Page 66 of Wicked Waters

Arlo glanced at Roman and nodded, and then shot me a tiny wink. I straightened up in my seat, eager to hear what he had to say.

“I believe my nephew was instrumental in discovering the culprit and getting to the bottom of what happened regarding the plagiarism and rigged voting system.”

The headmaster and my head of house exchanged glances, and then the headmaster nodded slowly. “That is correct, in our understanding.” His gaze turned to Roman, his eyes narrowing. “We are very grateful to you for bringing this matter to our attention, Mr. Cavendish.” The words were forced out through gritted teeth, but they were there, and most importantly, my parents were there to hear them.

Roman remained silent until Arlo gave another discreet cough. His words were directed at the headmaster, but his gaze was focused on my parents. “I wanted to do the right thing, and I wanted to protect Quinn.”

“And you did the right thing. I’m proud of you.” Arlo gave Roman a genuine smile, and Roman seemed to relax.

“Well, I suppose we should thank you, too,” my mum said hesitantly. My dad pinched his brow, shaking his head, but eventually, he sighed.

“Yes… Our sincere thanks, Mr. Cavendish. It appears that maybe we have been a little too hasty to judge you. Perhaps…we’ve been too hasty to judge situations where we may not have been apprised of all the information.”

I could see how much it cost my dad to force out those words, but the fact was, he had said them. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I steeled myself, ready to face the questions I knew were coming. It didn’t take long at all until my dad’s full focus was on me.

“Quinn. Your mother and I would like to speak with you in private afterwards, but please know that you won’t be punished. None of this is your fault.”

My lip trembled, and I bit down on it. They were words I’d wanted and needed to hear for so long. And now…now, I was hearing them, but I knew my parents wouldn’t appreciate me showing any perceived weakness in front of the school staff. Not only that, but I didn’t particularly want to cry in front of them, anyway. Only with Roman, who let me fall apart and put myself together again, supporting me without judgement.

When we’d been shown into an empty classroom, I buried my face in my hands, trying to breathe. It was just me and my parents, and I had nowhere to hide.

“Quinn.” My dad’s voice cracked, and my gaze flew to his. Were there tears in his eyes? Surely not.

“We made a mistake,” he continued, and yes, there were definite tears.

My eyes filled against my wishes.

“Oh, Quinn,” my mum murmured, and then suddenly, they were both hugging me, and I didn’t know what to do.

“We should have known. We should never have made you leave in the first place,” my dad ground out.

“This is our fault. We’re so, so sorry,” my mum added, sniffing between her own tears.

My face was wet from my own tears. All I could do was let them hug me. It was healing, in a way. I was under no illusion that our relationship would be easily repaired, but maybe we’d made a start.

36

ROMAN

When Quinn, her parents, and her history professor had all left, my uncle sat back in his seat, his gaze fixed on the headmaster.

“I’d like to discuss the matter of having Roman’s record expunged.”

The headmaster exchanged glances with Professor Donnelly. “I’m afraid we cannot possibly?—”

“I’ve recently come into possession of a Bugatti Veyron.” Arlo paused meaningfully. “A Sang Noir. As I’m sure you’re aware, only twelve were ever made. I could be persuaded to part with it for an extremely reasonable price.”

The headmaster’s eyes gleamed. “A Sang Noir, you say?”

I’d heard that Arlo was the best at negotiating deals—part of the reason his company, Alstone Holdings, had grown so rapidly and successfully. Seeing him in action, cutting straight to the point and having clearly researched the one thing the headmaster couldn’t refuse, I couldn’t help but admire him. His status as one of the elite wasn’t only based on his name. He had power, money, and status because he worked fucking hard for it, and he was the best at what he did.

“Indeed. I purchased it at auction at Sotheby’s. It’s a beautiful piece of machinery. W-16 engine and, of course, the stunning red interior.” Arlo produced a tablet from his briefcase, turning it on. He slid it across the table to the headmaster, who flipped through a series of images of the car.

I caught Professor Donnelly’s gaze, and he rolled his eyes at me. Yeah, we were both fully aware of what was about to happen.

“I think we can work out a satisfactory deal…” the headmaster began, and my uncle smiled.

Later, after the negotiations were over, I walked to the visitors’ car park with my uncle. “Not a bad day’s work. It’ll be a shame to be parted from the Bugatti, but it’s all for a good cause.”

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