HIS FAVORITE GINGER ✓

THIRTY-FOUR.

"Bon anniversaire Allie." Kara engulfed me in a hug that lifted me off the ground. My nostrils were filled with a nice lavender perfume.

"Thank you K. And please don't kill me." I managed to say before she giggled and brought me down.

It was Nolan's turn to hug me now and like everything about him was gentle, he hugged me coolly, replacing the lavender with Bvlgari. "Happy birthday man."

"Thanks."

"Now let's party bitches!! Whoo!!" I gapped my mouth incredulously as he swung the Myx Moscato bottle in hand and bounced with Kara out of the scene.

"Was that Nolan?" I asked Grayson with an unbelieving look in my face.

"Beats me." He shrugged and I almost forgot that I was mad at him.

I let out a big sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Does Freya and Taylor know?"

Grayson retrieved his phone from his butt pocket and played a recorded facetime. I watched my parents wishing me happy birthday and ranting about how business was hindering their presence and my gifts in the room and telling me to party hard and turn the whole house upside down and paint the town red.

Of course Freya would say something like that.

"I guess I'll have to survive this without a scratch." I concluded whilst eyeing a Myx Fusions bottle from a distance.

Grayson dropped his arm around my shoulders and walked me into the party. "Look on the bright side," He gestured at the dancing crowd and I scowled at them. "You get to have the title of hosting the party of the year." He waved his hand in the air like imprinting the words in stars.

He was drunk. It was just 3pm and he had drunk his ass off. Well he wasn't that drunk but his breath still reeked beer. "If it wasn't because of me being the captain of the football team and all-"

"Dude, get your filthy hands off that!" I yelled at a brunette who tapped a special plate Freya placed on the fireplace to decorate the sitting room. Apart from the plate being expensive, I didn't see any special in it, in fact it was almost ceramic.

"And please not that." I groaned loudly as I dashed towards a honey blonde guy who tampered with the tall silver gargoyle that stood beside our flat, fat ass plasma TV.

"If u dare," I ran towards and snatched the hands of someone away from touching our family portrait. Realizing who I just touched, I tore my hands to myself.

"Your family seems rich."

"So?" Montgomery's smug smirk was succeeding in irritating the fuck out of me.

He turned his face back to the giant portrait that displayed the four-year old me and my family. Good memories. When everything was perfect, when everyone was present. I was an happy kid back then.

I didn't realize I'd been staring at the picture for full two minutes and when I was done, Montgomery was still with me.

"I've heard some rumors. Is that Grayson's dad?" He nodded towards where Maximus Bane regally sat on a grandiose chair, while I sat on his lap. The hypothesis of the mother-firstborn bond being the strongest didn't apply to Ambrose and my dad. They were alike in every way and I mean it. Physically, socially, mentally, emotionally.