Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Harley smirks at me when I step out of the photography classroom and straighten my blazer.
“If I asked you what you did, would you tell me?” he drawls, and I smile back at him.
“Who says I even did anything? We had a chat.”
Harley snorts and pulls out his phone, turning the screen so I can watch the video he’s recorded of Lance bolting from the classroom like the devil himself is on his ass. I bite my lip to stop the smug smirk from forming.
“A chat did that?”
I nod and, without thinking, tuck my arm into his like I do with Avery. It’s as close to a hug as I ever get to giving out. He looks down at our linked arms and when I blush and try to move away, he grabs my hand and tugs me along with him, our fingers laced together.
“Uhm—”
“Get over it, Mounty, we’re friends now, remember?”
I sigh and let him drag me back up to the girls’ dorm.
I drop his hand before we walk through the halls because all I need is a photo of the two of us on the ridiculous fucking gossip website to finish off this week.
Avery is waiting for us, and Blaise is cackling over the video that Harley sent them all.
I smile at her and then laugh when Harley starts making up stupid stories about how I did it.
By the time I get out of the shower Blaise calls out to me, “Did you really slice one of his balls off and crush it under your heel?”
I stare at them all, including Ash who just showed up, and quirk an eyebrow.
“Did you know there are quite a few different ways to castrate someone? Lips has talked me through four different methods. If she took her knife to him, he would have lost more than a single testicle,” Avery snipes, and they all turn a little green.
She looks over at me with a smile and says, “Lance dropped out. Packed everything and called his parents to come get him today. Mr. Trevelen questioned him and he said he doesn’t belong here.
The administration tried to talk him into finishing out the year and he said he needed to leave immediately. ”
I make a gesture like I’m ticking a box and say, “Off the planner you go, Mounty fuck.”
I sit next to Avery and pull out my notes for history, ready to ignore the TV and the conversations around me. She murmurs into my ear quietly, “Is he definitely out for good?”
I nod. “He understands he is being watched by the Wolf and that is not a position he is happy to find himself in. I think he actually pissed himself.”
Harley notices us whispering and looks like he wants to push me for more, but then Avery flings a leg over his lap and tells him to rub her feet. He scoffs at her and then, to my absolute shock, he pulls her shoe off and gets to work. I love Avery, I really do.
But right this very second, I would bathe in her blood to take her place.
We wake the next morning to find Lance’s departure from Hannaford has made its way onto the gossip website, and Avery reads every comment to me while I cook us both a mountain of bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Some of the theories are disgustingly close to the truth, and I know Avery is quietly stewing in her own curiosity at how I actually managed to scare him, but so far she’s managed to stop herself from asking.
It’s not some big secret I’m keeping from her, though, I just haven’t gotten around to telling her about my tattoos yet.
Now I think I might save that truth to mess with her later. You know, for shits and giggles.
The Memorial Day long weekend arrives and when Blaise’s parents insist he goes home to visit them, Harley tags along as moral support.
I think he’s hoping Blaise’s dad will run his mouth in front of him so he can deal with him.
Blaise gives me his iPod before he leaves with a wink and when I listen to it, realizing it’s all his new unreleased songs.
I have to take a minute to lie down.
Of course, Ash decides to walk in midway through my fangirling and he snorts at me. I glare back and snap, “What time are you leaving?”
“Avery didn’t tell you? Our father has been called away on business and he told us to stay here. You’re stuck with all three Beaumonts, Mounty.”
He watches me carefully for a reaction and I shrug. Putting the earphone back in, I try not to shiver lustfully at the heavenly sounds of Blaise’s crooning.
Ash tugs it back out and says, “I haven’t seen my father since you had your mysterious little midnight meeting in Haven. How long should I expect this separation to continue?”
I sit up and find Avery staring at me from the bathroom door, a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. “If I had anything to do with your father’s busy schedule, I would think that after graduation you and Avery would both be free of him anyway and the… interference would no longer be necessary.”
Avery nods, wide-eyed, and ducks back into the bathroom.
Ash stares at me until he finally scoffs and walks away.
I spend the rest of the weekend studying and avoiding Ash.
Avery does her best to keep him busy and away from me, but he camps out on the rollout bed every night, just in case his brother comes to find us.
I have to wait until Ash heads back to his room before I finally bite the bullet and text the Jackal. I’ve put it off for too long and I’m only endangering Avery and Ash with my fear, but I also need a clear head to do it and that’s becoming increasingly impossible with any of the guys around.
I’m calling in a favor.
I absentmindedly roll the diamond between my fingers, sitting on the floor in front of the TV while I wait for the reply.
Avery is on the couch watching the little stone move with something predatory in her eyes.
She looks at the diamond the way I imagine I look at Harley, Blaise, and Ash.
I hope to God they haven’t noticed. I think she’s honestly turned on by it.
I start to feel weird about playing with it so I sigh and hold it out for her. She lunges for it like a crack addict.
My phone rings.
“What happened to calling me for help, Wolf?”
I flinch at his tone. I don’t need the memories that flood me when I hear the dark rage I have pushed the Jackal into. Avery notices and hesitates before tucking her arm in mine.
“I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore. I need to stand on my own two feet.”
Dead silence. He must be sitting in his bedroom or maybe in the vault, counting his money. I wait him out. I won’t break protocol but he might.
“Should we meet somewhere to discuss your requirements?” he spits out from his clenched teeth. Fuck. If I meet him, there’s a good chance I’ll be kidnapped and my body never found again.
“Over the phone is more than adequate. You have a customer and I would like him cut off. Permanently and from everything you offer.”
He grunts and then says, calmer, “Your little friend just dropped by to see me. I’ll do as you ask but he has enough to last him a few weeks.”
I take a deep breath. “I have another favor to discuss with you. I’ll see you at the meeting in the summer.”
He pauses and then says, smooth and warm as he tries to trap me once again, “That will be the last of the favors you’ve collected, little Wolf. I hope it’s worth the cost.”
I hang up because my voice wouldn’t be level if I tried to answer him. Avery leans her head on my shoulder as she rolls the diamond obsessively like one of her ballet routines.
“What’s your next favor?”
I pluck the diamond out of her hands and drop it back into the little velvet bag, ready to send back to Mounts Bay with whatever thug the Jackal sends to collect it.
“I’ve got a plan. A huge, expensive, utterly terrifying plan, but I think it’s going to save Harley’s life so it’s going to be worth it. ”
Avery tucks her hand into mine and says, “Those idiot boys have no idea how fiercely the Wolf of Mounts Bay guards them.”