I put my phone on loudspeaker as I pace through my suite, unable to temper my agitation. I hate having to leave, and I blame Faye for my reluctance. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that shit. It worked in my favor until it didn’t. The mere thought of her using my absence as an excuse to contact Eric makes me fucking seethe.
“Dion, you alright?” Xavier asks.
I glance back at my phone and sigh. “Yeah,” I murmur. “I’m fine, Xave. Just eager to get this done.”
He falls silent for a moment. “Nah,” he says. “You’ve barely heard a word I said. You’ve been looking for Hannah for months, and I just told you I’ve got her locked up in one of my warehouses in Spain, but you barely responded.”
“That’s not true,” I tell him, but my reply lacks conviction. “I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning, aren’t I?” I vaguely recall him filling me in on how Silas found her and gave him the details, after which he apprehended her. Silas is my point of contact for everything I can legally do, after which I tend to turn to Xavier.
The Kingstons have never minded getting their hands dirty. Quite frankly, their moves into politics and their attempts to become upright citizens endlessly amuse me. Unlike the Windsors, they aren’t known for their morals. While we tend to be happy with profit and prestige, they’re after the kind of power that corrupts, and they don’t care what it takes.
Xavier chuckles knowingly, and the sound grates on me. “It’s Faye, isn’t it?” he asks, sounding entirely too fucking delighted. Calling me out on my lies has been his favorite hobby since we were kids. We’ve been friends ever since we found ourselves at the same prestigious boarding school, both of us running from our own demons — though I suspect that even without that commonality, we’d have become friends.
“Fuck off,” I snap, unwilling to discuss her, but that only makes him laugh harder. Over the years, he’s become family, and he takes full advantage of that knowledge. He knows only he and my brothers would get away with bringing her up like that. I should’ve known better than to get drunk and tell them about Faye and Eric at poker night last week. I should’ve known they wouldn’t just let it be.
“You Windsor men,” he tuts. “Before you know it, you’ll be attending poker night with a sour face, every other sentence out of your mouth containing the words my wife.”
I grimace at the way we always mock Ares and Luca, suddenly somewhat remorseful. I finally get it. The thought of calling Faye my wife fills me with a sick satisfaction. Thoughts of her still fill me with shame and regret, but there’s more to it now — I’m endlessly captivated by that blazing fire I saw in her eyes, both at The Lacara when she called me out on the gossip papers and changing my phone number, and again in her dressing room.
For years, she seemed to be devoid of a personality at all. Now I realize she’s just been hiding who she truly is, and I can feel myself growing obsessed with luring out the real her. When her eyes flash with indignation, and that helplessness I’ve come to recognize fades away, she becomes an irresistible creature that I want to unravel. Feeding my addiction would be dangerous, reckless, but I don’t think I have the power to resist. In part, this is why I stayed away from her — because there’s something about her that speaks to me.
“Whatever,” I mutter belatedly, earning myself another chuckle.
“Fine,” he says, “just tell me what to do with Hannah.”
I pause as I mull it over. “Just leave her locked up for a week while I finalize some work. I want to see who comes for her. She’s definitely got someone’s protection. If she goes missing for a week, we should be able to figure out who it is. They’ll become increasingly agitated and they’ll slip up. If they do, I’ll wipe them out. They’re fucking fools for not taking a Windsor Kiss of Death seriously.”
Xavier whistles. “Nice. Alright, you got it. I’ll send you the address, but you owe me one.”
I sigh. “You Kingstons and your favors.”
Xavier laughs. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I already know how I’m going to cash this one in. It’ll be invaluable for me, but easy for you.”
I’m about to retort on that bullshit statement when the doorbell in my suite rings. I’m apprehensive as I end the call and stroll over to the door, only to find my four brothers standing in the hallway, big smiles on their faces. “Nope,” I say, before trying to slam the door in Ares’s face.
He catches the door before it closes and forces his way in, ignoring my attempts to shut him out. “What a warm welcome,” he says, his eyes roaming over my suite.
“I have an early flight tomorrow,” I warn. “Whatever this is, I don’t have time for it.”
For them to come by unannounced means they’re up to some kind of bullshit. My siblings and I are very close, but we try our best to keep some boundaries intact. Even more so following Ares and Luca’s weddings. The fact that all four of them are here does not bode well for me.
“Nice,” Luca says, following Ares in. “Love the setup,” he adds, tipping his head toward the desk in the living room.
“Thanks,” Zane says dryly, throwing Luca a withering glare. “You do realize this is my hotel, right? Not Dion’s.”
“Can’t believe you guys didn’t even hold the fucking door for me,” Lex shouts, wheeling in what appears to be a whiteboard.
What the fuck? Ares hooks his arm around my neck and drags me to the sofa. “Best to get it over with,” he mutters. “You know what Zane and Lex get like when they have an idea. Luca and I tried to talk them out of it, but that wasn’t happening, so the best I can do is damage control. They’ve… had a few drinks.”
I look up at my eldest brother, and he throws me a reassuring smile before forcing me to sit on the sofa. I sigh as I lean back and watch Lex set up his whiteboard, which, upon further inspection, appears to be some kind of smart device.
He powers it on, and my eyes widen as the words How to win over Faye come into view. “Hell no,” I murmur, trying to stand up, but Ares throws his arm around my shoulder and keeps me seated.
Luca nods in sympathy and hands me a whisky, a knowing look in his eyes. “You’ll need this,” he says, shaking his head. “Lex made a presentation.”
Fuck no. I tip back the glass, and Luca instantly refills it, his face filled with pity. Sierra is the craziest of our siblings, but Lex isn’t far behind. I need an excuse to get out of here.
“I thought today would be the perfect day to test out this prototype of my new smart board. I’m thinking of calling it the Lexperience,” Lex says.
“No,” Zane groans. “Fuck that.”
“The Lex-board,” Lexington counters.
“Absolutely not,” Luca objects.
Lex nods at me then, and I can’t help but smile. This is fucking ridiculous, and they know it. Just how much did I worry them at poker night? I must’ve been more of a wreck than I realized if they felt the need to do all of this. This is exactly what I want to protect. This bond, this unwavering and unconditional support. It’s why I move in the shadows, so my siblings can stay and bask in the light, where they’re meant to be.
“The name is a work-in-progress, but it works pretty flawlessly.” He taps it, and his slideshow starts. This is some of the cringiest shit I’ve ever seen, but I know it comes from a good place, so I sit back and keep my mouth shut. This kinda thing is as much for them as it is for me — they feel better when they believe they’re helping, even though their endless meddling often only makes things worse.
“We can’t deny that you completely fucking ignored Faye for years,” Lex says, slurring his words slightly. Just how much has he had to drink already? “In your defense, she was a literal child for most of your engagement, so I think it can be forgiven. However, you now have competition that you wouldn’t have had if you’d at least acknowledged her existence.”
He stares at me as though he’s expecting me to engage with his words, so I nod reluctantly. “Right,” I murmur, even though I disagree. Eric is no competition for me — I just need to make her see that.
Lex smiles and swipes the screen, pulling up a new slide. “If you want your inheritance, you’ll need her to remain faithful to you while you’re married, or you’ll breach Grandma’s terms. You know what that means, right? You need to steal her away from her boyfriend. Just because she broke up with him doesn’t mean she’ll stay away from him.”
“Her ex,” I correct, my tone harsh. Just hearing him call Eric her boyfriend fucking pisses me off. “And I’m pretty fucking certain she’ll stay away from that fucker.”
Ares glances at me, the edges of his lips tipping up into a smile. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Lex stares at me blankly for a moment. “Maybe, but we can’t really risk her simply keeping her word. You need to take action.” He taps against his screen and grins. “Based on conversations I’ve had with Ares and Luca, I’ve come to the conclusion that the easiest way to win her over is to seduce her.”
I stare at the screen wide-eyed. Is he for real? Luca and Ares both clear their throats awkwardly. “It’s true though,” Ares mutters. “Win over her body and her heart will follow.”
Luca nods. “Yep. So long as she wants you, there’s hope.”
I bury my face in my hands and inhale deeply. They can’t be serious. How the fuck do I get out of this situation? I have every intention of seducing Faye, but I’m certainly not going to sit here and discuss that with my brothers. I’ve already started to wonder whether her eyes will burn the same when she comes for me, but they definitely don’t need to know that.
My doorbell rings again, and I jump up in relief, desperate for salvation. If I’m quick, I might just be able to run out and leave my brothers here. By the time Lex sobers up, he’ll forget about his… plan.
All of my hopes are dashed when I open the door to find Sierra, Raven, and Val staring back at me. My sister holds up a bottle of tequila and grins.
Fucking great. This evening just got ten times worse. The fact that they’re here can only mean that Luca and Ares told their wives what happened with Eric, and they, in turn, told Sierra. Fuck.
“What are you guys doing here?” Sierra asks as she walks into the living room. Raven and Val stare at their husbands, their brows raised. Neither Ares nor Luca can quite look them in the eye. I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but at least I’m no longer the only one suffering here.
Raven walks up to Ares and slides onto his lap, the two of them having an entire conversation with nothing but their eyes. His hand wraps around her waist instantly, and he presses a soft kiss to her cheek. A pang of envy hits me square in the chest at the sight of them.
Val seats herself on Luca’s knee, and he throws her a sweet smile that’s so unlike him that I nearly do a double-take. “Thought you said you were going to Zane’s house tonight?” she murmurs.
He gently runs a hand through her hair, as though he can’t keep himself from touching her. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “That’s what I thought I was doing when I left the office.”
She chuckles knowingly and turns to look at Lex, who smiles back at her sheepishly. I want that. Luca didn’t even tell her what happened, but she figured it out with a few words, simply because she knows him and our family that well.
“I see we all had the same idea,” Sierra says as she sits down on the sofa’s armrest, her eyes on Lex’s presentation. “Good thing we came,” she adds, grinning at Val. “These idiots are clearly thinking with their dicks.” She looks at me then, her expression spelling trouble. “You wanna know how to win Faye over? Ask a woman — or even better, ask a woman who reads romance novels like it’s her profession.”
I hold my hands up and shake my head. “I do not want to win Faye over,” I deny. “I had nothing to do with this.”
Raven stares at me and shakes her head. “Liar,” she murmurs, her expression serious. I can’t hold her gaze when she looks at me like that. Raven has always seen straight through me.
She’s always been as much of a sister to me as Sierra is, and I can’t help but wonder what she’d say if she found out about Hannah. Would she feel avenged, or would she think me twisted and cruel? If they truly knew me, would any of the people in this room want me anywhere near Faye?
“Let’s start with Faye’s interests,” Val says, and I grab the bottle of tequila Sierra brought. This is bound to be a long and painful night. At least the liquor will make tomorrow’s flight easier.
