Page 26 of No Longer Mine

The slow, scrape of my father’s chair against the polished wood.

My eyes tracked his movement as he stood, controlled as ever, his expression unreadable.

His gaze leveled on me.

Flat. Cold. Calculated.

“Have a good evening.”

And just like that, he stormed out of the room.

I wasn’t sure if I should be proud of myself or utterly fucking terrified for poking the beast.

But here we were.

And I wasn’t taking it back.

I leaned back, stretching my arms over my head.

Checkmate?

Mother cleared her throat, her voice calm—too calm.

“So,” she said, her eyes sweeping across the table, “who switched the wine?”

The question landed like a gunshot.

Griffin lost his fucking mind. He collapsed onto the table, wheezing, his entire body shaking with laughter. Loud, unhinged, tears-streaming-down-his-face laughter. He pounded his fist against the table, gasping for air, while the rest of us just watched. Don, ever the statue, didn’t so much as blink. Ace was glaring daggers at me. Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache.

I sat back, finally letting a small smile slip. Griffin was gone. Utterly, hopelessly gone. Mother cocked her head at the both of us, watching Griffin absolutely fold, before?—

She smiled and then, a little giggle slipped past her lips. The sound was so unexpected that even Don’s eyes flicked toward her, just for a second. “I suppose it was about time that we had some fun around here. Though he will find out that it is boxed and he will be furious. I imagine his retaliation will not be good for any of you.”

Ivan threw his hands up in the air. “I didn’t have anything to do with this!”

Mother shrugged before she began eating, setting the tone for the rest of the table. The food was bland and tasteless like usual. But nothing compared to the food in other countries. When you’d been to as many places as I had, being home wasn’t impressive anymore.

Ace broke the silence. “Mother, would you mind giving me the numbers to your housekeepers in the city?

“Absolutely.” She put her fork down and frowned. “I thought you had a good housekeeper what was her name again? Casey?”

“Cassie.” Ace leveled me with a stare, and I felt the blood leave my face. “She stopped showing up for work a couple of months ago and no one has seen her.”

What was he saying? What was he insinuating?

Mother frowned as she picked up her wine glass. “Oh, thats unfortunate. I’ll have all of my contacts…”

I couldn’t hear anything else. I couldn’t hardly breathe. Cassie worked as one of his housekeepers? I couldn’t ask him. There was a reason he was going in a roundabout manner to tell me this. How could I find out the truth? I’d had her entire existence wiped.

“I think I’ll see myself out.” I shoved my chair back and Don followed suit. I couldn’t call Benson here. I knew my mother’s security was top-notch and I didn’t want to risk it.

Don was on my heels as I jumped up the steps, almost two at a time. “Thank goodness you didn’t drink tonight, Don.”

“Sir?”

“It’s time to go.”

Benson answered on the first ring. “What’s up? Enjoying time with your family?”