Page 157 of Always Us

“Who?”

“The organization. They’ve summoned Jade to the meeting.”

“Are you serious?” Garret stands up. “And you agreed to this?”

“We don’t have a choice,” Pearce says.

Garret huffs. “No. Forget it. I’m not letting her get anywhere near them.”

“Garret, they know she’s a Sinclair. They can’t hurt her now. It’s against the rules. When your grandfather got his promotion, he instituted a rule forbidding a member from causing physical harm to other members or their families.”

“I don’t care! They tried to kill her, and you seriously want her around those people?”

“She’s already been around them. She’s met them. She’s seen them at parties. She just didn’t know they were members.”

“Why do they want me to go to their meeting?” I ask him.

“Technically, it’s not a meeting. It’s a sentencing. They want you there when they hand down their punishment to Victoria. They ordered the whole Sinclair family to be there. They’re probably going to ask you a few questions and then they’ll hand over Victoria’s punishment.”

“What kind of questions?” My stomach knots just thinking about having to talk to these people.

“I don’t know for certain, but I’m assuming they’ll be questions related to Victoria, such as if she ever showed any signs that she knew you.”

“So Victoria will be there? And all of her daughters?”

“Yes. And William will be there. Grace is excused since she was given such short notice and couldn’t get here in time.”

“Jade’s not going,” Garret says. “She doesn’t need to be there. I’ll go in her place.”

“They won’t accept that. Jade’s a Sinclair. She needs to be there. I told them you’d want to accompany her and they agreed to it, so all three of us will be going.”

“No. Forget it, Dad. I don’t trust them. This is just one of their sick games and I’m not playing it.”

“They won’t harm her, Garret. I promise you, they won’t. And we’ll both be there with her. We won’t let her out of our sight.”

“Garret, it’s okay.” I pull on him to sit down. “Let’s just do it. I don’t want to get on their bad side and have them come after us again.”

“Jade is right,” Pearce says. “If you’re cooperative, they’ll be more likely to leave you alone in the future. Jade being a Sinclair changes things. She’s considered one of us now. And they don’t want to waste time going after their own. They’ll stop trying to scare you. They’ll let you live your lives. This is a simple request. Do this and you’ll be done dealing with them.”

“When’s the meeting?” I ask him.

“Today at noon. We’ll leave here at ten-thirty. It’s an hour away and we don’t want to be late.”

“Do I need to prepare for it? And what am I supposed to wear?”

“You don’t need to prepare anything. Their questions will be very basic. You just need to go along with the story I told you about how William and I didn’t know about you until after Royce died. And don’t tell them about the rape. Go with the story of it being an affair. As for dress code, you need to wear a black dress. Everyone wears black to the hearings and sentencings.”

“I don’t have a dress. I’ll have to go get one.”

He gets his phone out. “I’ll have one sent over. It’ll be here within the hour.”

We wait for him to text whoever’s buying me a dress and then Garret says, “Dad, you should tell Jade exactly what you told the organization about Royce so she doesn’t accidentally say the wrong thing in case they ask her about it.”

Pearce agrees and goes over the story he and William told the organization. Then my dress arrives and Garret and I go upstairs to change. We skipped breakfast. I don’t feel like eating after hearing I’m being summoned by the organization. I don’t know if I can do this. But I need to. If doing this will get them to leave us alone, I’ll do it.

I put on my dress and Garret puts on one of the suits he still had in his closet. When we meet downstairs to leave, it looks like we’re all going to a funeral. I’m in my black dress and Garret and his dad are both in black suits.

A black car with tinted windows arrives to pick us up. Normally, Pearce would drive himself to the meeting, so I’m not sure why the organization isn’t allowing him to now. Is it because of me? I asked Pearce, but he didn’t answer, so I assume it’s because of me.

---