23
Some know nothing while others know everything
The text message at eight the next morning left me anxious.
Then Artie stormed into my room, phone in hand. “Aegan has invited me to the club,” she exclaimed in surprise.
I was now three times as scared.
I had the unsettling feeling that Aegan already knew everything: that I’d been in the ventilation duct, eavesdropping on him admitting to murder; that Adrik had told him I’d gone to his apartment.
After all, blood was thicker than water, and in this case I was the water.
I figured everything was part of some kind of plan.
Aegan was calling me to the club to humiliate me again in front of everyone, so he could stand there and say, You fell for it hook, line, and sinker, Derry.
Right. I’d been exposed, and it was time for my reckoning.
And I only had myself to blame, because what the hell had gotten into me the night before?
It was almost like my body had detached from my brain, which, honestly, I was already beginning to think wasn’t so smart after all.
I’d said things to Adrik that didn’t need to be said, and then we’d kissed passionately, almost ending up completely naked on the sofa.
That is, until a flicker of conscience had roared inside me: Don’t fuck things up anymore!
God only knows how much it took for me to stop and get out of there.
That had been a delightful mistake. Now, how the hell was I going to pretend like nothing had happened? How could I face Aegan while still looking Adrik in the eye? How could I hide how horny it made me thinking about Adrik on top of me, panting because of . . . me?
Although, back up a minute. Adrik knew I was “going out with” Aegan, right? Even while we were kissing on the sofa, even while admitting that he didn’t want to stop touching me, surely that was in the back of his mind. So, both of us would’ve been betraying him.
It wasn’t just my fault!
Or at least that’s what I told myself—anything to stop myself from having a panic attack. There was only one solution going forward. I had to turn to my trusted old friend: pretending that everything was fine.
I showered and got ready to face the day.
Artie and I went to the club. As soon as we got there, we headed straight to the pool area.
With my nerves getting the best of me, I thought there’d be loads of people, but there weren’t.
No girls in bikinis or guys walking around holding drinks.
Owen, Aleixandre, Laila, Aegan, and, unfortunately, Adrik were sitting at one of the tables.
My heart started pounding. Aegan was standing talking to them all.
I still couldn’t make out what he was saying to them, but Adrik was sitting with his elbow on the table and his face propped on his hand, clearly not loving the fact that he had to be there.
He spotted me approaching the table before anyone else did, and for a minute our eyes met.
There was nothing I could decipher, no emotion at all.
I’m fucked.
Maybe that’s why it caught me so off guard when, as I reached the table, Aegan turned to me and spoke.
“And now here’s the girl that drives me crazy!”
Before I could get a word out, he cupped my face in both hands and kissed me.
Yeah, that’s right, my first kiss with Aegan was right in front of everyone (or rather, in front of Adrik), and completely blindsiding.
So, now you probably want to know what it was like—how I felt—right?
Well, it was the kiss of an expert. None of the hundreds of mouths that have been kissed by Aegan Cash could find much to criticize.
A kiss like that would’ve left any other girl weak at the knees.
The way he parted my lips was demanding but cunning, the way a tyrant steals a country’s freedom.
You don’t even realize it until it’s already too late, and then there’s no going back; the damage is done.
Maybe that’s why it took me a minute to process it. All I knew was Aegan had kissed me. I had kissed a murderer. The murderer.
When he pulled back, his eyes met mine, and a wide, flawless, devilish smile spread across his face. I was completely stunned.
“Have you missed me all these days we’ve been apart?” he asked me.
We hadn’t officially seen each other for a few days. But I, gobsmacked, couldn’t answer and just stared off into space. All I could think about was Adrik.
Adrik was looking at me. I could feel the full weight of his gaze pressing down on me. The others were looking at me too, but not like he was. Like a coward, I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him.
“Okay, so why are we here?” Owen asked Aegan, looking relaxed in his chair. “I was going to get my hair cut and had to push that back.”
“Oh, no, don’t do it,” Laila said to Owen, alarmed. “It looks great like that.”
Owen paid her no heed.
Aegan rubbed his hands together, clearly thrilled at the chance to speak to all of us. I wasn’t sure I could take any more surprises; I thought I was going to faint. “This morning, the chancellor announced that the founders’ fair has been moved forward and will start this Friday.”
Oh, no.
Nononono!
On Friday? That was in two days’ time!
I could’ve passed out. But Aegan kept talking. There was more to come.
“I’ve also been asked to give a speech at the opening ceremony,” he said, pleased with himself.
“The same one dad gave last year!” exclaimed Aleixandre, sounding happy for his brother.
Owen raised the glass of water from he table as if to congratulate Aegan. Laila gave him a little clap. Only Artie and I didn’t say anything. I didn’t look to see Adrik’s reaction. Aegan proudly nodded at everyone and then got serious.
“I also found out they’ll be streaming the speech live,” he added. “Which is why everything needs to go perfectly, so you’ll be the organizing committee for the fair. Almost everything has been taken care of, but—”
“Does that mean we actually have to do some work?” Owen cut him off, like that was the most important thing.
“All you have to do is make sure everything runs smoothly,” Aegan replied.
“You can count on me,” Owen accepted.
Aegan continued explaining, “I’ve split you into pairs—Aleixandre and Laila, Owen and Adrik, and Jude and Artemis. I’ve also drawn up the instructions on the sections you have to keep an eye on.”
There was a yellow envelope lying on the table. Aegan took it, opened it, and took out some sheets of paper. He started handing them out until he came to me. I saw that the title said “Décor,” with a list of all the things to do underneath.
“Is that all?” Adrik asked, out of the blue. I froze as soon as I heard his voice.
“Yeah,” Aegan replied.
“Okay,” he said dryly.
I heard his chair scrape across the floor before he turned his back to us and walked away from the pool area.
“What’s up with Driki?” asked Aleixandre, looking shocked.
“The usual: he hates the whole world and can’t stand being around us for more than five minutes,” Owen replied, shrugging.
“I’ll talk to him,” Aegan assured.
The others didn’t seem to pick up on anything out of the ordinary and started discussing the fair and all the tasks at hand.
I started panicking. All the time I thought I could spend gathering evidence against Aegan had suddenly been cut down to just two days that would definitely not be enough.
What’s more, bringing the fair forward also meant that the public onstage showdown with him would also be brought forward!
This had all thrown a wrench in my plans. What could I get done in such a short space of time? Even though I had the recording of Aegan at the club admitting his involvement in Eli’s death, and I had proof that the club existed despite the rules forbidding it . . .
“What’s wrong with you?” Aegan asked me suddenly, whispering.
I snapped out of my thoughts. I looked at him, blinking stupidly.
“What’s wrong with me?” I shot right back.
“You’re not talking or asking questions you shouldn’t ask.” He was squinting at me, full of curiosity.
“Well, it’s just that you’ve got stupid rules, like that I shouldn’t ask you too many questions, right? I think you mentioned it once in your car, but to be honest, I wasn’t paying all that much attention.”
“And since when have you played by the rules?” He laughed, like I’d just said something ridiculous.
Oh, fuck.
“Do you get nervous when I’m not fucking with you?” I asked, throwing him a fake smile. “You must’ve missed me . . .”
“How could I not miss my strange, pain-in-the-ass, outrageous girlfriend?” He sounded like he was joking, but only I could see through the malice in his words.
He suddenly looked like he’d just remembered something.
“In fact, I missed you so much that I bought you something.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small golden box.
As soon as he saw the look of surprise on my face, his perfect, twisted smile widened, and he opened the lid to reveal the gift.
I couldn’t believe my eyes, because this had caught me completely off guard.
It was a ring. It was made from delicate, fine silver, with an A in the middle.
“Aegan,” I said, because I knew that’s what the A stood for. He nodded with pride.
“Your hand, please, Miss Derry.” He asked as if he were a true gentleman.
I didn’t know what to say. I tried to come up with something, but my mouth was so dry, all I could do was swallow. I did what he asked like a windup doll. Aegan grabbed my hand, which looked tiny in his, and took out the ring to slide it onto my middle finger.
I let out a strange, uncomfortable laugh.
“Why on this finger?”
“So, you can show everyone and say, ‘Fuck you all, I’m Aegan Cash’s girlfriend,’” he replied, really thinking I’d do something like that.
“I can’t wear it,” I said, of two minds about it.
“Why not? You’re my girlfriend . . . I can give you better gifts than this, but I got you this ring because I know you aren’t really into flashy things.”
Since when does he know what I’m into? Since when did he give me gifts and call me his girlfriend?