Page 21 of Claimed By the Billionaires

Just like Aston and Houston—the two men he grew up with and whom he loved more than he could his own brothers—Konnor couldn’t stop looking at her.

Her cheeks were flushed pink, and the expressions on her face were careful and measured. Only they knew what was happening under her dress. But beyond that, she was fiercely mad and painfully embarrassed. Here she was at an event where she was meant to be showing off her branding as their virgin.

And instead of vigorous pride and joy, her parents sat in a humiliated, confused daze while she sat wearing their butt plug and the residues of an orgasm, they had orchestrated out of her.

He shifted his gaze off the beautiful Winter and directed it at her parents again, particularly her father.

Where was the man smug with happiness when they’d entered his home with their daughter? He’d been prancing around like a king, and his chest puffed out as he flaunted his family name. The Creers were back in business. The Creers were back where they belonged. He couldn’t wait for his other guests to admire the Pegasus brand on her back.

Then Winter turned around, and her parents were stunned that her lush, supple skin was as unmarred as it was before. No Pegasus brand on her at all.

Creer had stuttered through his confusion, unable to ask them directly what had happened because he didn’t have a right to speak to them that way.

Watching him squirm, with his heavy-set brows burrowing new-age lines into his forehead, was a pretty sight for Konnor, Aston, and Houston to behold.

His next move, after malfunctioning as if he were defunct, would have been to call off the dinner and have his guests return home since the whole reason for the dinner was to let them know that his daughter had given them her virginity and he was invited back into their good graces.

If Jonathan Creer thought he was still being punished for what his ancestors had done when they sent the Pegasus masters a woman who was not a virgin but one, they wanted to pass off as one, he didn’t need to look that far into his family history to discover the real reason he was last on their list of already annihilated enemies.

He would find out soon, though, if his memory failed him.

But they’d insisted the dinner go ahead and the guests not leave. It was easy to order people around when they were who they were. It was even easier to pretend everything was fine while leaving everyone to wonder what their next move would be. For the purposes of their endeavors, they were highly relaxed and very animated with their conversations around the table. Even Winter looked at them suspiciously.

The general consensus was that they were returning the virgin because they’d changed their minds about her, and they were masking the blow.

But that wasn’t all.

They still had one more thing to do.

And it was happening right now.

Konnor stroked his jaw. Houston sat back, completely relaxed. Aston twirled his fingers on the rim of his glass.

“Creer, when was the last time you saw William Spike?” Aston asked casually. When the man didn’t reply at once and instead looked as if his eyes were going to pop out of his socket, all the guests turned their heads to look at him, including his lovely daughter. By the frown on her face, she probably felt something deeper was going on, like why were they bringing up her father’s best friend at dinner?

“I … I …” Creer broke out in a visible sweat before their eyes. He took a sip of his drink, then clanked the glass against his plate when he set it down again.

“Spike is a close friend of yours, right?” Konnor asked innocently.

“He was. He … eh … he passed away about six months ago.”

“That’s tragic,” Houston said, although no one believed he actually meant it.

“Yeah, a pity,” Aston said absently. And then, with finesse only Aston could pull off, he changed the subject to football, turning on his normally hidden charm.

The evening went on, but Creer had drunk quite a bit, garnering concern from his wife and daughter.

The poor bastard had no idea what was on, and his confusion showed on his face.

This was only the start of a mind game.

Chapter Ten

Winter just wanted everyone to go home and leave her family alone. Her father was falling apart, and her mother was barely holding onto her tears.

Taking charge after dessert was served, Winter subtly started to usher their guests out.

Except the three people she really wanted gone remained.

---