Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
JARED
W hat is her deal? Calvin’s face was stern as he walked away from me yesterday, the photos held tightly to his chest. Theo mentioned that she spent a good hour developing these to ensure they were perfect, telling him the steps simply to keep him from asking questions.
Theo can be an asshole when he wants to be, insisting on knowing everything to be a pest, but also since it’s the perfect way to find out more about his new obsession. Rachelle is a new toy he doesn’t understand, which doesn’t bode well for her.
He likes to break his toys before he puts them back together in an entirely different way. I’m going to use that to my advantage today. It’s time to put some pressure on her.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I leave my car behind in the parking lot, and walk over to Theo as he climbs out of his SUV.
“What’s good, man?” he asks, smirking as he sees the determined look on my face. Grabbing his bag, he pushes his arms through the straps, brow raised. “Did you come over here with something in mind? You look like you either want to blow me or fuck someone up.”
“The first thing would be on my agenda if we had the time for it,” I mutter, jerking my head toward the school. “I need you to fuck with the little mouse’s grades. Can you slowly change all of her most recent papers and exams to zeros and low marks?”
“I’ll run a program to hack into all of the online grade books,” he says with a callous smile and shrug, closing the door behind him. “It’ll continually change every grade without any trail of what the previous one was. Unless a teacher is actually paying attention, the incorrect marks will go through as factual.”
“Genius,” I say, smirking as we walk. “I’ll have to hope that most of her teachers don’t pay attention. This will be fun.”
“Is there a reason we’re fucking with her like this?” he asks, curious.
“She did something I’m not pleased with,” I grunt, not wanting to talk about it. “While we’re at it, can you fuck with any files on her laptop? I don’t want her to be able to prove she completed the work.”
For once, Theo doesn’t push, simply walking into the school. Later, when I see Rachelle, I get this odd cramping feeling in my chest that makes me rub it as I walk past her.
I will not feel bad about this. It has to be done, because it puts us one step closer to keeping her down as well as if my boot was on her throat.
She doesn’t deserve this life or this school. The little mouse is the interloper, and the Kings are the exterminators.
* * *
Two weeks later
First week of June
LILIANA
The Kings have been quiet, and it’s been weird. Nacio appears stressed, is working more for his father, which means I haven’t seen much of him either. Rachelle said sometimes she catches him sleeping in the hallway by her door, though.
It seems he’s slowly finding himself caring. This makes me hopeful I can make at least one King pull away from working on this bet as hard. I know they feel that they have to follow through, but it’s an archaic practice.
There’s whispers of how the other Kings of years past have chosen a victim for their bet. Sometimes it’s a kid that they’ll torture and bully until he kills himself senior year. Others, it’s a girl the Kings make believe they’re in love with, breaking her the night of senior prom.
As long as this happens every four years, the semantics don’t seem to matter. Yet, they haven’t gone for the jugular while Rachelle was raw and hurting, so there has to be some rules in place for how long this needs to last.
I want to run away with her, and actually brought it up to Mr. Emil. I asked him if we could transfer together somewhere, if it would matter. He told me they’d still make her life hell.
I fucking hate this.
Waiting outside of Rachelle’s last class, I bounce on the balls of my feet, excited because we’re finally having our movie night under the stars. There’s not a single school event that’s going to mess this up. We’ve both been run ragged between the newspaper and school projects, papers, and homework.
It’s clear that teachers are ramping up for us to finish the end of the year strong. Everyone appears harried as they study in the library, or walk from class to class. The only upside is when Rachelle and I do have school events to attend for the paper, we also have someone who walks us there and back to our cars.
While the Kings mess with me less than Rachelle, the danger still exists from the men who attempted to mow us down. She’s started going on runs twice a week with me, while I attempt to convince her stepfather to teach her some self-defense techniques. Mr. Emil is getting very frustrated with this loose end endangering Rachelle and I, something that doesn’t bode well for whoever these fuckheads are.
Pursing my lips, I glance into the classroom to see her arguing with her Civics teacher. Students kept leaving the room, but there was no sign of Rachelle. Now I know why.
What is going on? As far as I know, she’s passing all of her classes with flying colors. Rachelle is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to working hard, studying, and getting shit done. I meant it when I told her I wasn’t worried about her writing her first article for the newspaper.
I was correct: everyone is still talking about that piece, and the swim meets have a fan base that is growing. It’s a shame Jared is such a dick, he’s a shining star when he’s in the water.
It’s when he gets out that the cloud seems to descend. Yes, I may have slipped in to watch him one day, and I have to admit he’s impressive when he’s competing. Every toned muscle explodes out of the water as he swims.
There’s a beauty in that power, but he’s no longer the boy I was once friends with.
Rachelle shakes her head, turning away, tears streaking down her cheeks.
“What did Dr. Ferris say?” I ask in a hushed tone as she brushes past me.
I refuse to take it personally, because she’s only walking as quickly as I am. She’s clearly pissed, though.
“There appears to be a glitch in the system,” she whispers, trying to keep it together as she pulls in a shuddering breath. “That’s what has to be happening, because I swear I’m not failing my civics class. All my work is turned in, I swear it is, but Dr. Ferris just informed me that I am.”
“No way,” I breathe. “Rachelle, we need to go see all of your teachers. Right now.”
She’s short of breath as she walks, her arms crossed over her chest as if that’ll protect her from what has to be the latest stunt by the Kings. How the fuck is this happening?
“What good will that do?” she whimpers. “The only thing I had going for me here were my good grades. I’m scared to find out that I’m wrong about that.”
“You know you’re too smart to be an ostrich,” I reprimand, wrapping my arm around her waist in a hug. “Don’t stick your head in the sand.”
“God,” Kayla says, seeing us, “are the lesbians having a fight?”
She acts as if we’re the only same sex couple in the school, which is a lie. There are quite a few, including the Kings in their polycule, yet Rachelle and I seem to be the only ones who get grief over it.
“You wish we were because you think you’d have a chance,” I tell her. “Rachelle wouldn’t be interested if you were the last girl in the world.”
“I still wouldn’t be that thirsty,” my girl mutters. “I have a feeling Kayla may be harboring hidden sexually transmitted diseases.”
“You bitch,” Kayla hisses, but we’ve already forgotten about her.
“Okay, let’s see how many teachers I can hunt down,” Rachelle rasps, swiping away at her tears.
“Good girl,” I murmur.
“Why is that so sexy when you say it?” Elijah mutters as he passes by us in the hallway. “My dick just got hard, Lili. Any chance you’d take care of that for me?”
“I wouldn’t touch it with someone else’s mouth,” I say sweetly, rolling my eyes.
There’s no way I could be interested in someone who treats Rachelle so badly. Especially if the Kings are behind this. Fuck, does Nacio know about this?
My cell phone is locked up in my locker still, or I’d send the twatwaffle a photo of my foot with an invitation for him to sit on it. It’s probably for the best that I don’t have my phone on me.
“Your girlfriend looks like she’s got some shit in her eye. Maybe you should check that out,” Elijah says, his lips tightening into a thin line.
Rachelle is trying to keep it together as she tries to wrap her head around how she’s failing civics, of course she’s upset. My hand desperately wants to slide into her hidden pocket and steal her stun gun. Maybe Elijah needs a reminder about how to properly behave.
He must see my intentions in my eyes, because he curses under his breath, turning down a hallway to effectively disappear from my sight.
Idiot.
Rachelle’s footsteps take us to her English class, and she takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. The tears are still tracked across her cheeks, but there’s not much she can do about that without washing her face.
“Miss Thomas,” her teacher says when she sees her. “Are you here about your grade? I meant to catch you earlier, but today was so busy.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, stepping into the room tentatively. “Is there something wrong with it?”
“Well, I was going through my grade book this morning, and I found a lot of incomplete information in it,” her teacher says. “I wanted to confirm it with you, since I remember talking about how well you’re doing. However, my book doesn't reflect that.”
“I’ve turned in all of my assignments,” Rachelle says, swallowing hard. “I know I’m new, but?—”
“No buts, you do put your best foot forward,” her teacher reassures her. “I simply don’t understand how this is happening. I keep very good track of my book.”
“It’s all digital, isn’t it?” I ask gently. “Is it possible the files aren’t properly protected?”
“I trust the school to ensure they are,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “I checked all of my other students, and they’re all correct. It seems silly that there’s a glitch just for Rachelle.”
“Is there anything that can be done?” Rachelle asks, her hands clenched.
“I don’t remember what your grades would be,” the teacher says apologetically. “I don’t keep a back up of everything, which means this is all I have for you.”
“Can I do makeup work or something?” Rachelle squeaks. “I have all of my papers on my computer.”
I have to hold back a growl, because I wouldn’t put it past Theo not to also wipe her computer somehow. We need to check it. It would figure this is why they’ve been so damn quiet.
“This is highly irregular,” her teacher murmurs. “Let me think about how we can amend this. Has this happened in any other classes?”
“Dr. Ferris pulled me aside just after class to tell me I’m also failing Civics,” Rachelle explains. “I’m doing the rounds to see if this is happening in any other classes.”
Her teacher turns to gaze at her, pity now filling her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to fix this after all,” she says slowly. “I’m so sorry, Rachelle.”
There are several teachers here who are very aware of the target on my girl’s back. I can’t believe Miss Eileen is refusing to fix a glitch like this because she just figured out what’s happening.
“Rachelle, give me a second, okay?” I ask, reaching out to touch her hand.
Taking a shuddering breath, she nods, turning and walking out.
“What the hell is this about?” I ask the teacher. “You know the grades aren’t correct.”
“I also saw what the Kings did to a previous teacher,” she says in a hushed voice. “Miss Hailey couldn’t leave fast enough!”
“No,” I bark. “Miss Hailey didn’t leave because of them, she ran out of here because my father visited her due to dragging my name through the mud with the newspaper. The icing on the cake for my father was that she used Rachelle to do it with. He’s willing to scare the fuck out of a teacher, what do you think he’ll do for my girlfriend, huh?”
Miss Eileen pales, realizing what she’s done, and I huff out a breath. My father is a very scary man, which is why he works so closely with Mr. Emil. I’m pretty sure Rachelle’s stepfather is the only one Dad listens to. There’s going to be so much hell to pay for this.
“I don’t care what you have to do, fix this,” I hiss. “She keeps all of her papers on her computer. Assuming nothing has happened to it, she’ll easily be able to prove it. The Kings aren’t the only people who have pull at this school.”
Turning, I leave to walk into the hall to hug Rachelle.
“Let’s go see your next teacher,” I cajole. “We’ll figure this out.”
Shaking, Rachelle manages to keep it together as we track down all of her teachers. Most of them are attempting to finish their grading before they go home for the weekend, which works out well for us. I leave her statistics professor for last, knowing we may have a chance with him.
He likes having Rachelle in his class, and has come to her defense before.
Unfortunately, several of her teachers are ancient and obstinate, insisting that their books are correct and that it’s not their fault she’s failing. They all look confused about it though, vaguely remembering how well Rachelle was doing.
This is what happens when some of the teachers are older than dirt. The school needs an overhaul of its professors.
“Dr. Richardson?” Rachelle asks, standing at his door. She’s trying to hold her head up, but I understand why she’s finding it difficult to.
Every single one of her teachers has said that she’s failing their classes.
“Hey, Rachelle, what’s wrong?” he asks, curious as he gazes at her.
Is it possible this is the only class she’s not failing?
“I have a really insane question,” she says, stepping into the room. “Have you checked your digital grade book recently?”
“I don’t use one,” he says. “I fucking hate them, and no one can convince me to change my mind. Why?”
Sagging in relief, Rachelle tries to say something but starts to sob instead.
“What the hell?” he asks, glancing at me. “It appears she’s unable to speak to me. What’s going on?”
“She’s somehow failing every class except yours,” I explain. “The grades are all showing incomplete assignments and failing grades in the digital grade books.”
“Well, what are her professors doing about this?” Mr. Richardson asks, frowning before he shakes his head. “She’s the only one this is happening to, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” I sigh. “Most are insisting that the grades are correct, or that there’s nothing they can do.”
“Grades are locked in tomorrow,” he says. “The only things we can add are things after that for exams and the end of year projects since school is over next week.”
Carlysle Prep believes in working their students down to the last day of school. Some of us have exams then too. June is a grueling month, whereas other schools have a week to fuck off, we don’t.
If we’re here, we’re working.
“So I’m out of luck,” Rachelle sighs, gasping in a breath. “I’ve only been here since April. What happens if I fail all of my classes?”
“Any number of things, depending on the situation,” Mr. Richardson grumbles. “It so rarely happens. Go track down the headmaster and loop her into this. If you can have an emergency parent conference tomorrow morning, it’s possible to find some sort of resolution.”
“One other than what everyone else told me? They all said I would have to take the failing grade,” Rachelle huffs.
Handing her the tissue box, he shakes his head.
“You once electrocuted a King, do you really think I’m going to believe you’ll accept that?” he asks. “Regroup, Rachelle. You’re better than this. Figure out how to fix it.”
Hiccuping a nod, she swallows hard, mops up her face with the tissues, and blows her nose.
“Off you go. Your grade is secure here,” Mr. Richardson says, sitting back down to pick up his glasses.
Effectively dismissed, Rachelle and I leave to hunt down the headmistress, finding her speaking to the civics teacher, funny enough.
“Mrs. Hartwell,” Rachelle says quickly. “Can I speak to you please?”
“I’m already aware of the status of your failing grades, Miss Thomas,” she says, glancing cooly at her.
Apparently, Dr. Ferris decided to get to the interim headmistress first to discuss this. Awesome.
“Mr. Richardson says I’m not failing his class and he doesn’t do digital grades,” Rachelle contests. “How do you explain how I’m suddenly failing everything else when I’ve been doing really well up to this point?”
Mrs. Hartwell shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but this is the second time this term that you’ve had some kind of issue,” she says. “It’s too late at this point for you to amend your grades.”
“I’m sure my mother and stepfather will want a student-parent conference tomorrow since my effort to grade ratio isn’t adding up,” Rachelle replies. “It’s a shame tomorrow is Saturday, but it’ll have to be done. Please expect a call later today.”
“Your little threats aren’t really of interest to me,” Mrs. Hartwell says. “You may have started out strong, but who is to say you didn’t forget to turn in your homework or slacked off over the course of the term? It’s difficult to achieve excellence when you’re unused to this type of grueling work.”
It takes everything in me to take a deep breath because this isn’t my fight. I’m so fucking annoyed at the administration and Mrs. Hartwell’s lack of empathy.
“It’s not a threat when you can follow through,” Rachelle states, stepping away. “It’ll be interesting to see how long you’re able to hold onto your interim position when you refuse to protect your students.”
“Miss Thomas,” Mrs. Hartwell gasps.
“Actually, it’s Miss Reyes,” Rachelle corrects her, lips pursed. “I’ll make certain my stepfather updates the paperwork at school.”
Well then. Mr. Emil has been wanting her to take his name for weeks. I'm glad that Rachelle is choosing to move forward with the adoption process. It’s a simple signature for her, since it’s a formality at best. He can easily backdate that fucker too.
Money talks, and makes these changes much easier. The name will protect her at least with the staff members and everyone except the Kings.
“Wait… when did this happen?” Mrs. Hartwell asks, but we both ignore her. It’s clear she’s stalling.
We both need to get things from our lockers, including our phones, and Rachelle sighs as she opens hers.
“If they can’t fix this, there’s no reason to study my ass off for exams,” she mutters, pulling off her backpack.
“Pack as if there is a reason,” I insist.
Nodding, she loads her books into it, and shuts her locker. Since we went to my locker first, we hustle out the door to my car.
“Call Mr. Emil,” I murmur as we walk. It’s later in the day, and the parking lot is pretty deserted. I wish I’d suggested this while we were still inside the school.
Pulling out the phone, she taps his contact and connects the call, ensuring it’s on speaker mode. Rachelle apparently gives no shits about privacy at this point.
“ You’re not home yet,” Mr. Emil says. “ Did you run into a snag?”
It’s been two hours since school ended, I would say that’s exactly what we hit. Even though she’s spending the night with me, we were still going to her house to pack her bag.
“It’s hard to even believe,” she grumbles. “All of my grades have been changed to reflect failing marks except one. The only reason I’m not failing Mr. Richardson’s class is because he doesn’t use a digital grade book.”
“ Ignacio!” Mr. Emil yells. “ Fuck these boys.”
“No thank you,” Rachelle mutters as we get to my car. Unlocking it, I get into the vehicle next to her. “I spoke to all of my teachers, they’re all rallying together, stating it either can’t be fixed, or that it’s preposterous to admit that I’m being targeted.”
“Rachelle may have said that she was adopted by you,” I add, turning on the car.
“ Really? Do we need to back-date it?” he asks.
“You really don’t mind that I shot my mouth off at the headmistress?” Rachelle asks, surprised.
Oh my sweet summer child, he’s never going to care about that.
“ Absolutely not. If this had happened to Ignacio, the teachers would have fallen over backward for him,” Mr. Emil grumbles. “ I married your mother because I’m head over heels in love with her. Since you’re part of her, I decided that love would extend to you automatically. While I did, getting to know you, it simply happened organically. I’m calling the school now, and then I’ll tell your mom you agreed to sign the adoption paperwork.”
My lips twitch in mirth and gratefulness as Rachelle says goodbye. A whooshing sigh makes her body relax into the chair as I drive out of the lot, a sign that she was more worried about that call than she let on.
“We’ll figure it out,” I murmur. “Let’s check your computer too.”
“I keep the wifi off on it unless I’m actively using it,” she murmurs. “I don’t know if that makes a difference, but I also have everything saved on a memory stick. My mom accidentally broke my laptop when she bashed Colton with the lamp. It crashed onto the floor. I obviously wasn’t upset, it did mean I had to use the computer labs in the library or school in order to get work done.”
“So you were used to having to download everything to a memory stick,” I say.
“Mmhmm. Old habits die hard,” she admits. “Maybe it’ll save me here, at least for the assignments I had to type up.”
“Hopefully it'll be enough to raise your grade,” I sigh. “Even your dad thinks this is the Kings. They’re threatened by you.”
“All five foot two of me?” Rachelle complains. “I’m so scary.”
“Your grades are, though. Every year, the Kings get the top four spots in the class,” I tell her. “I’m typically the fifth, and so on. They must be worried about being edged out, so they chose to hijack your grades.”
“God, they’re such insecure assholes,” she says. “I hope every one of them nicks themselves with their electric razors.”
“In what area?” I tease her, trying to pull her out of her sadness.
“Their balls,” she grunts. “I bet that area bleeds like a bitch, and they’re all hairless.”
“Let’s attempt to avoid having to see their cocks for a while,” I say with a snort.
“It’s never my idea,” Rachelle grumbles.
“Nacio needs to keep his pants on,” I murmur, opening my window as I approach the Reyes gate.
It opens before I can enter the code, so I’m able to drive right through up to the house. Rachelle and I get out of the car, walking quickly toward the front door, only to find someone already standing there.
“Where’s the fire?” Nacio asks, brow raised.
Rachelle snarls at him, jumping at his body.
“Fuck!” I yell, grabbing her around the waist. “Baby, he’ll break you in two. Come on, breathe.”
“The fuck?” he asks, staring at her as Mr. Emil stomps out to survey what’s happening.
Nacio is rewarded with a snack over the head as his father glares at him.
“You must have just gotten in. I’ve been looking for you. Your little friends have your stepsister failing all her classes. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he asks.
We don’t specifically know it’s them, but it’s really the only option. Theo has already shown that he has a penchant for being in places he shouldn’t be.
“What?” Nacio asks. “No, I don’t. How did they manage that? We haven’t had a chance to talk with how crazy the last two weeks have been.”
Mr. Emil blows out a breath as if he doesn’t believe him, but I have noticed that Nacio has been absent lately. Nacio has been run ragged between jobs for his dad and school. That’s what happens when your father thinks you have too much time on your hands and he needs to fill it with extra tasks. Sucks to suck.
Rachelle stops fighting to hit him for a moment, blowing out a breath.
“Did you have a chance to speak to the headmistress?” she asks.
“Yes, come in and I’ll tell you,” her stepfather says. Moving to do as he asked, we listen to his next words. “I’ve demanded a parent-teacher conference, and Mrs. Hartwell immediately asked if it was true that your last name needs to be updated in the system.”
“Updated to what?” Nacio asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
We’re standing in the front entryway, and Rachelle rolls her eyes.
“You can give him the cliff notes, I need to see if the assholes got to my laptop,” she says, almost running across the house for the stairs.
“What the hell is happening?” Nacio asks, his hand raking through his hair impatiently.
“I’m assuming Theo had all her grades changed to zeros or incompletes based on the conversation I had with Mrs. Hartwell,” Mr. Emil growls. “Rachelle is being officially adopted into our family to give her the protection of my name and because I want to give it to her.”
“There, now you’re caught up,” I say sweetly.
“You’re both infuriating,” Ignacio mutters. “She seems fine. I figured she’d be losing her shit about this.”
“Rachelle is fine,” I lie. She’s dealing, but I think she’s beyond simply being sad. My girl is pissed. “The problem is that even if she’s able to show that she did the work that’s been done on the computer, the rest is a wash.”
“She won’t rank as high when grades are finalized,” he breathes. “Fuck. The guys and I didn’t discuss this, not that it matters now that the trigger’s been pulled. It could have been either of them that asked Theo for this, or he may have decided to do it on a whim.”
“My computer is wiped,” Rachelle says with a groan as she returns. “I found the back up, though.”
She doesn’t say what that was, her gaze suspicious of Ignacio.
“I swear I didn’t do this,” he says. “We’ve all been worried about how well you’re doing, though. You were sure to rank high.”
“Not anymore,” Rachelle says wistfully. “What’s next, Emil?”
“You’re home,” Julia says, stepping into the foyer. “Emil told me about what the rat bastards did.”
Ignoring Ignacio, she gives Rachelle a hug.
“Ugh, I swear I had nothing to do with this,” he complains.
“You are who you associate with,” Julia murmurs. “Therefore you’re also a bastard.”
“My parents were married when they had me, Julia,” Ignacio says, frowning.
I’m thoroughly enjoying her fitting remarks, because she’s not willing to give him an inch.
“That’s besides the point, son,” Mr. Emil says. “We’re going to sign this paperwork and then head directly to the school. I refused to wait until tomorrow, Rachelle. You should know the verdict today.”
“Thank you,” she says with a nod.
Walking forward, he herds us into the living area where paperwork is spread out over it.
“My lawyer is on the way to notarize the documents and witness our signatures, and then we’ll leave,” he says. A knock on the door brings one of the maids to answer it, and she ushers in the lawyer. “There’s Harold now. Thanks for the fast response.”
“You said it was important,” he murmurs.
“It is to me,” Mr. Emil grunts. “Let’s get to it.”
Twenty minutes later, the paperwork is signed, and Julia tears up as she watches this become official.
“I loved your dad, but this feels right,” she says softly. “It’s a new chapter. I know it’s been bumpy…”
“None of that is your fault,” Rachelle says with a shrug. “The last few months haven’t been the best, but it has some good things. I don’t think I’m ever going to think about Carlysle Prep fondly, though. It’ll always be rough.”
As long as the Kings are involved. She doesn’t have to say it for me to think it. They’re always going to be fucking with her because of who they are. Ignacio drops his head with a wince while Mr. Emil holds out his hand for the memory stick.
“Is everything on this?” he asks.
“I was too scared to check on my computer,” Rachelle admits.
“Come with me and we’ll check on mine. It’s also time to invest in a better firewall system for the house,” Mr. Emil grunts. “Harold, you’ll make sure this paperwork gets into the correct hands right?”
“Yes, sir,” he says. “I’ll take it to the courthouse now.”
As the three of them leave the room together, I watch them with a small sigh.
“This is going to throw a wrench in your weekend plans with her, isn’t it?” Julia asks, ignoring Ignacio.
“Yeah, but it can’t be helped,” I tell her. “This needs to get handled. I can always figure something else out.”
“What were you planning?” Ignacio asks.
My lips twist in derision at his question, because I have a feeling he’ll think it’s dumb.
“I do feel bad about this,” he mutters. “I wouldn’t give a single shit if this was anyone else because it needs to be done. The Kings are forever, and they’re my best friends. If I can help you with your date, I will.”
Julia shrugs, getting up. “Maybe he can. I’ll let you two figure this out,” she says. “I’m going to get ready to watch Emil make some teachers cry.”
Chuckling as I watch her exit to do that, I glance at Ignacio.
“I had this whole movie night planned, only outside in the tent,” I tell him. “The weather is drying out, the sky is clear, I thought it would be romantic.”
“I have tents and shit in the garage, and I can rig you a screen outside. We also have a mini projector,” he says. “You can surprise her when she gets home. I’ll also clear the backyard of any of Dad’s men in case things get hot and heavy between you. He’s already pissed enough at me, I don’t want to imagine how angry he’d be if I had to kill one of his men.”
Leaning back on the couch, I shrug. Maybe I’ll be able to salvage tonight after all.