by Louise Rose
“Great.” I slump back. It isn’t that I am particularly surprised, but it is still disappointing to discover that my father is as much of an arsehole as I suspected.
“At the moment, my guys have your things in a sealed box so no signal can get out,” Archer tells me. “It’s up to you what you want to do next. We can disable the bugs if you want your privacy back.”
“Let’s do that,” I say, without even thinking about it.
“Wait a moment before you make the decision,” Archer says. “Otherwise, you’ll miss out on the good news.”
“Which is?”
“Right now, your father won’t suspect anything,” Archer tells me. “It’s pretty standard practise for the Houses to have equipment which can cancel out bugs, so the fact that the signal will have died won’t raise any alarms. If your father doesn’t know we’ve found the bugs, we can use that against him. We can feed him false information.”
“We can lure him somewhere to assassinate him.” I nod slowly. “You’re right. That is good news.”
“Exactly,” Romy says. “Now we don’t have to worry about tiptoeing around trying to figure out his schedule. We’re in charge now and we get to decide what happens and when.”
“Just as long as I get to be the one to deliver the killing blow,” I say. “There’s no way I can let him get away with murdering Dave. I want him to look me in the eye and know that I’m the reason he’s dead. This will be my revenge for all the people he’s hurt over the years-–including my mother.”
“So, all we need to do is come up with a plausible story to get Solomon right where we want him,” Declan says. “And I think I have the perfect cover.”
Chapter Seventeen
K nowing that I was bugged changed everything. I can’t ever relax, knowing that my father is listening to every aspect of my life. I have to watch every word I say, take care not to slip up and reveal anything about Declan’s plan. It is harder than you’d think and I hate my father for forcing me to tread on eggshells all the time.
It makes me sick to think that my father might have heard me making love. What kind of creep did that to his daughter?
It makes it even harder for me to get involved in the girls’ alliance because I have to be careful about what I say, but I can’t tell my new best friends what’s going on. I don’t trust them enough yet. I’m still not sure about Ally’s motives and she hasn’t exactly proven herself to be a decent person. Until I have a chance to assess where she is coming from, she is on my handle with caution list.
I meet with Ally, Taylor, Milly, and Nicola during lunch break at school. Milly is practically dancing in her seat with excitement. Ever since I told her about Ally’s idea, she hasn’t been able to stop talking about how cool it is that we are going to be in a girl gang together. Poor kid. She’s spent so much of her life being an outsider, this is the happiest moment of her life. I wish I had her enthusiasm about this project. I am still bracing myself for being stabbed in the back.
“So, Ally,” I begin. “This was all your idea. How did you see this going?”
“Well, first of all, I want to say thank you all for coming here. Between us, we’re the most powerful women in the Academy and it’s about time we used that power and stopped letting the boys railroad us.”
“Girl power!” whoops Milly.
Nicola shoots her a dark look and Milly immediately cringes away.
“And that’s exactly the kind of thing we need to stop,” I snap. “You guys have been horrible to Milly for as long as you’ve all been at the Academy. She’s not the enemy! The more we fight and bicker between ourselves, the easier it is for others to take advantage of us. That’s what’s been wrong with this town for so long. The Houses are all so caught up with dragging each other down, none of you can see that there’s plenty of space for all of us. If one of us wins, we all win. So if Milly wants to be excited, let her be excited. Heck, get excited with her! Stop being such a stuck-up bitch and accept Milly for who she is. If you can’t do that, you should just walk out right now.”
For a moment, I think Nicola is going to storm out, but then she nods.
“You’re right. And I’m sorry, Milly. We need to build each other up. I don’t know why I’ve always been so horrible to you. I guess I got caught up in thinking that I had to put you down so I could get ahead. Ivy’s right. We can all be successful together. In fact, we can be more successful together than on our own. We can share class notes, revise together, help each other to be the best we can be. If we can show that the Houses can work together instead of against each other, it’ll help make this town a much nicer place for all of us.”
“Agreed.” Taylor nods, but I’m not that bothered about her opinion. I know full well that Taylor is just Ally’s puppet. Whatever Ally wanted her to do, she’d do it without question. Wherever Ally went, Taylor followed.
“Okay, so a few ground rules to get started,” I say. “First, and most importantly, we support each other unconditionally. This alliance crosses House divides, so if you see someone attacking one of us and they’re in your House, it doesn’t matter. We support each other, no matter what.”
“Okay.”
“Sounds good.”
Everyone agrees except Nicola. I glare at her.
“Fine. I’ve got your back, even if it’s against someone from my House.”
“Look at it this way,” I say. “If someone hurt Milly, even if it was Lucas, they’d have to answer to me because she’s my best friend. Our friendship matters more to me than a family I happened to be born into. And if we start enforcing this alliance across House boundaries, we’ll start building stronger ties between the Houses. Which means that when we leave the Academy and get more involved in our family’s businesses, we’ll be used to working together so we can make decisions which benefit all of us instead of being selfish. I’ve found that when people only think about themselves, they often miss out on amazing opportunities because no one wants to deal with them. We need to change that way of thinking. It’s like being in a band. If I sing really loudly because I want to be heard, it ruins all the harmonies. If I match my volume to the other vocalists, we make magic together. That’s what I want us to do. Make magic.”
“And no stealing each other’s boyfriends!” Ally puts in suddenly. She blushes as soon as she says it, the glance she gives me makes it clear what she is talking about. I am not going to rise to the bait though. If I want us to be able to work together, I have to lead by example and not point out that Declan had kissed me first, nor that I hadn’t known that Ally was dating him at the time.
Even though I really, really want to.
“Exactly,” I say. “We don’t steal each other’s boyfriends. If someone’s dating, they’re completely off limits. And if someone’s boyfriend makes a pass at us, we have a duty to tell them straight away. What they choose to do with that information is up to them and if they decide to stay with their boyfriend, no judgement. The heart wants what the heart wants and we all know how hard it is to walk away from someone when you love them. Which is why we also need to be there to pick up the pieces for each other when need be.”
“I like it,” says Nicola. “But what happens if one of us breaks the girl code? There’s got to be some kind of punishment, otherwise why would anyone bother?”
I look at her. “Wow. You really have had a messed-up childhood, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Nicola frowns. “What’s my childhood got to do with anything?”
“Don’t you ever do anything because it’s the right thing to do? Do you have to have the threat of punishment to make you be a decent human being?”
Nicola opens her mouth to say something, but closes it without speaking.
Ally and Taylor nudge each other, stifling a giggle.
“We’re trying to do something different,” I explain. “I guess I didn’t realise just how different the thought of cooperating was for you. We don’t need to have a punishm
ent because when you discover how good it feels to do the right thing, you’ll want to keep doing it. When you know you’ve got friends you can count on to be there, no matter what, nothing can beat it. Wouldn’t you rather know I was there for you, just you, instead of supporting you because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t?”
“I guess.” Nicola shrugs.
“And the problem with using punishment as an incentive is that you have to be caught first. So, if you’re relying on the threat of reprisals to make sure we all support each other, it’ll just encourage us to be sneaky. Before you know it, things will be even worse than they have been because none of us will be able to trust each other. We’ll be fighting between ourselves because we’ll want to get an attack in first before we get hurt. No, if we’re serious about making this work, we live up to the code because it’s the right thing to do, not because we’re afraid of the consequences. If you don’t think you can do that, we might as well walk away now and not bother.”
“I’m in!” Taylor surprises me by speaking up. “I think everything you’ve said is so true. I know that some of the things I’ve done have been because I was afraid of getting hurt. I made a pass at someone’s boyfriend because I thought she was spreading rumours about me. She wasn’t, but I figured that she might do it one day, so I made sure I got to her first.”
“You didn’t tell me about that,” Ally says. “Whose boyfriend was it?”
“I’d rather not say.” Taylor looks down at her hands as she fiddles with the hem of her blazer. “It’s not something I’m proud of and I’d rather leave it in the past. It wasn’t anyone in this room, though, so you don’t have to worry about that. But Ivy’s right. I felt terrible afterwards. If I’d just gone and talked to her instead and told her how I felt, we might have become friends. Instead, she takes any opportunity she can get to have a go at me.”
“You should try talking to her now,” I say gently. “It’s never too late. Explain to her about our new girls’ alliance, maybe even invite her to join. We’ll need more than the five of us if we’re going to change the culture of this place. We might be leading the way, but we’ll have to get the other girls to follow if this thing is really going to work.”
“I don’t know,” Taylor says. “We’ve both said and done some horrible things to each other. I’m not sure we can ever come back from that.”
“You should still try,” I advise. “What’s the worst that can happen? Things carry on the way they are now, which isn’t the end of the world, but at least you’ve tried. I reckon you’ll be pleasantly surprised, though. You could gain a new friend. But if you don’t say anything, you know things are going to continue the way they have been and you’re going to continue to be miserable. I know which one I’d prefer.”
“Okay.” Taylor nods. “I’ll talk to her. You’re right. Even if she doesn’t want to listen, I’ll know I’ve tried.”
“We all have to lead by example,” I say. “Nicola, you’re head of House Navarre. I’m head of House Archaic. Everything we do represents our House. We need to start showing people that we live honourably and we work together, not against each other. It might take a little time for people to realise we really do mean what we say, but if we back up our words with deeds, we’ll get there in the end.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Ally beams and we all smile and nod.
I put my hand out into the middle of our group. “Come on, everyone. Girl power on three.”
The others all put their hands on top of mine.
“One… two… three… Girl power!”
We all throw our arms up and yell at the top of our lungs.
I hope my father is listening. He’d be livid to hear that I have no intention of following in his footsteps.
The Houses are going to work together on an even footing. I am not going to let him wipe out the other Houses, because I’d figured out that’s what all these trips to Italy were about. He was clearly building up connections with other Houses out there so they could help him grow his empire. Well, no more. Not if me and my girls have anything to say about it.
Chapter Eighteen
T he boys and I all gather in Archer’s place so we could plan what to do about my father. We regularly keep notepads with us so we can carry out conversations without my father being able to hear us. There is a definite skill to being able to say something verbally while writing something completely different, but we’ve had a bit of practise and it works for us.
Declan and Romy talk about a movie they’d recently seen, so if my father did listen in, there’d be nothing interesting for him to hear. It killed me not to be able to kiss any of them, but the thought of him or any of his guards hearing us creeps me out.
So, are you still okay about going forward with this? Archer writes. I’ll understand if you want to back out. We’ll all respect your choice.
Are you kidding? I reply. I want that man gone. He and Lucas have been having a lot of meetings recently and Lucas won’t tell me what they’re about. I’m really worried about what they’re planning together. The sooner we deal with my dad, the better.
Good, Archer says. Now the first thing we need to do is figure out how we can get him on his own. If we can just get him away from his guards, it’ll be easy to take him out. Do you have any ideas about that?
I thought about asking him to come out to dinner with me, I say. He’s so arrogant, he’d genuinely believe I want to spend time with him. But he’d insist on bringing his guards with him, and I can’t think of a good reason why he should leave them behind. If I say I wanted some time alone with him, he’d just order them to the other side of the room. And then we’ve got the problem of being in a public place. I don’t want any of you to get in trouble with the police.
Don’t worry about that, Archer says. All our families have close connections with the police, and they’d be more than happy to see Solomon gone. I think you’ll find that any evidence connected to his death will mysteriously go missing.
Okay, I say. So, we have the start of a plan. I don’t really know the best places to eat in this town. Where would you recommend as the best place to stage an assassination?
Declan motions for me to pass him the pen and paper. Archer takes over talking to Romy, the discussion turning to the best Netflix shows to binge watch.
My father owns a restaurant which would be perfect, Declan writes. I can get him to seat you in a booth out of sight of the other diners. We can poison one of his dishes and bam, job done!
No. I shake my head. I want to kill him myself. Do you think you can get a gun to me?
A gun? Are you sure? You’re not exactly the best shot.
I blush at the memory of shooting Declan’s father. That’s exactly why I want to shoot him. It’s the perfect revenge. And there’s no way I can miss from that distance.
Archer glances over at what we’ve written and motions for the paper.
I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, he says. It’s much harder than you’d think to shoot someone. If you can’t pull the trigger, it’ll spoil everything. Solomon will know you plotted against him. If he doesn’t kill you, he’ll lock you up for the rest of your life-–and I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do to make sure he has another blood heir. It’s not worth the risk.
I shake my head violently. I want to be the one to kill my father. It is my birth right!
Romy takes the paper from Archer.
Listen to him, Ivy, he says. More than anyone, Archer would know how hard it is to shoot someone at point blank range.
How would he know?
I look at Archer, but he shakes his head. He isn’t going to tell me that story right now, and maybe not ever.
Poison is a better option, Archer assures me.
But what if they get the plates mixed up? I ask. How would you feel if I was the one who ended up poisoned? I don’t feel safe doing that.
Just don’t order the same thing as Solomon. It’ll be obvious.
No.
I sigh and slump back in my seat, arms folded. This is a debate that could go on for hours, both of us as stubborn as each other.
Romy picks up the paper. I have another idea. If Ivy can get her dad to agree to go out to dinner with her, we’ll know where he is, right?
We all nod.
So we can arrange for an ambush on his way home, Romy says. He’ll be all relaxed after eating good food so he won’t be expecting anything. My family’s men will deal with his guards and if you want to be the one to take out your father, Ivy, we can make it happen. If it turns out you can’t pull the trigger when the moment comes, that’s okay. There’ll be plenty of other people there who are willing to do it for you.
I won’t chicken out, I promise. But that does sound like a great plan. Now all that remains is for me to ask my dad out to dinner.
What about Lucas? Romy asks. Do you want us to deal with him at the same time?
I shake my head. Just because I don’t want to be married to him doesn’t mean I want him dead. With my dad out of the picture, it’ll be easy to convince him to agree to an annulment. I’ll tell him to stay home that night because I want it to be a daddy/daughter dinner. He won’t mind. For all his faults, Lucas is pretty laid back. I’d rather he wasn’t there to see my father killed.
“Thanks for the recommendation,” Archer says, carrying on with the fake conversation he’d been having with Declan. “I’ll check it out. Now I’ve got a massive essay to write which is due on Monday, so if you guys don’t mind, I’m going to have to be rude and say goodbye.”
“No problem.”
He gets up and goes across the room, as the rest of us start to say goodbye to each other. He opens the front door, saying, “Hey, Ivy. Can I have a minute?” before he shuts it again, putting his finger to his lips to warn us to be quiet as he walks over to a switch on the wall. Flicking it, he grins at us.
