Bloodbound: The Alliance
Chapter 19 - 23

Chapter 19: Chapter 23

Avara POV

"Just calling to check if you landed safely?"

A stretch of silence.

I glance out of the car window. "You still there?"

"Yeah, yeah," he stammers. He clears his throat. "It’s just weird."

I frown. "What is?"

"Never had someone check up on me."

I smile dubiously, even though he can’t see it. "Yeah right. You telling me none of your ex-girlfriends checked up on you when you were away?"

"No," he says somberly, unbothered by the fact. "The people that are around me always want something from me. They don’t care about me."

Sudden sadness pushes against my heart. "That can’t be true... there must be someone."

"No," he says with equal apathy. "There’s a reason I keep my distance, why the only loyalties I recognize are those bound by blood. Trust in others is a luxury that even I can’t afford, and friendship—an indulgence for those who have yet to learn the true cost of betrayal."

"I’m sorry," I whisper, as if giving my condolences. Because what else can I say to that?

"I’m not. Hey, what do you say when I come back, you and I do something? No cameras, no press, just us. Dinner at my place?"

I fight back a smile and lose. "You sure you want to invite a gold digger home?"

He frees an amused breath. I can hear the smile in his voice. "You really not gonna let that go?"

"Not for a while. And yes, that sounds... tolerable."

"Tolerable?" A bout of surprise. "Okay, don’t let Kelsey’s annoyingness rub off on you."

I free a laugh. "Hey! She is not annoying."

"Just violent. My shin still hurts from when she kicked me."

Still laughing, I say, "That’s just her way of saying that she likes you."

He snorts sardonically. "I fear her wrath if she didn’t."

My laugh fades. On a serious note, I say, "She’s not bad. And I have this feeling that you already know that."

"I’ll see you when I get back," he says brusquely.

"It’s a date," I blurt. "Fake date. Friend date. Just a normal evening," I say in a flustered rush.

He chuckles softly. "Normal left the group chat a long time ago."

The car slows to a standstill.

"Well, I’m here," I say as a farewell.

"Stay safe, so stay far from Grayson."

"Really, Vance?"

"I’m not doing a controlling boyfriend act—"

"Oh, I know it’s not an act," I say with a scornful scoff.

"I don’t like him. Not because he’s sniffing around you, but I get an off feeling about him."

The backseat door opens.

"I’ve known him for years and he’s been nothing but kind. And has never made a pass at me and he has had ample opportunity. He may like me, but he’s not interested in me like that. I have to go."

I exit the car to see a vacant front entrance. No guests, photographers or interviewers. Frank and I exchange curious looks. I bade him to stay put until I figure out what’s going on. I make my way to the double glass doors and I enter by myself. No one to greet me and usher me inside. When I reach the festooned ballroom, it’s also empty but prepared. Adorned tables sit unoccupied, bedecked with decor and an array of expensive silverware. The podium for the auctioneer is ready at the head of the ballroom.

I venture deeper. There is not a single living soul, not even any servers.

"There you are."

I flinch, whipping around to see Landen approach me, adjusting his custom cufflinks.

"Landen?"

He displays an award-winning smile, stellar and sly.

"What are you doing here?" I look around pointedly. "Where is everyone else?"

"I am everyone else." He tosses a glance around us. "I outbid the bidders."

My forehead puckers. "What? These people bought their tables months ago. Each seat costs ten thousand dollars. And that’s just for entry. Each table is like a hundred thousand!"

"I know," he says with a nonchalant shrug. "That’s why I spoke to the event coordinator. And I paid double that for each seat. And their most expensive item on their auction list. Seven figures, I think."

Shock slaps my face, leaving my mouth agape. "Wha... you bought out an entire event and paid seven figures just to get me alone?"

"You make it sound so predatorial."

"What’s your angle? What do you want?"

He looks around exaggeratedly. "Since this party is dead. I know one that’s very much alive."

"The birthday party?"

Landen nods with a cunning smile. "The very one. I want you to be my plus one. C’mon, we’re practically going to be family. I just want some quality sibling-in-law bonding time. That’s my angle. I’m just trying to get to know you, Mrs Vacheron."

"You’re insane," I breathe.

"So I’ve been told. I’m extending an olive branch here."

I continue to gawk at him, my brain short-circuiting, not knowing what to even think.

A flicker of irritation. "You want an apology? This is it. And it lasts only for twenty seconds. Your transition into my family depends on your relations with me. So come here."