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“Just stay away from Hyde and Granville, and anyone else related to them. You’ll be fine. If this is what I think it is, they’re not trying to hurt you. It’s us they want to get to.”
“If they’re trying to hurt you, then they’re hurting me,” I said, a tremor in my voice. “You guys are my family, now. Please, just let me in. Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
At my words, Weston rose from his seat and crossed to stand in front of me, pulling me up into his arms. He stroked his hands through my hair, the soothing motion reassuring me. “Winter. Trust us to handle this, okay? I promise you that if anything happens, we’ll make sure you’re not kept in the dark. We need to talk to Zayde and my brother first.”
He kissed the top of my head and drew back so I could look into his eyes. His face was shadowed, but there was enough light from the fire that I could see his serious, imploring gaze. “Trust us?” He bit his lip, looking at me uncertainly. “Trust me? Please?”
My heart.
“West.” I swallowed, speaking around the lump in my throat. “I trust you with my life.” I raised my voice. “You too, Cass.”
Cassius stood, tugging Kinslee up with him. “Good. We’ve got your back.” His blue gaze turned to ice, and his voice hardened. “No one fucks with one of the Four, or our girls, and gets away with it. No one.”
ELEVEN
I sang along with the radio as I whisked eggs for breakfast. I’d woken this morning feeling almost happy, weirdly, despite everything that was going on, even with the added James drama. After this week, the semester would be over. Kinslee’s brother was coming home for the Christmas break, and we’d soon hopefully have some answers from him regarding the ship, the Argo Navis. Kinslee had decided it was better to wait until he was home and she could speak with him in person—he was working on an oil
rig, with little to no communication, and no privacy in the small amount of contact he was able to have with the outside world.
The only blight in my day was the thought that soon I’d have to face my mother again. From what I’d learned from Weston, every year, the Alstone elite held a winter ball at Alstone Town Hall. I’d asked Kinslee for more details, but she hadn’t been able to go before, nor had she had any desire to. She was at Alstone College thanks to a combination of her grandfather’s money paying for her tuition and accommodation, and the small fact of her being the dean’s goddaughter. Although she was what I’d probably call comfortably well off, until I came along, she’d stayed well away from the elite. Unfortunately for her, now, she was coming with me to the ball, slightly unwillingly.
Stupid archaic traditions dictated that we had to turn up in male-female couples—completely ridiculous in this day and age. I was going with Cassius, and since Caiden and I were still at a kind of impasse, he was taking Kinslee. I trusted both of them together, so of all the possibilities, them going as each other’s date was by far the best option in my mind.
Anyway, that was a worry for another day. I crossed over to the fridge, pulling out the cheddar, and turned back around just in time to see Caiden saunter into the room, wearing a pair of black shorts, his torso glistening with sweat, rubbing his head with a towel.
My mouth went dry. Why was it that now we were in the friend zone, my body had decided to react even more strongly to his presence?
I placed the cheese carefully on the island and stood, just drinking him in.
“Hi.” He lowered the towel and threw it around his neck, a smirk curving over his lips as he noticed me checking him out.
“Been working out?” I managed to say. Yeah, I asked the obvious question. I couldn’t be expected to think, not when he was looking like that.
His smirk deepened. I gripped hard onto the edges of the island to stop myself from launching my body at his.
“Yeah.” He prowled towards me, and I gulped as he stopped right in front of me. “You look sexy today,” he murmured into my ear, then kissed my cheek and straightened up, carrying on to the cupboard where he proceeded to make himself a protein shake, never mind the fact that he’d left me helpless, longing for him.
“Cade. What’s going on here?” I ventured. “Is this a game to you? Teasing me?”
He slammed his drink bottle down on the counter and was suddenly back in front of me before I had a chance to blink.
“What’s going on is that I have some shit to work through. In the meantime, I’m reminding you of the facts so you don’t forget them.” Our gazes held, his stormy eyes darkening, reminding me more of thunderclouds at this point in time.
“What facts?” I licked my lips, my voice coming out hoarse.
He planted his hands on the island either side of me so I was trapped by his body, the heat and the sweat from his workout sending memories of nights spent together flashing through my mind like some kind of erotic film reel, making my thighs clench with need and my breath catch in my throat.
“Fact. You want me.”
He leaned closer.
“Fact. I want you.”
I shivered from both his words and his proximity.
“Fact. This one should come as a given, but don’t think I didn’t see the death stares you were giving to Portia yesterday. I’m not interested in anyone else.”
“But she—” I began.
