Chapter 2 #2
‘No. We have to find another way. You have lives. You need to finish school. You need to make the non-opiate a success. Go to Grad School. Open a legitimate lab. Get your doctorates. These are your dreams.’
I sit up straighter.
‘Your dreams,’ I say again. ‘You can’t throw them away because of some two-bit criminal and a couple of rich assholes. I won’t let you.’
‘Two-bit criminal is an understatement,’ Mav says. ‘He killed Black. He almost killed you. He’s been watching you-us-for weeks and we’re still no closer to finding out who he is.’
‘We don’t even know if it was him who planted the bomb,’ I argue. ‘It could have nothing to do with the stalker. It might be like…another drug dealer who’s angry that we’re stealing business, or something. Has there been another note?’
They shake their heads.
‘Do we have any more ideas on who he might be? Nothing from the Forrests’ Gala before Christmas?’
‘No,’ Blake says, looking annoyed but more with himself than me.
‘I haven’t found anything but dead ends.
He’s covering his tracks well and he leaves false clues to waste my time.
All I can do is keep trawling through the footage that I was able to recover.
Nothing came of the guest list from the Gala.
‘Christmas,’ I lament. ‘I can’t believe all this happened on Christmas.’
I gasp at the implications.
‘My presents! My coat!’ I wail.
‘I’ll get you a new coat,’ Blake promises immediately, leaning forward to plant a chaste kiss on my cheek. ‘It’s just stuff. It can be replaced. You can’t.’
‘You can’t buy me another coat. That’ll be the third one,’ I mutter.
He shrugs. ‘Third time’s a charm.’
Shade stands up and begins to pace the room. ‘Daisy, if we don’t leave, you’re in danger.’
I let out a sigh, leveling him with a look. ‘‘You three might be able to disappear, but Joe will come after me and he has a lot more resources than we do. He won’t stop until he finds me.’
My head leans back almost of its own accord and my eyes drift closed. I suddenly feel exhausted again and pain is shooting behind my eyes.
‘There has to be another…’
It’s another couple of days before the headaches recede. The doctors seem pleased with my progress, but I still find myself tired a lot. The guys are always close by whenever I wake up, afraid I’ll be as upset as I was the first time.
But on the morning of the third day, there’s someone in the room when I open my eyes, who isn’t Shade, Mav, or Blake.
I quickly close them again before I see the person clearly.
When I peek, I see that it’s my stepfather of all people.
My eyes flick toward the door as I wonder what he wants. Where are the others?
He notices that I’m awake and comes to stand at the end of my bed. He makes no move to sit down.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asks.
Like he cares. More likely he’s finding out for the Bandervilles.
‘Tired,’ I say. ‘Head hurts.’
He nods. ‘The doctor said that should pass in a few days.’
He takes out his phone and dials someone, putting it to his ear. ‘She’s awake and feeling a lot better. The doctor said she’ll be out in a couple of days. Yes. I’m here with her now. Of course.’
John holds out the phone to me. ‘He wants to speak with you.’
I take the phone with a questioning look, hoping it’s Shade.
‘Hello?’
‘Marguerite,’ Joe drawls from the other end of the line and I wince. ‘Feeling better, I hear.’
‘Yes,’ I say faintly. ‘A little.’
I hear him tutting. ‘Wrath. What were you doing in a place like that, hmm? That’s definitely not a venue that my future wife should be anywhere near. Jack should know better. To be honest, I thought you did after the last time we spoke.’
He’s silent for a moment, maybe thinking that I’ll apologize to him.
I don’t.
‘I was given to understand that you could make at least some day-to-day decisions without supervision, Marguerite, but I see now that I was woefully misinformed,’ he continues. ‘I’ve made sure to tell John that I expect you to be on a much shorter leash over the coming months before our nuptials.’
‘Oh?’ I ask, my mouth suddenly feeling dry.
Shorter leash?
‘It’s clear that your stepbrother is a bad influence. After what Marcus has told me, I’m not surprised. You aren’t to be around Jack or the other KIP members any longer, is that understood?’
Is this what Joe has decided with my stepfather? Is that why my guys aren’t here?
Joe goes on, clearly not needing any conversation from me at all, despite asking me a question.
‘I hope you’ll learn a lesson from this. Girls who don’t toe the line are corrected, Marguerite. Your father has been instructed on what I expect.’
He’s not my father, I think even as my mouth goes dry at his choice of words.
Corrected.
He ends the call abruptly, and I hand the phone back to John, making sure our fingers don’t even brush against each other regardless of my shaking hands. I’m not sure if I’m scared, furious, or both, but I am upset.
I don’t want John to see how much, though.
‘I assume he let you know how displeased he is that you got yourself hurt,’ John says airily, putting his phone away in his breast pocket.
‘Once again, you’re causing me trouble. You’ll no longer be living at the KIP house.
It was…an oversight on my part. I’d assumed that Jack would ensure you were taken care of properly. ’
He shakes his head a little.
‘I should have known better. I’m bringing you home, Marguerite. When you are discharged, that’s where you’ll be going and where you’ll live until you marry into the Banderville family.’
He steps closer. ‘And there will be no more going to clubs, or getting arrested.’
My eyes widen.
‘You didn’t think I’d find out that you were found in a male student’s room drunk and had to be escorted out by the police?
’ He snorts, looking at me like I’m disgusting.
‘I should have known that a girl like you would be promiscuous. But you better pray that Joe still thinks you’re a virgin when he marries you, or he’ll make your life a living hell. ’
I don’t tell John that he’ll do that regardless and that he’s already starting to by the sounds of it. What would be the point? John already knows exactly who the Bandervilles are. He’s probably enjoying the ideas of what my life will be like in their family.
My stepfather steps to the side of the bed and gets very close to me. It takes everything in me not to lean away from him.
‘You will not jeopardize this deal,’ he says through gritted teeth. ‘You will give Joe Banderville chaperoned access to your person whenever he requests it. You will marry him in the Spring. You will do as he tells you. Do you understand me, girl?’
‘Yes,’ I whisper, my mind working quickly to salvage something of my life here. ‘I’ll do what he wants, but I want to finish the academic year at Richmond U before I get married to him.’
John’s lips twist angrily.
‘Do you really think you hold any cards here, Marguerite?’ He rolls his eyes. ‘Why would I let you do that?’
I regard him with a shuttered expression. ‘Did you ever love my mother? Really?’
The question seems to throw him because he doesn’t answer right away.
‘Yes,’ he says finally. ‘I loved her.’
‘Then how can you hate me so much? And why did you make her think that I didn’t want to hear from her or talk to her while I was at The Heath? Why did you make sure I had no contact with the outside at all?’
He holds my gaze. ‘Your mother felt guilty. She would have tried to have you brought back, sooner or later. I couldn’t allow that.
You were a liability. It was best for everyone that you weren’t around.
You were a danger to people. Your mother was afraid you’d hurt Andy or Jack too.
It wasn’t hard to convince her that The Heath was best. It was even easier to convince her that speaking to you would impede your progress.
She was glad to have a clean break, an excuse to not be constantly exhausted by you. ’
I try not to let his words get to me, but I still wince at the venom behind them.
‘One more question?’ I ask, pushing forward while he’s in such a delightfully chatty mood.
He looks at his watch and sighs. ‘One.’
‘Did Joe see me in The Heath?’
‘Not directly. His father was sent footage of you, though. They wanted to know what they were getting, and rightly so.’
‘What exactly did he see?’
John raises a brow. ‘You said one question.’
He turns away. ‘The doctor said you’ll be discharged tomorrow or the next day. My car will bring you home.’
When he gets to the door, he hesitates. ‘If you aren’t a problem for me over the next few weeks, I’ll ensure the date is set after exams in May. You can finish the year.’
He leaves me with that, and I sink into the bed as the door to my room closes.
I get up after a minute and pad across my room to the small bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror until I hear my door, and I go back into the main room, hoping it’s one of the guys.
Lu comes into the room holding a stuffed bear and a giant balloon that says, ‘Get Well Soon!!!’
‘Dude!’ she practically shrieks when she sees me.
‘Are you okay? I heard about the gas leak, but not until like yesterday. My Pop Pop had us on a Garrett family retreat thing he likes to do every year, and I was stuck there. Fuck, why didn’t you let me know you were in the hospital?
Why did I have to hear it from Novelle?’
I grin. ‘Sorry. I’ve been kind of out of it.’
I gesture at the bandage still around my head. ‘You should be glad I remember you at all. I mean, I’ve barely seen you in over a month.’
She winces. ‘Okay, look. Cards on the table. Pop Pop heard I was friends with a Novelle, and he told me to stop hanging out with you before Christmas. That’s the truth.’
I blink in surprise.
‘Oh,’ I murmur, not sure what to say. ‘I didn’t know.’