Page 302 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol 4

He laughed. “They’re upstairs.”

They’re?That could easily include Matt. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like this at all. But what was the alternative? Walking down that dark hallway alone? No thank you. I followed Felix and Kennedy up the winding staircase, trying my best not to look over at the chandelier.

The upstairs was just as creepy as the downstairs. I started envisioning the kind of coffins vampires slept in behind all the closed doors.

Felix stopped in front of one of the doors and knocked. I stepped back when a wave of smoke blew the door open. Kennedy gripped my arm for dear life and screamed at the top of her lungs.

The smoke laughed. Well, not the smoke. A hand swished the air, blowing the smoke away. Mason was standing there, a joint hanging from his upturned lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His eyes raked over Kennedy and I swore I heard her gulp.

“Congrats on the win,” Felix said.

Smoke swirled in front of Mason’s face. He removed the joint from his mouth and a puff of smoke masked his face again. “Thanks, man. It was a close one.”

“That touchdown saved the day.”

The smoke dispersed at Mason smiled. “I was just lucky my brother was there to catch it.”

Matt.I wondered if he was in the room behind him. I tried to peer around Mason but his shoulders were too broad.

“Ladies, if you’ll excuse us for just a moment,” Mason said. He opened up the door and gestured for Felix to come in. The door swung closed a bit when Mason let go. I could only just see into the dark room. Mostly I could just see more smoke. If Matt was there, I couldn’t make him out.

“I thought he was a smoke monster,” Kennedy said.

I laughed but it sounded forced. “Me too.”

“Do you think what Felix said was true? About their great great grandmother?”

“I don’t know.”

Kennedy kept ahold of my arm when the door squeaked open a little more. Maybe it was a gust of wind. Maybe it was something else. But now I could see inside. I watched Felix hand Mason a bag of something in exchange for an envelope. I was about to look away when I saw James wrap his arm around Felix’s shoulders with a laugh.

The exchange was so fast that I would have missed it if I blinked. But Felix definitely slipped a much smaller bag into James’ palm as they did some sort of weird handshake. James slid his hand into his back pocket and turned. I should have looked away. But I had never been able to look away from one of the Untouchables. James’ eyes locked with mine. And it wasn’t like that fancy party at the hotel when he’d smiled to be polite. Smiled to hide his sadness. Smiled because he was trained to. This time he didn’t smile at all. Instead, he lowered his eyebrows and his beautiful features turned into a scowl.

A brunette I didn’t recognize threw her arms around his torso and kissed his cheek. But his eyes didn’t leave mine.

I stepped away from the door, pulling Kennedy with me. “This place really is creepy,” I said. “Maybe we should just go.”

“But we just got here,” Felix said.

Kennedy and I both jumped. We hadn’t heard him come out of the room.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. I was kidding before. This place isn’t haunted. Really, you have nothing to worry about.” He slid his hand into mine and led us back down the stairs. Kennedy was still holding on to my arm and I was pretty sure it looked like we were huddled together like we were in a horror movie. And I swore to myself that I would not be the one that went off alone and got murdered in the haunted mansion.

We walked through the dark hallway for a few minutes, the music getting louder the farther we walked. Finally we made it to the ballroom and I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though the gothic design extended into the room, there was at least more light. And barely any smoke monsters. Just a few in the corners, and I could tell they were men because I could at least see their jeans under the puffs of smoke.

Felix led us over toward the bar and dropped my hand as he picked up one of the shots on the counter. “Here’s to a fun night.”

I didn’t move to grab one of the shot glasses. “We promised my uncle we wouldn’t drink,” I said.

“I didn’t,” said Kennedy. ”And I’m so scared if I don’t drink I’m going to keep screaming all night.” She grabbed the shot out of Felix’s hand and downed it in one gulp. “Ow, it burns. But I’m going to feel so much better in a few minutes.”

“That’s the spirit,” Felix said. He looked back at me. “It’s just one drink.”

“I don’t know. Last time I drank I was kind of embarrassing.” And I threw up the next morning. And my uncle got so mad. And I molested Matt’s face.

“That was vodka mixed with all sorts of sugary shit. This is straight tequila. There’s a big difference. You’ll be fine.” He handed me one of the glasses.

I wasn’t sure if what he said was true. Wasn’t all alcohol just alcohol? I looked down at the clear liquid. But the glass was so small. How much harm could one little sip do?