Page 53 of Wicked Deceit
Chase’s eyes turn into saucers staring at Carter’s pale face and back to my father. Quickly he hides the drinks behind his back like my father hadn’t caught the move.
Carter runs a shaky hand through his blonde hair and blows out a heavy breath. The color returns to his face, but his eyes drift left and right, plotting his escape. I don’t blame him for wanting to run, because I kind of want to run, too. Do you think they’d notice if I slowly backed away and let them meet their fate by themselves? Yeah, I think they’d notice. Especially with the way they eye me, pleading for me to jump in and save their skin.
“Does the other one know about that?” My father asks, tilting his head toward Chase.
“Know about what?” Chase asks with suspicion, cocking his head to the side. He finally looks at my father in the face and winces under the scrutiny of his penetrating stare. “Oh,” he squeaks like a mouse again.
“Dad—” I breathe through irritation, putting a hand up.
“No worries, Mr. Cole,” Chase says, lifting his chin with confidence–something he shouldn’t have right now. My father will chew them up and spit them out before they can blink. “We’re cool.” He nods toward a sweating Carter and grins, playing the tension down like the mediator he thinks he is. “So, totally cool,” he murmurs, side-eyeing Carter who is so totally not cool with this situation.
Dad frowns, staring at the three of us and blinking rapidly. The wheels visibly turn in his brain as he thinks it over. And dear God, I hope he doesn’t think it over too much. He’ll drag my ass out of this event and out of this town before I can utter a word. Shit, this was a dumbass idea to think I could pull one over on him. Taking another sip, I see the moment a light clicks in his brain when he rears back and really takes a look at the three of us. And I mean really looks at us with bright, wide, knowing eyes. Fuck. We’re dead. Just bury us now because there won’t be anything left when he’s through with us. He scowls and opens his mouth, but whatever he was going to say falls to the wayside. Instead, he runs a hand down his reddened face and huffs.
“You keep your hands to yourself for the rest of the evening,” he growls at Carter, stepping up to his trembling body. “If I catch you feeling up my daughter again, I’ll cut your hands off myself.”
My heart drops into my stomach at the sound of my father’s violent threat. Would he really? I mean, he’s good with his hands and a creative writer, but to saw off my boyfriend’s wandering hands? Would he? Or….
“Of course, Sir,” he gasps out, taking a step back.
“And you…” he growls at Chase, pointing a finger. Chase visibly swallows, staring down the beast in the eyes.
“Dad,” I say again, a little more forcefully. His eyes snap to mine, shaking his head.
“Any more boyfriends you need to tell me about?” He asks through clenched teeth, looking around the room with a fire in his eyes. Okay, so I give my mom and sister credit. They didn’t utter a word to my unsuspecting father. Although, right now, it might have been nice to have him in the know. Then he wouldn’t be hunting down my other potential boyfriends he does not know about.
I swear my heart falls to the floor when my favorite twins saunter up to us. Seger wears an impressive grin, fingers wrapped around a champagne flute. Zepp creases his brow, examining the scene unfolding. His fingers glide over his freshly shaved chin, freezing in place. He darts his eyes from the four of us to his brother and back again. Before he can stop Seger by the wrist in warning, Seger opens his cocky as hell mouth, spouting the stupidest thing he could.
“Ah, cool, Angel! You told him?”
Swallow me whole. Jesus, take me now. I’m ready to die an early death and forget this all happened. If this continues, I’m as good as gone, and he’ll lock me in my room until I’m thirty-five. Okay, maybe not that dramatic. But my father is so protective. He’s probably seeing red by now, and we’re all in grave danger. I dart my eyes across the room. We should probably run.
I send daggers in Seger’s direction when he steps up to my father with a grin on his face. “Hey, Mr. Cole, I’m Seger.” He extends his hand with a grin, fully expecting a friendly handshake. But what he gets drops the grin from his face and makes his Adam’s apple bob.
My father blinks rapidly, staring down at Seger’s suspended hand and back up to his face. Zepp stands beside Seger with a huff, observing the scene unfolding. Shaking his head, he leans over and quickly whispers in Seger’s ear. Seger’s eyes widen, and his muscles stiffen. Slowly, Zepp lowers his brother’s arm back to his side. And they, too, stand like the rest of my boyfriends: petrified and motionless before the damn predator about to devour them whole. Goodbye boyfriends, it was nice knowing you. I won’t ever forget you.
“Dad,” I beg again, turning on my puppy dog eyes.
He eyes the five of us with suspicion boiling in his eyes, only stopping to look each guy over like he’s making a mental hit list. Shit. He probably is. He’s never been the shotgun type of dad. But now? Yeah, now I’m thinking we will walk in on him cleaning his gun and throwing out threats.
His frown deepens, wrinkling his face, and he narrows his eyes. “I need to have a word with your mother,” he mutters, eyeing us all again. “And then we’ll have a very long conversation together.” He stares at each boy in the eyes and then stomps off in my mother’s direction, muttering curse words under his breath.
My mom’s twinkling eye takes us all in from a distance, and when my father approaches, she coos at him, running her fingers over his cheeks and talking in a hushed tone. I have no doubts now she’s detailing everything to my father by the way their eyes keep slicing at us. My father’s veins bulge, and his entire face turns red.
“Shit,” Seger gasps in horror, finally able to move. He tries to make a run for it, but Zepp stops him by the scruff of his shirt.
“Yeah, shit.” Chase scowls, handing us our drinks once hidden behind his back.
Carter grasps the flute and, in one gulp, drinks the entire contents of his glass. He marches out into the open with a frantic scowl and shoves the glass onto a drink tray passing by, grabbing two more. At first, I think he’s brought me another, but I quickly realize he’s drowning his fears away with two champagne glasses at a time.
“You fuckheads didn’t get caught groping—” Carter groans through a full-body shiver, draining the third drink in a second.
“Groping?” Seger gasps, turning toward Carter with his mouth open wide. “You fucking didn’t,” he says, letting his laughter boil over.
“Shut the fuck up, West,” Carter snarls, gulping down another drink from a full glass.
Wait... where did he get it? He just had two empty ones, and now he has two full ones again. I peek around the room, but we are back in our hidden space, and the crowd has thinned out. Even my parents have disappeared, and hopefully, they weren’t dragged somewhere nefarious. But I shake that thought away. They held the event in three rooms of the hotel, each with different possibilities for patrons to enjoy. There are bands, auctions, and even a donation room. So people wander around aimlessly, moving from room to room.
Just when I think I can have some time to myself, my hair rises on my neck. I curse, looking behind me. Only to find the tick that never leaves me waltzing forward.
