Alfie scans me head to toe and gives me a wink that sends a flutter through my stomach.
Caden hasn’t taken his eyes off me since I appeared, but he doesn’t say anything other than, “Ready?”
I go to speak but my throat contracts with discomfort, choking off my words, so I just incline my head.
Alfie straightens and he and Fiz walk to the doors, where I spot their beasts of dogs hovering. They both kneel and say their goodbyes to their furry companions, and when I look back at Caden, I see that he’s still just… staring at me.
I shake it off, making my legs work to get me to the front doors, walking straight past him. They all smell fucking divine. They always smell good, but it seems tonight they’ve showered themselves in heaven and serenity and then dived into a pool of sex appeal.
I shudder at the thought.Nope. Don’t go there.
Fiz holds the door open for all of us, and as soon as Caden moves closer to me, a rod shoots up my back. It’s like I’m struck by lightning whenever he gets within a couple of feet of me; his presence is overwhelming.
We file out, Alfie holds the back door of his black BMW open for me. I bow my head to avoid looking at his dashing smile and climb in as gracefully as I can with this spaceship of a dress. Caden gets in the back with me while Fiz joins Alfie in the front. I look out my window as Alfie drives away from home – their home – the house.
Fiz controls the music. Sleep Token plays and dissolves the awkward silence.
I have to actually think about breathing to make sure I am. It’s like I’ve forgotten how to function. Everything feels hot and suffocating, and my chest hasn’t unravelled since Caden told me about the party this morning.
I dare to sneak a look at Caden, angling my head to the side just enough to spy him. I catch his neck turning, and it’s almost like he was looking in my direction. Probably was, the guy can’t stop glaring at me whenever we’re in the same room. It’s like he’s paranoid I’m going to pounce at any moment. Smart.
I turn back to the window. Who even knows what’ll happen tonight. That’s what’s killing me the most. Wrapping itself around my throat like a snake. I’m a part of this world, sure, but I live behind a screen. Coordinates and codes. That’s it. I don’t know these people for real. I don’t know what they’re like outside of their little devious, murderous jobs. Caden’s family could be the nicest people in the world. His dad could be the coach of a kids’ football team. I’ve never heard anything about his mother before. Is she in the picture? Does she bake cookies on a Friday night, or does she plot the murders of innocent children? Who’s to really say? I could be worrying about nothingand it could be any normal engagement party with champagne and balloons and cheesy 80s music.
“Will you stop?” Caden’s voice makes me start and I whip round to face him. When I look at him with a confused look, he jerks his head toward my lap.
I look down and see my arm. I’ve been raking my fingernails up and down my bare arm. For a good while it seems, if the angry, raised pink lines are anything to go by.
I pull my hand away from my arm and shove it under my thigh. “Sorry.”
Caden reaches over and grabs my wrist, inspecting my skin under the minimal light in the car. “Jesus, Elodie, you look like you’ve been scratched by a goddamn kitten.”
I feel heat rush up my neck. “Sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry,” Caden hisses and then huffs. He undoes his seatbelt and takes off his blazer. He hands it to me. When I just gawk at it, he rolls his eyes. “I don’t need anyone looking at your skin tonight. Put it on.”
I take it with a shaky hand, unsure of what’s happening. Injuries and marks aren’t exactly the most abnormal thing around these people. Why would a few pink lines get his back up?
I take my seatbelt off anyway and pull the jacket on, the size draping me like a cloak. And thatsmell.Caden’s smell. The mixture of cologne, soap, and stress envelopes me. Once my seatbelt’s back on, Caden looks away again, so I do the same.
What the hell is going on with him?
CHAPTER 20
ELODIE
Idon’t know what I was expecting to pull up to tonight. Perhaps a dramatically huge mansion, a castle, or even a ten star fricking hotel. But Alfie’s parked in the car park of a modest-looking restaurant. A service station diner, almost. They all start filtering out the car, so I undo my seatbelt, trying to shake off the surprise of our destination, when Caden appears at my door, opening it for me.
To add another surprise, he holds out his hand for me to take. I stare at it like it’s a wrapped around gun.
He rolls his eyes. “Our faking starts now, Elodie.”
Knocking me out of my stupor, I place my icy fingers in his warm palm, and he closes his hand around mine, gently tugging me out of the car.
I’m still wearing his blazer, and he lets me go to straighten it out and buttons it at the front. I’m just staring at him as he fusses over the clothes, the way his snakebite piercing wiggles all over the place like he’s playing with it on the inside. The straight line of his nose pointing down to those full lips that are twisting with all sorts of moves of his tongue inside his mouth.
My heart almost stops completely when his hands come from the button on my waist up to my collarbone. His fingers linger there, over the jut of my bone across my chest, his eyes boring down into mine as I gawk.
His eyes drop briefly to the navy-blue velvet choker strapped across my neck. I watch him swallow, his lips parting once more, and his voice quiets as he says, “Just go with it tonight, Elodie. There will always be someone watching.”
