Casing ✔️

Chapter 3

Sleep was a foreign concept that night. My body was trembling with all the new feelings and inputs from that hotel ballroom the whole night, and when I finally slept, I dreamt of big smiles and bright eyes.

That evening was nothing like anything I imagined. I hoped so badly it would be boring; that I would hate every second of it and never want to step foot into anything like it again, but alas.. James made sure my experience was way more than just a nice party.

When I eventually made it downstairs to the kitchen, Nina was already seated by the table, nibbling on some bacon with her black coffee steaming in front of her. The girl was always on some sort of diet, and this time it was ridiculous. I didn't even want to start thinking about it as I made my way through the kitchen to grab a bowl of granola, and a tub of yoghurt.

Nina's eyes were on me the whole time. I stopped to check whether my pajamas were on backwards, but when nothing was wrong, I arched a brow at her. "What?"

"How is it that you spend minutes at one of those parties, and the second most eligible bachelor swarms you, while I've spent years trying to get the most eligible one to even look in my direction?" Her voice was harsh, almost screeching, and it hurt my ears.

She always became high-pitched and annoying when she was mad. I groaned, even if my insides did a victory jump, and sat down with my breakfast. "I don't know, maybe I'm just fresh meat or something."

I shrugged it off, reaching for the coffee pot between us. Her hand landed on top of it, and she gave me a pointed stare. "Probably," she said, then her hand loosened as she went on, almost as if I wasn't there anymore, "maybe I'll be so heartbroken when you leave, that he'll want to comfort me."

"And if I don't leave?" I blurted as I managed to yank the coffee to my side of the table, and filled up the mug that was there.

I averted my eyes, not daring to look at her judgment at my rash decision. I didn't want to leave anymore, and that was it. I could get an education in Datoches. I could learn more about dad's business. I could brush off the dust on my shooting skills. There were endless possibilities, really, even if I did look forward to living in Durfair.

"You're not?" Nina's shocked voice made me look up. I shook my head, and she said, "That's even better. If James likes you, I could get closer to Damian."

"Why do you like him, anyway? He looks like his panties are in a twist." I shoveled a large spoon of yoghurt and granola into my mouth, watching my sister intently as her mouth opened in yet another shocked response.

"You're kidding?" She laughed at me. "He's gorgeous, and he's loaded. He's Michael's son, you know that, right?"

I rolled my eyes, not really seeing the appeal. With what little I gathered from his personality last night I even deduced that his cock had to be tiny, as well. No asshole ever had a big one, at least not in my head. James, on the other hand...his would be giant, if my calculations were correct.

"I know," I confirmed, nodding. "I just think James seemed better."

That earned an annoyed huff from Nina. And when I glanced up from my food I could see she was clenching her teeth, her jaw tight and her eyes pinning me down to my seat. The gears were turning behind her eyes, telling me loud and clear she was trying to cook up some sort of plan.

As much as I loved her, I'd always known she was like our mother; always thinking of her own good before others. Not that that's an exclusively bad thing—sometimes I wished I could think like that too—but it rubbed me the wrong way when I was involved in her plans.

Just as it rubbed me the wrong way when she snuck into the mob life and left me behind in our cage.

Maybe I was the selfish one?