Page 25 of Claimed By the Billionaires

They found a table. Amelia told her to stay put while she got them drinks.

Once she returned, Winter didn’t waste any time on fanfare. She downed her shot, which gave her a full-body tremor and a grimace on her face as it burned down her esophagus.

“I want to dance,” Winter said excitedly.

“Okay,” Amelia said, both smiling and frowning. “You’re going through your teen rebellion, and I’m here for it. Let’s dance.”

If Amelia thought they would dance with each other, she was wrong. Winter walked up to a table where a group of scary-looking bikers sat. She was sure they only wanted to look scary and weren’t so in real life.

“Hi. I’m Winter, and this is my friend, Amelia. Would you like to dance with us?”

“I’m her aunt,” Amelia cut in. “And no, we don’t need any of you to dance with us.” Amelia tried pulling her by the arm, but Winter didn’t move one bit. “What are you doing?” Amelia whispered through gritted teeth.

“Sure thing, pretty baby doll.” Three of them rose from the table, ready to do Winter’s bidding. “I’m Leroy. This is Hanson, and he’s Jeff.”

“What are you doing?” Amelia screeched again when Winter pulled two of the bikers with her and immediately started to sway to the music. One of the bikers put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. She didn’t bother to move out of his embrace.

“Oh my gosh,” Amelia screeched, trying to separate Winter from the man.

“Are you trying to get these men killed, Winter? Dancing with me is one thing, but—”

“They don’t care, Amelia. I could take off all my clothes and lose my virginity to anyone in this bar, and they wouldn’t care. Do you know why? They’ve had me for well over a week, and I’m still a virgin. They’re using me as a pawn in some grand scheme of theirs. Now dance—”

Except a blanketed silence filled the bar. Curiously, Winter looked around her. Her heart sank. Three dark, ominous shadows tainted the entrance of the bar.

The man holding her around the waist disappeared from plain sight in a second.Poof, and he was gone.

It took her a few stunned moments to realize what was happening. Her dance partner, who had only been her dance partner for fifteen seconds, was sprawled out on the other side of the bar.

“Out.” The thundering voice of Aston shook the very walls of the bar.

She glanced at the man she’d been dancing with. Since it was gushing blood, he’d probably broken his nose from the impact of Konnor hurling him off her. Houston dragged him up and threw him out the door.

Still stunned and speechless, Winter wondered how it was possible that it only took one single word from Aston to clear the entire bar, including the bartender, who was the owner.

Amelia, standing next to her and clutching her hand so hard that she cut off Winter’s blood supply, matched her astounded expression since they were the only two left besides the three of them.

How did they find her? How did they clear an entire establishment with their presence and one word?

She knew they were powerful, but to see that authority extend to the ordinary man on the street rattled her.

“Out,” Aston said to Amelia.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Winter finally found her voice.

“Amelia, do you mind leaving, please? She’ll call you later,” Aston asked, with a better tone.

Amelia swallowed audibly next to her.

“I’ll be fine,” Winter whispered. Amelia nodded, making Winter promise that she would call her, then nervously stepped around the three men and left the bar. But with Amelia’s exit, the fury inside Winter bubbled over.

“I put my entire life on hold for you. My whole life, every breathing moment, I was reminded that I’m the Pegasus virgin meant only for the Masters of Pegasus.

“I missed everything. Parties, spring break, going on vacations with my friends—but what friends? I wasn’t allowed to have any in case I was negatively influenced,” she air-quoted the wordnegatively:“I grew up so sheltered, so protected, I missed out on every normal thing a girl would do all so I could remain chaste for you, and then you... you rejected me in the most callous way imaginable. You shamed me and my whole family, and... and all I want is to get purple streaks in my hair, get a tattoo, go to prom, and be hungover the next day. I’m twenty-two years old, and I’ve never been kissed before…”

If she could, she would have gathered up all the stupid words she uttered and burned them to ashes. What was wrong with her? She sounded like an immature brat.

God, did she just tell them she wanted to go to prom?Prom?And if that wasn’t bad enough, admitting she wanted to be kissed? She cringed so hard that her teeth hurt. That wasn’t who she was. She sucked it up and did her duty. She never complained. She never—

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