his older brother, the tall, dark and handsome guy in a suit who sounded like he could kill you with just a glare.
Rolling onto my side, I gave my back to my bedroom door, as if I thought it could hear me as I whispered into the phone, “About the finger?”
Vaughn was quiet for a few moments, and he startled me a bit when he admitted, “No. I…I wanted to see if he’d let me have you over. My family doesn’t let strangers onto our estate, but he told me if he met with you first, he’d allow it.”
Was Vaughn asking me to hangout? I’ll be the first to admit, the prospect of going onto the Scott estate would’ve been a frightening one, had he asked me weeks ago. Now? Now I would take any extra time with him that I could, even if that meant I was walking onto a property where legally questionable things happened on a daily basis.
The Scotts were not a family to piss off or betray, that much I knew.
It wasn’t a good idea to go, I knew, but I found my heart beating in my chest, wondering if this was Vaughn’s odd way of asking me to be with him, to do what Dante and I had done in that limo in front of him. He’d gotten more than an eyeful, and he’d looked like he wanted to join, but yet he held back.
The real question was…was Vaughn worth a meeting with Markus? Not going to lie, that man scared me more than I wanted to admit, but my heart already knew the answer. Yes, Vaughn was worth it. He’d said and done some questionable things, but he’d never hurt me. That, I believed in my very soul, even if it was naive to do so.
“When?” I asked, the word nearly caught in my throat. It was ridiculous, but I was actually nervous to go to his house, see where he lived…and have a meeting with one of his brothers—all of which I’d been warned against being alone in a room with before.
Vaughn didn’t wait a second more to say, “Are you free this afternoon?”
Was I free this afternoon? Dude, if I had a meeting with the queen of freaking England this afternoon, I’d drop that just to see him. Maybe I was blowing this all out of proportion, but it felt like this little hangout would take our relationship to the next level, something I was so ready for.
“Just tell me a time,” I said.
“I’ll have the driver pick you up at two.”
A driver? Shouldn’t surprise me, given how rich his family was. The Scotts might just be the richest family around, and that was saying a lot, since these houses were lined in green.
“I’ll see you later, then.” After Vaughn hung up, I leaped off my bed, practically rushing to take a shower and pick an outfit. I made sure to clean every single nook and cranny on my body, had to be squeaky clean for Vaughn, just in case. The quiet ones were always the kinkiest.
After I got ready, after I put on some makeup and chose an outfit that, I thought, accentuated my curves without being overly slutty—something which would kill my mom—I headed downstairs to find her. I figured I’d tell her first, then Ollie, but I caught them both standing in the kitchen, each of them with a wine glass before them.
It was a little after twelve. Wasn’t that like morning drinking?
“Honey,” Mom spoke, giving me a smile. “Oliver was just trying to force me to take a break.”
Ollie wore a suit, as he usually did, although right now his suit jacket was unbuttoned, his greying black hair a bit messy. “I was trying to tell her that breaks are important to your health.”
Mom let out a skeptical chuckle. “I could say the same to you, you know. All this time we’ve been here, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a break.”
Except for that other time they drank wine together, I thought, but apparently neither one of them remembered that exact moment right now. Whatever. They could bond when I was out of the house. This was…it was just too weird for me.
“You look nice,” Mom said, suddenly realizing that I was all dolled up. “Where do you think you’re going?” The wine glass was now the last thing she was paying attention to, putting every ounce of scrutiny on me as she stared at