Carlton ✔

34| The Ulterior Motive

Dedicated to: @nocarnivalnogames

"Thank you to the people who stabbed me in the back. Without you I wouldn't know the people who are really there for me."
~ Pinterest

Carlton's POV

After a rather emotional exchange with my brother, accompanying Damien, I ambled into the event hall.

It was bursting with energy, businessmen and corporate celebrities omnipresent, waiters dodging them restlessly. My eyes searched a crowd in a corner, a huddle of the richest men you could probably know, a pricey champagne in their hand.

Augustus Bancroft. I saw him.

I felt sudden, rageful impulses washing over my brain in a frenzy. Looking at his face, it reminded me of the god-awful things Bree had to suffer because of him. I had expected to feel like this, but now as I experienced it, my mind wanted to do nothing but twist a knife in his gut.

Augustus Bancroft's lean figure towered over other's around him. His ironed suit, his keen demeanour, masked the petrifying realities buried amid his safe-keeping, never exposed to the world.

It was different from the last time I met him. Now, he seemed like a bloodthirsty beast - a killer. I knew his secrets now. I knew his weaknesses. The upper hand was mine.

All this knowledge I had on him, made me dangerous. To him, I was nothing less than an atomic bomb of risky information, waiting to go off. He would do anything to have me killed if he found out, just like he was currently doing to Breanna.

But I kept reminding myself - Augustus had no idea that the heroic stranger defending Breanna, was me.

He shall find out tonight.

I noticed something that made my heart come up to my throat. Alexandra was there, sharing a champagne with her brother. Or shall I say, adopted brother?

Alexandra's face made me scrunch into myself. There was always something eerie about her. And I suppose my brother found that...sexy?

From the looks of it, the Bancroft siblings seemed like the most successful duo ever known; but my brother and I knew better. Asking Damien to stay there, I approached them, my best smile plastered on my face.

Augustus' eyes met mine, "Oh what a pleasant surprise!" His arms spread open invitingly. But not to hug, no, the Bancrofts knew not to hug their competition.

We exchanged a handshake and a back-pat. "How are you, Gus?" Yes, I got to call him Gus since we were "family friends". Fucking, Gus. I liked him and his revengeful actions. But I never thought he'd end up becoming my arch-enemy.

"I've been well. And you?"

"Never been better." In all reality, I felt like gauging his eyes out.

"I have a presentation today. I suppose you're aware. Looking forward to catch you in the audience."

I nodded approvingly.

"By the way, where's Caden, huh? Where's out high baller?" He laughed at his own joke.

I ignored that, shifting my stance towards Alexandra, who tried not to meet my eyes but I forcefully dug my gaze into her. Didn't we have some talking to do? "Alexandra! You're still alive."