Page 20 of Sinful Storms

His lips brushed over my ear. “You’d like to be, though. Don’t worry. You get to be the special one today. I prefer to keep my extracurricular companions well away from dear Mummy and Daddy. You don’t need to concern your pretty little head with thoughts of just how many girls have enjoyed the pleasure of my company in my childhood bedroom.”

“You’re disgusting.” I ripped myself away from him, spinning around to glare at his smug, amused face. He should have been angry that I’d been snooping around his room, but he either had nothing to hide or was arrogant enough to think I wouldn’t be able to find whatever was hidden.

“Disgusting?” One brow arched. “Suuuure. Why are you all out of breath, then? Why are your nipples hard enough to cut glass?”

My gaze instantly shot downwards, my hands flying to my chest without a conscious thought. “They are not!”

He smirked at me. “They are. It’s okay to be turned on by me, baby. We both know I’m hot.”

I swept my gaze down his body, stopping at the bulge in his joggers that was definitely bigger than it had been earlier, not that I’d been purposely looking or anything. “Seems like you’re the one who’s turned on.”

“Don’t take it personally.”

“Believe me, I won’t,” I hissed, spinning on my heel. His laughter followed me down the hallway to my own bedroom, where I slumped back on my huge bed with a sigh. Maybe it had been a mistake to come to the Smith-Chamberlain mansion for the weekend. It wasn’t something I usually did, and mygodparents had been visibly shocked when I’d shown up at the gates earlier, having hitched a lift with Knox and Elena, who were going back to his family house for the weekend.

But this notebook I’d found…the names inside…the strange words…I had to know more. Especially after I’d discovered the missing pages.

At first, I hadn’t noticed anything wrong during my cursory flip through, but then when I’d taken a closer look, I’d noticed the tear lines where several pages had been removed, right after the list of names.

It was the unknown that had drawn me here this weekend.

My great-uncle had been on that list, and I wanted to know why. Why did his name have a question mark next to it? Who were the other people on the list that I didn’t recognise the names of? What had been written on those missing pages? Why was the book hidden under the floorboards in the bell tower?

My knowledge of my great-uncle was minimal. He’d been my grandmother’s twin brother. She refused to speak about him, and all I knew was that he’d passed away in a tragic accident long before I was born. I didn’t know how he’d died, and I didn’t even know where he was buried. Maybe I should have asked more about him when I was younger, but he’d only been mentioned a few times, and I didn’t want to hurt my grandma by bringing up something that was obviously painful for her.

So that was the main reason I was here. Tristan’s grandfather had been on that list of names, so if anyone was likely to know something about my family history, it was Tristan’s family.

“We should do this more often, darling.” Jane Smith-Chamberlain rolled her head to the side to look at her husband,a little tipsy after several gins following dinner. She placed her Waterford crystal glass down on the mahogany side table before raising her hand. “Lawrence! Another gin.”

“We should,” Gregory agreed. He was staring into the fire, smoking—and why my godparents had a fire lit during what was possibly the warmest weekend of the year so far, I had no idea. Maybe they liked the aesthetic. I screwed up my face, trying not to breathe in the smoke. Weed was one thing, but these cigars were another. And the “smoking room” where we currently were was permeated by the smell. Still, it was nice in a way that Tristan’s parents wanted us to all spend time together.

“I have a vision of the future.” My godmother waved her hand in the air theatrically. “Tristan, with his lovely wife and children, in residence in the east wing. Aria…joining us with her family for an intimate dinner party. All of us together as one happy family.”

I could feel Tristan’s eyes on the side of my face, but I didn’t turn to look at him. This was the opening I needed.

“Speaking of family?—”

“Oh, Aria. I’ve been thinking of drawing up a list of prospects for you. Your family name may be an issue, but I’m positive I can find a good match for you.”

“Um. Thank you.”

“Mother. Aria doesn’t need you to draw her up a list of prospects. I’m sure she can find someone on her own.” Tristan’s voice was harsh, and his mother startled, blinking rapidly before raising her refilled glass of gin.

“Of course she can, but as her godmother, I have a responsibility to make sure she has the best possible chances in life. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t be able to find a man of good standing with our connections. A future lawyer, perhaps. Oh, Maria mentioned Tallulah has a son?—”

“Mother,” Tristan growled.

“Tristan. Don’t speak to your mother with that tone of voice. Have you put any thought to your own prospects? Lady Whitstable seemed very keen at the last ball we attended. Have you followed that up?” Tristan’s dad gave him a pointed look.

Tristan smirked. “Yeah, she was keen on my dick,” he said under his breath. “We’ve been in touch,” he said more loudly, and his dad nodded.

“Good.” He didn’t appear to realise that Tristan was clearly lying through his teeth.

I cleared my throat. “All this talk of family has made me curious. Um, Gregory, your dad was at school with my great-uncle, weren’t you? Is there anything you can tell me about him?”

The silence that instantly fell was thick and suffocating. When one of the logs in the fireplace popped, Jane flinched. Gregory stared into the fireplace, unseeing, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

Eventually, he spoke. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell you. He and my father moved in different circles, so as far as I’m aware, they didn’t interact.”

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