have never, in my entire life, wanted to punch someone, but at that moment in time, I wanted to break her fucking emotionless face. I whirled around and stormed out of the building, gasps and scandalised whispers following me.
I had to get away from her toxic presence.
I ran.
Eventually, lungs burning, I sank to the ground where I was, away from the buildings, supporting my back against a crumbling brick wall. Rifling through the contents of my bag for my phone, I pulled it out and scrolled through the contacts.
I pressed his name before I could even think it through. I needed to hear his voice.
The phone rang and rang, and eventually his voicemail kicked in. I whimpered, ending the call and dialling Cassius instead.
“Winter?”
A choked sob escaped my throat. I couldn’t speak.
“What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard. “Cade didn’t answer his phone. Do you know where he is?” I managed to say.
“Sorry, babe, he’s off doing some shit with Z. He’s probably turned his phone off. He’ll be back later. You okay?” His voice was concerned.
The tears came.
“Shit, Winter. What did that bitch do to you? Do you need me to come and get you?”
“No!” I sat upright, trying to compose myself. “I-I don’t want to talk about her. And Kinslee’s coming.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” I croaked through my tears.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” His voice was strong and reassuring. “You want me to get Cade to phone you back?”
“No,” I whispered. “It’s alright. Thanks, though.”
“You know you can call me anytime, alright?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I swiped under my eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears. “Got to go.”
I let the phone fall from my hand as I drew my knees up and buried my head in my arms and cried. Cried for the woman who had been in such a dark place that she’d taken her own life, for the two boys who had lost their mother, for the husband who had lost a wife. And instead, she’d been replaced with my mother, a cold, unemotional woman, who had no empathy or love to give these people who had had a piece of them ripped away.
Fuck. Cade had this huge, heavy secret that he’d had to carry around, hiding from his brother. Knowing what I did of Arlo, I doubt he would have provided much comfort. Had Caiden been all alone in this? The thought broke my heart. I so, so hoped Cass and Zayde had been there for him. And no wonder Caiden had hated me so much. I would have, too, if I were him. I never stood a chance, not with Christine Clifford as my mother.
Eventually, I calmed myself enough to pick up my phone and call Kinslee.
“Winter?” Her warm voice came through the speaker.
“Are you busy?” My voice was hoarse and cracked.
“Winter? Are you okay? Where are you? You need me to come and get you?”
“Please. I’m not sure where I am.” I looked around me, no landmarks to give me a clue. “I think I’m somewhere just out of town.”
“Send me your location from your maps app. I’ll find you. Be there as quick as I can.”
“Thanks.”
When she picked me up, she took one look at my face and declared we were having a girls’ night in with popcorn, chocolate, and cheesy movies. She didn’t pry, just squeezed my hand and said she was here if I wanted to talk.
I appreciated it more than she’d ever know.
Later that evening, lying in my bed, I went over everything I’d discovered from the disastrous meeting with my mother. I had actual proof that she was lying about my dad now. The stuff about Caiden and Weston’s mum, though…I didn’t even know how to begin to unpack that. If Cade ever wanted me to know, he should have been the one to tell me—my mother had no right to say anything. How was I going to be able to act normally around him, without blurting it out? And even worse, how was I supposed to keep it a secret from West?
My phone interrupted my melancholy thoughts, vibrating across my desk.
Weston.
West: My brother really likes you.
Me: Hi to you too. And ??? Likes sleeping with me?!
West: I don’t mean that. He’s catching feelings.
Me: What? Why do you say that?
West: He’s a bit drunk.
Me: ???
The three dots appeared as I sat on my bed, impatiently waiting for Weston’s reply. After about five minutes had passed, maybe longer, I suddenly got a long message from him.
West: Cass told him you phoned earlier & you were upset. Said you were trying to get hold of him. He’s worried about you. I can’t remember him ever stressing about a girl before. I know he’s drunk but he’s been talking about you nonstop for the past 10 mins. Not just in a friends kind of way either. Can’t explain it properly but if you were here you’d see.
Right. He’d barely admitted that he wanted to sleep with me; I highly doubted that he had actual feelings for me all of a sudden.
Me: Um. I don’t know what to say to that.
West: He really likes you. I can tell.
Me: He’s drunk. Don’t read too much into it. He’s worried because he’s a good person underneath his asshole exterior. You can tell him I’m OK.
West: Are you OK though? I’m worried too after what Cass told me.
Me: Yes. Mostly. Just more shit with my mother. Talk about it tomorrow?
West: OK. Come for pizza? Z can pick you up. Your car will be ready too.
Me: Finally! No more relying on people for lifts. Sounds good. What time?
West: I’ll check with Z and let you know.
Me: OK.
West: See ya tomorrow.
Me: *thumbs up emoji*
Me: Thanks for checking up on me BTW.
West: I care about you.
West: NOT in the same way as Cade.
Me: Haha. Love you too.
TWENTY-SIX
“Ever been on one of these before?” Zayde raised a brow at me.
“Nope. But it can’t be too hard, right?” I eyed the bike doubtfully. I pulled the straps of my small backpack tighter and stepped closer to the huge beast of a machine. Taking in my expression, Zayde gave me an amused smile and handed me a shiny red helmet.
“Wear that. Hold on to me, and lean with me. Okay?”
“I guess so.” He straddled the bike, all dark, lethal male, with ripped jeans and black boots and his leather jacket stretched
over his biceps. Yeah. Not that I was interested, but he was insanely hot.
And he still scared me, to be completely honest.
Pulling the helmet on, I climbed onto the bike behind him. He reached back and pulled my arms around his waist, then snapped his visor down. The engine came to life with a powerful roar that I felt through my entire body, and I screamed, mostly with excitement but partly from fear as we shot away from the campus and onto the main roads. I hung on to Zayde with a death grip to begin with, but once I got used to the feel of the bike, I loosened my grip slightly, leaning into the turns with him. By the time we came to a halt outside the Four’s house, I had a huge smile across my face.
“That was amazing,” I told him as I climbed off the bike on slightly shaky legs and handed him the helmet I’d been wearing.
“Give me a bike over a car any day.” He jogged up the steps to the house, leaving me next to the bike.
“Hey, wait. Where’s everyone?” The driveway was completely empty.
He paused with his hand on the door and turned back around to face me. “Don’t know where Cass is. Cade and West have gone to pick your car up.”
He disappeared inside the house, leaving the door open for me. I reached the front steps when I heard the distinct low, throaty purr of Caiden’s R8 and spun around.
He stepped out, and I drank him in.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” He was distant, closed off, his face an inscrutable mask.
“Winter!” came the shout, and I tore my eyes away from Caiden’s to see Weston grinning at me, standing next to my car.
Except it wasn’t my car.
“What happened to my car?” I ran towards Weston and skidded to a halt in front of my little Fiat 500.
“Caiden asked the garage to make a few improvements,” he told me in a low voice. “And don’t let his appearance fool you—I think inside he’s second-guessing himself, thinking maybe he made the wrong decision. What your reaction might be, you know?”
My gaze bounced between Weston, Caiden, and my car.
“How much do I owe for all this?” I whispered to West.
“Nothing. Cade felt bad about vandalising your door. Not just that. Bad in general, I think, for all the shit he did to you. So he took care of it.”
My heart started beating faster.
I took a step closer to my car and trailed my hand over the smooth metal, my lips curving into a smile. The scratched and chipped burgundy colour was gone, replaced with matte-black paintwork. The exact same paintwork that Zayde’s bike and Cade and Cass’ cars sported. I walked around the car, examining it from every angle, noting the tinted windows and the huge shiny black rims complete with low-profile tyres.
Honestly? I think I was in shock.
When I reached the front of the car again, I glanced over at Cade, who was still watching me impassively, and turned to West, who had a huge grin on his face. “Thanks. Can you give us a minute?”
“Yep.” He gave me a quick hug and bounded into the house, leaving me and Caiden alone.
We stared at each other.
I moved closer to him.
“Why?”
He shrugged, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the side of his car. “Because.” His tone was final.
“Okay. Well, thank you. I don’t know what to say, other than I love it. So much.” I stood awkwardly in front of him, scuffing my toe in the gravel. He looked at me in silence for a minute, then made a low noise in the back of his throat and grabbed me around the back of the neck, spinning me so I was pressed up against his car.
Then his mouth was on mine, and I was lost in him.
He gripped my neck more tightly, kissing me fiercely, and I pulled him closer, returning his kiss with everything I had. Butterflies were rioting low inside my stomach, and I moaned, gripping his ass as he thrust his growing hardness against me.
“You two gonna stay out there all night, or what? Come on, me and Z are waiting to order pizza.” Weston’s shout interrupted our moment, and Cade released my neck, stepping back, running a hand through his hair. He looked about as dazed as I felt.
I collapsed back against the car, short of breath, my heart racing, trying to gather my composure. Once my breathing had mostly returned to normal, I moved over to Zayde’s bike, where I’d left my bag.
“Come on.” Caiden inclined his head towards the house, and I followed him inside. He stopped me in the empty hallway just outside the lounge. “We’ll continue that later.” Dipping his head, he kissed the tip of my nose, then tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, before strolling into the lounge to meet the others. What were we doing? Were we still just “fucking,” as he’d put it, or was West right? Was he starting to like me more? He was bloody impossible to read.
I sighed. No point worrying about it now, anyway. While things were going well, I didn’t want to rock the boat.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
First priority—pizza.
Hours later, the pizza had been demolished, and we were all lazing around on the sofas, Fast & Furious 10, or whatever number we were on, playing on the huge TV, and the boys were discussing cars while I browsed my social media.
A loud, insistent beeping sounded from Weston’s phone, and he bolted upright. “Be right back,” he threw over his shoulder, rushing out of the room.
“Getting a drink. Anyone want one?” Zayde stood, stretching.
“Yeah, JD and Coke, please, mate. Plenty of ice.” Cade glanced at me. “You want one?”
I nodded, and he held up two fingers to Zayde.
Cade and I were sitting at opposite ends of the sofa, and when Zayde had left the room I decided to take my chances. I crawled across the sofa and climbed into his lap, straddling him.
He gave me a lazy, sexy grin, his hands coming to my sides. “Hey there, Snowflake.”
“Hey.” I met his eyes. “I wanted to say thanks. For my car. Again.”
“I owed you.”
“You really didn’t.”
“I did.” He leaned forwards and gathered my hair to one side, then grazed his teeth down my neck and kissed my throat, before he drew back to look at me again. “I’m not a nice person, Winter.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You should.” His voice was rough, insistent. “I don’t have the capability to be nice. I fuck everything good up.”
My heart twisted. I ran my nails up his chest, feeling his muscles contract under my fingertips, and his breath hitched. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not.” Sighing, he lifted me off his lap, just as Zayde came strolling back into the room with our drinks.
“Not interrupting anything, am I?” he drawled.
“No,” Caiden said shortly, taking our drinks from Zayde’s hand, ice cubes clinking in the glass tumblers.
“Good, because I found a friend.”
Cassius sauntered into the room. “Miss me?”
“No.” That was from Caiden.
“Yes.” Me.
He grinned, a smug, satisfied grin, as he flopped down onto the sofa next to me. “I’m gonna become everyone’s favourite person in a minute. Where’s West? He needs to hear this.”
“I’ll find him,” I offered, jumping up before anyone else could say anything. I didn’t have to go far. I almost ran into him in the doorway, and only his quick reflexes stopped us from clashing.
“I’ve got news.” He brandished a laptop at the room in general.
“Tell us in a minute. I need to announce my news, first,” Cass insisted.
“Fine.” Weston placed the laptop on the coffee table, then took a seat on the floor, looking at Cass expectantly.
“Are you ready for this?” He smiled widely. “I succeeded in my mission. Operation AMC is a success!”
Everyone stared at him, our expressions ranging from blank to unamused.
He frowned, then tried again. “The board members voted, and thanks to my dad’
s persuasion, they agreed to let us have a trial run at Alstone Members Club.”
“Fuck, yes!” Caiden punched the air. “Nice one, mate.”
“Why didn’t you just say that to begin with?” I asked him.
“I did.” He gave me a confused look, and I shook my head.
“Never mind. Well done, Cass.”
“It’ll be a kind of probationary period, to see how we get on and if we can behave or whatever,” he told us. “But I haven’t told you the most important part yet.”
He paused dramatically, and both Cade and Z rolled their eyes at him. “Our first visit to the club? Tuesday evening, and my dad told me that Arlo will be there. And what’s more, apparently he’s there every Tuesday.”
I gasped. “My dad’s notes. This is our chance to find out what’s going on.”
“My news ties in with this, too.” Weston opened the laptop, spinning it around so we could see the screen. “Mercury came through for me. We have our man.”
The dossier was short. Petr Ivanov, aka “the Fixer,” originally from Belarus. Age thirty-four, suspected criminal ties with several Eastern European gangs. Five arrests and three short stints in prison—all for petty crimes—theft, shoplifting, drug possession. There were several photos including two of his police mug shots.
“It’s not much to go on, but it’s a start. Mercury’s gonna do some more digging, see if he can come up with anything else. We need to work out how he’s connected to your mother and to Alstone Holdings. So far Mercury hasn’t been able to find any connection, but there’s always a paper trail somewhere.”
I sat back, thinking. “Well, we know more than we did before. And I can’t help but feel that Alstone Members Club is the key.”
Caiden took over from me. “Yeah. I agree. We need to go in there with our eyes wide open. Be prepared for anything, but don’t arouse suspicion.”
Hope sparked to life inside me. Maybe after Tuesday, we’d have some answers. Maybe I’d finally be able to get justice for my dad.
“This all great news. I guess, though, since we’re talking about it all, I should mention yesterday. I don’t know what Cass said…” I trailed off, looking at him.