Page 55 of The Guilty One

“I, um, look, I can’t talk about this over the phone. Can you meet me somewhere?”

“At your work?”

“No, not here. There’s a restaurant near here. It’s quiet. We’ll be able to talk. I’ll send you the address. Meet me at…” He pauses. “Meet me at one, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Okay. And thank you.”

“I don’t know if you’ll be saying thank you after I tell you everything,” he grumbles. “I’ll see you soon. Oh, and obviously, don’t tell anyone we’re meeting.”

Before I can respond, he ends the call and I stare down at the screen.

One step closer to understanding the truth.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

TATUM

Highland University

Twelve Years Ago

When Professor Vance walks out of the treeline so we can see her, everyone stiffens. They’re wondering how much she heard of what we just said, but they have bigger problems.

“Gentlemen, our guest of honor has arrived,” I say, holding out a hand toward her.

She’s confused, understandably, and her gaze falls to Matteo. “I thought I was coming to meet you. He texted me and said he wanted to help fix this, that he wanted us to talk.” Her eyes are red and bloodshot, as are his. “What is this?”

Matteo’s jaw locks. “Ask him.”

She spins around to me. “What can you possibly want from me? Haven’t you done enough?”

I cock my head to the side. “Actually, I think it was you who did most of the work, don’t you? I can’t possibly take all the credit.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Matteo’s hands ball into fists.

Aubrey’s shoulders crumple inward, and her eyes fill with tears. “You ruined everything.”

Matteo walks forward, gathering her in his arms, and it would be the perfect little Hallmark moment if it wasn’t pathetic. I walk forward, jerking them apart. “Moment’s over.”

“Leave her alone, Tatum,” Matteo growls. “Let her go. If you want to hurt someone, hurt me. Take whatever this is out on me, but let her go. She’s not part of this.”

I grin because he couldn’t be more wrong. “Oh, actually, she’s the entire part of this. The most important part.”

“Let her go, man,” he begs. This time he actually begs, but I’m not listening.

“Come on.” I wave them forward, closer to the ashy pit where we have our bonfires. When I turn back and find I’m not being followed, I tap my phone. “Unless I need to send a few emails.”

Bradley and Aaron step forward first, then Dakota, but Matteo and Aubrey stay in place.

“Make sure they come with us,” I order. “If not willingly, drag them.” They exchange looks, but eventually the guys grab Matteo first, then Aubrey, and push them forward. They don’t look happy about it, but I don’t need them to be happy. I need them to follow orders.

Matteo digs his feet into the ground, trying to stop them, but he’s silent. Angry. He’s also no match on strength against Dakota and Bradley.

I lead them to the firepit. “Get a fire going,” I tell Dakota, then look at Bradley and Aaron. “You two, keep them still.”

Everyone is growing restless. If I don’t act quickly, I’m going to lose them, but tonight will show them why they’ve always been afraid to mess with me. After tonight, there will be no doubt who is in charge here.

“Let us go,” Aubrey argues, jerking her arm and trying to get free of Aaron’s grasp.

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