Deviant (Boys of Winter #3) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,135

that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy building a relationship with my mother, and if she just happened to tell me about her less than thrilling experiences with her niece, then I am all ears.”

“You’re a piece of shit,” I spit, the anger and betrayal washing over me in waves. “Don’t be fooled, every single person at this table knows your mother is a fraud. They know who she is and she will never get her hands on Dynasty. Do you really think that the men who sit around this table are going to give it up for anything? You haven’t got a chance in hell. Every time that you claim your father’s name to get a foot inside Dynasty, I’m just going to push you right back again.”

“Try all you like, Elodie Ravenwood,” she tells me, the grin settling across her face only making it hurt that much more. “But you won’t be getting away from me that fast. I’m the head of the Harding family now. I am Michael Harding’s firstborn daughter. I am eighteen years old and entitled to take his seat at the table, and as I’m sure you know, that means that I am also entitled to his home. I guess we’ll be seeing plenty of each other now.”

I shake my head, not trusting myself to lose control and smack her into next week. Little things all start making sense. Every time Cruz set me up with new security codes, they were always found out and taken advantage of. How Paris knew not to be home when we raided my parents’ mountain home. Ember always seemed to know more about Dynasty than anyone else in town. It was all her. The girl I called my best friend.

“The bugs,” I mutter to myself, looking over my shoulder and meeting Cruz’s stare who nods, coming to the same conclusion as I had. Both mine and Carver’s home were bugged and at the time, we didn’t think to pin it on Ember because we trusted her with our lives … but now. Fuck. I feel like such an idiot. All this time I was letting her in just so she could repeatedly stab me in my back.

I wonder if she had anything to do with trashing Carver’s home and Lady Dante …

Shit. I can’t even go there right now. I can’t stand to see her face a second longer, and if I find out that she hurt Lady Dante, I’m going to break, and that can’t happen, not at this table.

I know she said that she had nothing to do with the shit her mother has done against me, but she lied about everything else. Why not that too? Besides, it’s not like she’s going to sit there in front of a group of self-made executioners and admit to something like that.

All I know is that from here on out, Ember Michaelson … or Harding, whatever the fuck she wants to go by, is no longer someone I can trust.

From here on out, she’s dead to me.

“Grayson,” I demand, my tone filled with authority. “This meeting is done. See Miss Harding out of my home and make sure that she never steps foot in here again.”

Grayson nods and as he starts making his way around the table, Ember stands. “I don’t need an escort,” she says with a sickly-sweet smile. “This meeting is boring anyway. I’ll be seeing you, Elodie.”

And just like that, she turns and walks out of the room with both Grayson and Cruz following behind her, leaving nothing but a mess of chaos behind as the remaining fourteen heads of Dynasty scramble to figure out what the fuck we’re going to do about this.

CHAPTER 33

My thigh-high boots slip into place as I turn in the mirror, checking out the way my ass sits in my new leather pants. It’s fucking perfect. Leather pants have always been tricky for me. They never fit me just right, but when I find a pair that does, I cherish it until it falls to pieces.

I search through my closet until I find the perfect tank to go with my outfit. Tonight is kinda big and I’m not about to fuck it up. Cruz’s mom has been slaving over this dinner party, wanting to make it perfect for not only her son, but for everyone who’s going to be there, which apparently is going to be everyone. All the main families with their children and wives—all the hoity-toity bitches who