Chapter Ten
Caius
I lost control.
I’d been so sure of myself, but seeing Theo kiss Romy and then finding her in nothing but a towel… Well, I forgot the plan and went rogue.
As a result, my mind is a mess. I’m exactly where I want to be—in a closed-door meeting with Dad and Gideon—but I can’t focus.
This is a problem.
Gideon knows people. Lots of them. And he’s also acquainted with President Huxley. There’s something here. I know it. I just need to drown out all thoughts of Romy—her scent, her taste, her hot little mewls of pleasure—and remember why I do what I do.
Learn everything.
Make moves in silence, behind the scenes.
Find Calista.
What about Romy?
She was a tool to be used to gain access to other avenues, and while that was achieved, she’s still nothing more than a distraction.
I’ve dug my grave, though.
Do I simply “break up” with her? Send her packing back to college where she can continue on with her life before Theo interrupted it?
That answer doesn’t feel right either. My gut tells me to hang on to her—that her usefulness will continue.
But how can I stay focused in the meantime?
I can barely keep from getting hard every time I’m reminded of what we did this morning. She’d felt so fucking good. It was a brief moment of true pleasure for me, something I rarely indulge in.
“It’s been ages since I’ve seen the old coot,” Dad says to Gideon. “How long has it been for you, Gid?”
Gideon darts his eyes my way, then returns them to my father. “About the same as you.”
Dad strokes his trimmed, white beard as if deep in thought. “I suppose we’re well overdue for a reunion. All three of us.”
Gideon’s cold features turn impossibly frosty. The vibe I’m getting is that neither of these men truly likes our president. If they were friends in the past, it’s long since been forgotten.
“I doubt he can accommodate so many guests last minute,” Gideon says blandly, though stupidly revealing his hand. “I mean, the Secret Service have security checks to do. Perhaps just the two of us should go.”
Dad, whose eagerness is always shown in the way he can’t seem to sit still, shakes his head, grinning. “Nonsense. We’ve known him from before he was someone so important. He’ll make the room for all our guests.” Then he leans forward, grin turning wolfish. “I’m sure he’d love to meet that pretty daughter of yours.”
The two men have a silent stare-off for what feels like an eternity. I don’t dare break the spell as I attempt to figure out what’s going on here. There’s a whole unspoken story I need to uncover.
“We had an argument. I’m not sure she’ll even want to attend,” Gideon says in a dismissive tone. “Rubbing elbows is hardly her thing. She’s just a college kid.”
She’s far from a kid.
She’s all woman.
I’m sure as hell not offering that to the conversation, though.
“Huxley will wonder what brought our two families back together after all these years,” Dad says, pressing on. “How serendipitous that your daughter and my son began dating. It was almost as if we planned it ourselves.”
Our relationship was absolutely fabricated as a necessary means to correct what Theo had done. As far as the rest of how she came into our lives, it gives me pause. Dad placed Megan into the CUP program and handled her transfer afterward. I’d known she’d gone to New York and had taken up residence with a businessman, but it wasn’t until after I’d set up the call between Megan and Romy that I learned there was more to her placement.
She’d been sent to live with Bastian Langston, Romy’s brother.
Alarm bells ring inside my skull, but I don’t pay them the attention I want to because I need to keep up with this conversation they’re having. Or, better yet, pissing match.
“…wouldn’t put it past you to design all this just to screw with me,” Gideon says testily. “I advise you not to forget I know all about what you do. I’m in the thick of it with you.”
“You think I’m playing mind games with you?” Dad asks, scoffing. “If I were, you wouldn’t know about it. Trust me.”
Gideon turns his gaze my way. “Is this all a ruse? A setup? Why is Romy going along with this nonsense?”
Without missing a beat, I say, “She’s pregnant and I’m going to marry her.”
Dad’s head whips my way and Gideon gapes. Hell, I’m shocked at my lies, but I need to keep both these men on their toes. They’re not the only ones with power around here. I’m playing my own game and they’re pawns in it.
“She can’t be,” Gideon clips out. “She’s in college. That’ll ruin her life.”
Leaning forward, I rest my elbow on his desk and meet his gaze. “From the sounds of it last night, you did a fine job of ruining it long before I came along.”
Men like my father and Gideon Langston aren’t used to men like me. They get what they want because they throw around their money and connections and blackmail. I don’t want money or power. I just want my fucking sister.
“Marriage?” Dad says slowly. “First I’ve heard of it.”
I turn, meeting his intense stare. “I said I’d take care of things. This is me taking care of it.”
Gideon shakes his head in disbelief. “Taking care of it would be getting the girl an abortion. Marrying her is insanity. How long have you been with her? It wasn’t until recently she even mentioned a boyfriend.”
“Romy needs someone who will protect her and not drug her into oblivion,” I tell her father. “I’d appreciate it if you keep it between us. I haven’t officially asked her yet.”
Dad smirks at me, and I know my words amuse him. We both know I’ve been drugging her at every turn to keep her compliant. It’d be a lot easier if we could just run her through the official CUP program in the lab, but since she’s mentally resistant to my personal one-on-one efforts, it’s unlikely she’ll respond to those procedures.
A twinge of guilt niggles at me. The thought of taking her to our facility and subjecting her to the mindfuck that is CUP isn’t one I want to do. Would she lose the fire in her eyes? The intelligent way her mind works out puzzles so quickly? Would she remember anything we shared this morning? Would I even want her to?
Yes.
The answer is yes.
I’ve seen CUP completely alter personalities time and time again. People with mental issues, traumas, anger problems— whatever it was, the program made them docile and compliant. Their past is forgotten—rewritten to whatever we want—and they’re a new person.
I don’t think I want Romy to be a new person.
“It’s clear you both have it all planned out regarding my daughter,” Gideon states with irritation, rising from his chair. “Dinner awaits us.”
We exit the office, having been dismissed. Everyone will be going to the president’s event, including my soon-to-be “fiancée.” If Huxley’s connected to both Gideon and my father, does that mean he might have a lead for where Calista may have gone?
As we make our way to the dining room, I tug the murky memories from the recesses of my mind. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. I can’t even remember what she looks like.
Tiny, sad, confused.
Every time I try to recall her face, I can’t. It’s all a blur, which makes finding her even more complicated. Sometimes I wonder if I’m lost in a constant loop of madness, never truly having an end in sight. I’m always searching but never finding what I’m looking for.
All memories fade immediately when I lay eyes on Romy. She’s standing beside Eva, both of them admiring a dangly charm bracelet on Eva’s twig of a wrist. There’s true joy in Romy’s eyes, her smile pretty and not one I’ve seen before. When she notices our arrival, her features darken. I watch in awe as the lively young woman hardens before me. Most of her frostiness is aimed at her father, but I know some of it is for me, too.
I was a dick this morning after we fucked.
Was it really fucking, Caius?
The tender kisses, desperate moans, needy whimpers… It was more than just that. I’m not too much of an asshole to admit it either. We’d connected in an unexpected way. She made me shed my carefully cultivated exterior, glimpsing the vulnerable man hidden beneath. In those sweaty, passionate moments, we were one and it felt good, dammit.
Which is why it can’t happen again.
Losing myself in any woman is a risk, but this woman? It’s beyond risky. It’s asking for trouble.
Tearing my gaze from Romy, I seek out Kaitlyn. She clings to Theo’s side, warily eyeing Gideon and Eva. My chest aches with pain. The kid is another unnecessary complication. Gareth created too many problems. Adopting a young girl after getting caught being a pervert with another one, should have been something I could have prevented. Dad, though, is still the ruler of our world.
I demanded a nanny thinking it would help stop him from being a sicko.
It was a stupid delusion, especially since Vivienne victimized Kaitlyn too.
Out of all the potential nannies, why did Dad choose Vivienne? Until yesterday, I had no reason to question it. Now I question everything. Dad’s playing a game I’m clearly not in on. What exactly is he doing?
Years of distrust toward my adoptive father weigh heavily on me. I haven’t ever trusted him fully. This brings those feelings to the surface again, reminding me I’m not truly a part of them.
Someone knocks on the front door and Romy jolts. She lifts her chin and starts for the door. I block her path, grip her jaw, and tilt her face to meet mine. I press a soft kiss to her lips for her father’s benefit before releasing her. With a barely suppressed growl, she pushes past me. I follow after her and watch as she answers the door.
A man, tall with hawkish features and resembling Gideon, lights up upon seeing Romy. His face breaks into a huge grin as he nearly tackles her with a fierce hug. She’s tense in his hold but finally hugs him back. Megan, also entering the home, offers a pleasant smile.
Romy pulls away from her brother’s hold and stares Megan down. I’d wondered how this interaction would go down. Everything Romy claimed was true. Megan was her classmate and then she was gone. No one was supposed to notice, though. Romy, who misses nothing, just happened to be her partner.
Fuck.
This is awfully coincidental.
Did Dad set all this up knowing Romy would look into us and knowing I’d want to swoop in and fix it? An unsettling sourness churns my gut. I get the sense I’ve been played. By my own father, no less. While not surprising, it doesn’t make me any less pissed about it.
For years I’ve been searching outward for Calista. Maybe I should have looked inward instead. Spent my time figuring out my father and his inner workings rather than my sister’s ghost.
One thing’s for sure. I need to rethink my game and rethink it quickly.
I stride over to Romy, wrap a possessive arm around her, and offer my free hand to Bastian. “Caius Crowne. Pleased to officially meet you.”
His gaze darts between me and Romy, then over to Megan, and then back to us. The bright smile he had for his sister fades as a flicker of fury replaces it.
Yeah, that’s right, man. The Crownes have your little sister and we provided your girlfriend.
When Bastian doesn’t shake my hand, I smile at Megan as my hand drops. “So odd that a former classmate of Romy’s, on the other side of the country, would find her way into a relationship with the Bastian Langston.”
Romy bristles with irritation and Bastian doesn’t miss her reaction.
“Imagine my surprise,” Romy says hotly, eyes on Megan. “Good seeing you again, friend .”
Bastian’s face reddens. These Langstons can’t keep their emotions off their faces. They’re certainly not Crownes.
“Can we talk?” Bastian asks Romy. “Alone.”
“We have a lot to discuss,” Romy says, visibly trembling. “I’d like to know your part in all of it.”
I kiss the top of her head and then add, “He’s just as guilty as the rest of us.”
If looks could kill, Bastian would be charged with murder right now.
Something about him puts me on edge. It’s the only way to explain my visceral response to him.
He’s as shady as his father.
Or I’m just jealous he knows Romy in a way I don’t.