I nodded, and he headed towards the doors, leaving me to face my mother. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to where she stood, glass of champagne in hand.
“Mother.” I pasted a smile on my face, and she returned my smile, equally as false. Guess we had something in common, after all. She introduced me to the woman she was standing with, who I promptly forgot the name of, and we made polite small talk, discussing such scintillating topics as the weather and a couture dress my mother was having flown in from Paris. My mother’s friend excused herself partway through the dress conversation, and my mother turned to me.
“I trust you’ve settled in at university?” Even as she asked the question, her gaze flitted over my head, her attention already elsewhere.
“Yes, thank you. Maybe you’d like to come and visit the campus, sometime?” I suggested tentatively.
“No, thank you. I’ll talk to Arlo, and maybe we can arrange a get-together soon.” Taking a step back, she placed her now-empty champagne flute on the windowsill. “Excuse me. I must catch up with Estella before she leaves.” Before I could say anything else, she was gone, leaving me alone.
I guess that was as good as I was going to get. While I hadn’t spoken to her for long, I was confident that I was gaining some headway with her. Part of my rough plan for the evening was complete; now, all that remained to do was try and explore some of the rest of the house, preferably without attracting any attention. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but if I could find anything that would connect my mother to my dad, then it had to be here.
Before I could make a move, an arm slid around my waist, and I looked up to see James grinning down at me. “You finally managed to shake your shadows, then?”
Meeting his gaze, I returned his grin with a wry smile. “Not quite. Caiden’s over there.” I stared over at the bar where he still stood, now with Portia hanging off him. Ugh. I took a step closer to James, placing my hand on his arm. “Anyway, enough about them. Are you having a good night?”
“I am, now.” He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“James. Please.”
“Sorry. You are the most beautiful woman in the room, though.”
“Uh, sure, if you say so,” I laughed. “Thanks for those links you sent me, by the way. I’m feeling pretty confident about my essay grade now.”
“You’re welcome. It helps that I have connections in the faculty, and I’m always happy to hook you up.” We chatted about our university coursework for a while longer. Eventually, the gathering thinned out a little, the remaining guests well on their way to being wasted, and I was able to slip out of the room, away from James, on the pretence of using the loos.
Where to explore first? I turned left and headed down a long corridor, past another velvet rope marking the area as out of bounds. There was a suit of armour standing next to a door. An actual suit of armour. I idly wondered if it was my mother or Arlo who had purchased it. It was a little creepy, to be perfectly honest.
I peered around the suit of armour to look through the door that was slightly ajar and wished I hadn’t.
I sucked in a shocked breath.
What. The. Fuck.
ELEVEN
I hated these parties. Even worse? Winter. Strutting around in that dress, fucking clueless that men old enough to be her dad were drooling over her. Not to mention that fucker, Granville, who hadn’t taken his eyes from her since he turned up. Asshole.
Downing the rest of my whiskey, I leaned back on the bar, nodding my head at the bartender to pour me another.
“Hey, Cade.”
Portia.
My occasional fuck buddy. Never anything more than that, as much as she liked to pretend otherwise. Tall, curvy, amazing tits—shame her body didn’t make up for her irritating as fuck personality. Even if her personality had matched her looks, I wouldn’t have been interested. Women were great for fucking, but nothing more, as far as I was concerned. I’d had first-hand experience of what our world did to relationships. Putting trust in someone? Hoping they stay faithful to you? Fuck that. Not in our world.
“Hi.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Granville making a beeline for Winter, curling his arm around her waist and leaning down to speak in her ear. She beamed up at him, her whole face lighting up, and I clenched my fists.
“Caiden!”
“Huh?” I turned to see Portia frowning at me, her lips pursed in disapproval.
“I was talking to you, but you were too busy watching her,” she hissed. “Why are you interested in Granville’s sloppy seconds, anyway? She’s nothing. A trashy whore with no class. You even wrote as much on her car, remember?” Her lips curved into a sneer. “Look at how she’s dressed, for goodness’ sake! She doesn’t even come from money, so why are you wasting your time lusting over her?”
I bristled at her words, for some reason. “Babe, jealousy doesn’t suit you. But believe me when I say, Winter Huntington means nothing to me.”
“Prove it.” She arched a challenging eyebrow, and I pulled her closer, letting her run her hands all over me, while I picked up my replenished drink and tipped it back, feeling the smooth whiskey slide down my throat. As Portia kissed up my neck, I watched Winter over her shoulder. Our eyes met, and hers narrowed.
I smirked. Snowflake didn’t like seeing me with other women. It was fucking obvious that she liked me, staring at me with those horny eyes every time I was around her. When she wasn’t trying to fight with me, that is.