The Lies We Tell (The Four #1) - Becca Steele Page 0,29

sting of her insulting words towards my dad.

“Please don’t talk about him that way.”

She gave a light, tinkling laugh. “It’s the truth, dear. That man was completely hopeless.”

That was it. I couldn’t stop myself. I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, Caiden slid his arm around my waist and turned me away from my mother.

“Keep it together,” he hissed in my ear. I looked up at him in shock. He stared down at me, his stormy eyes swirling with a mix of frustration and—was that sympathy? No, I must be mistaken.

I took a deep breath, blinking back the angry tears that had formed, and forced myself to focus on Arlo Cavendish, who stood in front of us. Caiden kept his arm around me, and whatever his reasons were for doing so, I was glad of his presence.

“I’m glad to see you and my son are getting on better, now.” Arlo smiled at me. His smile actually seemed genuine, which was unexpected but not entirely unwelcome.

Some of the tension left me, and I unclenched my fists, wincing slightly at the sting left from digging my nails so tightly into my palms. “Oh, we’re great friends now. Aren’t we, Cade?” I smirked at him, and he rolled his eyes.

“The best of friends,” he drawled.

“Me too,” Weston interjected.

I grinned at him, my body easing as the remaining tension drained out of me. “We are most definitely friends. I wouldn’t let just anyone beat me at pool.”

“I was taking it easy on you last time we played. Just you wait till we have a rematch.”

“I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation, but you remember what you’re here to do?” My mother spoke, and Caiden’s arm tightened around my waist in warning as he answered her.

“Yes. We’re here to show everyone what a happy little family we are, and how we just love spending time with each other, blah fucking blah.”

Weston snorted as my mother’s eyes shot icy daggers at Caiden. “Enough of the rudeness. Go and mingle, and don’t do anything to show us up.”

Clearly not trusting himself, or any of us, not to say anything insulting, Caiden steered me away from them, keeping his hold on me, Weston at my side. “I need a strong fucking drink for this shit,” he muttered as we headed to the bar that had been set up in the corner of the room. He moved away from me once we reached it, and as we stood, waiting for a drink, I took the opportunity to look around the room.

You could feel the power and influence radiating from all angles. And the money. Women and men of all ages worked the room, expensively dressed, looking down their noses at one another, their sense of entitlement obvious. It was no wonder the Four acted the way they did on campus, growing up around these people. And now I had to play nice with them, too. I groaned internally. I had to keep my end goal in mind. Stay focused, stay on my mother’s good side, and remember I was doing this for my dad.

“You want a drink?”

I turned to Weston. “Just water, please, or a Coke if they have it.” My plan was to stick to non-alcoholic drinks so I could do some investigating later once everyone was either too drunk to notice, or failing that, asleep.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

He nodded and placed my order with the bartender. He waved off my offer of paying, laughing, telling me that it was a free bar and we never paid for drinks at parties. It kind of seemed obvious when I thought about it.

Another sign I had no clue what I was doing here.

Picking up my Coke, I thanked the bartender, then took a long sip. Perfectly chilled. Mmm.

“Hello, beautiful.”

I spun around, seeing James standing there with a blonde girl in a short black dress, fishnet stockings, a fuckton of eyeliner, and a sullen expression on her face. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen.

“James!” I threw my arms around him, happy to see him. He hugged me back, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

His expression darkened as he released me from the hug, taking in the two men that had come to stand either side of me.

“Granville.” Caiden’s tone was hostile.

“Cavendish.” James matched his tone, taking a step forwards. They stood for a moment, glaring at each other, neither backing down.

For fuck’s sake.

“Lena? What’re you doing with Granville?” Weston stared at the girl who had been standing with