THE TEMPTRESS

||Mischief||

•KADEN•

I left the room , Stephanie still inside. I was still very much turned on when I walked out.

The expression on her face when she came on my fingers was etched in my memory from the encounter we just had.

Every ounce of restraint kept me from storming back in there and taking her right there on the dresser.

What pissed me off more were the things she said about my father. She had no clue who she was messing with. Her seductive charms wouldn't work on him; he'd devour her and spit her out in seconds.

I went back downstairs, joining the others by the pool. AJ and Ben noticed my mood immediately.

"Everything good, man?" Ben asked, a playful glint in his eyes.

"No," I said, my gaze fixed on the pool before me.

"You need a moment to sort that out? We can come back in a minute," AJ offered.

I glanced at them, catching them sneaking glances at the noticeable bulge in my pants. Annoyed, I covered myself with a cushion.

"Fuck off," I snapped. They chuckled, finally looking away.

"Stephanie giving you a hard time, huh? Dude, just let her go. She's just teasing, not giving you any real action," Ben advised.

"Making me hard was the point," I replied, smirking at Natalie. "No offense."

She shot me a sharp look before turning away. AJ clenched his jaw, clearly not pleased with the exchange between me and his supposed girlfriend.

It wasn't my fault that Natalie was willing to sleep around whenever I wanted. They weren't exclusive yet, just friends with benefits. AJ was my best friend, but he needed to step up and claim his girl if he wanted her to himself.

I couldn't care less about his issues with me and Nat. I took what I wanted; that was how it worked.

Ben's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Kaden, did you hear about Diego Martinez, Alejandro Rodríguez, Javier García, and Carlos Pérez? They're all dead."

I sat up, intrigued. "What? When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago," Ben said, his arms crossed. "Their bodies were found at the bottom of a bridge near town. Diego was shot in one of his clubs."

"Weren't they connected to your father back in the day?" Lucy asked, opening her beer bottle.

"Yeah, they used to be."

After the old man announced his retirement, his crew followed suit, especially those four guys who were now pushing up daisies. They were the closest people my father ever had as a group of friends.

No wonder the old fuck seemed so damn tense the last time I saw him. His right-hand man and the other loyal guys were six feet under.

"What happened to them?" I asked Ben.

"No clue. But here's the interesting part - word on the street is that a woman killed them."

I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the idea. It sounded insane. A woman had singlehandedly killed four dangerous and cutthroat people that I know and have grown up fearing?

Now that's a joke of the year.

"No way," I scoffed. Ben shot me a serious look.

"Yeah, it's true. Even the cops working for your father are scrambling to find her. They've got evidence from all the crime scenes pointing to a woman. The same one who wiped them all out."

Jesus Christ.

A woman? Seriously? How the fuck was that even possible? What could they have done to her to make her come after them one by one, all on her own?

And did my father know about this mystery killer too? Had he and his buddies done something in the past to piss her off as well?

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I sighed when I saw who was calling.

Speak of the devil.

"Yeah?"

"I'm calling an emergency meeting tomorrow. Bring your guys and be here early; a few important people will be showing up too. I've got some crucial news to share."

I rolled my eyes and slouched back in the lounge chair. If this was about what happened to his friends, it was utterly pointless.

What was the use of telling us something we already knew?

"Fine, we'll be there," I said, and he ended the call. I tossed my phone aside and closed my eyes for a moment.

"What's that about?" AJ asked. I opened my eyes and stared at the sky instead.

"Meeting. Main house. Tomorrow."

Ben groaned audibly, his frustration mirroring my own. It was obvious that everyone in our group shared the sentiment - nobody enjoyed visiting the main house, especially when my father was there.

"Why don't we just make up some excuse and skip?" Lucy complained.

"I wish we could, but it seems important," I sighed in resignation.

"If we have to go, let's at least plan something fun to do there. We all know how much he hates it when we mess with him. It could be entertaining." Natalie chimed in, her mischievous eyes glinting with the idea

I was initially skeptical, ready to dismiss her suggestion. Then, a sudden inspiration struck me. A grin spread across my face as I reached for my phone and dialed Stephanie's number.

"That could actually be fun," I answered Natalie, while imagining my father's irritation.

He despised outsiders in our meetings, especially at the main house. The idea of him seething with frustration, yet unable to do anything about it, appealed to me. After all, he wouldn't risk losing face in front of the other important attendees.

Besides, this was precisely what Stephanie had wanted, wasn't it?

Perhaps this experience would teach her a lesson about coming up with such reckless ideas, especially those involving other men. In my eyes, she was my territory, and I wasn't keen on sharing what belonged to me, especially not with someone like my damn father.

After a couple of rings, she finally answered the phone.

"Come over to my place early tomorrow."

"What's this about now?" She asked lazily, but I could sense her curiosity. The others watched me intently, waiting for an explanation.

"We're going on a little trip to somewhere.....fun,"