Page 73 of Call You Mine

“Back to what I was saying,” she says, reaching over the counter and pouring me another drink before taking a seat beside me. “I definitely thought you were doing it all just to fuck with Ace. I mean, why else would you show up to your best friend's wedding with your ex-girlfriend's, husband’s sister as your date.”

I can’t hold back the sharp chuckle that leaves me at the way Jade’s made it all seem. “When you put it that way it seems way more sinister than it was.”

Jade nods, looking back at Wynter who’s brushed off the whole incident and is chatting up a group of girls taking celebratory shots, one of them wearing a small crown and sparkly pink sash over her chest. “Yeah, I can see that now. The two of you are a perfect match. The girl doesn’t cower down to your alpha nature and that dark and possessive aura you give off. She meets you with one just as troubled and that my friend, is when you know shits deep. The two of you remind me of Sebastian and me.”

I roll my eyes at her and her blatant confusion on the matter, taking a sip of the drink in front of me. I let out a low grunt. “Don’t start Jade, we’re just fucking around. It’s not that serious.”

Jade scoffs, yanking the glass from my hand and taking a sip herself. “Bullshit Drake, I know the look of a woman in love, and that’s exactly what she’s giving off. And you my friend, let’s just say in the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen that look on your face. Hell, I didn't think your face could smile as much as it has tonight, as you’ve watched her move around the room.”

My throat tightens at Jade’s admission. That can’t be right. Wynter can’t be catching feelings for me when she knows this is all a game. Though as I say it to myself, I remember what she told me yet I was too distracted by her sexy as fuck naked body lying before me to pay attention.

“If at the end of this you want it all to remain just a fake ploy to fool my mother, that’s all it will ever be.”

Well shit, does this mean she wants this to be real? Is she planning on convincing me it’s what I want too? Do I want that?

Because according to Jade, I’m already there.

“And that right there my friend,” she says, eyeing the quizzical look on my face as I try to imagine what any of that would be like. “Is the face of a man who’s just figured out he’s in deep.”

Once Jade retreats, excusing herself when some new girl she hired comes over and asks where the extra bottles of Macallan are stashed, I order yet another drink, taking my time with this one as I go back to watching Wynter in her element. The woman is mesmerizing as she parades around the room with a dazzling smile on her face and a bright gleam in her eyes like she’s having the time of her life.

I never would have expected to see her like this, serving others when she’s spent her whole life being served and taken care of. But it’s like she was born for it. The patrons love her, the other employees come to her for answers, and here I am, fucking avoiding her when I should be worshipping the ground she walks on. She’s a fucking goddess.

Wynter’s hair is tucked back in a messy updo, soft tendrils of hair peeking out of a woven braid she wears like a crown. The woman is sophistication and class currently wrapped in a bartender’s uniform of cropped tee and short as fuck shorts. She has slightly more makeup on than usual, a darker shadow around her eyes makes the icy blue of her irises practically glow. On her lips, the signature red color I love and ache to feel against my lips. Fuck I love kissing her, I could do it all night long.

“What the fuck?” I curse to myself when some asshole wearing a delivery driver’s uniform, walks over to where she stands taking an order at one of the bar tables, and places a hand on the small of her back.

Her gaze flickers back and forth between him and the small package in his hands. From here I can barely make out what it is, all I can see is a black box with a red bow, nothing that looks like it was delivered to the bar. No, this seems personal and I want to know who the fuck this guy who gave it to her is.

Wynter’s panicked eyes immediately search for mine when she feels me watching her. Stepping back from the douche she tries her best to remain courteous to the man who has obviously made her feel uneasy, though just as I am about to get up and yank the bastard away from her, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“Well Bass, it looks like you let just about anyone into this bar now,” Ace says as he walks up behind me. His fingers dig into the sore muscles of my shoulder, the ones I spent hours working out last night when I let Wynter believe I was burning off steam fucking someone.

“What can I get you two?” Wynter asks, coming out of nowhere and sliding by her brother, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.When the fuck did these two make up?

I look around trying to find the asshole that thought he could lay a hand on my girl but he’s nowhere to be found. Neither is the package in her hands.

This is no fucking coincidence and I’m sick and tired of being in the dark. I’ll have to get someone to look into the messages and packages she keeps receiving that keep putting her on edge. If she won’t tell me what the fucks going on, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands and figure it out.

“It’s good to see you too, little sis.” Wynter rolls her eyes, playfully brushing her brother off, but her entire demeanor changes when she notices Ace’s hand upon my shoulder in a less than friendly way. I’m not threatened by him, although the move was done for just that. For me to feel threatened to fuck with his sister and find out what he’s capable of.

He’s a fucking novice compared to the men I’ve had to deal with in my life.

Wynter stands with her hand on her jutted-out hip, her other pointing back and forth between the two of us. “You know I really hope I don’t have to have either of you escorted out by Big Sal tonight for causing trouble. The man adores me and he’ll easily take you out if I ask for it.”

I can’t help but glare at her and the knowledge that the asshole has a thing for her. I knew there was something about him I didn’t like. I look back toward the exit and find the asshole staring right at us, a fearsome scowl on his burly face. Big Sal isn’t the ugliest looking fucker out there I’m sure but he’s damn close if you ask me.

I’m surprised he doesn’t seem to be as alert as usual and is wasting his time watching us when he should be watching the floor. It’s not incredibly packed tonight, although Saturdays arethe busiest nights. Maybe he feels we’re the closest bet at any action happening tonight.

There’s been some underground activity in the city in recent weeks. Since Wesley Servite’s death and Stephan Silver’s arrest—the two former kingpins of Hillcrest Hills—the city and those surrounding it fell into a wave of uncertainty.Who was going to come out on top?Every empire—corrupt or not—requires a head and when the two heads of the monster were cut off, well the beast ran wild with no direction.

The gangs in the nearby area, one of them being The Cobras who were now under the command of my best friend Kai, tried their best to cut all ties with all other organizations in the area. One of those being The Order, the leading gang on this side of the city. They’d been quiet for some time, but that was never a good sign. Things seemed to have ended cordially between everyone since but there’s been buzz around lately of something else brewing.

I’ve tried my best to stay out of it all after dabbling in the criminal underground scene here when I first arrived but it’s no secret to anyone that there are people waiting for Ace to take the reins of his father’s fallen empire and rebuild it into something stronger and more powerful. Though I don’t see him ever taking on that job. The rivalry between Servite and me isn’t exactly a secret—not that Big Sal or anyone outside our circle of friends has any reason to know what it’s about—but I know Ace well enough to know that his family comes first and getting back into his old world would put all of them at risk.

“There will be no trouble,” I assure her, though if the bastard doesn’t take his hand off me, I won’t be able to keep that promise and Big Sal will have a fun night after all.

Ace steps back slightly and instead moves in closer to his sister.

---