A gleeful smile curved Rem’s lips. I had to agree the real party was always fun and worth my time.
“Make sure the drinks are freshened up,” Douglass O’Malley said, a guy with bright eyes and boy-next-door looks that made him seem nice and heroic. It was a facade. Douglass was just like his father, a snake waiting for its prey to turn its back. It was his turn to host a party, and he was running around making sure everything was perfect. Being the police chief’s son came with its perks, apparently, which meant that no matter what happened tonight, there would be no interference from law enforcement.
In any normal town, there was no way a police chief could afford a mansion and imported china. Aridole was the place of the rich and corrupt. I knew it firsthand. One day I’d stand atop it as king.
Douglass glanced my way, and his eyes went wide before his brows dipped as he scanned over mine and me. He gave a curt nod of acknowledgment that I didn’t return. Fuck him. The slimy prick had been trying to get in with my family and me since freshman year. However, it would never happen. He turned away, but as last year’s rulers, he should have come over and greeted us.
I feel a cruel smile stretch my lips, one that is full of broken shards of glass and void of anything good. He’d pay for that slight later. I let it drop as I took another sip. I didn’t need too many eyes on me tonight.
“I can always cut his pinky toes off,” Hawke suggested.
My lips twitched in a smirk knowing Hawke would love to do just that, and it wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Douglass just blatantly disrespected me.
“No need.”
A group of girls started to gush, and a few even squealed. I didn’t have to turn to see who just made an appearance from the girls acting like preteens around us. I knew instantly who it was.
“About time you made it, Samson,” I growled under my breath.
“What can I say? I was busy.” His smile was crooked and fake. Out of the people I chose to be by my side, Samson was by far the most dangerous.
“Hey, did you hear about our perfect governor getting a daughter?” Samson said so nonchalantly one might think that the news he dropped on our laps wasn’t a fucking bomb.
“What? When?” Hawke asked. “That corrupt piece of shit has a dick?”
“I swore his monsters weren’t marching.” Rem chuckled as she leaned closer to listen in.
“Oh, he didn’t create her, but he sure as shit married her mother, and the new girl will be attending school this year,” Samson said.
He fixed his pristine white shirt and smiled at a few girls glancing his way. Samson was the kind of pretty that fashion magazines looked for, and he’d been a model since he was five. His mother had ensured that everyone knew her son’s beautiful face. Maybe because of that fact, Samson had the fake smile-down pact.
“Oh, anything special about her?” I asked, unwilling to let my eyes leave from skirting over my surroundings. I never left an opening and was always on high alert.
Samson hummed in that knowing way which meant he, in fact, had information on her. If he weren’t one of my best friends, I would have a gun pressed to his skull and threaten to pull the trigger. He was important to me and one of the very few people I’d never kill willingly.
“I do know she’s here,” Samson said.
As if right on cue, a girl walked into the mansion, making her way into the room. She wore a dress that fit the party’s criteria and heels that made her legs look impossibly long. Still, she stood out. A big red sign blinked above her head, flashing to everyone around her she didn’t belong.
Rem whistled low, and damn if I wasn’t right there with her. She might not have belonged there with us, but she was beautiful. She had long legs that were toned, leading up to an ass that was grabbable and breasts that made me question my belief that I was an ass man all day, every day. Yet that wasn’t all. She had beauty, but her eyes the color of emeralds held an edge to them while still looking innocent.
As if she could feel my eyes on her, she turned and met mine dead on, not blinking away. She held my gaze for what felt like an eternity.When was the last time anyone held my gaze besides those I call family?
Our intense stare-off was broken. I was forced to blink as all the noise filtered back in, and my surroundings grew sharp once more. I’d just allowed myself to lose sight of my surroundings. That was more dangerous than speeding toward oncoming traffic.
Samson cleared his throat. “And that there is Keegan Quell.”
“She has his last name?” Rem asked.
“The adoption paperwork went through this morning which is why I found out about her,” Samson said.
We all went silent as we watched the new girl talk to Douglass. I’d had my share of pretty women, and they lasted all of a day or two until I’d had my fill. So it shouldn’t matter to me that this nobody was talking with Douglas, and he was obviously flirting with her.
My phone dinged. I knew it was time to leave the snooze and proper party. I expected Hawke to be gleeful, but he was too busy staring at the new girl.
“Hawke.”
He tore his gaze away. “Fuck his pinky toes. I’ll just break every bone in his body instead.”