Wicked Secrets of the Horsemen

1. The Report

The Report

Harper

Coming home to find my mom gone wasn’t on my bingo card. Even knowing that she’s okay, it still feels wrong that she isn’t here.

I don’t know why she ran without me, but I know she’ll be in touch. Hopefully soon. Because we’re all we have. If she’s gone, there’s a damn good reason. I lift my gaze and look at the guys gathered in Luke’s basement rec room.

Maybe not all we have. Butterflies lift in my stomach as I look at my guys.

Eli and Luke play pool. Caden and Jack sit on the couch watching football.

Nico had to go home. He has surgery in the morning, but we’ll keep him in the loop.

My guys send worried looks my way, but I’m just trying not to fall apart.

We’re waiting for Penny to arrive. I can’t sit still. Everything is upside down right now.

Penny needs to tell me something about Sidney and the party. And since we watched the recording of her in Sidney’s room while Sidney wanted an in into Luke’s life and potentially bedroom, I just hope Penny comes through with the whole truth. Because my brain is already spinning enough.

With the constant threats. Learning about my father. Unraveling mysteries.

But at least I had my rock. The person who held me, tethered and safe from spiraling into darkness. Who am I without my mother?

I’ll need to check on the house. How safe will it be for me to stay with any of the guys? If it was just the guys, I would be safe. But it’s not. Any of their parents could be a threat to me.

I glance at the staircase and give a little shiver. Luke’s dad isn’t here, but it’s possible for him to come home at any time. Can I actually face him, knowing what I know? Can I pretend as if I don’t hate the man?

It was bad enough after finding out he abused Luke.

Just being in the same room turned my stomach.

But to know he didn’t think twice about threatening my mother with trafficking me as a four-year-old.

That he had an obsession with my mother in high school that my dad had to bargain who knows what to keep her out of his clutches.

William Foster is most likely the reason my dad is probably dead.

But one hundred percent the reason my dad isn’t here right now.

A shiver runs through me as I think about when he asked how old I was now. I look a lot like my mom. With a man like that, it isn’t a stretch to think he might see me as another version of her. Especially when he asked me to wear another pretty dress. My stomach churns.

An arm wraps around my shoulders and draws me back into a hard body. I soften into Luke, knowing he’ll do anything to keep me safe. Even deal with the devil himself.

“You doing okay?” His words are low, but they’re all listening. Waiting for me to break.

My mom. My eyes burn with unshed tears. There’s this feeling of wrongness inside me without her, but it won’t break me. I’m stronger than that.

I blow out a breath. “Mom’s safe wherever she is. I don’t know if she’ll still go to work or not. Or how long she’ll be gone, but she’ll come back.”

Maybe she won’t be gone long at all. Maybe she’ll be back tonight.

Someone went into our house and blocked the security system. It should have alerted us, but they must have known that. Besides Jack and my guys, I don’t think there are a lot of high schoolers that could do all that.

Only the one chair was tipped over. Maybe she just had to rush out. Maybe there wasn’t a struggle. But I know the guys are keeping something from me. And I need to know what.

I turn to face Luke. “What else was at my house that you didn’t want me to see?”

His arm stays around my waist. He brushes my hair away from my face and sighs. “Someone went through your room.”

My breath catches and my heart skips. “Went through?”

“It was tossed, princess.” Luke holds my hips as I take that in. I put my hands on his chest, trying to process this information. Trying not to flip out over my things being gone through. Maybe it’s not that bad. I just need to stay logical and cold like Luke.

“What were they looking for? Was anything gone?” I lift my gaze from his chest to his eyes.

“We don’t know.” He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and draws me into his chest, holding me close. I lean against him, drawing from his strength. I inhale the scent that’s uniquely Luke, soft and seductive, and let the tension fall out of me.

What could I have that someone wanted? Did Mom surprise them, and that’s when she ran? Was it one of the adults or a high schooler? With the intricacy, I’m thinking adult, but the students here aren’t normal. Even Sidney had help when she got in. Fuck. We need to start eliminating enemies.

I tuck my head against Luke and hold onto him like he can keep me from falling apart entirely. Mom’s safe. She’s safe, and she knows I’m safe. We’ll get through this. We always get through everything.

A crack forms in my heart. We always get through everything together. But we’re not. “Luke?”

“It’s okay, Harper. We’re not going anywhere. We’ve got you.”

When the door at the top of the stairs opens, I draw in a ragged breath, putting myself back together.

Penny walks down the steps. Natalie is with her. They pause when they notice me in Luke’s arms, but he doesn’t immediately release me. The sound of the football game cuts off. He cups the back of my head and drops a kiss on my hair, giving me a moment to settle completely.

Luke steps back but takes my hand to draw me over to the couch with the others. He gestures with his chin to the other chairs for the girls as Eli puts up his pool cue and leans against the arm of the couch. Luke pulls me down to sit between him and Eli.

“How was your weekend, Harper?” Penny’s tone is bright as she sinks into the chair. Like this is a normal, everyday occurrence. “How’s Nico’s knee?”

Natalie hesitates before sitting in the other seat. When she lowers, she sits on the edge like she could run away at any given moment. I don’t blame her. The guys’ full attention can be pretty intense.

“Surgery Monday. The weekend was good.” I don’t want to give anything away. We need them to tell us what they know. Not let them know we already know.

Penny nods and smiles, even though it looks a little tight. She folds her hands in her lap, but not before I notice them trembling. Is she afraid of us? Or trying to hide something?

“How were the parties?” Eli’s gaze locks on Penny. It’s not an unusual question.

She smiles. “They were good.” She glances at Natalie. “Right, Nat?”

Natalie shakes her head. “Just tell them, Penny.”

No one asks tell us what. We all wait. Either she’ll tell us and we’ll know she’s still on our side, or we’ll have to cut her out of everything for fear she’s a traitor.

“Sidney wants me to have her over.” Penny lifts her gaze to Luke’s. Her eyes are sad. “From the way she was talking, she hopes to seduce you. I didn’t know what to say to her.”

The fist around my heart loosens a little. I’m sure it won’t be enough for the guys to fully trust her, but that she told us means a lot to me. It means maybe the six of us aren’t as isolated as I feared.

I lean against Eli’s arm as Luke sits forward with his hands clasped between his knees.

“What do you think we should do?” Luke narrows his eyes at Penny.

She swallows but leans back in the chair and blows out a breath. “She’s going to come at you. Whether it’s now or later. We can control this time.”

Luke nods. “How does she want it to play out?”

“She wants me to invite her to dinner and to stay the night.” Penny glances at Nat, who gives her a reassuring nod.

I’m not sure what that’s about, but I can understand needing back up when facing the horsemen.

“She wants access to you. She thinks if you see she’s available, you’ll want her.” Penny’s gaze darts to me for a moment, and I straighten. She swallows before saying, “That you’ll dump Harper.”

Caden chuckles. I arch an eyebrow at him.

“What? It’s funny.” Caden makes a kissy face at me. “Sidney is more delusional than we gave her credit for.”

Swallowing, I look at Luke, remembering one of the options he mentioned was letting Sidney catch us fucking.

Not exactly my idea of a good time. I don’t know if I want her to see us in those moments.

Even the thought of her seeing us sleeping together seems irreverent.

Those moments I get the real Luke are precious.

I don’t want to share those with anyone but my guys.

Luke hangs his head as he contemplates what to do. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Penny startles. “What do you mean okay?”

Luke lifts his gaze to hers. “Have her over. She’ll make her fuss, and then I’ll make sure she knows there’s no way I’m ever going back to her.”

His gaze swings to me, and my heart beats a little harder. I narrow my eyes. I need to make it really clear that I’m not fucking him in front of her or anyone else. He smirks easily and takes my hand in one of his before leaning back on the couch.

“What else did you learn from the parties?” Luke takes in both girls as he holds my hand on his leg.

“Tanner Lewis was at the parties,” Nat bursts out. “It’s like he knew you wouldn’t be there.”

Penny nods. “He and Zach were real close too. Not sure what they were talking about though.”

“Did Zach and Sidney disappear at any point?” Luke’s tone is genuinely curious.

Nat looks at Penny like Penny would know. Penny glances at the floor before lifting her gaze to Luke’s.

“Yeah, he met us upstairs and took her down the hall, away from her bedroom.” Penny blows out a breath. “I kind of lost track of them after that.”

Does she know we still have her room bugged?

“What else?” Eli doesn’t have any inflection.

“Um...” Penny looks to Nat. Is there nothing else or something she doesn’t want to mention? There’s a small exchange of eye gestures.

Nat clears her throat. “Hannah left early with Emma. No one knows what happened, but Emma was crying.”

Jack cocks his head to the side. That was his cheerleader and, to be honest, out of all of them, Emma is the nicest to me.

“Any rumors?” I ask. I should call Kenz and see if she’s heard anything.

“It’s not substantiated, but it sounded like five of the guys on the basketball team tried to... do stuff with her.” Nat drops her gaze to the floor.

“Was she willing?” I have to know. Because if the guys don’t do something about it, I might have to. Mom liked to do things quietly behind the scenes, but I’m beginning to think both my parents had a savior complex and passed it on to me.

Penny meets my eyes, and I can see it might not have been. My stomach churns. Jack stands and grabs his keys. He comes over to me and tips my chin up. Our eyes lock, and his are stressed.

“She’s my friend, sweetheart.” He kisses me softly.

“I know.” I grab his hand. “Do you want me to come with?”

He shakes his head and rests his forehead against mine. “I’ll see you later.”

He takes the stairs two at a time.

Luke breathes out. “You need to know about our father.”

His gaze locks on Penny. Caden stands and gestures for Nat to follow him.

“Come on, extra person. Let’s go get something to drink.”

Eli heads to the stairs too.

Nat swallows, and I give her an encouraging smile. She may have hoped I’d come with, but Luke needs me right now. When the door upstairs closes, Penny flinches and releases a small breath.

“I don’t know what you’re going to tell me, but my mom kept me away from him. Maybe to use me as leverage. Maybe he didn’t want me. I don’t know, but all I know is everyone who was meant to be my family just wants to use me for something.” Her eyes glisten in the low light.

Luke’s mouth presses into a thin line. I wrap my hands around his. He doesn’t want to tell her this, but he needs to.

“You two share so much. Not just DNA.” I draw in a breath. Both of them were tools for their parents. Pawns in their game. I look into Luke’s blue eyes. “I’m here for whatever you need.”

“My father is abusive.” Luke leans in, holding my hand tight but meeting Penny’s wide eyes. “It started before I remember and has always been part of my life.”

Penny covers her mouth as her eyes grow more watery.

“I’m to respect him and follow his direction. If I don’t fall in line fast enough, he’ll hit me. If someone notices the bruises, he blames it on roughhousing with my friends.”

I press my forehead to his shoulder. Those bruises on his side were so much worse than anything he gets playing football.

They still linger on his side though he doesn’t seem to be in as much pain.

What kind of monster kicks their own child?

I want to wrap my arms around Luke and keep him close to me.

“I wish that was it, but we’ve uncovered a possible drug ring he’s involved with, and we know he was trafficking women.” Luke’s gaze never wavers from Penny’s. “The reason I stay here is because you’re here. Before, I was spending almost every night at Harper’s. Mostly in the guest bedroom.”

He squeezes my hand and warmth settles inside me. He hasn’t been sleeping well without me.

“It’s why I didn’t want you to spend the night here when I knew I’d be gone.” Luke lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “I don’t know what his plans are for you.”

Penny’s face is pale, and she looks speechless.

“Do you...” She swallows and clears her throat. A tear slips down her cheek. “Do you think he’d hurt me?”

“As long as you play his games, probably not.” Luke shrugs and sighs. “But I think he wants to use you to keep me in line. He can’t keep beating me. It doesn’t work, but he wants me to want to protect you. So he could use you, hurt you, to make me fall in line.”

She gasps softly.

“I don’t know what you were hoping for when you came here, but if it’s a loving father, you won’t find it in ours.” Luke shakes his head.

“I wasn’t given a choice.” Penny straightens. “He gave Mom more money. That’s all I’ve ever been to her, a guaranteed paycheck from William Foster. I think she wanted more at one time. Hoped to be the next Mrs. Foster. Figured he’d want her to help him raise both of us.”

I kind of want to give Penny a hug. I can’t understand a parent who only sees their child as a paycheck.

“You didn’t want a sister, but I came here hoping for a brother.” Penny’s eyes well with tears again. “It was stupid, but it’s hard to go through life being someone else’s meal ticket.”

She shrugs, and before Luke can say anything, she stands.

“I won’t be your weakness.” Her gaze collides with mine. “Either of your weaknesses. I’ll help with Sidney and figure out a way to get my mother to take me back in.”