I check mine discreetly and see our group message. Lief spotted fucking Stefan. I’m not shocked, Stefan loves these events. Loves to show off power and money, even if he doesn’t buy a damn thing.
“Nine.” Lief texts.
My eyes flick in that direction and I see him with two girls on his arm. He’s telling a story and ignoring the announcements as the girls giggle, touch and stroke him, nibble his ear, and hang all over him. He thinks he’s some kind of fucking King just because of his rank.
He should be taken down a peg before he starts to get reckless and gets ideas about what he can get away with inourcity. His father knew his place. Stefan will learn his. By tripping over his ego and falling on his face, or with some help.
Once the announcements are done, we’re encouraged to drink and dance and enjoy the food they’ve prepared for the event. I stir my drink with the swirl of my hand. Food is probably a good choice.
I get up, then turn to Valerie. “Want anything, gorgeous?”
“Sure.” She smiles and glances over. “Whatever you like I’ll like.”
That challenge in her eyes, the way she leans forward just enough, holds my eyes a second longer than necessary, smiles coyly, it’s a distraction and Iknowshe knows it. But it doesn’t change that I make her plate, trying to pick out the best items available. Hunter nudges me.
“You’re letting her walk all over you, man, have I taught you nothing?”
“How to drive women away?” I shoot back. “Are you forgetting who got to fuck her?”
“Just keep throwing that in my face.” He snorts. “She’s interested or she wouldn’t go back and forth with me.” He growls.
“She’s interested in the easiest way to slit your throat,” I grumble.
The server jumps a second and I smile. “Sorry, brother talk.”
He nods, gives a short laugh, and moves on. The comment earns me another elbow in my side. Hunter uses his growly ‘I’m in charge voice’, “be careful saying things like that.”
“Come on, no one believes that level of violence. It’s always a joke.”
To the people outside our family, anyway. There’s a time and place for things and I’ve learned it well. I know how to blend in as needed, how to be the most likable person in any room. Hunter just throws himself around expecting people to fall in line.
“Look, little brother, I just don’t want any issues to arise. I don’t need to save your ass again.”
“I haven’t asked you to fight for me in years,” I mutter.
Not since I learned how to bring a person to heal verbally. Threats go a lot farther than fists if you can find the right spot to attack. And I’ve made it a fucking art form. Especially with everyone’s data being online and doxing being so easy. Find the right coding and then everything in the world wide web opens up with the minimal need for passwords.
That said, my brother has gone to bat for me. He used to jump into whatever circle-jerk of guys decided to jump me in middle school and take the blows, take the victory, and the detention that followed.
Even now, it’s strange to see him without a bruised face, a bloody nose, or a split lip. Once our plates are full, we walk back to the table. Hunter smiles at a pretty brunette and keeps his voice low. “Can you check Stefan’s social media at the moment?”
“He keeps his pages public. Won’t be hard. Won’t tell us much.”
“We can turn it into a game with the psychology student and see what she can pull from it.”
Rolling my eyes, I stand behind Valerie and set the plate in front of her. I stroke over her bare arms and lean forward so she’ll feel my breath across her skin, just like when I fucked her from behind. “Is that satisfying, babe?”
“Very.” She says, looking back at me, she rewards me with a soft, lingering kiss to my jaw. “Thank you, Chase.”
I still feel a buzzing in my skin when I sit down. We eat slowly and I check Stefan’s page. He’s grumbling about having to do the marketing side of work, then sends out a very positive message about the charity ball and how ‘honored’ he is to have been invited and how eager he is to add to his father’s legacy.
“So, psychology, Valerie? That’s a big field.” I start.
“My master’s degree is in clinical psychology. In undergrad, I got really into a TV show about FBI profilers and thought it would be fun, but now I’d rather help individuals get through things.” She shrugs.
“So you can diagnose all our issues?” Hunter asks with a smirk.
“Sure, narcissist.” She bats her eyelashes easily. “But it wouldn’t be ethical for me to do that without a sit-down conversation and something tells me you don’t have that patience.”