by K. Walker
Confess
Madison Falls High Book 3
K. Walker
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 2019 by K. Walker
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. K. Walker holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Follow the Author
Also By Kylie Walker
Chapter 1
Sophia
“What the hell happened?” Amanda asked, her voice ripe with desperation. “You sounded freaked out when you called me? Is it your mom? Chad?”
I listened to Amanda, her eyes wide with worry and her hand tightening around her arm as she waited for my recap. I couldn’t process the thoughts just yet. I felt like someone had died.
My eyes were open, but somehow, I felt like I was dreaming. My hands shook and my mouth was dry. I was flipping.
“Sophia!” Amanda yelled and shook me. “Don’t make me slap you.”
My vision cleared and so did my memory. It had all happened the night before, but I was still somewhat in a daze. “I don’t even know where to begin…” I replied as my voice faded and I relived the night before.
“What the hell’s going on?” I’d asked and looked around the table at each of them. I had no idea why everyone had converged on what was supposed to be a romantic dinner for just Chad and I. I looked across at him hoping he would give me an answer because clearly, he knew what was going on.
“Sophia, just calm down,” he said and touched my arm.
I withdrew it and folded my arms across my chest, slamming my back into the chair as I did. I didn’t want to be seated at a dinner table with Jack, of all people. Not when he was sitting next to Mom like they were old friends and he hadn’t cheated on her and broken up our family. How could she do that to me? How could she forgive him?
“Sophia, honey, there’s a lot you don’t know,” Mom began, her eyes sorrowful like someone had died.
“I know,” I said bitterly because I was the only one who didn’t know anything. I looked at Chad. “Do you know what’s going on?”
They all looked at him like they were silently giving him the okay to tell me, rather than any of them.
“I do,” he began, and I kind of set this up with your mom and my dad,” he relayed and sighed. “Remember when I told you that you didn’t need to worry about Callie anymore? That’s because my dad had figured out a way to get back at the Humpry’s.”
I looked at Derek, and he nodded at me. “Sandy, your mother, contacted me a couple of weeks ago. She had overheard Callie and Natalie plotting to take me down, so to speak,” he said and leaned against the table, his forearms placed in front of him, and his green eyes, too much like Chad’s, locked onto mine. “We met and talked about it…”
“You met? Mom?” I turned to her. “You said nothing about any of this to me.”
“I couldn’t. Not yet, sweetie. Not until I knew for sure what was going on, and you had already been through so much.”
“I’m not a child. You should have told me.”
“I know. Maybe I should have, but at the time, it was still a mess. Derek was still at risk, and…” she paused and glanced at Dad, “I called Jack and he came over.”
“Wow. So, wait, that’s why you were here before?” I asked Dad.
He nodded. “I met up with Sandy and Derek and they told me everything that they had heard and how Natalie was planning to fire your mom.”
“Can she do that?” I asked and searched their faces. “Mom?”
“No, honey. The fact is, she was never the one who had hired me. David was, so she couldn’t fire me. Natalie wasn’t going to, but there are other things you don’t know about, and that I can’t share as yet either.”
“Really?” I asked in disbelief.
“For now. There’s still a lot going on,” Mom said and looked at Dad. “It’s a part of my employment contract.”
It was clear they had a plan, but no one wanted to share it with me. “Did you know all of this?” I asked Chad.
He shook his head. “I did, but just as much as you do now. It wasn’t until after I had told Callie that I wasn’t going to take her sh…” he paused and scratched his head, “her bull anymore that dad told me he had a plan. I still don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t matter as long as they’re all going down.”
“Well, not all,” Derek said. “This is mostly about Natalie.”
I looked at the envelope Dad still had on the table and that he eyed suspiciously. “Everything is in here?” he asked and glanced over at Derek.
“Pretty much. If you need anything else, I’m sure we can get it.”
That ‘we’ meaning him and mom. “I’m sorry, but does that mean you’re all friends here now? What’s in the envelope?”
“Privileged information,” Dad replied.
“Lawyer talk,” I observed. I knew, without them saying anything else, that whatever was in that envelope would prove criminal – that was what Dad did after all. He was one of the best criminal lawyers in the state.
“So, is that why we’re all here? To do this, or are we going to eat?” I asked, still somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t just Chad and me on our date.
“We didn’t dress up like this just to talk,” Mom smiled and said. “I could use a drink for sure.”
I shrugged when I was finished with my recount of last night’s events, and Amanda’s eyes were just as wide as mine had been.
“You’re not kidding.”
I gave her a blank stare. “Does that sound like something I would make up?”
“And I thought she had it in for me when she had done her shit back then,” Amanda said and fell back against the bed.
“I still don’t know what they’re planning, but it seems big if they brought in my dad,” I said pensively. I fell back next to Amanda and propped myself up on my elbow so I could face her. “Maybe Natalie was involved in some cover-up.”
“When it comes to the Humpry’s, it could be anything,” Amanda said while still staring at the ceiling. “But it’s Natalie. Come on. She has this town running circles around her. She might get off on whatever they might have on her.”
“Maybe,” I mused. “But dad’s no idiot, and Derek has just as much sway, or enough, anyway,” I added. “In any case, I hope whatever they have on her sticks— anything to get Callie off of my back.”
“Right,” Amanda said and jumped up. “But, missy, we aren’t going to spend all of today talking about Callie and her evil mother. The woman doesn’t have an affectionate bone in her body.”
“Explains
why Callie is so mean all the time, right?”
She shrugged. “I guess. But that’s no excuse. If…”
“Hold on,” I said to her as my phone started vibrating. “It’s Chad,” I grinned and jumped off the bed.
“What, he’s here?” Amanda shouted after me as I sailed out of the room, skittering on the rug in the hallway and I hurled myself downstairs.
“Hey,” I said as I flung the door open.
“Hey, yourself,” he beamed and stepped inside, pulling me hard to his chest.
I squealed and then giggled. “Hey, remember my dad’s a criminal lawyer. I’ll let him have your ass for that.”
He leaned in closer so that his lips brushed against my earlobe and sent shivers chasing each other around my body. “I’d like to get this ass,” he said and slipped his tongue inside my ear.
“Ugh!” Amanda groaned from behind us. “The room is empty. You can go there.”
I looked back just in time to see her rolling her eyes. “Whatever, skank,” I said laughingly and took Chad’s hands. “So, care to take the offer?”
“Damn right, I do,” he said and slapped my ass.
I skipped away from him and bounded upstairs with him right on my heels. I crashed into the door and it banged on the wall. Chad laughed as he caught me right next to the bed and we both fell back onto it.
For someone who wasn’t into boyfriends for the past year or so, I was pretty awe-struck by Chad Minor. My chest swelled when he was near, and my mind did all kinds of crazy shit where my thoughts came out like fuzz balls. I tripped over my words and was, pretty much, a mess when he was around.
“Is this what you were fishing for Miss Daniels?” he asked and nipped my lower lip. He bore the brunt of his weight on his arms as he hovered over me, his cologne intoxicating, and his overwhelming masculinity off the radar. I was quickly intoxicated by him.
“Not really,” I lied, grinning.
“You know, I don’t tolerate lies,” he said and pressed his body firmly against mine. “You know how I punish lies.”
He shifted his body and pinned my hands down on either side of my head, making me his prisoner. “I don’t quite remember,” I said and stared into his eyes.
“Let me refresh your memory.”
He brought his lips down onto mine, and I parted them to receive him. Within seconds my breathing had escalated to heady proportions, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing him closer to me.
My body arched under his and I groped him, feeling for the end of his t-shirt. I slipped my hand under it and tried to push the garment upwards. I wanted him— needed him.
His heavy breathing matched mine, and he rose to give me easier access. I was taking too long, so he flew up and had his hands over his head to pull his shirt off when I heard Mom calling me from downstairs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said to the room as Chad remained with his arms in the air, wondering what he should do next.
I got up and hugged him around the middle. “Next time, lover boy,” I pouted and then reached up to kiss him.
“Maybe we can find a way to get rid of all the parents,” he said as I neared the door.
I laughed. “Short of a zombie apocalypse or mass genocide, I don’t see how, but let me know when you find out.” I stuck my head out the door and glanced down the hallway. “Mom! I’m in here!”
“Could you come here for a sec, sweetie?”
I glanced regretfully at Chad, who was busy sliding his arms back into his shirt and stepped out into the hallway. I walked quickly to the kitchen – I needed water and air to cool down after all of that heat she had interrupted.
“Yes?” I asked dryly without really looking at her.
She cocked her head to the side. “Still mad at me?” she asked as she walked over to me.
I gave her a blank stare and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. “Not mad,” I said and closed the door. I checked behind her, where Amanda was busily watching something on TV – she had a unique kind of focus I envied sometimes. I wished I could block out the world as easily as she could when she chose to.
“Then what? I told you I couldn’t tell you what I knew. I signed an NDA, which basically was like a doctor-patient privilege. I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to.”
“You couldn’t tell me some things,” I reminded her. “There were some things you could have said like you weren’t going to lose your job.”
“I didn’t even know you knew about that. You never told me why you and Chad broke up,” she defended and folded her arms across her chest.
“I didn’t even know why. Chad and his dad knew and he didn’t tell me. He couldn’t because he thought he was protecting his dad, and then you.”
“I know, sweetie, and that makes him one of my favorites,” she grinned as she stopped right in front of me. “I saw his car in the driveway.”
“Yeah, he’s upstairs,” I moped, “and you interrupted my date and now my personal time,” I accused. “You owe me.”
“I gave you life, child. You owe me,” she laughed.
“Really? The birth card? You’re using that?” I asked as I walked over to Amanda. Turned out she was watching a match on TV. “Hey, you want anything?”
“Your Mom already asked,” she said without looking.
“Okay, then,” I replied. “Guess I’ll go back to the nothing I was doing.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Keep it PG,” she wagged her finger at me.
“What am I? Thirteen?” I asked with a laugh and hurried back up the stairs, and to the arms of my waiting stud.
Chapter 2
Sophia
I sat at the edge of the bed staring at the name on my phone display. I felt the need to be rebellious, but because Dad wasn't his idiotic self, I was finding it harder to be mad at him.
That didn’t mean I was chummy with him or wanted to talk to him either. But he would call mom and she would make me do it anyway.
I sighed and slid the green button across the screen. “Yes?”
“Good morning, honey. How are you?”
“About to head out for school.”
“Okay. Listen, don’t be mad at your mother…”
“I’m not mad at Mom,” I stopped him in his tracks before he went any further. I got up and walked downstairs, grabbing my purse and keys on the way. “I’m not really mad at all. I just want this nightmare to be over, because I still have Callie to deal with at school, and my guess is she doesn’t even know what’s going on either, so she’ll be her usual annoying self.”
I tossed my purse onto the seat and slid behind the wheel. I pulled down the mirror and checked my face and light makeup before snapping it shut again and pulling the door closed.
“I know, but things will all settle soon, I promise,” he said. It reminded me of the days when he had invited us to exclusive parties, some of his clients held and then promised I would have a good time, or that he wouldn’t be staying long. He never kept those promises and I shuddered to think he wouldn’t keep this one as well. I didn’t mention that, though.
“Sure, but I’m going to drive now, so, talk to you another time,” I said.
“No problem. It was nice hearing your voice when you’re not snapping at me,” he said proudly. “I hope this will continue. I want my daughter back.”
“Sure thing,” I said and hung up. It was getting a little too emotional and I wasn’t one to make promises I might not keep.
I didn’t know how to feel about Dad, Jack, whatever. It was like he was back, but not really, and I couldn’t ignore the bimbo he still had in the house. If he wanted to make amends with me, it would start with getting rid of her. Selfish? Maybe, but that was my condition. Why should we lose and he gets everything?
My thoughts were still chaotic when I pulled into the school parking lot. It was refreshing to see that the charcoal Mustang was no longer there, but neither was the R8. I scrunched up my face and looked at the time. 7:48 am – he was us
ually here by this time.
Beep! Beep!
I smiled when I saw the flashing lights through my rearview mirror. I turned around and sure enough, it was Chad. But I would teach him a lesson. I drove off, straight ahead, and right into the spot he should have.
He stopped right behind me and came out of the car, his hands in the air. Deven and Brody laughed when they saw what I had done. They had been leaning against their cars, waiting for him.
“Babe, come on. You know that’s my spot,” he said as he came up to me.
I flicked his nose. “You snooze, you lose,” I teased and turned around. He grabbed me around the middle, forcing giggles from me as he tickled me. “Come on, Chad. Not here.”
“Not unless you move it,” he said and continued poking my ribs. I laughed so hard I doubled over.
“Fine!” I shouted, tears running down my face. “Now you’ve ruined my makeup.”
“You should know better than to mess with me,” he grinned and walked backward to his car. “Now, move your sweet ass over to the queen’s spot.”
It was hard not to oblige when he was being domineering and sweet at the same time. “I hate you!” I hurled at him.
He clutched his heart. “I’m hurt,” he said before he blew me a kiss.
I maneuvered my car into my official assigned spot and sat in it until he pulled alongside mine. The spider doors lifted and he got out again and opened my door. “Do you plan to have class in there, or what?”
“Maybe I should,” I replied before grabbing my purse and stepping out. “I can’t believe you embarrassed me like that in public.”
