“Where are their parents?” I ask.
“Never around. They are all socialites in this town with big careers. Always busy and not enough time for their children.”
“I see.” They’re like my father. Maybe that’s why Cole takes care of Lilly so much.
“Where are you—”
“Austin?” a demanding male voice interrupts her.
We both turn to see one of the guys standing in the entryway to the kitchen. I can’t tell you if it’s Kellan or Shane, but his narrowed dark eyes are on mine. Everyone stares at him as he glares at me.
I arch a brow in question.
“Cole is looking for you,” he snaps. “Let’s go.”
I turn my back to him and roll my eyes, but when they meet Becky, hers are round in surprise. “What?” I ask.
She just shakes her head. I grab the bottle of Fireball, ignoring my cup, and walk out after the warden who was sent to fetch the servant.
“Shane?”
“Kellan,” he growls.
Okay then. I take a sip of the Fireball as we walk past kids in the hallway. He takes me up a flight of stairs. My heels sink into the rich beige carpet. He comes to a stop at a door, and I go to walk in, but he blocks me. I look up at him. “I don’t want you here,” he states.
I smile. Finally, someone who feels the same as me. “Well, that makes two of us.”
His brown eyes drop to my chest and slowly run down over my legs, and when his eyes meet mine again, there’s a challenge in them that I’m not sure how to take.
He reaches behind him and opens the door. We step into a dimly lit room. There’s a couch to my left. A few chaise lounge chairs ahead of me, facing a TV that hangs on the wall. There’s a basketball game playing, but the sound is off. “Gravity” by Papa Roach plays through the speakers but not loud enough to where you can’t hear yourself think.
“Found her,” Kellan calls out to the room.
Three heads turn toward me as the guys stand over by a pool table in the corner. Each one has a girl under their arm. None of them are Cole.
I lift the bottle to take another sip, enjoying the burn of the alcohol.
“About time.” I hear his voice, and my skin breaks out in goosebumps.
I look to my right to see him sitting on another chaise lounge with his right hand propped behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles. He’s dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of Nikes. Simple yet still looking just as frightening as he did on the steps of the church. His blue eyes take me in as he looks me up and down twice. They linger on my chest, and I bite my bottom lip. When his eyes meet mine, he stands.
I take a step back. My heart picks up speed, still very well aware of what this guy is capable of.
“Girls, leave,” he orders. They all whine in unison, but the guys pull away from them and push them out the door, shutting me inside with them.
“Why am I here?” I ask, wanting to get this over with.
He takes the bottle from my hand and brings it to his lips, taking a big gulp. His Adam’s apple working as he swallows.
I cross my arms over my chest, trying to look unaffected. But I’m having trouble breathing.
“We’ve been thinking …” Cole says, rubbing his chin.
“We want you to be part of our group.” Deke finishes his sentence.
I look among the five of them and start laughing nervously. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not one bit,” Deke says, shaking his head.
“No thanks,” I say and turn to the door. I twist the handle and start to pull it open, but a hand slaps on the door over my head, holding it shut.
I jump back to look at Cole. He leans against it casually, getting comfortable and blocking my only exit. “It wasn’t an offer, Austin.”
My eyes narrow on him. “What makes you think I want anything to do with you guys?”
“Deke,” Cole says, lifting the bottle to his lips again.
I spin around to see Deke step up to us, his phone in his hand facing Cole and me. A video plays, and it’s of me driving Cole’s car away from the warehouse after he stole the red car.
“How did you get that?” I demand.
Deke just chuckles, placing the phone in his pocket. “I don’t kiss and tell, baby.”
My eyes narrow on him calling me baby. I turn back to face Cole. “You’re blackmailing me. Again.”
He shrugs carelessly. “You can call it whatever you want.”
“I’m calling it what it is,” I snap. “You know damn well that I had no idea what you had planned.”
He pushes off the door and leans down, his face inches from mine. I can smell the cinnamon on his lips and can’t help the shudder that courses through me. “I dare you to prove it.”