Chapter Eighteen
Caius
T he snowflakes landing on my face and hair aren’t enough to cool the heat that still burns like lava straight to my cock. I’m outside, for fuck’s sake, and am having trouble keeping my dick from chubbing up.
Last night was…
It was far more than a distraction. It was a repositioning of my entire world. I’m reminded of Romy’s puzzles. All the pieces were slated to be put together a certain way, but then she came into my world, rearranged them all with lightning-quick speed, and now I’m seeing a different picture.
I like this one.
A lot.
Which is frustrating in and of itself. I need to be focused, especially now when I have my sister finally within my crosshairs. Yesterday was the best lead I’ve had since I left her that fateful day.
My phone buzzes and a part of me hopes it’s Romy. I’m annoyed with how my mind seems to fixate on her and only her these days.
It’s not her.
Dad: We went ahead and ordered. I got you their special. ETA?
I quickly tap out a reply.
Me: That’s fine. Around the corner. Two minutes.
After shoving my phone back into my coat pocket, I pick up the pace. Thoughts of Romy once again flood my brain.
I couldn’t stay off her last night. Hell, I couldn’t even stay out of her last night. When I’d woken up literally fucking her, I thought it was a really good dream. But it wasn’t a dream. It was real.
You came inside her, stupid. Too many times to count.
The reminder is a harsh one, but I don’t let it ruin my good mood. Besides, it’s not like she’s going anywhere. If something happens, I’ll deal with it.
You just want a reason to keep her…
Rather than confirm or deny that thought, I fling open the door to the restaurant and head inside. I find a table in the back where Theo, Dad, and Kaitlyn are already seated. Once I pull off my coat and sit beside Dad, I reach across the table to ruffle Kaitlyn’s messy blond hair.
“What did you order?” I ask her. “Let me guess. Spinach.”
She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Ew, Uncle Cai. I got pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream.”
“But how will you grow muscles if you don’t eat your spinach?”
“I don’t want muscles,” she says with a huff. “I want chocolate.”
“Spoken like a true lady,” Theo says, turning to fist bump her.
She nearly knocks over her glass of orange juice with her other elbow, but Dad steadies it before it goes flying across the table into his lap.
I’m grateful they took the initiative to order my food because I’m starving. Turns out, spending all night fucking your girl will do that to you.
Stop. Thinking. About. It.
Theo, as if attuned to my brain, frowns and starts texting on his phone. He likes Romy. I get that. She’s smart and beautiful. But she’s mine. He may have grabbed her, creating this huge debacle, but I claimed her. Now, after last night, she’s absolutely mine. If I catch him in bed with her again, I won’t let him slip away so easily.
Kaitlyn busies herself setting her Barbie dolls in seated positions on the table and then tears a napkin to make them all bibs.
“This is the only family we have left,” Dad says lowly, leaning in close. “Cherish it, Son.”
When he calls me Son now, I don’t get pissed like I did at fifteen. He’s not my real father, but he’s spent the last twelve years fathering me. It’s difficult to think in another few years, I’ll have had Orion longer as a dad than my real one.
Guilt niggles at me. As much of a monster as Gareth was, he was still family. I stole him from Dad and Theo and Kaitlyn.
I refuse to think about walking in on him with Romy. After last night, my feelings for her have transformed. I’m not sure I could control myself from flipping the fucking table right now.
This woman is making me lose my mind.
“Everyone else outside of the Crowne family are pawns, Caius,” Dad murmurs. “We are the rulers and controllers of those around us. I taught you and your brothers well.”
I nod as though I agree, but I don’t truly. Though my focus has always been on Calista, I’ve felt the heaviness of being on the wrong side of morality. You’d have to be a robot or a psychopath not to feel for some of the people who’ve crossed paths with us Crownes. I know it impacts Theo. I can see it in his pained eyes.
When I glance over at Dad, he stares back at me, eyes soulless and empty. He’s worked so hard to make us just like him. I’m the best one at emulating his behavior. But inside?
I think back to that girl on Solomon’s yacht. My desperate need to get information on Calista blinded me. I’d sat there watching the girl—LuLu—as the man abused her. She wasn’t but a decade or so older than Kaitlyn.
Before Romy came along, it was easy to hide behind this cold, cruel man I’d created. She’s stripped me raw, though, and exposed me. There’s no turning a blind eye away anymore. I can’t help but see.
Dad is the worst.
Even more so than Gareth.
While he doesn’t have a taste for the innocent, he greatly enjoys the manipulation of minds. It’s his life’s work.
The waitress brings our food and I’m pleased to see a pile of biscuits and gravy. Kaitlyn’s pancake looks like pure sugar. She’s pleased that they made a smiley face with the whipped topping. Everyone’s quiet as we dig in. I make note to bring something back for Romy. I’m sure she’s famished after our nonstop workout last night.
When my family isn’t doing twisted shit, moments like these where we dine and laugh, are memorable and cherished to me. It reminds me of when I was a kid. Mom always made the best breakfast and Dad always ate with such enthusiasm.
“I found a dress shop nearby,” Theo says after polishing off the rest of his food in record speed. “Kaitlyn will need something fancy for the president’s ball. I made an appointment with a stylist there to have some selections ready for her to try on.” Then, to our niece, he says, “You ready to wear a princess dress like your dolls?”
After that question, Kaitlyn abandons her half-eaten pancake to squeal with excitement. Dad smirks and waves them on. Once they leave and we’ve finished eating, I flag the waitress over to clean off our table. After she refills our coffee, I slide onto the other side of the booth across from Dad.
“Are you okay, Son? Something’s going on inside that head of yours this morning.”
There’s no way I’m telling him I’m obsessing over my sweet, sexy captive.
“Yeah. Just wondering what Bastian is saying to Romy. He showed up this morning looking like a kicked puppy.”
“Oh yeah?” He sips his coffee and leans closer. “Do tell.”
I’m wondering exactly how much I do tell. Dad obviously knows she must be upset about it. Her own brother worked with him to obtain Megan through CUP. It must feel like a betrayal to her. It would for me if I were in her shoes.
“Romy is tough. She’s not letting him get away with it.” I lift my mug and inhale the familiar scent.
Dad leans back in his seat, studying me. “She should be docile by now, Son. When you took over on this problem, I expected more results.”
He’s right.
When I stood by her bedside after Theo had taken her, I vowed I’d make it all better. At that time, I had every intention of doing that. Hell, I tried through various means. Unfortunately, like some subjects, Romy doesn’t respond like the usual candidates.
Plus, you’re lenient on her. You like her. You’ve given up on trying to rewire her brain.
He doesn’t need to know that part.
“I’m still working,” I lie.
“You have a tell,” Dad says before taking another sip of coffee. “You have always tried so hard to keep your feelings bottled up, but you have tells. It’s your eyes. They’re incredibly revealing.”
“Dad…”
“No,” he says softly, holding up a hand. “You’ve gotten too involved with the Langston girl and you know it.”
“It’s all an act.” I shrug my shoulders and feign cool indifference. “My priority is our family. This is all a power play.”
Unconvinced by my lies, Dad affixes me with a firm stare. “I think we should send her to the lab. Run the full gamut on her. I’ll even work with her one-on-one.”
My blood pressure rises at the thought of Romy strapped to one of the restraining chairs, forced to watch and endure things meant to break her mind. I realize I’m squeezing the handle of my mug so hard it’s begun to shake, sloshing hot coffee all over the table. With a little too much force, I set it on the tabletop with a loud clank.
Dad’s expression never changes. He’s watching every detail and I’ve given him quite the show.
“Son,” he says with a gentle smile, “I’ll return her back to you. Minus all her defects.”
She is not defected.
She’s perfect the way she is.
Of course my fucking face reveals all of that to him.
“Dad,” I rush out, exasperation in my tone. “Give me time. Please. I don’t ask for anything. Ever.”
Okay, so now I sound like the spoiled kid.
Whatever works.
He doesn’t respond at first. When he does, it’s not an agreement. “When you were a teenager, I wanted so badly to see emotion from you. I knew deep inside, you wanted something. I’d told you I couldn’t give it to you—that you’d have to take what I teach you and do it yourself. All these years later, you still haven’t asked. I’m surprised, is all. What about her?”
Calista.
My sister.
“What about her?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Do you not care to see her again? I’m not a fool, Caius. If you think I haven’t had my watchful eye on you, watching your every move, you’re mistaken. I know everything you do is to lead you to finding her. Well, that is, until Miss Langston came along. Then, poof, it’s like you have amnesia. Or, worse yet, you’re thinking solely with your cock. From experience, I must say that’s a terrible way to think.”
I’m trying desperately to keep the raging emotions from creeping onto my face. Everything from fear to anger and everything in between fights to breach the iced over surface. Dad, like a lion in wait, is ready to pounce the second I do.
“I’m getting through to Romy,” I say much more calmly. “End of subject. As far as your other question. You know where she is, don’t you?”
Dad chuckles and shrugs. “Perhaps.”
He’s toying with me and it’s infuriating.
“How about this,” Dad states, a wicked grin forming. “You let me take care of the Langston princess and I’ll tell you what you want to know about Calista.”
Hearing her name in his mouth sends ripples of fury racing through me. This is all a big game to him. When I’d told Solomon Dad was getting soft, it was a lie. The old man is far more advanced in playing this game than I am. Hell, he created the programs within it.
“Do you have a CUP Star on Romy?” I ask, changing the subject. “Yesterday, there was a soldier who’d followed her to breakfast with her stepmother. He didn’t stand down as he should have.”
Dad’s eyebrows furl together. It’s one of his tells. Like he’s working out a new piece of information. This can’t be good if we can’t control what we’ve created. He seems to be thinking the same as well, but we’re interrupted before we can discuss it further.
“Grandpa!” Kaitlyn says, bounding into the booth beside Dad. “We got a dress for the ball!”
If not for Theo’s quick reflexes, the dress she yanks out of the bag would have been flung right into Dad’s coffee. He plucks it from her to hold it up for us. It’s pink with lace. She’ll be cute in it.
“Looks like a princess dress,” Dad says to her. “Did you get some shoes to go with it? You have to be fancy to meet the president.”
She nods happily, grinning at both of us. My chest aches that Vivienne, another one of Dad’s secrets, was allowed to hurt this little girl just as she’d once hurt Romy.
I’m not sure where my life is headed, but it’s evident I can’t sit by idly, solely focused on Calista. There are others who need my help. The little girl in front of me and the fiery one I left at the hotel.
Fuck, this isn’t going to be easy.