Page 32 of The Knotty Princes Club

Holly whispers quietly, the rest of the Silverstein Pack giving her their sole attention. I try to give them privacy and focus my attention on the guests, inspecting each of them, trying to recall the names of some of the familiar faces.

Melina, my guys’ aunt, strolls in, wearing a black gown and veil, only to take a seat at the table with her son. Jude catches me watching and waves. I nod my head, feeling suddenly awkward by the circumstances. I shouldn’t be here. This despicable man doesn’t deserve a funeral celebration fitting of a king. He deserves to be ignored and forgotten.

If Jordan didn’t pop into my view, offering me a slender glass of champagne, I might’ve hopped up and left. I gingerly take the alcohol, grasping the stem, and Beckett offers a toast in the name of Gilded Sands.

Several people around us clink their glasses, and I hold mine up to Holly before downing it completely. Should I have drained it like a fish in need of water? No. But I need something to help dull the anxiety and to take the edge off things.

“Damn, Kinsey. Already making me go back to the bar.” Jordan chuckles, stealing my empty glass.

I bob my head. “Maybe just bring two next time.”

“Shit, don’t do it. Wilder will kick your ass if you get her sloshed.” Isaiah rests his elbows on the table, hunching forward to look at me.

“I’d never let him,” Holly muses, twirling her glass. “So, bring me two as well.”

Jordan claps his hands and then rubs them together. “Fuck, yeah, princess. As you wish.”

Holly grins and wags her finger at Beckett and Isaiah, both trying to snatch her glass to slow her down. They succeed only to have Wesley hand her his, and she gulps it down, holding her finger out.

Heat pools in my stomach, the intoxication hitting me quickly with my empty stomach. I clutch the table as the room spins just a bit. A man calls everyone’s attention, announcing the arrival of King Wilder and the royal princes of the Gilded Sands Pack, and I force myself to my feet even though my guys would never expect me to stand on their behalf.

Wilder shuffles ahead of his brothers, shaking a couple people’s hands as he passes by and heads toward the main table. He turns slightly and says, “Thank you all for joining us to honor King Winston. Please make yourself at home. My brothers and I would like to keep this a small, intimate affair before the ceremonial pyre. Please enjoy this feast on behalf of our Royal Court. Your presence is much appreciated in these times.” Wilder takes his seat at the head of the table, and Enzo, Desmond, and Arsenio stroll through the crowd and thank everyone for coming once more. Enzo stops at our table and sets a phone in front of me, the glittering case sparkling in the light. It’s not his or his brothers’ phones. I don’t recognize this one.

“I figured it was time you had your own, baby.” Enzo caresses my chin and bends down, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “Just give me a couple minutes, and I’ll come and feed you. Don’t you dare put your own fork to your mouth.”

I giggle, his comment far funnier than it should be. I can’t help it. “Then you better be quick. The second someone sets a plate in front of me, I plan to shovel it in. I’m starving. I might have also already downed a glass of champagne.”

“Damn it. You make stepping away incredibly hard. I no longer need just a couple minutes. Give me thirty seconds. I’ll be back.” Enzo strides toward Wilder. A man reaches out and grabs onto his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.

Smiling, Enzo turns to the man and gives him a bear hug, rocking him back and forth. He must be a cousin or an uncle, someone close to Enzo, for him to give that kind of affection. It’s also enough to distract him from rushing back to me.

“That’s uncle Lenny, our mom’s brother and the alpha of her pack.” Holly slides onto Beckett’s lap to get closer to me. “He hasn’t been welcome here since Mom died, apparently. I’ve only met him a couple times when my brothers snuck out to meet.”

A blip of sadness tightens my chest. How terrible it was for Winston to cut them off from the family. Their mom’s pack probably saw him for what he was and blamed him. I only knew him for a little while, and I do.

“Bottom’s up, your highness.” Jordan sets two long-stemmed champagne glasses in front of me, and I automatically take one and clink it to his tumbler.

“Thank you. I seriously needed this.” I smile and take a sip, the bubbles tickling my top lip.

Holly raises her glass and clinks hers to mine. “Seriously. Just keep them coming for now, Jordy. When I finish this, maybe we can dance. No one will see over by the gazebo, not like they would care.”

Jordan’s handsome face lights up. “Sounds like a plan, princess.”

The phone Enzo handed me lights up on the table, and I pick it up and look at the glowing screen. I nearly drop the thing at the sight of the background image of Enzo completely naked, standing in front of his mirror. Blush warms my cheeks, and I cup the phone, making sure that Holly doesn’t accidentally see it and scar herself forever.

Sexy beast: I didn’t mean to abandon you. Give me just a couple of minutes.

I peek over at him, still standing in front of his uncle. Arsenio hangs out beside him, and Desmond sits beside Wilder, allowing a pack to offer them an elegant, silver paper-wrapped gift. The custom is nearly universal, at least in this area. I never did get to open any of the gifts given to me after my family’s death because my uncle took them.

I shove the thought away and focus my attention back on the phone.

Me: I don’t know if I can wait. Would this bring you back to me sooner?

I glance at the Silversteins engrossed in conversation with Holly and quickly snap a picture of me bending forward, showing off my cleavage. I rub my lips together as I send it, hoping that only Enzo sees it.

Sexy Beast: Mmm. More. Let me see your panties, baby. I want to imagine taking them off.

I twist in my seat and glance in his direction. He wags his eyebrows at me with a mischievous grin, his handsome features darkening with his oncoming lust.

---