14. Blaze
BLAZE
I’ve been spending all my free time opening the files we uncovered. They’re labeled in code, and my dad never entrusted me with the cypher. It’s been slow going, checking to see if I recognize the person on the video or not, then putting them into folders with proper labeling.
I’d better hope nobody hacks into my own computer, or I’m fucked.
So far, I’ve found a few politicians, a tech mogul who’s been in the news a lot lately, and many less public figures.
I find other files too, outside of the blackmail material. Videos from parties and events. They’re pointless, but I’m still surprised that some Kappa Alpha brothers ran a charity car wash event in the eighties, or that somebody’s wedding videos are on here.
There are videos from our mural painting last year here too, and I hear myself laughing and joking with my brothers.
It’s weirdly nostalgic. I didn’t think I cared that much about my frat brothers, but the memories kick up something inside of me. I close that video, and on a whim, I open up the Kappa Alpha group chat and send a Merry Christmas to everyone.
I don’t expect a response, so I’m surprised when Holden texts back, Merry Christmas, fuckers! Hope everybody’s getting sloshed tonight!
I laugh as more responses roll in. Even Asch manages to text “Merry Christmas,” along with a picture of Santa in a speedo at the beach.
Unfortunately, the files on the drive won’t take care of themselves. With a loud sigh, I turn back to my tablet and click on yet another video, with yet another person I don’t recognize.
This is going nowhere. None of this feels actionable.
I could talk to the dean. I’ve found his little pile of secrets already, and I can pressure him to threaten the others with expulsion if they don’t behave themselves. That would lead to other consequences, but… that’s a problem for future us.
I don’t like that idea at all.
I sort the nice videos into a separate folder, and I click on the next video with its semi random title.
I freeze when I see who’s seated at the table.
It’s me.
Or, not really me. It’s my father, fresh-faced at eighteen or nineteen. The resemblance is uncanny.
I pause the video and glance around my bedroom. I’d already checked for cameras, and I’ve got a screen protector on my tablet to prevent anyone from peering over my shoulder to see what’s on the screen, but I’m still paranoid that somehow I’m going to be caught.
I’ve kept the tablet on me 24/7 since I got home, because I’m not giving my dad an opportunity to hack it.
After double-checking that the door is locked, I take the tablet to the bed and pull the covers over both it and me. It’s silly, like I’m fifteen and about to watch porn in bed, but I’m too keyed up to risk anything.
I hit play, the video’s sound piping in through my earbuds.
“What’s your big, bad secret?” the person behind the camera asks.
My father keeps his head proud and his shoulders back. “I knocked up a girl.”
I frown. I expected something worse, after all the confessions of rape and murder. This is basically jay-walking in comparison.
Apparently the guy behind the camera is equally unimpressed, because he responds, “That’s it?”
My father doesn’t smile as he continues, “No. Her name was Jane Corroux.”
Wait.
What the fuck.
Jane Corroux? She’s Cedric Corroux’s sister. The Corroux are our main rivals in the NewVa region, and my father has never had a nice word to say about any of them.
“That’s still not that impressive,” the person behind the camera says, although I can tell he does know the significance of the name.
“She was fourteen. I raped her. I told her if she said a word to anyone, I’d come back and murder her.
” My father lets out a small laugh. “Not only did she keep quiet, but then she kept the baby. Babies. They were twins. I didn’t expect that.
But maybe she went and fucked some other guy at around the same time. ”
Does Jane Corroux have children? Two sons, I think, but they’re younger than me. The only twins I know of are Cedric and Jane’s much younger siblings.
Wait. The twins are only a few years older than me. Cassie and Tim. I’ve met them at a terse event where all the major players got together. I don’t know how old Jane is, but if she’s a few years younger than my dad, then the math would work out that those two could be her children.
Are they my half-siblings then?
I’m breathing the stale air under my blanket, reeling.
If it ever got out what my father did to her, it would be war. The stagnant truce we’ve had would be broken, and nobody in this family would be safe.
My mother would be devastated too, even if this all happened before my father married her.
I’ve finally found my leverage.
What do I do with it?
I can’t tell anyone. This information is too dangerous. I have no guarantee that Pandora and River wouldn’t shout it from the rooftops to get back at my father. Asch would keep it a secret, but what good would it do him to know?
Fuck.
My phone suddenly buzzes, and I nearly yelp in surprise. I shut my tablet down and fumble to check my texts.
Mom
Come down for brunch.
Already? But my phone says it’s past 1 p.m.
It’s also the 25th.
I hadn’t gone down for breakfast. We haven’t exchanged any gifts. Last night was tense, and except for a brief conversation with my mom, I’d stuck to myself.
I quickly pull up the group chat.
Blaze
Merry Christmas.
Pandora
Merry Christmas! River is with me. He survived breakfast with my family!
River
Barely. There was one point where it got pretty dodgy. Pandora’s uncle still hates me and doesn’t hide it.
Pandora
But he agreed to help you! He doesn’t completely hate you.
Help River? I wonder what help River possibly needs.
It must be nice having the Pavone family as support, though.
I go over to my texts with Asch.
Blaze
You doing okay? Need to get out of the house?
Asch
Yeah, I’m fine. Do YOU need to get out of the house?
Blaze
Yes, but I got called down for brunch.
Make sure you’re packed for our flight tomorrow.
Asch
Already packed and ready to go. Trust me.
I feel bad, but I need to get out of NewVa.
He needs to get away from his mom, he means. I know he’s a mama’s boy, and he loves her, but from what I’ve gleaned, she’s a lot to deal with.
I lock the tablet up in my safe, then, grudgingly, head out of my bedroom.
The house is in the traditional New Valence style, with ornate molding and patterned wallpaper to lend an air of old money.
I think the house itself is over one hundred and fifty years old, although a lot of work has been done to keep it livable and up to modern standards.
It’s still draftier than any modern home would be, though.
I head down the grand staircase and to the dining room.
I freeze in the doorway.
There are three people sitting at the large table. My father, my mother—and Ezio. What the fuck is he doing here? Nobody said he was going to be here.
Christmas is a family event, and Ezio has never been family.
Mom is dressed up for the holiday. Her long, blonde hair is pulled back into a half ponytail, the rest of it perfectly styled to fall around her face in soft waves. She has her usual large, dangling earrings, silver to match the modest, dark navy dress she’s wearing.
By contrast, my father looks downright casual, wearing a simple button down shirt and slacks. Ezio took his cue from my father, wearing a more casual outfit.
I wish I’d dressed up more.
“Finally,” my father says. “You’ve kept us waiting.”
“Sorry.” I hesitate, because the open seat is the one next to Ezio. “I was on a call.”
Ezio shakes his head. “A call? On Christmas morning?”
I bite the bullet and sit down, although I scoot my chair as far away from Ezio as I can manage without drawing suspicion. “Yes. What about you? What brings you here? I thought you were still in Harmony.”
“Ezio mentioned he didn’t have Christmas plans, so I invited him,” Mom says. “It’s too sad to be alone on Christmas.”
Ezio smiles at her. “And thank you for the invitation. I truly appreciate it.”
My father grunts, and I’m not sure if he approves of this turn of events or if he’s also annoyed by the intrusion.
I grab a bread roll from the basket in the center. My plate already has fried eggs on it, and I scowl when I notice they’re sitting on top of bacon.
My dad must have done that on purpose.
I slide the eggs off the bacon and push it to the side, and I ignore the way my mother sighs.
“Ezio was telling us how things are going with the frat house,” my father says. He turns towards Mom. “They still haven’t caught the arsonist, if you can believe that.”
She shakes her head. “You’d think the investigators would’ve found something by now,” she says. She eats a piece of fruit. “Well, I’m sure they’ll find them soon. What a dreadful business.”
“I’m still not convinced it was arson,” I say, even though nobody at the table believes me. I put one of the eggs onto half of the bread roll and bite into it.
The yolk is completely solid, too. The staff definitely knows how I like my eggs, so I have to assume my dad told them to make everything terrible.
That’s petty. It’s really petty, but it pisses me off anyway.
Dad fucked an underage girl. Dad has illegitimate children.
I want to blurt it out. That’ll give us something to talk about over breakfast. It might also get Mom to kick Ezio out, since she wouldn’t want him to overhear a family fight.
On the other hand, I don’t want to think about the consequences. Maybe Dad would have Ezio take me out back to the greenhouse torture room and put me out of my misery then and there.
“As long as the fraternity house is rebuilt…” Ezio digs into his bacon. “I’ve been talking to architects and contractors. We might need more funding than we currently have. Some of the alumni appear to think their obligation to the fraternity is over and done with.”
My father narrows his eyes. “Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma is forever. They should know that.”
It’s forever, because somebody might know that you knocked up a teenage girl.