Broken Rules: The Elites Of Weis-Jameson Prep Academy Book 2

by Hart, Rebel

  “I promise you Bernadette can take care of herself,” she says confidently. “Wherever she is. Emmett shouldn’t worry about her. She wouldn’t worry about him if it was the other way around.”

  I know she’s probably right, but it doesn’t make it any less brutal. And worse, it makes it sound like all of this is for nothing. Like Emmett should have just accepted that she was gone and not even bothered looking for her. None of this had to happen. Vivian obviously knows something, enough to not be scared for Bernadette, but I realize I’ve gotten all I’m going to get out of her.

  I think back to when Vivian had me cornered in the classroom and I first realized their vendetta against me was all about unsettled business between my dad and their parents. She was desperately trying to go along with what she was ordered to do, believing that I really was the scum of the earth for threatening the position of her family. All of the Elites’ families. On top of that, Emmett was dying to have me, right in front of her. And I played on our attraction to drive her mad. She deserved it for the way she was acting, but I can see now she was really no different from Emmett.

  “Emmett really does love you,” she says after a long silence passes between us. “Nothing happened between us, you know. The moment you came here, he started slipping away from me, and once he got you…he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

  I can tell that Vivian is telling me the truth. It comes with an odd feeling of being told something I already knew. I knew all along Emmett didn’t want Vivian in the way he wanted me. But I had to keep convincing myself that there was still something between them—telling myself that kept me from falling too far. It kept me from feeling too safe with Emmett. It protected me from opening myself up to being hurt by him again. I needed my jealousy as an excuse to stay guarded. It was my safety net. But now it falls away before acceptance.

  “Thank you for telling me that,” I answer, believing every word she says. She has no reason to lie anymore. This is her accepting defeat.

  “I better go,” she says, peeling herself from the wall. But then she turns sharply with her old, familiar glaring stare. “You tell anyone you saw me like this, and I’ll kill you. If I have to leave WJ Prep, I’m at least going to do it with what’s left of my reputation intact.”

  I smirk. “This all stays between us, I promise.”

  I let go of any corny thoughts about how if only Vivian had showed me this side sooner, maybe we could have been friends. She’s only doing this now because she has nothing left. She’s completely broken and knows she has to get the hell out of Jameson. That’s the only reason she can show her true self to me now.

  22

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After school, I know I have to see Emmett. Now that I know exactly where Vivian stands, I have to try one last time. I drive to the motel, but his car is gone. The front desk says he’s checked out. So, I try driving past the manor and am relieved to see his car parked outside.

  “Mrs. Lopez,” the butler beams as he answers the door. “Is Mr. Jameson expecting you?”

  “Nope!” I reply boldly as I push past him and race up the stairs. I’m not going to risk him asking Emmett if he wants to see me and getting turned away. He continues to call up after me, but I know if I can just get to Emmett, he’ll back off and let him decide. It won’t be as easy for Emmett to turn me away once I am standing face to face with him.

  I knock on his bedroom door, and he looks annoyed when he peeks out from behind it. But thankfully, he throws his head back in exasperation and leaves it open for me anyway. I rush in, not knowing if I should jump straight into defending myself again. I decide to stay focused on my other concerns for him instead.

  “Have you heard from your mom?” I ask, helping myself to a seat on his bed.

  “I don’t want to see you,” he replies weakly. “I told you, I can’t even look at you after what you did.”

  “Then why did you come to Malcolm’s yesterday?” I raise my eyebrows at him.

  “I was coming to beat his ass for putting his hands on you,” he booms in his deep voice.

  “Emmett, nothing happened between Malcolm and me,” I say again. “I promise. I could never do that to you.”

  He groans. “I saw the photo, Ophelia.”

  “You know what Malcolm and Lily did,” I shoot back. “That should be enough to prove to you that Malcolm is a terrible person and a liar. He made sure that photo got sent to you and everyone.”

  “But there was something for a photo to be taken of…” he insists.

  “No!” I cut him off, flying into a pace around the room. “I was hanging out with Malcolm, yes. And I realize now that I shouldn’t have been. But I was so convinced Vivian was luring you back in and I was upset. He offered to keep me company, and then he made a pass at me. I fought him off and came here to tell you everything. But by the time I got here, that photo had already been sent. Someone doctored it!”

  “How am I supposed to believe you?” he persists in an aching tone, as if he’s asking himself just as much as me.

  “Because I would never do anything to hurt you, Emmett!” I cry earnestly. “You have to know that! I love you! I never even got to tell you about him trying to get me to fool around with him because Vivian was here! I didn’t even have a chance to explain.”

  “You swear it was faked?” he asks. “Nothing happened?”

  “I kicked him in the balls to get him off of me,” I explain. “I didn’t even want to be around him in the first place. I only ever wanted to be with you…but every time Vivian tried to come between us, he was always there waiting. I should have known he was up to something, that he was no good!”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He melts in exasperation, collapsing into the chair in the corner of his room, sliding his hands across his face and through his hair.

  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you.” I shake my head, tears in my eyes. “To see that photo and think it was real. I don’t know what I would have done if it had been a picture of you and Vivian.”

  “You would have broken everything in your room.” He smirks in embarrassment, gesturing around to the lingering assortment of cracked and broken objects littering his floor. “I was so upset I wouldn’t even let the housekeepers in to clean this mess up.”

  I start to argue with him, but then I realize he’s probably right. I didn’t used to think I had a temper, but lately I seem to be proving myself wrong on that one.

  “I guess love makes everyone a little crazy,” I suggest, running my palm across the back of my neck.

  He steps towards me with an intense look in his eyes, whipping my body over to his. “You definitely drive me crazy, Ophelia,” he coos in his deep, sexy voice.

  My heart lights up at his sound and the feeling of being in his arms again. It’s a wave of relief when his lips lower to mine, kissing me soft and slow before quickly picking up into a needy pace, the way all of our kisses are. Desperate and insatiable. This is all I have been wanting the past couple of days, and everything I thought I would never have again. I’d convinced myself it was over, but my heart refused to let go. And now that we are together again, I know why. I know why I can never seem to get away from Emmett. This is meant to be, and that is the intense pull we feel towards each other.

  “I think we’re soulmates, Emmett,” I suggest softly. “Do you believe in that sort of thing?”

  “I never thought about it before,” he replies honestly. “But…I think you’re right. I don’t feel whole unless I’m with you.”

  The intense need scares me, but I know there’s no use fighting it. It’s never worked before. It seems as though no matter what we do, we’re going to end up like this. Back in each other’s arms, as we should be.

  “Something weird happened today,” I tell him finally. “The fire alarm went off at school. It ended up being some kind of prank, but I could have sworn I saw Bernadette walking away from the crowd.”

  “What?” he exclaim
s. “Are you sure?”

  “No, I’m not sure…” I hesitate. “But it definitely did look like her. And just like that she was gone! I tried to catch up to her…but nothing.”

  His face wrinkles in confusion as he stares off.

  “It’s not your fault,” Emmett continues. “I know what kind of guy Malcolm is. I should have realized it was all a set-up. That’s why we’re not friends anymore. He’s a terrible person.” I see acceptance washing over him. One side was telling him not to buy into that photo the whole time, just as one side kept telling me not to worry about Vivian, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go of his insecurities.

  “We used to be best friends, but he was sick. A sociopath,” he continues. “Even when I was forced into going along with the Elites, I couldn’t get over how fucked up and sadistic Malcolm was. He reminded me too much of my father.

  “That’s funny.” I wrinkle my nose as I remember the first night I met with Malcolm. “He said the same thing about you.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asks.

  “When I first met Malcolm,” I go on. “It was right before you, Trey, and Vincent kidnapped me. I met with him and his dad, and on the way, he told me how you two used to be friends, but that you turned into a horrible person when you started hanging out with the Elites.”

  “What meeting with Malcolm and his dad?” Emmett’s eyes dart back and forth cluelessly.

  “My father sent them. They were the ones who told me who he was and what went down with him in Jameson,” I explain. “They told me all about his gambling debts and how he embezzled money from Jameson Automobiles to pay them. How he got stripped of all his shares and cast out of town. They wanted me to help them collect evidence against you and the rest of the Elites, to prove their software company was being used in the sex trafficking rings, but that they were completely innocent and had nothing to do with it.”

  He shoots up in alarm. “When did this happen?”

  “I told you…right before I came home and found you and the twins in my room,” I stammer, not understanding why he seems so worried.

  “How could you not tell me that!” he snaps.

  “I didn’t think it was important!”

  “Ophelia, the Hendersons aren’t innocent,” Emmett states coldly. “The entire sex trafficking thing was their idea! Malcolm himself tailored the software to run it!”

  “Well, then, why aren’t they going down with everyone else?” I ask.

  “They just wanted to pin everything on the rest of the Elites to get their hands on Jameson Automobiles!” he asserts. “They’ve always wanted control over the company. I wasn’t just jealous of Malcolm. I didn’t want you around him because he’s dangerous! I knew he was just trying to use you to get to me. I wanted to protect you from him.”

  Now all of my comparisons between Vivian and Malcolm feel ridiculous. That’s why Emmett was so adamant about me staying away from Malcolm, while being unable to understand my jealousy of Vivian. He wasn’t being jealous and possessive. He was afraid for me.

  “You know for certain they’re behind everything with the sex trafficking rings?” I ask, needing to know he’s positive.

  “Yes!” he fires back without hesitation. “That’s part of why we stopped hanging out. He was already making plans for the whole thing! Vivian kept trying to tell me it was all just a plan to take the rest of our families down in the long run, but we couldn’t convince any of them. They all fell right into his trap. They’ve been setting things up to work out this way from the beginning.”

  “So…does that mean…my father?” I try to connect the dots. “Was he involved, too?”

  “Think about it. Why would your father send Malcolm and Liam to talk to you like that when I had already agreed to take you in?” he proposes. “I don’t think they ever had anything to do with your father at all. They were just trying to make you trusted them enough to get them the evidence. To help make sure nothing went wrong with their plan.”

  “It doesn’t make sense.” I shake my head. “Sure, maybe Malcolm was just trying to use me to throw you off this whole time so he could find some way to get control of the company. But what about Coach Granger? Why did he drag Lily into that?”

  “Without Coach Granger around to offer you other solutions, you’d feel like you had no other way out than to help them find evidence,” he concludes.

  I nod in agreement. “But they didn’t know I had you.”

  “And they didn’t know your father was working with me.”

  “I’m so sorry, Emmett,” I cry, feeling stupid. “I’m sorry I never mentioned the meeting with them. So much happened so fast! I should have listened to you when you told me to stay away from Malcolm. I thought you were just jealous.”

  “It’s okay,” he sighs, taking me into his arms. “I wish I had told you what kind of person he really was.”

  My cheek drifts across the warmth of Emmett’s warm skin as he holds me, and the world feels right again. I’m so relieved he finally believes me and that I understand more about everything that has been happening. Emmett wasn’t giving into Vivian because he still had feelings for her. He knew there was a side to her that I couldn’t see—the side I saw under the stairs at school. And his rage towards Malcolm was all about keeping me safe.

  Suddenly, he pulls back and whips out his cell phone.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I’m calling the police,” he states sternly.

  “What?” I cry. “Why now? I thought we couldn’t trust them!”

  “Don’t you see? The Hendersons are behind Bernadette’s disappearance. They have to be!” he explains assertively, but I’m not following him.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “You don’t have to believe me, but I know Vivian doesn’t have anything to do with this,” he continues. “And her parents are too wrapped up in the investigation to pull something like this off.”

  “No, I know that now.” I nod my head in earnest agreement. “I do believe you.”

  “Trey and Vincent were sent off to stay with family on the other side of the country,” he expounds. “No one has heard from them. Their parents are in the same boat Vivian’s are. We know Lily was wrapped up in her own problems…nothing that had to do with coming after the company.”

  “And if we’re certain my father didn’t do it…then that leaves the Hendersons.” I exhale sharply, wishing we could have seen it before.

  “They must be trying to use Bernadette and my mom as some kind of leverage to get control over Jameson Automobiles,” he rants with a certain clarity. “That’s what they’ve wanted all along.”

  “Why wait so long?” I question, still not feeling as convinced as he is. “Why not just come straight after you?”

  “I don’t know.” He shakes his head, his eyes darting around the room in thought. “I don’t know what they’re up to, but I’m convinced they’ll know exactly where Bernadette and my mom are.”

  The Hendersons could have taken Bernadette, hoping to arrange some sort of hostage deal to get what Emmett inherited from his father, but it still doesn’t make sense. Why would Malcolm spend so much time goading me? Why wait at all? Why not just let Emmett know right away to try and get what they were after?

  Emmett seems convinced, and he knows more about the dynamics of this fucked up town than I do, so I don’t question him.

  “But wait…how do you know the cops aren’t just as much in the Henderson’s pockets as they were your father’s?” I propose. “You said we shouldn’t trust them.”

  “I’m done playing games,” he barks. “This has gone on long enough. You were right. We should have called them right away. I just needed to be certain of who was responsible for this.”

  “Just think about this first,” I plead with him, worried he’s acting too rashly. “You swore calling the cops wasn’t an option.”

  “I’m not going to get wrapped up in the same endless stream of dirty games as my
father,” he insists. “I said I was going to do things differently, and now it’s time to do that. I have to set an example for the Hendersons and anyone else who even thinks about trying something like this after them. Jameson is going to play by the rules now. These twisted games aren’t going to work anymore.”

  “Wait!” I throw my hand around his to stop him from dialing. “I have an idea. What about Coach Granger? He knows just as well as you do that the cops around here are corrupt. But he said he has a detective friend or something that he can trust. They helped him find out Lily and Malcolm were behind his son’s death.”

  “Do you think he’d help us?” Emmett asks me, his face bright and open.

  I shrug. “We stand just as good of a chance with him as we would with the rest of the police.”

  “Okay. Call him,” he commands urgently.

  I pull out my phone and step to the other side of the room. I tell Coach Granger I don’t have time to explain, but that I need someone within the authorities that we can actually trust. Without hesitation, he gives me the name and number of his friend, Detective Williams.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask one more time before Emmett calls.

  He nods assertively. “I’m sure.” He puts the phone on speaker as it rings.

  “Yeah?” A curt and raspy voice picks up.

  “Detective Williams?” Emmett asks.

  “Who’s this?” the man shoots back, sounding like his mouth is full of food.

  “Emmett Jameson,” he replies. “Coach Granger told me I could trust you.”

  The line falls silent for a moment. Then, “Wow…Mr. Jameson himself,” he marvels. “Listen, son, I don’t know what you need…But I don’t play into all the bullshit the rest of the force around here does. I can’t be bought off for whatever trouble it is you’ve gotten yourself into.”

  “Then you’re just the guy I need,” Emmett pleads. “I need to report a disappearance. Possibly two. Mrs. Jameson and her daughter, Bernadette Jameson. And I know where they are.”