expecting the hot jealousy that burned through me at the sight of them, but it still hurt, and I gripped Cassius harder, making him hiss. “Winter.”
“Shit, sorry, Cass.” I loosened my grip where my nails had been digging into his arms.
He pulled me closer, speaking into my ear. “Are you ready? You know when she sees you, she’s gonna want to rub it in your face?”
“Yeah, I know.” I gritted my teeth.
“Look at him. He’s not enjoying it, babe.” His tone became lighter, amused, as he twisted us round, then spun me back to face them. “Look at Z.”
I became aware of Zayde with Portia, stunning in a deep blue ball gown. He, like Cade, was dressed all in black. Black suit, black shirt, black tie. His mouth was set in a grim line, his body stiff, holding Portia as far away from him as he could. To be fair, she didn’t look any happier to be with him. I smirked, before my eyes returned to Caiden.
I noticed the exact moment he saw me. He grimaced, and Jessa looked up at him, and then her head shot round towards me. She deliberately stepped closer to Cade, clinging onto him, running her hand up his arm, a satisfied smile on her lips as she watched me shoot daggers at her with my eyes. Caiden’s jaw tightened, but he let her touch him, playing his part, just as I was.
I hated it.
Cass spun me away, before I could do anything stupid like launch myself at her. What was it about Caiden Cavendish that made me so fucking jealous of any woman that was around him?
Like a magnet, my eyes kept going straight to his, catching glimpses of him across the dance floor, and every time, he was looking right back at me.
“James. To your left,” Cassius suddenly hissed in my ear. “Act like Caiden is invisible to you. I’m moving us closer.” He skilfully twisted us between dancing couples, until I lost sight of Caiden and we were next to James and his date. I steeled myself, wishing Kinslee was here as backup. Despite her assurances, she hadn’t been able to get a date at such short notice, and with the ball being so exclusive, we couldn’t work anything out.
Mentally shaking my head, I prepared myself.
“James.” I pasted a small, hesitant smile on my face, not too wide, in case he got suspicious. “Could I have a quick word with you?”
His eyes were shadowed behind his gold mask, so I couldn’t make out his expression, but I heard his sharp, surprised intake of breath. He glanced between me and his date, who was staring at me intently, before her eyes were drawn to Cassius.
“Hi, Cassius,” she murmured softly, and then her focus returned to me. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Bea.”
“Winter.” I smiled at her, not sensing any hostility, and she returned my smile.
“Bea, how have you been? Haven’t seen you for ages.” Cassius took control of the situation, nudging me as he moved in front of Bea, and I took the chance to lean into James.
“Please? Just a quick word?”
He looked back at his date, who gave a small nod before returning her attention to Cassius and followed me from the dance floor. I needed to go somewhere I could talk to him without being overheard, but at the same time, I needed to be within eyesight of Cassius. For lack of other options, I headed towards the back of the room, rounding one of the marble columns to give us a small amount of privacy.
“We need to talk, don’t you think?”
He glanced around us, then nodded slowly, moving deeper into the shadows and leaning against the wall. I could see Cassius and Bea out of the corner of my eye, not close enough to overhear our conversation, but close enough for Cass to watch out for me.
“Listen, I’ve actually been debating whether to get in contact with you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react.” His shoulders slumped, and he sighed heavily. “I wanted to apologise to you for what happened in the library.”
“Why do it, though? I thought we were friends.”
Scuffing his foot against the floor, he hesitated for a moment, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” All thoughts of my plan to pretend to be grateful to him for driving a wedge between me and Caiden went out of the window at the undercurrent of fear in