Page 50 of You Don’t Kiss Your Brother's Best Friends

Dinner followed drinks. Dessert followed dinner. There were apéritifs in the ballroom, cigars in the garden. At one point there was even a brief speech, made by the man I now knew as Victor Knox. He toasted the series of empty chairs at the far end of the table, then went back to eating and drinking everything in sight.

He was a man of excess, I could tell right away. Someone who was used to taking what he wanted, whenever he wanted it. And totally, without restraint.

The entire night was a formal affair, chock full of strangely informal moments as men who hadn’t seen each other in long months were forced to sit down together. At times, the way the members of Blight interacted felt almost like a performance or a play; one with distinct acts, actors, and even an encore. The whole evening became a series of bizarre contradictions and dick measuring contests, peppered with challenges and drunken laughter. Some situations could’ve easily gotten out of control, but were quelled with a few words or even just a stern look from the Founder at the end of the table.

Throughout the evening, all I did was serve, observe, and report. The kitchen ran smoothly and efficiently with Kayden at the helm, and by the end of the evening, even Raif seemed borderline pleased. Even so, I saw behind the thin curtain of Blight’s annual family gathering. There was trouble obviouslybrewing behind all the fake toasts and false smiles. Beneath the facade of civility and custom was a vicious underpinning of jealousy, competition, and even resentment.

By midnight, only three or four guests were still milling around. The kitchen was closed, and Kayden was meal prepping for tomorrow. The servers had returned every plate and fork. Andre and Bishop were leading the cleanup.

And of course, Evelyn was still hanging around, sipping from a glass of white wine.

She looked drunk or maybe stoned, with glassy, unfocused eyes that followed Kayden’s every move. The way she hung all over him was maddening. But watching him smile and laugh at even her lamest advances? Well shit, that drove me totally fucking crazy.

I wanted to hip check her into the pantry, and go to town on her. I had fantasies of shoving her into the walk-in fridge and locking the door. Ultimately, she must’ve been picking up on my bad vibes. Eventually she turned, pointed at me, and jerked her head.

“Emily, you’re done for the night,” she barked. “Head back to your room.”

It was a command, not a request. Even so, I was loathe to follow the order.

“Emily…” her eyes narrowed.

Bishop stepped in, blocking the two of us momentarily. I’d barely even spoken to him all day.

“She saw you earlier,” he whispered, leaning in. “In the pantry. You and Kayden.”

Ah, that explained a lot. A part of me was happy for it. As far as Evelyn was concerned, I hoped the time we spent locked in the pantry twisted her panties in knots.

But I also knew her jealousy over the obvious chemistry between us could only mean more trouble.

“Don’t fight her on this,” Bishop whispered, his voice barely audible. “It’s not worth it.”

Then, to my shock and surprise, he pulled back and kissed me in full view of everyone.

Over his shoulder, I saw Evelyn’s eyes go wide. It was an obvious ploy, meant to alleviate her fears and perhaps show I belonged to him, and not Kayden. I went with it, rolling my mouth against his. Kissing him like the lover he actually was, even for just a second or two, before breaking off.

“See you in the morning,” he said, urging me off. And so off I went.

My feet hurt as I made my way back through the manor, traversing the ballroom. Bruschetta Joe was all business, eternally cleaning his glasses behind the bar.

“You’re still a dick, Joe,” I quipped.

The thick-armed Italian nodded without looking up. “Oh, I know.”

Up the staircase I went, dragging my ass, thinking about all the different conversations I’d eavesdropped on throughout the night. I had information on names and places I knew nothing about — so many it was hard to keep track of. Some were already fading from my memory, and I considered using the notes app on my phone to write them down. But wasn’t it dangerous towrite anything down? Probably. Still, it wasn’t like I could use my phone for anything else…

A pang of homesickness washed over me, for the first time since I’d left the States. I wanted badly to talk to my brother again, and ultimately, my dad. I needed to know he was alright. He’d taken the news of what happened with my business partners extremely hard, despite me assuring him it meant very little, and I would bounce back. He’d put on the same game face he usually did, but Jason and I knew that face meant nothing. I needed to know he was still okay.

Yet the same jammer that prevented me from connecting to anything did the same for everyone else on the island. Bizarrely, I’d just witnessed an entire dinner where not one person checked their phone. That part was a little surreal. Once or twice however, I noticed Victor Knox look down into his lap and read something. So perhapshehad service, where the others didn’t. I tucked away that little bit of information, too.

I passed two more security members at the top of the stairs, then made my way down through the small maze of upstairs corridors. Two turns later, not far from where I’d almost eaten the floor, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Victor Knox was standing at the end of the hallway. He was leaning forward on one arm, in a quiet conversation with another man I’d seen at dinner. And right now, that man looked more than a little uncomfortable.

It was too late to turn back; I’d already started walking. Rather than break stride I continued forward, chin up, walking smoothly and purposefully toward the final turn I needed to make.

Both men saw me. Their eyes locked on mine, and I returned a polite, obligatory nod. The man from the dinner tabledid nothing but remain frozen, like a deer caught in its hunter’s deadly gaze. But Victor smiled, or at least, his mouth curled into the semblance of something oddly reptilian. He winked at me as I turned the corner, and the chill from that wink followed me all the way down the next hallway.

Eventually I arrived at my room. I pulled out my keycard as fast as I could, silently cursing myself for not having it out already. It let me inside as before, with a click and a whir, and I closed the door quickly. But when I tried it again from the inside, just to see if it worked? Nothing. I was locked in for the night.

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