The lies we tell

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 go

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 a

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 ru

“I think you’ll live,” she a

“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.