Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Enoch
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I closed my locker before pulling it out. I swiped to answer the phone call.
“Hey,” I said, glancing behind me to make sure Shiloh wasn’t within earshot.
“Hey, sorry for the late response. Ruthie is teething and it’s been a rough twenty-four hours,” Sebastian chuckled with a sigh of exhaustion.
“No worries, man,” I said. “I appreciate you getting back to me.”
“Yeah, of course. Um, so there’s nothing that I know of going on this week as far as a family birthday or something. What exactly’s going on?”
“Well, Shiloh was out of school this past week and when she finally came back she was meaner than usual I guess. I mean, Shiloh is known to have a sharp tongue but this was a lot even for her. But what really has me worried is what happened last night. She had a panic attack at my house. Literally scratching the hell out of her arms, hyperventilating until she lost consciousness.”
“Shit,” Sebastian cursed under his breath.
“Yeah,” I said, sucking my teeth. “Uh, and when she came to, she seemed embarrassed more than anything. But I told her she should stay until her eyes came back to normal. She tried to act like nothing happened this morning and I didn’t want to press the issue, but I’m kinda freaking out.
I was thinking maybe it was, like, her brother’s birthday or something.
I dunno, some event that might have set her off.
I know it’s getting close to the holidays… I don’t know…”
I trailed off and rubbed the back of my neck, absently watching students pass me by.
“Sorry this is such an info dump. I feel bad asking you behind her back. I’m just worried and she’s not exactly forthcoming with details about her life.”
“No, no, I’m glad you called. I’m glad she’s got you in her corner. She’s definitely a closed book. I wish I could be of more help, but I honestly don’t anything about her life these days. You would know her better than me.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Alright man. Well, thanks anyways. And I hope Ruthie gives you guys a break this week.”
Sebastian chuckled. “Yeah. Us too. Speak to you soon, Nox.”
I ended the call and glanced up at Jae who was leaning against the lockers beside mine. “Jae?”
“Hm?” He glanced up from his phone. “Oh, what’d he say?”
“Not much. But he said there’s nothing he knows about family related, like birthday or whatnot.”
Jae shook his head. “Damn.”
“Do you think it’s wrong that I asked Sebastian for his opinion on the whole Shiloh situation?”
“No. Will she be pissed when she finds out you were snooping behind her back? Yes. But would she be even more pissed if you tried to confront her directly? Also, yes.”
“Great,” I huffed dryly.
“Honestly, it’s a tough situation, but you know we were raised on that ‘see something, say something’ logic. And you have the purest heart. There’s no malicious intent. If Shiloh knows you well enough, she’ll know that too.”
I sighed, leaning against my locker.
Jae continued. “I think if I was in your position, I would have done the same thing. Scratch that. If you weren’t reaching out to Sebastian, I definitely would have maybe even risked bodily harm and confronted her myself.
This isn’t normal and there’s definitely something wrong.
Maybe she should see her doctor about the Xanax and get something stronger. ”
I met his gaze, studying his serious expression.
My chest swelled with emotion and pride that Jae was my best friend slash cousin.
He was just a solid guy, reliable and good through and through.
I was also relieved that he was willing to get maimed to try and help Shiloh with whatever the hell was going on in her life.
At least it meant that I wasn’t being over the top protective about the situation.
That I wasn’t wrong in my instincts, my gut intuition that was screaming at me there was something wrong.
Something off. It was making my head hurt with all the assumptions running laps in my brain.
“Thanks, Jae.” He shoved my shoulder, and we both straightened up at the sight of Shiloh heading our way.
“Lunch?” I asked Shy, holding out my hand to join ours together. She eyed my hand, flicking her gaze towards Jae before lacing our fingers together.
“I hope you wash your hands after you take a piss.”
I would’ve paused at the remark if it had come from anyone else, but instead I just laughed and added, “Only if I get piss on my hand.”
She gave me a glare without any malice, and I bumped my hip against hers, making her softly smile. I tucked it away into my collection of Shiloh smiles and laughs.
“Sooo…” Neither of us bothered to look back at Jae, who was walking behind us. I knew exactly what he was going to comment on.
“Yes, Jae. We’re holding hands. If you’re feeling left out, Enoch has a second hand not in use.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle and glanced over my shoulder to see Jae smiling like a goon.
“But what about your other hand, Shiloh?” I could tell he was joking by his exaggerated whine.
“This isn’t a threesome. If you want your dick sucked, go ask Samantha.”
Jae gasped at the mention—and not quietly—of his soccer crush. Shiloh stumbled forward from a playful shove to the shoulder by Jae and smirked up at me.
Jae peeked his head between our shoulders. “To be clear, you’re implying that Nox’s dick is getting sucked?”
“What did you think happened when we were alone in his room?”
I almost choked on saliva, coughing to clear my throat while I shook my head quickly at Jae. I could feel my cheeks getting flushed.
“No, no. I will not have any sexual rumors be spread. No dick sucking has occurred.”
Jae laughed and put me into a headlock. “God you’re so easy to mess with.”
I shoved him off, not before he ruffled up my hair.
“Whatever you dip.”
“Hey now, don’t get pissed at me. It was your lover who implied otherwise.”
I quickly glanced at Shiloh, but she didn’t seem bothered by Jae’s use of the word lover. She punched Jae in the gut though, forcing him out from the middle of us, and we linked our hands again.
“Come on, fucktrumpet,” Shiloh called out, as we continued walking further away from Jae who was hunched over dramatically from the gut punch. “I know you’ve got abs of steel over there from how much you like to show them off. Quit acting like a pussy.”
“Does lover boy know you’ve been checking out my abs?” he shouted, as he was suddenly fine and ran to catch up to us.
Shiloh simply gave him the finger, and I shook my head at their bickering. I was already thinking about how much I was going to miss this come June.
???
November 15, Monday
Shiloh
“So, apparently, he’s already engaged.”
Carlos narrowed his eyes at me, tipping his head back to drink the last of his liquor.
“Explain.”
I sighed heavily, leaning back into the leather chair of Carlos’s home office. I was dying of period cramps and had zero motivation to relive yesterday’s church service, but there was no escaping it.
“He introduced me to a woman who was hanging around after the service near him and when she left, he told me that his father had suggested that Theo marry her. But Theo made a point of saying that she wasn’t going to be a suitable wife to him.”
“Why not?”
“I dunno. Something about her parents being friends with his parents. He also said in a not subtle way whatsoever that he preferred a redhead to a brunette.”
Carlos smirked, licked his lips and eyed me closely.
“He’s clearly infatuated by you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Just watch him, Shiloh. Keep doing whatever you’re doing because it’s clearly working for him. Why don’t you message him? Ask if he wants to meet for a Bible study or something?”
When he gestured for me to pull out my phone I sighed and rolled my eyes. I quickly fired off a text message before showing my screen to Carlos. He leaned forward in his chair before nodding in approval. I hit send and placed my phone on his desk.
“Just to be clear, if Theo isn’t interested in marriage, but another member is, am I supposed to pursue that?”
Carlos froze with the bourbon bottle in his hand and dipped his chin so he was eye-to-eye with me.
“Why?”
“You haven’t exactly been very clear on what you want me to do. What will happen if Theo isn’t interested in me?”
Carlos set the bourbon down, opening a desk drawer before dropping a pile of polaroid images in front of me. He finished topping up his glass before leaning back in his chair.
I finally glanced down at the images, my stomach churning with sickness at the girls in the photos. They were young. And half naked. I shuddered at the thought of why they weren’t fully clothed.
“Jefe in New Mexico sent me these when he was trying to convince me that we didn’t need to initiate you. Maybe you can find someone in there that you think would be to Theo’s tastes.”
My mouth twitched with a grimace. Message received—marry Theo or one of these girls will.
Carlos took a sip of his bourbon before speaking.
“Has Theo mentioned Reformed Life Studies?”
I raised a brow and shook my head.
“It’s the next step for anyone interested in joining their church. It’s basically a Bible study camp for six weeks where you’ll get baptized and become an official member.”
“Six weeks?” I asked wide-eyed.
Carlos nodded, unbothered by my surprise. “Yes. Make sure they get you signed up as soon as possible so that you can start your transition. It’s a full-time, ten-hour school day, so I’ll have you withdrawn from Granby High as soon as you’ve got a start date.”
Oh hell. My sweaty hands shook with nerves. This was it. I was really going to fucking leave.
“And what happens when I finish with this Bible study camp?”
“Well, from what we can tell, you just go about your life. As Olivia Lane, of course. We haven’t been able to find any details regarding their membership process, it’s not exactly public knowledge the inner workings of their church.
But once you’re officially a member, your sole focus should be steering your relationship with Theodore towards marriage. ”
“What am I supposed to do once I’m married?”
He scratched his stubble, “It will depend on the timing of when you get married, but I need you to just sit tight, play the endearing and devoted wife for as long as I tell you.”
Why does this sound so easy? Pretend to love someone that already seems to like me and that’s it?
My phone vibrated against his desk, and we both eyed it. I unlocked the screen, reading Theo’s response. I flashed it towards Carlos and he smiled.
“See? I told you he was infatuated.”
I rolled my eyes, my stomach already filling with nervous butterflies at the prospect of meeting with Theo alone tomorrow.
“Why exactly is my marriage to Theo so important? Why not any other member of church leadership?”
Carlos was silent for a long moment, and I was beginning to think he wouldn’t answer me when he finally spoke.
“With Walsh in our pocket, we will have all the power in this state. We need you on the inside, Shiloh. We need you to earn their trust so we can get close enough to incentivize Kit, to fund his campaign and to push the policies we need put in place. This is vital, Shiloh. Vital to our family’s livelihood. ”
I flexed my hands to relieve the ache of clenching them so tightly and nodded in resignation.
I was determined as fuck. I could fucking do it. I could. I didn’t want to, but I fucking would. Because as much as I held no loyalty to Los Siete, agreeing to Carlos’s demands meant that I wouldn’t have to be trapped in Granby, wouldn’t have to do anything else that would taint my conscience.
“Okay.”
Carlos chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, the material of his black button-down dress shirt stretching over his muscles.
For someone who rarely got his own hands dirty, he had a significant amount of muscle.
But maybe it was just to bolster his intimidating presence.
Make you think he would snap your neck in an instant because he looked exactly like he could and would.
I’d never seen Carlos get his own hands dirty. I guess he didn’t need to when he had people ready and willing to do the job. People like my brother.
I stood from the leather chair and didn’t bother to say goodbye before leaving the room.