Page 535 of Dark Love

But isn’t everyone wounded? We all hide our wounds in a different way, protecting ourselves. We’ve changed so much since last year. I’ve changed so much.

“And stop.” Dylan ends the sprint. “How did everyone do?”

“I think I’m going to delete everything I wrote today.” Harper glares at her computer screen.

“No rage deleting allowed during sprints,” Junie repeats our motto.

“Who got a check in from Piper?” Garnet asks.

Stella holds up her phone. “I got it. She’s on her way up.”

“I can’t believe she had dinner with him, too.” Keeley flips her screen down.

“Why? If that man asked, I’d not only go to dinner with him, I’d bear his children and help him hide any bodies. That man is delicious.” Savie sighs.

“That would be a lot of bodies to hide.”

Everyone turns to Dylan.

She shrugs, “I might have done a little research on Valen Linckester instead of writing words.”

“Oh? Spill the dirt. What’s his body count?” Stella leans forward.

Daria writes a little note and slides it over to Colin. He scribbles on the paper and slides it back. There should be sly smiles or hidden glances between the two of them.

That’s it. I’m pathetic. I want everyone to be in love because I am.

“We need snacks if we’re going to spill the tea like this.” Junie reaches into her bag for a granola bar.

“How about I order us some room service?” Colin stands up.

The girls stare at each other silently. They want the food, but not at the prices bound to be charged on the room service menu.

“My treat.”

It’s all smiles after that.

Colin walks over to the in-house phone.

“Spill quickly before Piper shows up.” Garnet motions with her hand for Dylan to move it along.

“Valen Linckester is responsible for the death of probably tens of thousands of people.”

Everyone gasps.

“But not directly. His family has been a weapons contractor for the government for generations.”

That’s not quite the same as killing people.

“They’re worth billions, maybe tens of billions. No one knows exactly. The company is controlled by his grandfather and broken up between him and his two cousins.”

So just a little bit rich. That’s got to be weird for Piper.

“Each one of them got a company to run.”

“So what does Valen Linckester do then, make bombs?” Garnet walks over to the bar to pour herself a drink.

“No, that’s his cousin, Joseph. The other one, Arnold, deals with chemical warfare.”

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