by Callie Rose
It’d been at one of those parties that they’d let me drink too much and had taken pictures of me while I was passed out, and I could see the concern in Finn’s expression as he told me they’d be hosting another one. I knew they hated to give me reminders of what they’d done to me, of how deep and insidious their betrayal had been.
Not like I could ever really forget.
A few days before the party, flyers and banners started going up around school announcing senior prom. I vaguely remembered seeing them the previous year too, but I’d been too distracted by everything else going on in my life at the time to notice.
College acceptance letters had started coming in too, and it wasn’t all that uncommon to see kids either bragging or crying in the halls as they found out their fates.
I had applied to a few schools the previous semester, but I’d been seriously considering taking a few years off to dance—if I’d been able to accept the offer from Pacific Contemporary Ballet, that was exactly what I would’ve done.
Now? I wasn’t so sure what my plan was.
Shoving down the disheartening thoughts of what could’ve been, I finished up the last of my at-home physical therapy exercises on Thursday before stepping into the shower. Then I changed into a pair of dark skinny jeans and a white, flowy top. It was getting warm enough for sandals, but they hurt my leg and didn’t offer enough support, so I changed into a pair of boring but comfortable shoes.
When I stepped out of the bedroom, Cole, who was on Talia babysitting duty, glanced up from the couch. His gaze swept over me appreciatively, and his expression didn’t even change when his focus reached my clunky shoes.
“Ready?” he asked, glancing up at my face again.
“Yeah. You?”
He nodded, then rose from the couch and headed for the door, holding it open for me.
I was still slow on stairs, but he walked patiently beside me, letting me use his arm for a bit of support as I challenged my ankle to bend like it should. The breaks in my knees had been all soft tissue—healing from compound bone fractures in addition to soft tissue injuries was a whole different ballgame, I was discovering.
As we made our way at a snail’s pace across campus, my arm still looped into his, I glanced up at him. I was learning to read the micro-changes in his expressions even when he kept his face carefully blank, but it wasn’t a perfect system. Out of all the Princes, including Mason, Cole was still the most closed off.
“You going home again this weekend?” I asked, studying his face.
A flicker of anger passed over his features, then it cleared as he nodded. “Yup.”
“Cole? What’s—what’s been going on?”
He stiffened beside me, his gait unconsciously picking up speed. I tugged on his arm, and he slowed, but he didn’t look at me. “Nothing.”
“Is your dad—”
The broad-shouldered boy shook his head. “He’s… he’s fine. A few of his business buddies saw that video you took, but he told them he just needed to set me straight. That it was that or the military.” His steps slowed even more, and he turned to look at me. “Were you… under my couch?”
His words surprised me so much that I stopped walking entirely. It was a valid question, just not at all what I’d been expecting him to say.
“Um. Yeah.”
He shot me a look that was part annoyance, part disbelief, and part respect, and I shrugged.
“Hey, all’s fair in love and war.”
Cole was still staring at me, his bright blue eyes penetrating. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“Is he—?” I knew he didn’t want to talk about this anymore, but I couldn’t let it go until I had some answers. This was the most he’d spoken about his dad in weeks. “Are you… safe?”
“Enough.” He shrugged. “Like you said, sometimes it stops for a while. And at least I get to see Penny every weekend now.”
Something loosened a little in my chest as he spoke, although new worries rose up almost immediately to fill the space.
Maybe his dad was trying to prove to the world—or himself—that he wasn’t a truly abusive parent. That his treatment of his son had been for Cole’s own benefit, that he’d only done it to straighten him out. The same way people sliding into addiction kept telling themselves they could quit anytime.
But at least it gave Cole a small respite.
“That’s good.” I tightened my grip on his arm, which I still held even though we were no longer walking. “I hope I get to meet her someday. She sounds really sweet.”
“You want to?” His face became oddly still as he asked.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “She’s your best girl, isn’t she? I know that makes her special.”
His body was tense and rigid, and I couldn’t begin to guess what was going on in his head as he gazed down at me. He didn’t seem angry, but he was definitely… something.
“I’m taking her to play mini-golf this weekend,” he said suddenly. “Come with us.”
I blinked. “Really?”
He nodded, not saying anything else.
“You sure you want me to?”
His jaw clenched, and he took half a step back from me. “If you don’t want to—”
“No!” I held his arm tighter, not letting him back away. Cole, for as much as he would willingly run into a fight with fists swinging, seemed to struggle with the softer emotions, with feelings of vulnerability. And I had a feeling what he’d just asked had made him feel very vulnerable.
He stopped, regarding me with wary eyes.
“I want to,” I promised. “I really, really want to. I just don’t want to get you in trouble, that’s all.”
His gaze softened a little, and he shook his head. “It shouldn’t. My parents let me take her out places sometimes. They don’t even have to know you’re with us.”
It shouldn’t wasn’t exactly the reassurance he seemed to think it was. His father shouldn’t ever hit him, but obviously that hadn’t stopped Mr. Mercer from doing it on multiple occasions, so what should and shouldn’t happen didn’t mean a whole lot.
But Cole looked almost excited as he watched my face, waiting for my answer—and the truth was, I did want to meet Penny. I wanted to know more about the black-haired boy, and she was such a huge part of his life and of his heart.
“Okay. That sounds fun. What day?”
“Saturday.”
He grinned, and the way it transformed his whole face made my heart squeeze in my chest. He didn’t do it very often, and it gave his broad, heavy features an almost boyish quality. His face settled back into its usual mask quickly, but when we started walking again, he tugged me closer to his side, letting the heat of his body permeate mine.
When we arrived at Clarendon Hall, the dorm was already beginning to fill up. I didn’t see Adena or any of her minions there, which didn’t surprise me. Once upon a time, she’d been at every damn party the Princes threw, but now lines had been drawn in the sand, and the two factions never mingled.
Leah, Maggie, and Dan were there though, as were a bunch of kids who hadn’t picked a side in the battle between Adena and the Princes—those still hoping to ingratiate themselves with the four boys to take advantage of their family connections.
I waved at Leah, who caught my gesture and lifted her red Solo cup in a mock salute. I expected Cole’s footsteps to veer toward the back room the Princes always escaped to during these parties, but instead, he led me over toward my three friends. When we reached them, he threaded his fingers through my hair and leaned close to speak over the music.
“I’ll be back. We have some things we need to take care of.”
My brows drew together as a familiar zing of unease traveled through me. Fuck. Would I ever stop bracing for the other shoe to fall? Stop wondering if this was it—the end of the illusion?
“What are—?”
“Trust us, Tal.”
I forced the ants crawling around in my stomach to stop.
They had trus
ted me. I could trust them.
He stepped away from me with reluctance, but when he threaded his way through the crowd, he still didn’t head toward the back. And as he moved, I caught sight of the other Princes too.
None of them were in the back room. They were all out on the main floor, and they were… mingling.
I blinked stupidly at the sight, and when Leah reached out to tug my hand, I sank into the seat next to her, still watching the Princes with confusion.
“It’s weird, right?” she said loudly, her voice rising over the heavy bass. “Like seeing a pack of tigers host a tea party.”
I snorted a laugh at that, turning to face my three friends. “That’s one way to put it. Have they been doing that since you got here?”
Dan snorted. “You mean shaking everyone’s hand and laughing at everyone’s jokes like they’re running for public office? Yup.”
“What the fuck…?” I muttered, turning to stare at the four boys again.
They were all close together on the far side of the room, but they’d broken apart from their usual tight group as if they were trying to cover more ground—to reach more people. And Dan was right. They were working the crowd with practiced ease. Even Cole, who was normally so stoic and standoffish, was using his own version of cool charm on a group of sophomores who were clustered near a drink table.
“What are they doing?” Maggie asked, tapping her fingers against the side of her cup. “You think they’re trying to undo some of the damage from what Adena did? It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?
“Yeah.” I shook my head. “It is. And I don’t think that’s what this is about.”
Leah nudged me. “Your boyfriends are so fucking weird.”
A flush warmed my cheeks, and I dug my elbow into her ribs. She wriggled out of the way with a yelp as Maggie and Dan shared a look, smirking at each other.
Jesus. If that’s what my friends think, who even knows what other random students think of whatever’s going on between me and the Princes?
Not that it was anybody’s business but ours.
Nothing about our relationship was average or had followed a conventional path. None of it had been normal. A psychologist would probably have a lot to say about the fact that we were still so deeply in each other’s lives after everything in our shared pasts.
But they were under my skin now, in a way that I didn’t think would ever go away. Even if we went our separate ways after graduation and I never saw them again, they had altered me so irrevocably that it felt like all four of them were a part of my DNA now.
My heart clenched at the thought of graduation. It was starting to loom on the horizon, and although the guys hadn’t talked about it much, I knew they’d started getting their acceptance letters like everyone else at school.
Thinking about it made my chest feel tight, as if my ribs were squeezing against my lungs.
I couldn’t imagine that Adena would continue to come after me once we all graduated. Why would she? She’d be too busy off at some Ivy League school torturing the rest of the freshman class—trying to establish her dominance over them—to worry about me.
Which meant the Princes would no longer need to protect me or watch over me.
“Hey. I was just kidding.”
Leah bumped her shoulder against mine, gazing at me with concerned eyes as I jerked out of my thoughts.
“Oh!” I shook my head and grinned. “I know. I was just thinking about something else.”
“What a bitch Adena is?” she suggested.
I huffed a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, actually. Something like that.”
“Did you hear she got into Harvard?” Maggie asked, inserting herself into our conversation as she wrapped a strand of her long ponytail around her finger.
“Ugh. Did she?” Leah rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised I hadn’t heard, actually. I’m sure she was shouting it from the fucking rooftops as soon as she got the letter.”
“Yup.” Maggie shot me a glance. “She’s been gunning for that school since day one. Pretty much everything she’s done here has been to make sure she’s like their ideal candidate. Well, everything she’s officially done.” Her lip curled, an expression I’d rarely seen the sweet blonde girl wear. “I doubt jumping you behind Hammond Hall was something she put on her application.”
“No?” I deadpanned. “Not even under ‘extracurricular activities’?”
Leah shook her head, making her angled auburn bob shift. “God, she’s such a fucking bitch. She’s dead set on being prom queen too, and you know with the way she’s been climbing the fucking ranks around here, she’ll probably get it. It’s not because of damn popularity, I’ll tell you that much.”
The conversation around me shifted to other things as the Princes continued to work their way around the room, seeming determined to speak to every single person at the party.
It really wasn’t fucking fair. After what Adena had done to the Princes, what she’d done to me, she was still going to get everything she wanted. She would be handed the world on a silver platter, and knowing her, she’d just fling it across the room and demand a better one.
She really was untouchable.
The only time I’d seen the Princes have even a modicum of control over her was when she’d still thought there was a chance of getting back together with Mason. She’d been desperate enough to make that happen, to secure that match, that she would’ve probably done anything.
Now though? She hated the Princes, and she was more powerful than them.
She’d done what she could to wreck their lives, and possibly to end my life, and now she was set to just waltz off into the sunset with no repercussions.
We were running out of time to bring her down. And as much as I’d told Mason to be careful, not to act until we were sure, I didn’t like the idea of her getting off scot-free.
I just wasn’t sure how to get to her.
Chapter 17
On Saturday morning, I dug through a stack of papers in my desk drawer and found a phone number in the letterhead at the top.
I’d lost the few numbers I’d had programmed into my phone when it was broken in the crash, and I hadn’t ever re-entered Erin Bennett’s contact info. There hadn’t been much need to. She’d checked in briefly during my first semester back at Oak Park, but her job was done. She’d helped emancipate me and free up some of the money my mom had left me—there was nothing left for her to do.
Once I had her name and number programmed into my phone, I pressed the icon to make the call.
It was the weekend, so I wasn’t sure if she’d answer, but when she’d been working on my case back in Sand Valley, she’d told me to feel free to call her anytime.
She answered on the third ring, her tone cool and businesslike. “Hello? This is Erin Bennett speaking.”
“Hey, Erin. It’s Talia Hildebrand.”
“Oh, hello, Talia.” Her voice warmed just a fraction, becoming a little less clipped and formal. “Sorry, you didn’t pop up on my caller ID.”
“It’s okay. I got a new phone.”
“Well, what can I do for you?”
I paced across the room, summoning the courage to just come right out and ask for what I wanted. “Do you know anyone by the name of Adam Pierce?”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and my stomach felt like it was full of wet cement as I held my breath. Then she spoke slowly.
“No. I don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
Another split-second of hesitation, then, “Yes.”
Was she lying? I knew whoever hired her had wanted her to keep their name secret. Would that include not even admitting she knew them?
“Oh. I thought—” I limped to a stop, staring out the window at the lawn below. “I thought maybe he was the one who sent you to Sand Valley.”
“Talia.” Her voice was gentle but firm. “As I explained at the time, I’m not at liberty to tell you that. I’m sorry.”
&n
bsp; “I know. It’s just…”
It’s just that crazy shit has been happening in my world, and I need to at least work out one piece of the puzzle.
“I understand. If I could tell you, I certainly would. But the person who helped you wanted to do so without their name becoming known by anyone. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Thanks.”
“Are you doing all right? Is there anything you need legal assistance with?”
“No, I don’t think so. Thanks.”
“All right. Give me a call when you graduate, and we’ll see what we can do about getting more of your trust released before your twenty-first birthday.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Goodbye, Talia.”
I pressed the button to end the call and held the phone away from my face, staring at it. Goddammit. I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t told me—she’d steadfastly refused for the entire time she’d worked on my case in Sand Valley, so there was no reason to think she’d cave because of a quick phone call months later.
But I had hoped maybe she would. Or that she’d forget she wasn’t supposed to tell me or something.
The way she had hesitated before answering though… Did she know Adam Pierce?
I slipped my phone back in my pocket. It was good that I had touched base with her anyway, considering that I would probably need her help if I wanted to free up any more money for college tuition. She’d given me copies of a bunch of documents with information about the trust, and I’d taken pictures of a few documents we’d submitted to the judge, just so I could reference everything later.
I’d have to go through it all soon and seriously think about whether I wanted to try to go to school next year or not. My plan of taking time off had made sense when I thought I’d be dancing, but now that I knew that wasn’t going to happen, I felt like the responsible thing to do was go to college.
