Page 24 of No Longer Mine

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. “We didn’t bring enough wine, and even if we did, I’d rather it if your father didn’t put a hit on me.”

I frowned. “I can’t do it on my own.”

He shrugged. “I’m here to babysit you and keep you alive. You’ll have to find another accomplice.”

Unfortunately, I knew the perfect person. Griffin was looking through expensive art on his phone when I didn’t bother with knocking on his door. His room was much like the rest of the house, impersonal and detached. It was almost like we weren’t allowed personalities.

His light eyes narrowed at me above his phone. “What do you want?”

“You dragged me into this shit so now you have to make it bearable.”

His eyebrows jumped on his forehead. “Me? Why would I do that?”

“I’ll torture you if you don’t,” I deadpanned.

His eyes widened slightly. I wouldn’t hurt him. Ace on the other hand? Absolutely.

Griffin held my stare, his phone lowering slightly. “You’re drunk.”

“No shit,” I said, bracing a hand on his doorframe. “Now, are you going to help me or not?”

He exhaled through his nose, clearly debating his options. “And what exactly is this brilliant plan of yours?”

I grinned, wide and unhinged. “We’re replacing every bottle of Father’s expensive wine with Don’s boxed garbage.”

Griffin blinked once. Then twice. Then his lips twitched—just barely.

“You’re insane,” he said, already setting his phone down.

“Obviously.”

He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “If we get caught?—”

“We won’t.”

“If we do?—”

“I’ll tell them it was your idea.”

His scowl deepened, but he was already standing up. “Fine. But if I die, I’m haunting you.”

“Fair.”

Chapter Eleven

Dimitri

We didn’t knowhow to re-cork a bottle, unfortunately, but that was what YouTube was for, thankfully. We did a pretty good job at it, considering that at dinner no one was the wiser when the wine was brought out. I swore Griffin sucked in a breath and held it as the wine was poured in front of our father. I managed a straight face, I always could. It was what I excelled at. Griffin? He was an absolute mess. He kept glancing down at his phone, and Don was a saint. He knew exactly what we did, but his face hadn’t moved a muscle since the drinks were brought out. Only once did his eyes twitch to my face before his face went neutral.

I loved people who thought like me.

Griffin? He was such a loose cannon. He was going to ruin everything if he kept twitching. He couldn’t hide anything to save his life, literally.

Griffin was too good for this life, and I hoped one day he would get out unscathed.

I tried to keep my eyes off of our father as he took the first sip of his wine. He yanked the glass from his mouth and scowled. Griffin dropped his phone and ducked down beside the table. He was such a mess. I was glad he wasn’t witnessing this or he would be losing his shit. I flipped him off under the table.

“Something isn’t right,” My father’s voice cut through the room for the first time since we all sat down. “Something is… off.”