Page 39 of Veil of Lies

“Really?” Her perfectly shaped eyebrows dipped as she stared at me. “I hear your grades have slipped.”

Fuck. I should have known she would keep track of my performance. My degree was important, apparently. Not to me, but to my family; appearances mattered, and even though Dad’s business was on the skids, we still had to pretend everything was OK.

“Is it any wonder?” I snapped. She winced and I immediately regretted my little outburst.

“I know it’s…hard right now, but I need you to stay on track. Things are…difficult. Your grandmother…” She frowned.

“What about Grandma?” My dad’s mother was a grade A bitch. That side of the family was where our generational wealth originated from. Her grandfather had made a fortune on the railroad and until my dad, the family coffers had always been full. While my father’s suicide was a personal tragedy for our family, my grandmother was more concerned about the embarrassment factor. I truly hated that woman, and I was pretty sure my mother felt the same way.

“She’s being difficult.” Mom sighed. Her glass was empty again and I saw her hand edging toward the bottle resting on the table, but she hesitated, clenching her fist like she wanted to punch something. I knew that feeling well.

“What do you mean, difficult?” My pulse rate shot up. I could tell from the tension in her jaw that more bad news was coming my way.

She looked at me. The sorrow in her eyes tore me apart. “Honey, our money is gone. I need to sell the house to settle some of your father’s debts, and she’s insisting the twins go and live with her.”

I sank back into my chair, speechless. This was so much worse than I realized. How had I not known the extent of our problems?

“How?” I knew the business had gone but surely the house couldn’t be sold, it was our home for fuck’s sake!

“Your father took out loans against the house and our other properties. When the investments went bad, he tried to recover some of the money by pouring cash into even riskier investments. He lost everything. I only found out this week, after forensic accountants hired by your grandmother finished going over all the figures.”

My face was blank as I ingested the information, but inside I was in turmoil. If we had no money, I’d have to leave college. The twins would be pulled from their prep school. Life as I knew it was over.

“What about college?” I dreaded her answer, but I had to know.

“She’s agreed to cover the cost of that. She sees it as an investment worth making.”

I snorted derisively. Of course she did. The woman was nothing if not cold and calculating. She never did anything without assessing whether it benefited her. While we were broke, my grandmother was not, as she controlled the bulk of the family’s wealth. My father had gone his own way and built a business without her, against her wishes. Until he was seduced into investing in the Cancello fund, his business had been very successful. Believing the bullshit lies spun by Daniel Cancello was the worst decision Dad ever made and we were all still paying the price.

Chapter 32

Stella

My room felt claustrophobic. I hadn’t seen Harley since I’d forcibly kicked him out yesterday morning. He’d seemed surprised at the time, and honestly, it was ridiculous. I wasn’t dumb enough to think he might want to repeat the experience. Boys like him never did. I’d figured it was better to get ahead and make it clear I wasn’t after more, before he was forced to find some half-ass excuse for ghosting me. Or publicly humiliate me.

If things had been different, if I had been a normal girl with a normal life, I probably would have wanted more. The sex had been amazing. I had never come as hard, or as many times with Brody. It had been a real wrench to force myself out of bed at dawn. Waking up to his hard body wrapped around mine was comforting.

Tonight, though, all my fears and insecurities had bubbled up to the surface. I was in a constant state of anxiety. Dad’s trial was drawing closer and the media attention hadn’t died down. It was only a matter of time before my identity was uncovered. Each day, I woke up and wondered, was today the day when someone worked out who I was?

It was amazing I hadn’t developed an ulcer. Studying was the only thing keeping me sane. It was easy to lose myself in work. Once I got stuck into a topic, I could forget about all the shitty things going on in my life. For a while at least.

Not tonight, though. I had an assignment to complete but my head was a mess. I desperately needed some fresh air, but it was much too late to go for a run. The running trails around campus were fine in the early morning, but I wasn’t insane enough to try running at night. I didn’t have a head torch and the last thing I needed was a broken ankle.

Thankfully, there was another option. While exploring the campus, I’d discovered a roof terrace. It was accessed from a small stairwell in the admin building. This time of night, there were no staff around, so nobody saw me sneak into the building and up the stairs. The terrace appeared to be a smoking area for staff. There were a few chairs and tables scattered around, along with a bucket for discarded cigarette butts. I wandered over to the wall and leaned over, listening to the sounds of the night.

The air was warm and humid, scented with something sweet and fragrant. I could hear music in the distance, drifting up from the dorms. It was relaxing up here, away from everyone. There were no lights beyond the campus perimeter, just vast swathes of inky blackness.

I stood for a while, soaking up the silence. Then a faint crunch of gravel alerted me to the fact I wasn’t alone. I spun around, searching the shadows for another person. Why hadn’t they made themselves known when I came up here?

“Who’s there?” I asked cautiously. I hoped it wasn’t one of the college staff, as I wasn’t certain the roof terrace was open to students.

“Nobody,” came a familiar voice. He emerged from a deep shadow in the corner, holding a bottle of something alcoholic.

“Are you OK?” From his slurred voice, Brax was drunk. I had no idea how long he had been up here, but it had to have been a while.

“Not really,” he said, stumbling slightly as he fell on to a low bench. The bottle tumbled from his hand and he cursed as amber liquid spilled everywhere.

I was reluctant to get involved in what appeared to be a private meltdown, but the raw pain he exuded drew me closer. I could hear the hopelessness in his voice. Something had obviously happened.

---