Page 29 of Hard to Break

“He had ketamine in his system.”

She pulls up and turns toward me, her styled brows drawing together. “He should know better than?—”

“He does,” I insist.

Miles wouldn’t take a party drug, not even at all-star weekend when he had a few days off to unwind.

Someone slipped it into his drink.

“You think it was an accident,” she reads.

“What else?”

It could have been anyone—a fan, another clubgoer? A party drug intended for someone else?

Probably. But the worst part is not knowing.

Harrison King reviewed the security footage himself and couldn’t find any evidence.

It’s strange and probably a fluke, but it’s frustrating anyway.

She considers. “Miles Garrett might have millions of fans but his stock is about to tumble. You should distance yourself.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” I say sharply as she starts to continue along the trail. “He’s not someone you can look down on, Mom. We’re dating.”

She flinches. “Being caught up in a public fight is bad for business. Toppling like a giant redwood in the middle of a nightclub and getting wheeled into an ambulance is worse.”

Her words are tossed over her shoulder, carried away on the wind as she starts back along the trail with a grimace.

I stomp after her. “You’d rather I was dating your favorite donor’s son, wouldn’t you?” My frustration escapes in cold puffs of breath. “You care more about your political wins than about my happiness.”

“No, dearest. Men like Kevin can be controlled. You find out what motivates them, and you use it.”

She makes it sound simple. As if every curveball life throws at her is manageable if only she’s smart and careful.

Resentment builds up in my chest. “I need to tell you something,” I start. “Back in college, the drugs my sorority sister found in my room were Kevin’s. They weren’t mine. He wanted me to go down for it, was going to let me do it.”

She pulls up ahead of me. The expression on her face is tired and a little irritated. “I know.”

My mouth falls open. “You knew this the entire time? And yet you still wanted me to date him?”

She shakes her head. “His family has a deal in the works that would make them even more powerful. With power comes responsibility.”

“That’s a Spider-Man quote, Mom.”

Her sigh echoes off the trees. “Do you know how I met his parents?” I’m not sure how it matters, but she’s already continuing. “His family’s law firm has been operating for generations. His brother was a board member on a cause I supported. He was implicated in some abuse-of-funds charges. He used to be a partner in the firm. They cut him out and all but disowned him. Quietly, of course, privately. He died by suicide a few years later.”

I feel a pang of grief. Kevin had mentioned his brother’s death to me but never wanted to talk about it.

“Well, nothing happened to him after he tried to frame me in school. There were zero consequences.”

“I wouldn’t be quick to assume that,” she says.

What consequences could there have been? I suppose we were broken up at the time, but whatever punishment Kevin suffered or didn’t is none of my concern. There are bigger issues than whether he got his wrist slapped.

“In any case, the campaign has been working overtime to distance us from your ‘boyfriend’ and his incident,” Mom says.

“I’m sorry we’re costing you money.”

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