Empire High Elite

by Ivy Smoak

  “Of what businesses?”

  “Family run businesses. Well, a few families really.”

  “Can’t you be more specific than that? We’re not in public right now.”

  He looked up from his screen. “We’re always in public. Even when you think we’re not.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That I never discuss business outside this room.”

  I nodded even though I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Are you a hitman?” I blurted the words out before I could stop myself.

  He laughed. “A hitman?” He laughed again. “Heavens no. And they prefer to be called wet workers.”

  What? I’d certainly never heard that term before. And I had a sinking feeling in my stomach about why he knew that random fact. If he wasn’t a hitman, did he hire them? I thought about how he’d asked if Isabella had threatened me with his assets. “Do you have wet workers on your payroll?”

  He steepled his fingers above his desk. “Brooklyn, my line of work is dangerous. And by association, my family’s lives are also in danger. And our extended family of business owners. I take every precaution to keep what’s mine safe.”

  “So that’s all you can tell me? That it’s a dangerous family business?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “Trust me, that’s all you need to know. Don’t you have a dance to get ready for?”

  “Was my mom scared of you? Is that why she left?” I needed to know everything. There were missing pieces in my story. I wanted him to fill them in.

  “I was married when I got your mother pregnant. I was trying to do the right thing by my family.” He looked back at his laptop. I thought he was going to tell me to leave, but then he added, “If I could go back, I wish that I could say I’d do it differently. But my obligations are hard to break ties from. I had to let your mother go. For her own safety. She wasn’t scared of me, but she should have been.”

  I swallowed hard. “Should I be scared of you?”

  “Are you?”

  Honestly? “A little.”

  He smiled. “A little fear is always a good thing in my book. It means you’re precautious. It’ll do you well.”

  “That was not in any way an answer.”

  He laughed. “You have no reason to fear me, Brooklyn. You’re my daughter. I couldn’t make your mother mine. But I already made you mine. You’re Brooklyn Pruitt. You’re protected under my name. You’re untouchable.”

  Untouchable. The nickname for the Hunter and Caldwell brothers wasn’t lost on me. Officially I was now one of them. Unofficially? I’d never be.

  Mr. Pruitt had said something about my last name being Pruitt before. Had he actually changed my last name without my permission? Legally? That seemed like a discussion for a different day. Because he still hadn’t answered my other questions. “If I’m untouchable, then why do you have Miller watch me 24/7?”

  “Because sometimes people like to touch what isn’t theirs, now don’t they?”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” It felt like I was in trouble. And I’d come here to get Tiffany out of it, not push myself into a hole.

  “Matthew Caldwell signed your relationship contract and had a different date than you did. He said your relationship started several weeks before you did. Which means that you were already seeing him before you came here. You’re just like me. Always trying to reach for more.”

  “That’s not why I like Matt.” Mr. Pruitt was basically insinuating that I was a gold digger.

  “Then why do you like him?”

  “Because he liked me even when I was invisible.”

  “Invisible?” Mr. Pruitt shook his head. “No one like you could possibly be invisible. And if you ask me, you should be dating Mason. He’s going to inherit MAC International, not Matt. Mason’s the better choice.”

  “Maybe for someone else. Not for me.”

  “So you’re choosing Matthew then?”

  “Yes.” My voice was a little more firm than my heart. I loved Matt. I did. But he…God, I didn’t even know anymore. He didn’t love me enough.

  “Very well. I’ll need you to change the date on that document then. So it matches Matt’s.”

  He pulled open a drawer and rifled through a few folders. “Here we go.” He handed me Matt’s copy and then mine.

  Matt had put in an earlier date. He’d put in the date of his father’s birthday party. Where Matt had followed me into the restroom after I cut my hand. The real start of us. It was as sweet as it was arrogant. Because I wasn’t his then. Hell, I was barely his now.

  “And maybe take a lesson from me and stop sneaking off to the staff floor between midnight and 6 am every day. If it continues I’ll have no choice but to figure out who it is you’re seeing and fire him. Do we understand each other?”

  Oh my God. Of course he knew. But it seemed like he didn’t know it was Miller. And at least that was a relief. “That’s nothing. I…”

  “Do we understand each other?” he asked again.

  There was no backtracking. He knew. “Yes.”

  “Wonderful. I need to get back to work. But please knock again before you leave. I’d love to take a picture with you in your dress. I need one of you for my desk.” He gave me a kind smile that didn’t at all match his latest threat.

  Chapter 26

  Saturday

  It was easy to push the conversation with Mr. Pruitt to the back of my mind when I went back to my room. Kennedy was sitting on my bed getting her nails painted, laughing with Justin. Her hair was piled on top of her head in big rollers. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen her with such a big smile. I just wanted to focus on the dance and having fun for one night.

  Besides, Miller wasn’t here. So I couldn’t talk to him right now anyway. Going down to the staff floor was absolutely not the right move. Mr. Pruitt was clearly watching me. And I wasn’t going to give him a reason to fire Miller.

  “Don’t you love this color?” Kennedy asked as she showed me her purple nails. The hue matched her dress perfectly.

  “It’s great.” I sat down next to her on the bed. “So let me get this straight, Justin. You’re an assistant, a stylist, and a…”

  “Self-proclaimed makeover artist!” He put the brush back into the nail polish. “Your father called and asked if I had any recommendations, so I recommended myself right into this gig. I knew you’d be a valuable client. Now pick a color. We don’t have much time.” He opened up one of the plastic containers he’d come in with. It was filled with a whole rainbow of nail polishes, a blow dryer, more bobby pins than I could imagine, and so much freaking hairspray. More hairspray than should ever be in anyone’s hair. I suddenly understood how Justin always kept his hair just so.

  “If we’re running low on time, I can skip doing my nails,” I said. “I never really bother to paint my nails.”

  “Nonsense. There’s always time to be fabulous.” He rifled through the colors and lifted up a silver one with sparkles. “How about this?”

  Kennedy gave me an encouraging nod.

  The silver sparkles looked fun. I felt a smile spreading across my face. “Okay.”

  “I could get used to this,” Kennedy said as she blew on her nails. “Oh, our drinks are here!”

  I looked up to see Tiffany coming in with a tray of glasses filled to the brim with something clear and bubbly.

  I remembered when I’d gone over to The Hunters’ house for help with my project. They’d had someone serve alcohol even though we were all underage. Why were adults agreeing to this?

  “You asked her to bring us drinks?” I asked.

  “No. She offered,” Kennedy said and lifted one off the tray. “Don’t worry. It’s just sparkling water. Not punch.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t be mad about sparkling water. I grabbed one too. “Thank you so much, Tiffany.”

  She smiled. “Anything else I can grab for you? I know Barbara just pulled some chocolate scones out of the oven.”

  Kennedy and
I both looked at each other.

  “We would love some scones,” Kennedy said in a ditsy voice that sounded a lot like Isabella.

  Tiffany laughed.

  For a few minutes there, I thought Kennedy was getting more used to this lifestyle than I was. But she was just having fun. And Tiffany was enjoying it too.

  “Right away, ma’am,” she said and we all giggled.

  “I swear to God, if you girls smudge your nails I’m not redoing them,” Justin said as he snagged the sparkling water out of my hand for himself. “Be still.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He laughed too. But then slapped the back of my hand when I fidgeted again.

  “This room isn’t nearly as bad as the rest of the house,” Kennedy said. “I love the color. Everything is so light and airy now that the smell of pee is gone. It reminds me of this beach house I went to when I was a kid.”

  “Mr. Pruitt picked out the color,” I said.

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting. I guess his wife decorated the rest of the apartment? Who knew he was such a bright and cheery guy?”

  Justin laughed and then silently scolded himself for some imperfection I couldn’t see on my nails.

  “My mom loved yellow,” I said. “And he remembered.”

  “That’s sweet.” Kennedy reached up to touch one of her rollers.

  “Don’t you dare touch that,” Justin said. “It needs time to set.” He screwed the cap back on the silver nail polish. “Now what to do with your hair,” he said to me and shoved the sparkling water back into my hand.

  I didn’t really have any suggestions for him. I’d never had my hair done before.

  He continued to stare at me for a few more seconds before he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. It’s going to be fantabulous. You’re going to love it.” His voice went up about 12 octaves and his eyes rolled back into his head when he said love it.

  He seemed to be selling it pretty hard. But I trusted his judgment. The clothes he’d helped pick out had looked good on me. He knew what he was doing. He was going to plan weddings one day. So he could surely handle a hairdo.

  Kennedy lifted her camera, being careful not to mess up her nails, and snapped a picture of me. “This is seriously the best day ever. I don’t want to ever forget it. Can you get one of us together?” she asked Justin and handed him the camera.

  “Promise you won’t touch your hair again?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  He took the camera from her. “Say cheese,” he said.

  I smiled as big as I could. Kennedy was right. I didn’t want to forget today either. We’d basically gotten a spa day without leaving my room. Plus Kennedy was allowed to visit whenever she wanted now.

  “What happened to your new cell phone?” she asked as she took the camera back from Justin.

  “It’s in my dresser.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it was annoying.”

  She laughed and walked over to the dresser. “Why was it annoying? It has so many new features that mine doesn’t.” She pulled it out and turned it back on. It immediately started buzzing in her hand. “Whoa.”

  “What?”

  “You have so many missed calls and text from Matt.” She squealed and started reading the texts to me:

  “Brooklyn please just let me explain,” she said in a deep voice.

  “I never slept with Rachel. I swear to God.”

  “You can’t shut me out too.”

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat. None of the Untouchables had been seen together all week. I was pretty sure their friendship had burst into flames just like Matt and my relationship. Probably around the same time that James put his fist through a window. Matt had lost everything. And I knew what that felt like.

  Kennedy scrolled down. “There’s like a bajillion messages here, Brooklyn. How could you ignore all of these? Oh my God, they get even better.” She continued reading:

  “I’ll do anything to get you back. Just say the word.”

  “Meet me downstairs. Please.”

  “Mr. Pruitt won’t let me up anymore because our relationship contract has a discrepancy. What the hell is he even talking about?”

  “I’m sorry I made you look like a fool at lunch by not telling you the truth. I should have told you. But nothing happened between me and Rachel. Isabella jumped to a wild conclusion. And she was holding it over my head. You know that I’m worried about James. You know that this would hurt him. I don’t understand why you don’t believe me.”

  “I’d never lie to you, Brooklyn. Never.”

  “Will it help if I make a fool of myself?”

  Kennedy looked up from the phone. “He made a fool of himself for you, Brooklyn. Even though he didn’t know if it would work because you were ghosting him. It’s so romantic.” She pressed the phone against her chest with a sigh.

  “What did he do?” Justin asked as he started messing with my hair.

  “To make me mad? Or to try to win me back?”

  “I got the gist of the mad part. He hooked up with someone else while you were together.”

  “No, not while we were together. Before we were together.”

  Justin lowered his round brush. “So why are you mad at him exactly? He can’t undo his past.”

  “Because he didn’t tell me about it.” And he hurt his friend who he swore he was trying to protect. The only thing Matt had been protecting was himself.

  “Did you tell him about all of your past relationships?” He propped the brush on his hip like he was going to hit me with it.

  “No. But I’ve never been in a relationship before. There was nothing to tell.”

  “Oh, honey. You have a boy blowing up your inbox. And another hunk of a man staring at you with googly eyes.” He waved his hand in the direction of the door, and I assumed he was talking about Miller. “I don’t see the problem.”

  I wasn’t really sure if I did anymore either.

  “I’d kill to be in your shoes. All the good men are straight.” He started working on my hair again.

  Maybe he was right. Not the straight thing. I honestly had no idea if that was true. But my shoes seemed pretty great right about now. I looked down at my Keds. What the hell was I doing?

  Kennedy put the phone down on my lap, with another text message opened on it:

  “Brooklyn, I love you. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. I’ve never told anyone else that. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else. I don’t want to give up on us. Please talk to me. I need you.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  “You have to text him back,” Kennedy said. “What if he’s telling the truth? What if he didn’t sleep with Rachel? What if it’s all just a crazy big misunderstanding?”

  I stared at the phone. I needed to hear Matt out. I owed him that much.

  “Before you text him back,” Justin said. “What in the name of Judy Garland is a relationship contract? Is that some kind of kinky sex thing? Because if it is, I need a copy ASAP.”

  “No.” I laughed. “It’s because my dad’s a crazy person and needs to know all my business.”

  Kennedy gasped.

  But I’d already heard what I said. It was the first time I’d ever referred to Mr. Pruitt as my dad. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I had a dad. And he acted like it too.

  “Well, your father tips well,” Justin said. “So how bad could he really be?”

  If good versus evil was so easily defined by a tip, my life would be so much better. But Justin did have a good point. A monster wouldn’t leave a tip at all. My dad wasn’t a monster. I looked down at the texts. Maybe the monster was me.

  I quickly typed out a response to Matt. “Are you still going to homecoming?”

  Matt’s response came almost immediately. “Yes, I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

  Of course he jumped to that conclusion. I wasn’t going to give in to him taking me. I already
had my date. Kennedy and I were going to have a fun, drama free evening. “I’ll just see you there.”

  The phone buzzed. “Save a dance for me?”

  “Always.” I clicked send before I could change my mind. I’d give Matt the length of one dance to explain himself.

  Chapter 27

  Saturday

  “Wow,” Kennedy said when Justin finished my makeup and hair. “You look so amazing, Brooklyn.”

  I smiled and looked over at her. “No, you look amazing.” Justin had finished her makeup first and she was flawless. The eyeliner and mascara made her eyes pop even more than usual. The hair rollers that Justin had taken out had given her updo more volume. Cupcake was going to eat his heart out.

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile. “But I’m serious.” She grabbed the handheld mirror and lifted it in front of me.

  I looked just like my mom. I swallowed hard. My loose curls cascaded down past my shoulders. I wasn’t used to wearing much makeup. I looked all grown up. I blinked fast, making sure my tears wouldn’t fall. Everyone always said I looked like my mom. But it was almost like I was staring at her reflection.

  Justin was the most talented person I had ever met. I wanted him to do my makeup every day. I felt closer to my mom than I had in months. I didn’t know whether to cry or try to hug the mirror. But then my eyes settled on the crown on top of my head that sparkled with crystals.

  “I…I can’t wear this,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Kennedy pulled the mirror back. “You look just like that picture of your mom that you had on your nightstand back at Uncle Jim’s. You look beautiful. You’re going to make Matt lose his mind.”

  “It’s not that.” I shook my head and turned to Justin. “You did a fantastic job, but you have to take the crown out of my hair.”

  “Why? Honey, you look fabulous. When you step into the room everyone will be looking at you.”

  “Isabella’s homecoming queen,” I said. “She’s supposed to be the only one wearing a crown. She’ll kill me if I go like this.”