do.”
ELEVEN
After the boys had got over their shock of the last-minute party planner, which, by the way, I had no knowledge of, they became surprisingly enthusiastic about the whole thing. Mostly due to the fact that she’d had a fully functioning bar erected in the dining part of the kitchen, complete with staff who were busy showing Caiden and Cassius some complicated tricks that involved throwing glasses around. There was also a roulette table and a magician guy wandering around doing card tricks.
Kinslee and Cassius had arranged for the planner, and Cassius had forced the poor woman to include the stuff he’d picked up on our shopping trip alongside the professional decorations. This meant that it gave the whole thing a slight children’s party feel, but it worked. Kind of. Caiden had been angry when he found out that Cassius had sneakily taken his credit card and used it to pay for the planner, but he didn’t stay mad for long. Not when he saw how happy I was.
I changed into a short, tight black dress and added sparkly silver earrings and my new charm bracelet. After finishing my makeup, I’d just stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom when Caiden walked in.
He stopped dead, and his eyes licked me up and down, and just like that, I was suddenly breathless.
“Fuck. Look at you. I wish we had time for a quickie.” His voice went all hoarse as he stalked over to me, pulling me to him.
Sliding my arms around him, I tried to sound firm. “Not now. Behave.” I barely believed my own words. If it came to a choice of being with him or being at the party, I’d rather be upstairs with him, in all honesty.
“I don’t want to behave.”
“You have to. Don’t mess up my lipstick.” I stared into his stormy eyes, and my stomach flipped at the look in them. “At least, not yet.”
“I want those lips around my cock, later.” His lashes lowered as he stared intently at my mouth.
“I can do that.”
“Good.”
“By the way, you look insanely hot,” I told him, running my hands down his strong back. He had on a black shirt with jeans, and his hair was all messy. Just the way I liked him.
“Stop eye fucking me.”
“I can’t help it.”
“I know.” He gave me a smirk, and I pressed my lips softly against his, then wiped away the small smear of lipstick with my thumb. Smiling, he glanced at his watch, before he reached down for my hand and tugged me towards the door. “Come on, birthday girl. You can’t be late to your own party.”
Yeah, like any of these people were here for me—other than a small percentage, anyway. The majority of them just wanted to be seen here, to be at one of the Four’s parties.
The music was pulsating, a dark, heavy beat that made me want to dance as we made our way downstairs. The lights had been turned down low, and the house was already full of people talking, laughing, and drinking. Caiden led me to the temporary bar area where the bartender mixed me a cocktail—something fruity and delicious that I knew I’d drink way too quickly.
After my cocktail was ready, Caiden pulled me into a dark, quietish corner of the room and slid his arm around my waist, kissing my neck as I sipped my drink. He trailed his lips up to my ear, and I shivered at the feel of his mouth on my skin.
“Listen, baby. I know we said about the whole Granville thing—him coming here so we could get some answers from him. But I want you to have fun, as well. This is your party.”
“A party we’re having for the specific purpose of getting answers from James.”
He laughed. “Yeah, okay. But we are celebrating your birthday.”
“My actual birthday was the best birthday I’ve ever had. Anything else is just a bonus.”
“Good.” He kissed my cheek and then released me with a frown, glancing over my shoulder. “I’m not sure who’s here, but we’d better cut down on the physical contact.”
I nodded. I wanted to speak to Arlo about what was going on between me and Caiden, but at the moment our primary concern was Christine. As much as I wanted to shout about the fact that Caiden was mine, we had more important concerns. Like the tiny fact that Christine was most likely planning to have Caiden’s dad killed.
How the fuck did I end up being related to