As I drove home, my mind raced with all the new information I’d been given this morning. One thing was for sure: I needed to speak to my mother and subtly ask questions, to see if I could find out anything at all that could be of use, no matter how small.
I groaned aloud. No way was I going through that alone. I guess it was time to set up another family dinner, so Caiden and Weston could be involved, too.
Fingers crossed it would go better than the last one.
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 gonna do something about that?”
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 announced loudly, then went up on her toes and pulled my head down, whispering into my ear. “Try not to act like an asshole, and we’ll have no problems.”
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.