Page 68 of Veil of Lies

“Stella this is stupid! You’re safer here with us than on your own.” Harley looked frantic. But she was having none of it. She picked up her bag and left. “She’s being stubborn,” he fumed.

“Go after her,” I advised. “She’s not thinking straight.”

He nodded and shot out of the door.

Right now, there was no evidence Stella was the target of this attack. It could just have been a random drunk driver or a case of mistaken identity. But if she was right and this was a targeted attack, we needed to stick together.

Chapter 55

Stella

The high of the night spent with Harley was long gone. I should have been on cloud nine, but instead, I was panicking. Nothing had changed. My life was still a shit show. I’d stupidly thought things were getting better. Dad was in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting trial, but at least someone was on my side. Even when the news of my identity broke, Harley had stood by me. Quinn too. Even Brax said he didn’t hate me, and he had more reasons than most.

I tried to hold on to that as I raced up the stairs, eager to get back to my apartment and lock the door. It felt like the safest place I could be right now. Safe for the boys, at least.

There was no way I was risking anyone getting hurt because some sicko wanted to exact revenge on my family. I would not be able to live with myself if that happened.

Today was a wakeup call. Harley could have been seriously injured or even killed. Nobody would give a flying fuck what happened to me, but Harley had a future. A bright one.

I had no intention of messing that up for him. He didn’t deserve it and I didn’t deserve him.

My floor was thankfully quiet. A couple of girls threw me curious looks, but I reached my door without anyone hurling abuse in my direction. It made a change.

I fumbled with my key card and sighed with relief when the lock disengaged.

The door opened and I fell in, then froze in shock.

“For fuck’s sake,” Harley grumbled as he barreled into my back. “I wish you’d waited five minutes so we could have a bloody conversation…” He broke off when he gazed over my shoulder at the mess.

Everything I’d left behind when I moved into the boys’ apartment was tossed everywhere. Random clothes were strewn all over the floor. My mattress was upended and slashed open. The bathroom was no better. My laundry basket lay on the floor, clean towels discarded, and toiletries tossed in the shower cubicle.

“Shit, sweetheart, your housekeeping leaves a lot to be desired.”

I ignored him. This wasn’t random. Whoever had tossed my room was obviously looking for something. The question was what.

I owned very little of anything. The feds had confiscated virtually everything we owned and when I left NYC, it was with a few clothes and personal items. Even my laptop had been purchased later, as the one I owned when Dad was arrested was confiscated as ‘evidence’.

Evidence of what, exactly, I was never told. I just hoped the techs in charge of looking at it were entertained by all the bookmarked cat videos and yoga tutorials.

I walked into the room with Harley on my heels. It would take ages to sort this mess out, and looking at the state of my mattress, it was obvious I couldn’t sleep here tonight.

Tessa poked her head around my door and gasped in shock. “Oh my god, what happened here?”

“Looks like someone’s broken into her room in the last couple of days. Did you see or hear anything since she was last here?”

Tessa shook her head. “Nothing. Cassie may have done, as she’s next door. Want me to check?”

“No point,” I said to both of them. “She hates me, no way is she going to do anything remotely helpful.”

Tess met my eyes and nodded. She knew I was right, but Harley wasn’t letting it lie.

“Leave Cassie to me, I’ll see if she knows anything.” He ducked back out of my apartment and hammered on her door. I heard talking but tuned it out. I didn’t need to hear any more of her vile vitriol.

“Babe, are you OK?” Tess pulled me into a tight hug. I relaxed against her for a moment, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. When would this end?

“Not really, but I’ll survive.” I laughed, but it was hollow.

“You need to report the break-in to the admin office. Shit like this should not be happening on campus. It’s supposed to be secure.”

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