Page 111 of Broken Princess

“Logan, I see the gears turning in your head. Remember what she said about coming after her? None of us want what’s in those files becoming public knowledge.”

Each of us received a different file, and no one has mentioned what’s in theirs. Jordy has something no one else at this school has ever had on any of us. Leverage. I’d like to say fuck everyone, but I still owe this group. Not only for the friends we once were, but because, king or not, I still believe in the vision I had for all of our futures.

“I’ll make sure those files never see the light of day. And when I’m done with that mess, I promise,I’m taking Jordanna down.Hard.”

“I am so glad to hear you say that.” Bella says, coming to stand beside our table. She slips into the empty chair uninvited. The school’s her stage now and she’s confident in the fact that she can do whatever she wants. “I have a few ideas about what we can do.”

“Tell me the rumors I’m hearing aren’t true. You’re no longer in charge at school, and I had to hear it from someone at the club?” That’s how my dad greets me when I wander down the steps, looking for something to kill the hangover I’m sporting. My last exam was Thursday and I’ve been drinking since the second after I turned in my test.

“It’s true.”

“How did this even happen?”

“Dad, it’s a long story.”

“Give me the clickbait headline.”

“I had it. I had it all, and Jordanna…”

“The girl you’ve been seeing? She’s the reason? Dammit son, I thought I taught you better than this.”

There are few people I can be honest with. Tabitha, Simon- who’s so deep in his finals he hasn’t answered his phone or texts in two weeks-, my mom and my dad. Out of those people, Davis McKay is probably the only person who can even begin to understand how I’m feeling. “You said we all get one. Maybe she was it.”

He hates when I actually listen and use his words against him. “You’re too young to make that decision, right now.”

“Am I? You and mom weren’t that much older than me, when you made yours.”

“It was a different time back then. I didn’t run the school, and deciding to settle down with her still had its challenges. You have your pick of ladies. Beautiful, wealthy, smart. Think of the alliances we could make.”

“I know dad. That’s all I’ve thought about since tenth grade. But there’s something different about her.”

“Son…”

“I’m not being naïve. And before you ask, it has nothing to do with sex. I was drawn to Jordanna from the beginning. She might not come from where we do, but you’ve met her. Tell me you didn’t feel like there was something special about her.”

He levels me with his stare. The one I’ve emulated and perfected over the years. Then his eyes soften, slightly. “She’s great. Talented. I like her well enough, but, there’s a way to do things and if she’s cost you your position.”

“I gave it up, to keep the peace, at school. And I admit I was distracted, but I’m seeing things clearer now. I made that stupid bet with Bella, in the fall, and I didn’t question her motives.”

“Come on, Logan. Not that goddamn bet again.”

“Dad, I didn’t make another one. But, I’m starting to think there was more to the reason why Bella pushed me to agree to it in the first place. There’s more to the story with Jordanna. One Bella’s known about since the beginning. I was too focused on other things to see she was playing the long game. Noel too.”

“Noel Hansen?”

I nod. “I missed the signs at first, but something tells me, he was in on whatever plan Bella had.”

“And you think this was to get back at you for dethroning him your freshman year?”

“Mmm, maybe.”

My dad lowers his briefcase back onto the table, pours some coffee, and takes a seat. “Okay, son, you seem to know the players. You’ve decided you smell a story. What are you gonna do?”

Davis McKay is cunning and ruthless, and he’s raised me to be the same. I was temporarily blinded by doe eyes, a nice ass, and pussy that grips me like a glove, so I couldn’t see all the moves laid out in front of me. Now I can, and despite what Bella and Jordy think, neither of them has me in checkmate.

He nods approvingly when I say, “I’m gonna find out just what the hell Isabelle Lance has got me mixed up in, and when I do, I’m going to make her regret ever minute of it.”

But first, I have to track down the little bird who flew the coop after her duplicitous nature was revealed.

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