Page 72 of Forbidden Game

I give them a snort as I sink into the chair across from them. “Oh, yes. Haven’t you heard? I am positively terrifying, my dear Deer.”

She looks up at me and smirks. “Do you scare them away by throwing wads of cash at them?”

“Nope. I have no doubt it is my devilish good looks that stuns them into submission. It’s certainly not the five-person security team.”

“One hundred percent.” Lee nods with a serious expression before cracking into a fit of laughter. Deer joins in, and the thread of worry I carry loosens. We might be joking, but there is a kernel of truth to it all. Whenever we come to events with Lee, we try to make sure one of us always has an eye on her. And now that Deer has joined the fray, she’s under our watch, too.

Gamer girls.

It’s all fun until some creep tries to follow them into the bathroom or gets handsy during a meet and greet.

I treat the two of them like my sisters, and I know Aleks and Jackson do the same.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I fish it out, smirking at the caller ID while taking a large sip of my energy drink.

Speaking of sisters.

“Paigey, you all right?”

“Sparky! Just finished up a case and thought I’d give you a buzz. Haven’t heard your voice in a while. You all right?” My second eldest sister greets back, the familiarity of her accent and my childhood nickname warming me. Paige works as a real estate lawyer for the family and is based out of our main London office, but she’s been coming out to the States recently to help with the US expansion.

“I’m at another tournament right now in Seattle. And before you ask, yes, I crushed it. I had the fastest run in my match this morning.”

“Two for two, then?”

“Two for two,” I confirm.

“That’s brilliant!” I hear the smile in her voice. “You know, I had no doubt when Dad told me about the new deal you made with Grandfather.”

“‘Deal’ sounds a lot better than ‘ultimatum.’”

“Oh, come off it. You’re the one who thought you could just be the heir in name only forever,” she tsks.

She would never let that go. And, in hindsight, she is right to do so.

I’d well come to the realization that I’d been skating by and holding on to my inheritance as armor. But it was one thing to decide on my own, rather than being forced to decide, and I really don’t like being told what to do.

“I know, I know. There’s just a lot riding on all of this now.” I lower my voice, eyes flicking to the girls, but they’re cooing over some video on Deer’s phone.

Honestly, I’ve been trying to forget the deal with my grandfather as much as possible. Shoving it into the deep, dark recesses of my brain. I know I’m a great gamer, and I would like to think I’m one of the best when it comes to speedruns. But that was when it was all for fun. Now that there is pressure, it’s beginning to stress me the fuck out.

Coming face-to-face with Philip Covington is like facing the final boss in a video game: you can’t really back down, you just have to full send. There’s no time to pause or back out.

“You’ll be fine, Parker. It’ll work itself out. Trust me. This is what you’re meant to be doing.”

They’re just words, but they comfort me all the same.

Paige and I are only a few years apart, and she was the first one who knew about EnglishCoffee. My sisters have always been my number one advocates though they show it differently. Our mum and dad are supportive, but they were a little hesitant when I moved halfway around the world for a career they didn’t really understand. Five years later, and they now send me screenshots whenever they see my face pop up online and take photos with my billboards.

“Thanks, Paigey.”

The greenroom door busts open with a bang. Aleks comes catapulting into the room, Jackson hot on his heels. They’re hooting and hollering.

“Sounds like I should let you go,” Paige muses. “Say hi to the lads for me, and we’ll talk soon, okay?”

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you.”

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