I shake my head. “I’ll just be honored to continue to play.”
It’s the truth. Anywhere I can do exactly what my mother wants for me. I can make a name for myself and finally get out from under my father’s shadow.
“It was nice seeing you. I’m going to go speak with some of my teammates.” No sooner than the words leave my mouth, I’m off in Kane’s direction. He’s holding two tumblers of brown liquor, and I take one as soon as I’m within arm’s reach.
“Figured you’d need it after suffering through that.”
I huff. “Yeah. He’s fake as shit.” I bring the tumbler to my lips and down the shot.
Kane does the same. When I look back at him, I finally take him in, somewhat surprised.
“Hmph,” I mutter and set my empty glass on the tray of a passing server.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No. Nothing. Just you look good, bro.”
Kane scoffs. “Fuck off.”
“No, seriously. The turtleneck looks good,” I tease. “It reallyhugsyour muscles. The chain’s a nice touch, too.”
Kane laughs. “Whatever, jerk. Could you have found a tighter button-up?”
For the first time tonight, I let out a smirk. “Where’s everyone?”
We glance around.
“Gracie’s right—” Kane points to our left, but we don’t see Gracie. “She was right over there.”
“Mm? Mountain and Sam?”
“Haven’t seen them.”
I frown at that and pull my phone from my inside vest pocket. Unlocking my phone with face recognition, I scroll to our group chat and key in a message.
Alex:We need to do this now while my father is making his rounds.
Shoving the phone into my back pocket, I tap Kane’s shoulder with the back of my hand. “Come on.”
With a quick peek over my shoulder, I walk around Kane andtoward the hall. Kane looks around then follows behind me. Quickly, we move down the hall, nerves rattling through us. If things don’t go according to plan, we’re fucked.
Nothing is going to happen to me, but if my father catches on, he won’t spare them. He’ll know that I know he’s a fraud, and he’ll make them pay for daring to challenge him. But something tells me that it’s Sam he’ll go after the most. She’s the common denominator in all of this—the reason we even know that he’s got some shady dealings.
Plus, he’d focus on her just because she means something to me.
When we reach the end of the hall, we make a left away from the guest bathrooms and library. Taking the winding staircase two at a time, we climb to the second floor. The noise from the party fades out to nothing more than a low hum.
No one’s allowed past the ground floor except staff, so we should be fine. As long as we can get what we need before my father realizes we’re missing, we’ll get away with it.
Taking out my phone again, I check for a reply.
Nothing.
“Where the fuck are they?” I say aggravatedly.
Punching in a text, I mash send.
Alex:We’re on the second floor. Third room at the left.
