I wanted to tell the Four. What I didn’t want to do was to cause any more drama, knowing how much Caiden disliked James. Would that stop me telling them, though? Fuck, no. Seriously, what had James been thinking? Asshole.
I decided to wait until the boys got back from AMC to tell them what had happened—there was no way I was going to be responsible for distracting them from their task.
Sipping my mug of coffee, I returned to my books. Seven o’clock. The boys would be getting ready to go to AMC. I could only hope that they got lucky and found out who it was Arlo was meeting, or what it was he was doing on a Tuesday night.
As if I’d conjured them up, two minutes later my phone buzzed with a message from Weston.
West: We scrub up well, don’t we *wink emoji*
An image of the Four appeared on my screen. All in dark suits, hair styled, tattoos peeking out. Cade had a sexy, arrogant smirk on his face, Cass had a huge grin, West was winking, and Zayde, shock of all shocks, was actually sticking his tongue out at the camera, showing his barbell piercing.
Me: *woman fanning herself GIF*
Me: Bloody hell. I can’t handle the hotness. This is now my phone wallpaper.
West: Thought you’d like it. We’re leaving in a few. Message you later if it’s not too late.
Me: Good luck. I don’t care how late it is, I need to hear from you guys tonight.
West: OK. Speak later.
Me: Be careful.
West: Always.
I placed my phone down and started working on my assignment, trying to block everything else out of my mind. As I sipped my coffee, my thoughts went back to James in the library. What was his weird, shifty behaviour all about, and why on earth would he try to kiss me?
I didn’t have to wonder for long.
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a message from Caiden, then another, then another.
Caiden: Couldn’t stay away from Granville?
Caiden: You fucking betrayed me.
Caiden: We’re done.
A forwarded video appeared in the list of messages, and I clicked on it with a trembling hand.
No.
TWENTY-NINE
I dialled Caiden’s number. Straight to voicemail. Next, I tried Cassius, then Weston, then Zayde. All went straight to voicemail.
“Argh!” I shouted, frustrated, tears filling my eyes. What should I do? Nausea filled my stomach—what if I couldn’t explain things? What if Caiden didn’t believe me? I couldn’t even see him in person to tell him what had happened.
If only I’d mentioned what had happened in the library.
Tapping out a message on my phone, I sent it to him, and hoped for the best.
Me: We need to talk. NOTHING HAPPENED. Check your voicemail. Phone me as soon as you get this, PLEASE.
Then I called him and left a message. “Cade, it’s me. Well, I guess you already know that. That video isn’t how it looks.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat, trying not to cry. “James cornered me in the library, and he had a black eye. What you saw in the video was me showing concern and trying to comfort him, and then—” I choked back a sob. “—and then, he tried to kiss me, and I froze. As soon as I realised what was going on, I stamped on his foot as hard as I could to make him stop. Cade, you have to believe me… I would never… I only want you.” I was crying by now, and I hung up the phone and buried my face in my arms, leaning on the desk.
Kinslee found me in the same position when she got home. She took one look at me and dragged me into the lounge, where we curled up on the sofa with hot chocolate, and I told her the whole story.
“I can’t believe he would do that! Why would he want to do that to you? I know he and Caiden hate each other, but why drag you into it?”
“I can’t answer that,” I sighed. “I know their dads have some kind of family rivalry, but I have no idea about any of the details. And why was Joseph with him?” I’d worked out—not that it took much deducing—that Joseph had been the one to film us.
“Hmm.” Kinslee pursed her lips in thought, frowning. “I know they’re cousins. So that has to be something to do with it.”
“Cousins? I had no idea.”
She leaned over and gave me a comforting hug. “Listen. I’m sure Caiden will listen to reason, once you see him and have a chance to explain things.”
“I hope so.” I returned her hug, then slumped back on the sofa. “I’m actually pretty fucking pissed off as well, to be honest. Cade should have given me a chance to explain. I thought he’d started to trust me. And yet he was all too willing to jump to conclusions.”
“That’s true.”
We lapsed into silence.
“How hard did you stamp on his foot?” Kinslee suddenly asked.
“As hard as I could.”
“I hope you broke a bone.”
We smirked at each other. “So violent, Kins.”
She shrugged. “What can I say?”
“I love it.”
Cass parked round the back of the club in the private parking area, and we assembled round the side of the car. “Let’s do this. Phones off, otherwise they get confiscated. Heads down, keep an eye on my father.” Everyone nodded, bumping fists, and we headed towards the entrance. My phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Shit, forgot to turn my phone off.” Mentally slapping my forehead, I pulled it out and saw I had a message from an unknown number. Fucking spam. I clicked on it, ready to delete, but stopped when I read the message.
Unknown: Thought you might want to see what Winter was up to earlier.
What the fuck?
A video appeared underneath the message, and I pressed Play.
I saw red.
Through a haze of anger, I sent her a succession of messages and forwarded the video to her.
Fuck!
This was why I didn’t let myself get involved. Winter had just proved that she couldn’t be trusted. I should have known she was like her mother. How could I have been so fucking blind?
Fuck her. I didn’t need anyone. I had my boys.
“Cade? You coming?” West called me from the doorway to the club, and I realised I’d stopped in the street while they all walked ahead.
“Yeah, coming.” I stabbed the Off button on my phone and thrust it in my pocket, then strode inside to meet the others, my jaw clenched and a pain in my chest.
I stood still while the guy on security searched me, breathing in and out through my nose. The need to punch something was so strong, I dug my nails into my palms to stop myself acting on it. We entered a large, dimly lit wood-panelled room, but I couldn’t fucking concentrate on my surroundings, let alone the task at hand.
Why? Why had she gone back to Granville?
“Mate.” Zayde gripped my arm. “Back in a sec,” he muttered to the others and hustled me into the corner of the room, away from the others. “What’s the problem?” he hissed, when we were alone.
“Nothing.” I stood, arms folded, looking at him blankly.
“Cade.”
“Fucking Winter,” I spat. “Some asshole sent me a video of her all over Granville. Today. I knew I couldn’t trust her. She’s just as bad as that f—”