Page 21 of Silk and Sirens

“If this was internal,” he said after a beat, voice steady despite the pathetic cries, “our driver wasn’t involved.”

Flipping the camera, Sebastian revealed the dungeon beneath Thorns and Marko hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. He’d been beaten, bruises spotting his ribs where I assumed Sebastian had used him as a punching bag.

“It wasn’t … wasn’t me …” he gargled, blood spilling from his lips. “Please!”

“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Sebastian growled, the camera flicking back to reveal his face, blood spraying across his cheek.

Well, guess we needed to hire a new driver.

“Someone’s betrayed us,” Sebastian said calmly, even as anger tightened his features. “Figure out who.”

Chapter 10

Caden

I really couldn’t be fucked to be here, but I didn’t have the patience for the inevitable, exaggerated disappointment that would follow. So, here I was.

An hour. I could do this without punching someone in the face.

Adjusting the sleeves of my jacket I moved with purpose towards my father, who was currently talking to another pompous aristocrat with a pointless title.

“Caden, there you are,” Dad greeted with, well, not exactly warmth, but he wasn’t cold, either. “You’ve met Charles.”

I turned my gaze to the older gentleman with the moustache and nodded my greeting. Purposely ignoring the outstretched hand. “Evening,” I said before returning my attention to the man that raised me. “I thought this was supposed to be a mixer?”

Charles awkwardly laughed, letting his arm drop. “We’ll speak soon, Alexander.”

Shaking Charles’s hand, Dad turned to me. “You don’t have to be so brutish, Caden.”

“Why is he even here?” I clenched my jaw, frustration growing. “I doubt he needs your financial investment help considering his family is broke.”

“They’re not broke,” Dad seethed. “And we were just discussing the possibility of setting you up with his daughter. An arrangement, of sorts.”

“An arrangement?” I echoed. “Like an arranged marriage? What is this, the eighteenth century?”

“Of course not, don’t be so ridiculous.” He sniffed, as if displeased. “I was just opening the conversation. It’s not like you have any other female prospects.”

“You invited him to set me up on a date?”

For fuck’s sake.

“No, I invited him, along with a few others that aren’t in certain circles to make the firm seem⁠—”

“Less dodgy,” I finished for him, glancing around the bar the firm had exclusively hired. I recognised some of those attending, organisations that flirted with the Underworld, alongside known leaders who once stood in direct opposition to the Beast.

The room was full of uninteresting people, and I couldn’t wait to leave.

“Really, Caden?” Dad growled, and I barely hid my smirk at his expression. “We also cater to those with normal incomes.”

“Right, but it’s the abnormal incomes that keeps you in champagne and caviar.”

Dad pursed his lips but didn’t rise to my comment. “Why hasn’t Kent been dealt with?” he asked, voice dropping to a whisper as he moved to stand at my side.

I spotted Kent Grant sitting over at the bar, chatting up a blonde that was at least half his age. “Maybe because I’ve been dealing with other important shit.” Three vans in the space of a week, all stolen. All tracked down to the Peckham-fucking-Crowns. As a gang they could barely string a sentence together, which helped because we recovered every single gram except for the stuff snorted by the cunts.

“Ah yes, the vans. I suppose you’ve sorted it?”

“Of course.”