The Secrets We Hide (The Four #2) - Becca Steele Page 0,21

his face in his hands.

“Uh…would someone mind telling me what’s going on?” I stared between them both, my heart racing, apprehension filling me.

They both turned to look at me, then silently communicating with their eyes, they both shook their heads.

“Listen, Winter.” Cassius stood and came to sit down next to me. “It’s not my secret to tell. We’ve had…run-ins with Joseph Hyde and his lemmings before. That’s a big part of why we have so much security.” He sighed heavily. “Granville may be a slimy fucker, but until now, he’s stayed out of it.”

“Mostly,” Weston interjected with an eye roll.

“Yeah. Anyway, if they’re starting shit again, we’ll be ready.” He slid his arm around me, gentling his voice. “I don’t want you to worry about this, okay?” Peering around me, he met Kinslee’s eyes. “That goes for you, too. We can handle it. Just…concentrate on getting to the bottom of, y’know, the stuff that we’re already dealing with.”

I frowned at Cassius. “Thanks for enlightening me. That literally tells me nothing. Can you at least tell me who or what I need to be watching out for?”

“Just stay away from Hyde and Granville, and anyone else related to them. You’ll be fine. If this is what I think it is, they’re not trying to hurt you. It’s us they want to get to.”

“If they’re trying to hurt you, then they’re hurting me,” I said, a tremor in my voice. “You guys are my family, now. Please, just let me in. Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”

At my words, Weston rose from his seat and crossed to stand in front of me, pulling me up into his arms. He stroked his hands through my hair, the soothing motion reassuring me. “Winter. Trust us to handle this, okay? I promise you that if anything happens, we’ll make sure you’re not kept in the dark. We need to talk to Zayde and my brother first.”

He kissed the top of my head and drew back so I could look into his eyes. His face was shadowed, but there was enough light from the fire that I could see his serious, imploring gaze. “Trust us?” He bit his lip, looking at me uncertainly. “Trust me? Please?”

My heart.

“West.” I swallowed, speaking around the lump in my throat. “I trust you with my life.” I raised my voice. “You too, Cass.”

Cassius stood, tugging Kinslee up with him. “Good. We’ve got your back.” His blue gaze turned to ice, and his voice hardened. “No one fucks with one of the Four, or our girls, and gets away with it. No one.”

ELEVEN

I sang along with the radio as I whisked eggs for breakfast. I’d woken this morning feeling almost happy, weirdly, despite everything that was going on, even with the added James drama. After this week, the semester would be over. Kinslee’s brother was coming home for the Christmas break, and we’d soon hopefully have some answers from him regarding the ship, the Argo Navis. Kinslee had decided it was better to wait until he was home and she could speak with him in person—he was working on an oil rig, with little to no communication, and no privacy in the small amount of contact he was able to have with the outside world.

The only blight in my day was the thought that soon I’d have to face my mother again. From what I’d learned from Weston, every year, the Alstone elite held a winter ball at Alstone Town Hall. I’d asked Kinslee for more details, but she hadn’t been able to go before, nor had she had any desire to. She was at Alstone College thanks to a combination of her grandfather’s money paying for her tuition and accommodation, and the small fact of her being the dean’s goddaughter. Although she was what I’d probably call comfortably well off, until I came along, she’d stayed well away from the elite. Unfortunately for her, now, she was coming with me to the ball, slightly unwillingly.

Stupid archaic traditions dictated that we had to turn up in male-female couples—completely ridiculous in this day and age. I was going with Cassius, and since Caiden and I were still at a kind of impasse, he was taking Kinslee. I trusted both of them together, so of all the possibilities, them going as each other’s date was by far the best option in my mind.

Anyway, that was a worry for another day. I crossed over to the fridge, pulling out the cheddar, and