Page 67 of Accidental Fiancé

“You made it sound like he did it to help me. What?—"

“I have a treatment.” She stood, water cascading down her skin. I’d better go, or I’ll be late.”

I snatched her hand and kept her in the pool. “Tell me what else happened.”

“Grant was trying to protect the student body from a predator,” she hissed. “Julian acted like an animal.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Mr. Poundstone.”

The name whooshed through me like a ghost. My beloved chorus teacher, the one who believed in me. The one who gave me the solo for the state competition. The one who picked me over Chloe. I lost a breath and loosened my grip. “What about him?”

“After your affair came to light?—"

“We never had an affair!” I barked. “I don’t know why anyone thought that!”

She clicked her tongue at me, watching my every move. “Mm-hmm. Well, Grant felt it was his duty to protect the student body after he heard those things, so he went to the principal with the information.”

I gripped the edge of the pool to steady myself. The words came out slowly. “Nothing happened between me and Mr. Poundstone, Chloe.”

“Right. Youearnedthe state competition solo.”

“You think I’d sleep with an old man, a teacher, for a solo?”

“I think Julian was angry you were sleeping with Mr. Poundstone, and by the time he heard about it, Mr. Poundstone had already been fired, so he took out his anger on the man who exposed you.”

Absentmindedly, I shook my head. “He’d never do that.”

“Believe what you want, Maggie. But Julian Black, wonderful as he is now, had a real anger problem in high school. He must have thought he was defending your honor or something.” She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the pool. “See you later.”

It made no sense. As senior year wound down, the state competition had been the only thing on my mind—that and keeping my grades up for scholarships. The solo had been decided a few weeks before Mr. Poundstone was fired. Just enough time for a rumor like that to destroy a career teacher. With Grant’s word being gold, no one would doubt him.

Julian attacking Grant out of nowhere sounded like total bullshit. He knew that Grant made up a lie and got a good man fired to avenge his girlfriend’s disappointment. Julian was angry, sure. But it was justified. He wanted to clear Mr. Poundstone’s name.

And mine.

A shiver of realization bolted through me. He had attacked Grant for me despite the odds. Grant was huge, and he had a knack for fighting. We’d seen it on the football field and in the halls. Julian should not have been able to walk away from that fight with just a busted eyebrow. By all rights, he was the one who should have ended up in the hospital, not Grant. Julian risked everything for me, and a primitive part of me loved him for it.

Chapter 24

Julian

Marcus laid back in the leather recliner, a puff of smoke rising from his cherry cigar. It flared as he breathed it in. “Do you think the girls know this is what we do while they’re at the spa all day?”

“Does it matter?” Apollo asked, readjusting in his recliner as he sat up and looked down. “Harriet, nice work.”

His nail tech smiled, nodded, and kept filing at what he called his foot, but what we called evidence there was a hobbit in our bloodline somewhere.

My pedicure ended half an hour ago, but I was relaxed as hell and not ready to get off the lounge recliner yet. Other family members were hanging out in various spots in the house, but when the ladies left for their spa day, a few of us had one of our own. We were happy that they were having a relaxing day together, and it was nice to be able to hang out with the guys without distractions and get our own services.

“Maggie didn’t ask what we’d be doing, but it wasn’t like Mom gave her time to. I think she wanted to get her out of here as fast as possible to stop me from objecting.”

“Why would you object to her joining spa day?” Apollo asked.

I sipped my cognac. “I wouldn’t exactly object as much as try to warn her about everyone.”

“She’s a big girl,” Marcus said. “I’m sure she can handle herself.”

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