Page 133 of Brutal Kingdom

Everything he’s saying is true. I know she must think I left her hanging with this tape, and that I joined forces with Bella to protect myself, instead of standing up for her.

What she can’t see isI amstanding up for her. It just looks different from what she thinks it should. Graham, or whoever she’s leaning on, isn’t better at protecting her than I am. They just get to be more visible and vocal doing it.

Jordy’s not taking my dismissal of her personally. She’s turned that shit on its head and is throwing it back in my face. I love that she’s a fighter and I hate that she knows how to get to me.

I grunt at whatever else Simon is saying. I walk off to grab a drink, and make my way outside to see what the idiots are doing out back. Hopefully it’s something mildly entertaining, because I’m in desperate need of something to distract me from the consequences of my actions.

I’m exiting Dundee Hall, after taking photos for our upcoming issue about the renovation project, when I spot someone who shouldn’t be here standing in front of the dorm. “Mr. Hansen?”

He’s looking up at the building as if he’s afraid being this close to it will corrupt him with germs and poverty.

“Jordanna. Hello.”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Hansen?” I say, my guard going up. I know he’s not looking for Noel. He lives on the other side of campus.

“Uh. Looking for you.” He smiles, wiping his hand on the front of his coat.

“For what?”

“Well, first to apologize for that foolishness with the lawyers. I realized after the fact that it seemed like an ambush.”

I give him a look letting him know, we both know, itwasan ambush.

“Right. Well, that wasn’t the plan. At least not on my part. I really was there for you. I thought a friendly face would put you at ease.”

“Since we never got to the meeting, I can’t say if that would have happened or not. What did you all hope to accomplish?”

“It’s like we said. We wanted to talk to you about your petition and to try to understand who your sources were regarding this lineage. Because you see, my family is a founding family, and we pass down all records. Imogen Summer did not exist.”

“Well,myrecords say she did. And unlike you, I didn’t rely on the biased oral history of the men that came before me, who only relayed information that would perpetuate a power dynamic most beneficial to them.”

He gives me a tight smile.

“I’m still waiting for you to tell me why you’re here, Mr. Hansen.”

“Oh yes. As I said, I wanted to apologize. I know how fond my son is of you, and if he knew about what happened, he’d be upset with me.”

“Then I appreciate your apology.” I wait because I get the feeling there’s more. There always is with these people.

“I was wondering. You do know what the plan is, correct?”

He’s just switched gears. Frowning, I ask, “What plan?”

“The one that has Logan marrying Isabelle Lance.”

That has to be the worst kept secret in town. “Yes. You’ve summed it up nicely. They get married. That’s kinda what happens after you sign one of those marriage contracts, isn’t it?”

“Right. But in this town, the merger of two families basically doubles one family’s power and collapses the exiting power structure of the entire town.”

“From what I understand, you lose influential families all the time.”

“We do, and we have a fair and honest bidding war for their land and property. Bella and Logan marrying doesn’t allow for that to happen.”

Sounds like a personal problem to me. One I don’t care about. “Well, I’m sorry that their union messes up your plans, or little ritual or whatever. But there seems to be a lot of disrupting plans going on around here.”

He looks over my shoulder, a little agitated. “You’re not getting it. Once Bella and Logan officially announce their engagement, the McKay board of directors will push for legitimacy. She’ll have her family’s money and Logan’s backing her case. And with the amount of power their fathers wield, there won’t be a judge anywhere that will hear your case.”

So they’re willing to accept Bella’s claim, but my petition takes things too far. Pepper and I anticipated that the town council would do something to prevent my case from being heard. But Mr. Hansen’s wrong. There’s a judge out there somewhere who’ll give me a fair shot, and I’ll find one. Focusing on Mr. Hansen again, I watch him look around. We’re the only ones out here, but he’s still afraid of being seen. “Was there anything else?” I ask, trying to speed this along.

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