Page 125 of The Trophy

I’ll never understand Topher. If he loves my sister, how could he be so horrible to me and Cole? He knows how much we matter to Bay. “What about you?” I ask her. “Do you love him?”

One tear slides down my twin’s face. I can feel her pain, it talks to my own right now. “I love him. But I can’t be with someone who treats others the way he does. Things have been rocky between me and him since the fall semester started. I started to notice a side of him I hadn’t seen before. I know Toph is cocky, but I’ve always thought that was a front. He has always shown me a softer, more caring side. I was very close to ending things with him right after the auction. We were fighting all the time and I wasn’t sure we were right for each other. Then he tried to woo me, brought me home to meet his parents. I don’t know, I thought he really cared. Especially after he fought with his dad for saying I wasn’t good enough. But since we came back from winter break, he changed. He’s been cold, distracted. Maybe deep down he thinks his dad is right.”

My heart hurts for her. “You know that’s bullshit, right?”

She lifts her head, her chin high in defiance. “I know that. I wanted to talk to him about our situation, give him a way out if he really believes I don’t come from the right family to become a Mumford. But after what he did to you? He better be wearing a jock cup when I find him because his ass is the least painful place I’m going to kick.”

I hate the heartbreak I see in my sister’s eyes, but I’d be lying if I said that I don’t think that breaking up with Topher isn’t what’s best for her.

Bay rises from the couch, exhaling a shuddering breath. “Ok. Do you want to go find your guys?”

I nod. “Yeah, I need to make sure they’re alright and see if they have any clue about who could be the author of that post.”

She hugs me. “I’m sorry that happened to you, sis. Do you need me to come with you to find them? If not, I’m going to go back to campus and talk to my boyfriend. I predict I’ll be single by the end of today. If I find out he’s behind that post? Be ready with bail money because so fucking help me God.”

I’ve always admired Bay’s determination, but sometimes she scares me. “Bay?” I say as we walk out of the hotel suite.

“What?”

“Please, be careful.”

Bay pulls on the ends of her blonde ponytail, a telltale sign that she’s more nervous than she lets out. “Don’t worry, Lakey-Lake. If anyone should be worried, it’s Topher.”

Right. I can’t help but remember how Topher got almost physical with me when I confronted him about the dare, but I don’t say anything. Bay is already livid, I don’t need to make things even worse.

“Can I help, ma’am?” one of the guards outside the door asks.

“I need to talk to Prince Luca. Would you happen to know where he is?”

The man nods. “He’s in the executive suite at the end of this hallway. Suite number thirty-five. Let me walk you there. We’ve cleared the entire building from anyone who isn’t on the King’s approved guest list or staff, but you never know.”

I don’t even try to argue with him, sure he would insist if I declined. Besides, I’m not in the mood to find myself face to face with a paparazzo right about now.

“Here you go, ma’am.” The guard signals to his colleagues outside Luca’s suite. “Miss Woods is here to see the Prince.”

“Let me escort you in, ma’am,” one of the two men says.

I swallow the protest on the tip of my tongue when he extracts a keycard from the pocket of his black suit pants.

“Here you go, through there.” He points out a double door almost identical to the one in the suite I just left. “Do you need me to announce you?”

“No, thanks.”

I advance to the door, noticing it’s not completely closed. From the small gap between the two halves, I can see Luca’s blond hair and his tall frame.

He’s talking to someone, I assume Blaze or Cash.

“I’m not saying that, Cash. Maybe she let it slip with Bay. They’re twin sisters after all.” He says.

Cash’s voice is a deep rumble. “That could be it. And Bay could have told Topher in confidence.”

Luca’s voice is laced with tension. “It doesn’t matter if that’s how it happened. Lake knew how important trust was to me, how many times I’ve been betrayed before and I thought she understood. Even if she let it sleep by accident, that still means I can’t trust her.”

What the fuck?

They’re talking about me. Luca thinks I talked about him. That even though I’m clearly the victim of that post, I must be the source. It doesn’t take a genius what information he thinks only I could divulge. The piercing he swears no other woman had seen before me.

My heart is hammering against my rib cage, so fast that I almost feel dizzy and so loud that I almost miss Cash’s reply.

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