Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,53
messed with.
But someone was following me. Just me though.
As far as Noah’s comments went…
Our gift to you.
I rolled my eyes.
Gift for what? For trying to kill me?
I had nothing else to say.
I looked out the window and watched the world pass by.
There really was no turning back now, was there?
We arrived at the compound or land or estate or whatever the hell you wanted to call it.
It was a sprawling piece of property.
The main house almost resembled the castle.
The massive house was so beautiful and symmetrically built, it looked fake.
Everything about it looked fake.
There were workers outside tending to the gardens.
A group of men dressed in tuxedos with white gloves waited to help those arriving.
The sun was just starting to set, which meant there wasn’t much time to get settled in and think. Or plan.
“Tonight is more of a casual thing,” Noah said to me without looking at me. “We mingle. Say hello. Catch up. Then we go to sleep. Simple as that. Tomorrow is the big night.”
I nodded.
Xavier stopped the SUV.
Easton touched my hand. “Let’s go.”
We all got out of the SUV and I was kind of sandwiched in and around all the guys.
They didn’t bother to look back at the SUV as it was swarmed by people who were going to park the vehicle and bring our stuff to the room.
The room.
The one thing I really hadn’t put much thought into.
Where everyone was sleeping. How this was all going to work.
I cringed at how awkward that was going to be.
We entered the house and I almost let out a noise.
This was like if the castle had taken steroids.
It reminded me of a luxury hotel.
It was so big, open, clean, and full of echoes.
The grand staircase was the biggest staircase I had ever seen.
“Who owns this place?” I asked Noah.
“A guy,” he said. “We may or may not see him. This is about mingling. Just stay close.”
Everywhere I looked, there were people.
All dressed fancy.
Sipping from tall glasses.
Workers in tuxes walked around with trays of food and drink.
Someone even carried a tray for people to put their garbage on.
They were all stone faced, with the same hair style, look, everything.
Like they were paid to act like robots.
“Should we go to the room?” I asked.
“Why?” Easton asked. “Eager for some fun?”
“Shut up,” Xavier said.
He nodded.
We all stopped walking.
A man and a woman looked right at us.
The woman was in an elegant gold dress. Looking old but still pretty. A forced kind of pretty. The man was older with a scowl on his face.
“Where can I get a decent fucking drink?” the woman asked.
Loud enough to catch the attention of one of the workers.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, can I get you something else?” the worker asked in a happy voice. You could tell she was fighting to scream.
“What is this shit?” the woman asked. “This is bottom shelf trash. Find a real fucking drink.”
The woman slammed her glass to the tray.
The worker almost dropped the tray.
“Wow, she’s happy to be alive,” I said.
Noah walked forward. “Mom. Dad.”
I cringed.
Easton looked down at me. “Open mouth, insert foot.”
The woman grabbed Noah’s hands and pulled him close for a hug.
When Noah moved to the man - his father - it was cold.
They just stared.
Then nodded.
“I see you’ve brought friends,” his father said.
“I’m sure our families are here too,” Xavier said. “Wouldn’t be the same without them.”
“And this one?” Noah’s mother asked, pointing to me.
“I’m Winter,” I said.
“Winter,” she said. “What a pretty name. I’m Gina. This is my husband Roland.”
The names were familiar but I never had a face to the name.
“Is your family here?” Gina asked.
“No…”
“Rightfully so,” Roland said in a deep voice. “This is for those who are truly wealthy, not peddling garbage products on late night TV.”
“Fuck, Dad,” Noah said.
“Watch your tongue, son,” Roland snapped.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Noah said.
Roland laughed. “Good luck with all of this.”
He turned and walked away.
Gina remained there for a few seconds, making things even weirder.
“Don’t mind him,” Gina said. “Noah will be just fine. Everything will work out.”
She tried to touch Noah’s back but he walked to one the worker’s and grabbed a drink.
He wasn’t supposed to be drinking, but nobody stopped him.
Gina slowly slipped away.
What an interesting way to kick things off.
Noah and his parents had a bad relationship. And I knew why. Because Noah struggled with learning. He was letting his parents down and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Now that was something to build on.
I smiled.
I wanted a drink to celebrate.
Three