“Where the fuck are you going?”
She glares at me, furious all of sudden even though I didn’t do a fucking thing wrong. “You said no one would be here. That no one would know.”
“Zane doesn’t count. He’s family.”
“That’s even worse—”
“Fucking hell, we’ve been over this,” I snap. “I don’t give a fuck if anyone finds out.”
“Well, I do. And just so you know, I still have nightmares about that day in the pool house. You knew what he did to me. All you had to do was warn me. This…” she casts her eye around the room. “This was a mistake.”
Fucking hell. That came out of nowhere. She said she was fine, and now she’s not?She goes to walk away from me a second time. I yank her back, digging my fingers into her flesh. “Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom! Is that allowed?” she hisses at me.
I unclench my jaw and release her so that she stumbles a little. She rights herself, shoots a shitty look at me like it could drop me dead, and then storms off in the direction of the ladies’ powder room.
I rub my jaw as I watch her go, and then I head straight to the bar. Fuck not drinking. I need to drink tonight. I need to get fucking wasted. Then, I need to punch Zane’s fucking lights out because Bella is right…This was a mistake.
“Our family is a lot to take in,” Emerald reminds me as she appears at the bar. “Give her time to adjust.”
“She’s right,” I scowl. “I should have told her Zane was coming.” I shake my head. “I shouldn’t have brought her here.”
“That’s probably true, but you needed to do this eventually. How is dad taking the news?”
I give a harsh laugh. “Badly.”
Emerald nods. “At least Odette is behaving. She hasn’t tried to fuck one of our uncles or something.”
“She’s got a crush on Seth,” I shrug.
“Speak of the Devil,” Emerald says, and I glance over to where she’s looking to see Seth walk in.
I raise my glass to him across the room, a psychotic smirk on my face. A shadow of something akin to ‘fuck you’ seems to cross his face, but he nods back and saunters over.
“Em, good to see you again.” He hugs my older sister before turning to me, all dark and fucking broody. “Romain, let’s not pretend we like each other.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I sneer. “How’s the Darlington bitch?”
“What did you say?” His expression tightens, eyes becoming flinty.
My lips curl into a smile. “Touch a raw nerve, did I? Grandfather know you’ve got a soft spot for the enemy?”
He looks like he’s about to explode when my crazy sister appears out of nowhere. “Seth! You’re here.” She kisses him on both cheeks. “I’ve got something to show you. Come with me.” She drags him away. The muscle in my jaw aches, so I take Emerald’s drink and down most of it.
Emerald rolls her eyes, letting out a breath. After a few minutes, she shakes her head. “I’ll go and make sure she hasn’t handcuffed him to a bed somewhere.”
As she walks off, Zane materializes out of the crowd talking to my father. He’s nodding, agreeing to something, when he glances up and then turns his gaze to me. The smirk on his face is fucking infuriating. He shakes my father’s hand and then heads out the main set of doors.
There you are, you fucking pissant. I take one last swig of my drink, ready to move away from the bar, and follow him, fists clenched in anticipation.
“You used to be fun. When did you become such a fucking pussy?” Royce strolls over, pissed as a newt, ruining my attempt to discreetly go after our cousin.
“Fuck off,” I say to Royce. When he doesn’t move away, I resign myself to ordering another drink. I’ll find Holland later. Make him regret coming here tonight. I can’t make Bella happy, but I can fuck someone up.
“So, your teacher, huh? Fucking hot.” He raises a glass at me.
I shoot a look at Royce, who is still fucking talking. I’m not in the mood, so I just stare at him. “Don’t think I won’t gut you where you stand. I don’t give a fuck that you’re my cousin.”
“You know, you might want to be nice to me. I heard your father telling Zane some pretty interesting things just now.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Like fucking what?”
“Like how much of a whore your girlfriend is, and how they’re going to prove it to you….”
I don’t waste any more time listening to Royce.
If they’ve done anything to my Bella, any fucking thing,
I’ll kill them.