“Kimble,” he answered.
“I’m going to my room to rest,” I repeated the orders my father had given me.
He took a step on the massive winding staircase. “Are you going to watch me sleep? You’re not really my type, Kimble. It could get awkward.”
“I’ll be outside your door.” He pursed his lips together.
“And what about your sidekick?”
“He’ll be here as well.”
I huffed and continued up the staircase. “Seems like a lot of security for one person.”
“You’re not just anyone.” We stopped outside my bedroom door. My father’s personal attendant passed us in the hallway. Kimble’s hand moved to the latch. “You’re Lucien Martin’s daughter.”
I was reminded often who my father was. I groaned, slipped into my room, and locked Kimble out.
Chapter3
Knight
Assholes. All of them.
I watched them dance and drink through the windows. The house was lit up like a damn Christmas tree. My eyes moved from the top floor to the bottom. There wasn’t a dark room in the old mansion. The street was lined with houses like this one. Wrought iron gates. Family crests hung over the entryway, meant to intimidate. Gas lamps flickering with false warmth.
“Knight, you going in?”
I turned when Parker Bastion appeared. I hadn’t thought about who was on the guest list. I took another drag on the cigarette.
“I guess.” I shrugged.
He stood next to me, trying to figure out what I was doing outside when the party was on the other side of the door.
“You kind of have to, don’t you?” I felt my friend’s eyes watching me instead of the house.
I blew a puff of smoke in the air. “Seraphina would notice if I didn’t show for her engagement party.”
“The in-laws have a nice place.” He straightened the tie on his tuxedo.
I nodded. My sister was engaged to Brandon Castille. His family owned a steakhouse franchise that was well-established in the southern states. Brandon’s mother’s family was considered to be one of the founding families of New Orleans. My father approved of the match. I knew he had orchestrated it. My sister hadn’t had much say in the arrangement.
“I hope Seraphina likes it. She’s moving in here.” I snuffed the cigarette under my shoe.
“That’s rough.” Parker slid his hands in his pockets. “Married at twenty-one and moving in with her husband’s parents? Even if they do get their own floor, sounds like a shitty way to start a marriage.”
I popped a piece of gum in my mouth. The mint immediately washed out the taste of tobacco.
“I need to get this over with.”
Parker slapped me on the back. “They have free booze. It can’t be that bad.”
I chuckled. Free anything didn’t have meaning to me. We climbed the front steps together. The marble gleamed. As the doors swung open, the music from the band blared. Parker and I had been friends since we were kids. We grew up in the organization. Each of us the first-born son, poised to take over one day. Our families were allies. Always a plus.
“Bar’s this way. I’ll be right back.” I lost Parker when he disappeared in the crowd.
I strolled past the guests, looking for an easy exit. The fewer the people, the better. That was impossible with this kind of setting.
“Knight, you made it!” Suddenly a blur of white hurdled toward me. It was Seraphina in a beaded gown. My younger sister wiggled past an older couple and threw herself at my chest.