Page 40 of Forbidden Bond

“Huh,” I say, moving away to inspect the car I was working on.

“Huh? What does ‘huh’ mean? Will you go with me or not?”

“Just out of curiosity,” I start, “have you and Jameson ever been involved romantically?”

I have to admit that even though there is no way that Katherine and I should be together, I can’t help consider the possibilities. We can only play this game for so long but if she’s got a thing with her best friend, I need to know now so I can back off. I may be the nicer brother, but I don’t want any problems.

Katherine smiles. “You sound jealous, Toph.”

“I’m not,” I say, although the way my jaw is clenched probably isn’t doing much to convince her. “If his dad wants you both together so bad, then why haven’t you done it yet?”

“Because we don’t have feelings for each other.” She says it slowly, like she’s explaining it to a child.

“But have you two ever slept together?”

She shakes her head, and I study her expression for a minute. There’s something she’s not telling me. More to the story than she’s letting on. But it’s pretty obvious I’m not getting it out of her anytime soon. But she’s also telling the truth when she says they don’t have any feelings for each other. I pluck one of the tickets from her hand.

“I’ll go with you. But we’re going to have to take a back door into the theatre. If people see us together, both our families will be on our cases.”

“Right.”

“Pick you up at eight?”

“I’ll meet you there. And it’s not a date.”

I chuckle. Most days, I like playing along with this little ruse. But sometimes it’s fun to rile her up.

“Keep telling yourself that, princess.”

We have a great time at the premiere, doing our best to stick to the shadows and appear inconspicuous. Unfortunately, people notice you more exactly when you’re trying to not be noticed. Three days later, I get sent a magazine, and in one of the pages, there’s a picture of myself and Katie.

We had just finished the movie, and Katie was talking to me about it. I was staring at her intently as she did so. That’s the moment the piece of shit photographer decided to capture. We’re not doing anything wrong in it, but everyone in New York is going to see the picture. They’ll see it and they’ll wonder why we’re together. James Malone has never made a secret of how much he despises my family.

My jaw clenches and I call Katie, worried about how her father will react to this and if she needs me. But she doesn’t answer her phone.

Fuck. I definitely should have seen this coming.

CHAPTER 13

Katie

My sister and I were the perfect kids growing up. We were always so good at doing exactly what our father wanted. Exactly what he told us to do. The one time we didn’t do that, it led to a disastrous and traumatic situation. Which is why I’ve lived most of my life following his wishes.

But at great cost.

When my father returns home from work, he heads straight for my bedroom door. I didn’t go to work today and I’ve been avoiding all calls from Topher. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to be talking right now.

Three gentle knocks, and I’m rushing to my feet to open the door. My dad’s expression is just as I expected it. Calm, gentle. He won’t get mad without getting the story straight. My hands are in a fist when he lays down a printed copy of the picture on my bed.

“I had my office ensure that there’s nothing wrong with the picture,” he starts. “No forgeries, no doctoring, no AI generations. It’s legit.”

“Of course it’s legit, Dad.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really? Because I recognize him. His name’s Christopher D’Angelo. Twenty-five years old and the youngest of the three sons of Carmen D’Angelo. Do you know I interrogated him once?”

That makes me rear back in surprise. I shake my head as chills spread through my body.

“A few years ago. He was around twenty at the time and at the center of a big drug operation. His family’s supplies, which he stole and used at a party involving minors. He was looking at five, ten years in prison, but his father swooped in and got him out of it. Bribery, blackmail, I’m not sure—the family’s pretty resourceful. He might not remember our meeting much, he was pretty out of it when he was brought into custody. The FBI might not have even gotten involved if it wasn’t for the large amount of drugs at the party and who his family was.”

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