Page 301 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol 4
“I’m excited to finish the tour of your place,” I said.
“My place?”
“Yeah, I never saw the second floor.” What am I talking about? Why did I keep asking to see his bedroom? I’d had him standing right outside mine and I hadn’t invited him in. Why on earth did I keep trying to get into his?
“The party isn’t at my apartment,” Felix said.
Wait, what? “Oh. Where is it?”
“The Caldwell’s.”
I swallowed hard. Yesterday after class Matt had leaned over and whispered in my ear, “See you in the auditorium again.” I hadn’t gone. Of course I hadn’t gone. But he thought I would. He thought I liked our kiss. My stomach churned.
“That should be interesting,” Kennedy said.
I hadn’t told Kennedy about my kiss with Matt. I hadn’t told anyone about that kiss. I wasn’t exactly fond of gossiping about incest. Did Kennedy somehow know I may have kissed my brother?What is my life?
“Why should this be interesting?” Felix asked.
Kennedy looked at me and I gave her my best death stare. She laughed and turned back to Felix. “You didn’t seem to get along very well with Matt at the last party. I’m surprised he invited you tonight.”
He shrugged. “We’d all been drinking. It wasn’t a big deal. It’s old news. Besides, Mason invited me, not Matt.”
“But certainly Matt’s going to be there," Kennedy said.
“Probably. But it’s a big house. I doubt we’ll run into Matt anyway. And even if we do…like I said, it’s old news.”
“If you say so," Kennedy said slowly.
My stomach was already upset. And now I was really overheated. I felt like I was sweating as hard as I did on my runs.
Kennedy gave me an encouraging smile. “You know what would be fun? If we ditched the party and went like miniature golfing or something.”
“I don’t think they have any mini golf near here,” Felix said.
“I’m pretty sure they have it at Coney Island." She leaned forward like she was about to reroute the driver.
“That’s like an hour out of town," Felix said. "Come on, the party will be fun. And I promised I’d be there.”
I nudged Kennedy, letting her know it was okay. It was so nice that she had my back again. And I realized I was feeling a little guilty for not telling her about Matt. She’d help me through this. And even though I wanted to bury the secret a hundred miles underground, I knew that wasn’t possible. I was a brother kisser. I was probably going to wind up in jail.
“And we’re already here,” Felix said and gestured out the window. There were fancy cars parked all along the circular driveway. But I barely saw them because all I could see was the house. No, not house. It was a freaking museum, or hotel, or something from a movie set. A super mega gargantuan behemoth stone mansion. It had gargoyles and everything. There were even bushes cut to look like gargoyles. It was kind of spooky. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had crossed a moat a mile back that I somehow missed. A moat filled with blood.
The car pulled to a stop in front of the big black doors. We climbed out of the car and up the stone steps out front. Was it colder on the outskirts of the city or was it just me? I folded my arms across my chest.
I was expecting a total transformation when I walked inside like when I’d gone to Felix’s place. Felix’s parents had made everything inside modern. But the inside of the Caldwell mansion was as gothic as the outside. Dark marble floors. Dark red wallpaper. Black and white pictures on the walls in what were probably pure gold frames. The only thing that didn’t match was the modern music drifting into the foyer.
“This place is hella creepy,” Kennedy said.
Felix laughed. “I think it’s cool. You know,” he said, lowering his voice. “Rumor has it that the place is haunted. That the Caldwell brothers’ great great grandmother hung herself from that very chandelier.”
I looked up at the crystal chandelier. I wanted to call his bluff. A chandelier would snap if someone tried to hang themselves from it.Right? The crystals looked delicate, but the chandelier itself did look pretty sturdy.
I pulled my jacket tighter around myself. “Where is everyone?” There had been people everywhere when we’d gone into Felix’s apartment. But there was no one in the foyer. Just that hint of music coming from the…left? I turned around in a circle. Or was it the right? I looked into a dark hallway.
“They’re probably in the ballroom.” Felix pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “But I gotta meet Mason and a few other people upstairs real quick. I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute.”
“No freaking way,” Kennedy said. “We’re coming with you.”
