A woman who is so easily seduced, means she wasn’t his to begin with. A wedding ring means fucking nothing if the heart is that fickle. Even though Stone might not be one hundred percent in love with me, I know for a fact she would never two-time me. My girl has more integrity and dignity than most of these southern belles profess to have.
As we both rush out of the room, my attention is grabbed by Kennedy’s blonde curls as she stands near one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. I sway off course for a second to make sure that Stone is ok in my absence.
“Ken, do me a solid. I left Stone with my mom. Rescue her for me, will you?”
“On it,” Kennedy replies steadfastly, already heading toward the two women on the other side of the room.
Knowing Stone is in good hands, I run after East, who is dashing madly up the foyer to the second floor.
“You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, East. Colt knows how to cover his ass. I’m sure Sherriff Travis is already falling down drunk on compliments and champagne, none the wiser to his wife’s infidelities.”
But instead of Easton slowing his step, he continues to haul ass as if someone set fire on his butt.
“East!”
“East!”
He doesn’t waver and only stops when he’s reached my bedroom door.
“That fucker better not be screwing on my bed!” I growl, pushing East away from the door, ready to kick Colt’s ass.
But when I get inside my room, there is no live-action porn happening on my duvet. I let out a long, relieved breath, only to hear hushed voices coming out of the bathroom. I walk over to it with Easton on my heel, and when I open the door, Lincoln and a half-dressed Colt are staring at my mirror with worried faces.
I walk in closer, my feet suddenly sluggish, and when I lock eyes on the message written in black ink on the vanity mirror, my heart stops.
We warned you.
All four of us stare at those horrific words like a bad omen of what’s about to come.
“They’re getting more restless,” Lincoln states gravely.
“You mean, dangerous,” Easton interjects behind me. “Did anyone besides us see this shit?”
Colt shakes his head profusely, tucking his white collared shirt back into his tuxedo pants.
“No. I came into the bathroom to get a condom when I stumbled on it. I sent Betty packing after that, but I don’t think she caught my sudden mood swing. Just gave her the runaround that there were too many people in the house, so I think she bought it.”
I’m too fucked in the head to even give Colt a hard time for wanting to screw the sheriff’s wife in my room.
“There has to be a reason why they have upped the ante. Why would they leave such a message for anyone to see?” Lincoln continues, trying to decipher The Society’s inner workings.
“All I know is they’re here, probably mingling with the guests downstairs as we speak. Who knows what they’ll do next?!” East hollers, throwing his arms behind his head, grabbing at the short ends of his hair in frustration.
“Settle the fuck down, East. We don’t know if they’re downstairs or not. They could have just easily slipped in and out, leaving this little threat without being noticed.”
East shakes his head, unconvinced with Lincoln’s explanation, and retorts, “These assholes are a big deal. You said so yourself, Lincoln. They are the elite of the fucking elite. Of course those fuckers are downstairs. Probably gorging on caviar and champagne, laughing themselves into a frenzy about how they’ve got us over a barrel.”
“Just give me a minute, East, before you do something stupid like go downstairs searching for the boogieman. They have been cautious up until now. They value discretion, so what changed?”
“Not when it came to Finn’s car. When they painted it with pig’s blood, right in the middle of our school’s parking lot, they didn’t seem to be worried about discretion.”
“True,” Lincoln agrees, rubbing his chin in thought. “They did go off the rails there, too. There has to be a connection, though. Why were those two messages so in your face, while the other three were discreet?”
My stomach starts to twist and turn, making me nauseous.
Fuck.
I know exactly why these fuckers went all DEFCON five on us.
“I know what the connection is,” I huff out, returning to my room, immediately sitting on the edge of my bed to keep my