Hailey gasps and my eyes slice to hers.
“Uh, oh,” she voices.
Crinkling my nose, I follow her line of sight. Her forehead pinches and it became obvious her reaction had slipped out. She hadn’t meant for me to hear.
It was too late though; I was already following her widened eyes.
My mouth smooths out watching in confused fascination. Xander approached the boy who infuriates and excites me at the same time. My heart sank, knowing he didn’t feel equal toward me.
Cole Kellet could make even a glacier shiver.
From where we were standing it looked as if two people were engaging in polite conversation. That is until Xander shot me a look. My mouth parts in surprise as my back straightens.
I felt my skin flush. Were they talking about me?
Xander’s look was brief and it’s as if Cole could sense me watching them, he shifts blocking him from sight. I didn’t know if it was coincidental or if Iceman knew we were watching. Probably the latter, he never did chance things.
Still, though, that one look pooled guilt in my stomach. Swirling around in my belly seeing the hint of dejection on his face.
I had hurt him, but it was the right thing to do. I knew deep down it never would have worked out anyway. I couldn’t give my all to Xander when I already belonged to someone else.
I notice the slight lift to Cole’s shoulder, it was small, but I saw it the moment he moved his stance. It wasn’t a coincidence. He knew I was watching.
He was speaking, mouth moving and then he was listening.
Cole’s back muscles tense further. Actions predatory and protective in nature. Not at what he was saying but when Xander shuffles his feet, glancing back at me for a second time.
I could feel his agitation rolling off him.
Our stares locked before he’s blocked by an obscured figure that now stood directly in front of me.
I blink once looking up. “Silas?”
“MissHale,a pleasure.”
An emptiness scorches my chest as dread sets in. If I was hollow inside this man was dead. Nothing living within but a pair of functioning lungs and a spine.
Hailey greets him, her inhale choppy. Her posture folding in on herself when he ignores her.
Silas was the type to get straight to business. Which is how he and Abram have dominated the market as partners in the business world. It also meant he had little care for others.
Mostly his own family.
“Something on your mind?” I ask, not liking the silence.
It’s as if he can sense my uncomfortableness. His spiritless grin grows.
Silas’s posture is relaxed—or as calm as someone like him can be. Hand tucked in his pants pocket, the other holding a matching glass of champagne.
“A word, Miss Hale.”
I ignore the fact that he’s referred to me as Hale again. He doesn’t recognize me as a Casper. I keep my expression neutral; he didn’t need to know I agreed with him.
He clears his throat and Hailey screeches out a noise, jumping into action. She had been overly polite dismissing herself which I thought was more than he deserved.
I didn’t give him the same forced kindness as everyone else and he knew. The permanent frown on his face evident of what he thought of that, of me.
“Enjoying the event?” he asks when it’s the two of us.