Page 9 of Brutal Kingdom

“I said, spoke to Jordanna.”

“When?”

“Two days ago at registration. I was on campus and ran into her, taking pictures for the back to school edition. She has an interesting use of angles. I half expected her to climb a tree to get an overhead shot.”

I don’t join in on his chuckle, fixated on the fact that he was on campus and I didn’t know, and that he talked to Jordanna. “What did she say to you?”

“That despite what happened, she’s not quitting the paper because she feels you are both professional enough to work together.”

“That’s it?”

He turns the page on his morning paper. “Isn’t that enough? Logan, there’s a reason you shouldn’t get involved with subordinates. I understand it started before she joined the paper and that her employment with The Guild was probably a part of her plan for revenge. But she’s smart enough to know working there is an amazing opportunity. And she’s talented with a camera and a pen. I’d be disappointed if she quit just because you’re gunning for her head.”

He finally looks up from his paper, asking, “Youarestill trying to uncover how deep the conspiracy goes, and take back control, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Of course. Everyone will be back on campus in a few days and I’ll start getting the answers I need.”

“Good to hear.”

I force myself to eat even though I’ve lost my appetite. Dad was at school and talked to Jordanna. He hardly ever goes to campus unless there’s a donor meeting or party. Neither of those things were happening on registration day. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care who he talks to, but this is a very volatile situation. I can’t afford for Jordanna to feel threatened. Not this soon in the game. I still don’t have those files in my possession. I can’t get Montanna to find them, because she’s gotten to him too. Besides, Simon would be the only person I’d trust to handle this, and he’s been distracted since sending me that message about the marriage contract.

My best friend always has my back. His warning came about forty-two seconds before Johnathan Lance strode up to me with his hand out and congratulations on his lips. My mother and the littles are the only reason I didn’t feign an important call and hightail it out of there.

I look up at my dad, wondering if his ass still hurts from where my mother ripped him a new one. Mom’s a hopeless romantic, but she’s also a beast in the boardroom and understands what’s expected in our world. Her complaint wasn’t that dad was arranging marriages. Her issue is that he didn’t include me when he chose my intended bride.

I’m a grown man and can fight my own battles, but on this I’m grateful to have mom’s interference and support.

FIVE

JORDANNA

Pepper has me on another research mission. I don’t doubt Bella would find a way to run me out of town if she gets the chance, but what kind of business dealings is her father into that cost a family everything they owned? A high stakes bet? A non profitable business merger? Maybe Bella victimized the son or daughter of those families, and moving away was the only way to protect their child.

Pepper’s investigator is digging into the Summers, but I’m researching the Lance’s on my own.Know thy enemy…I’m watching Bella from across the dining hall. She’s here with Olivia and a few girls she hangs with at parties. It’s the same group doing the same shit. Off to the back of the crowd, I see someone who looks out of place. She’s just as fashionably styled as the other girls, but there’s a pureness and openness to her face that they’re lacking. That innocence won’t last long with the company she’s keeping.

Pepper thinks the students are ready for a change. I scan the rest of the dining hall, trying to see if anyone stands out. No one besides me is glaring in Bella’s direction. If anyone else here hates her guts, they’re great at hiding it. My gaze swings over the table to my right. Everyone sitting there is eating and talking, except for one person. The guy who’s not is staring at Bella’s table. I look back over to the middle of the room and see the young girl hugging her books to her chest. She scoots around the table and walks with her head down, squeezing into the space beside the guy. He looks back at Bella one last time before pulling the girl into a conversation.

It takes a few minutes for her mood to brighten. Too bad I’m the only one who thinks it’s a waste of energy to be upset that Bella’s ignoring her. I duck my head back down and finish my food. I got my retribution from the BPs, and whatever’s happening with the students at VDU is none of my business.

I step off the bus and start my five-block walk to city hall. My destination is the tax assessor’s office. Property tax information is a matter of public record and I have a list of commercial and residential properties I want to look at. It’s time to get up to speed on who owns what in this town, and this is the quietest way to do that. I’m in and out in twenty minutes.

My second stop in the building is Founder’s Hall. The two story room holds the family lineage of the people who started Kingsley Hollow. I’m going to use the information on display and the names of the town’s board of trustees to trace the lines of succession and see who’s remained on top of the food chain generations later.

Bendevire, Charles; McKay, Alan; Hansen, Josiah; Isaac, Richard; Ruttledge, Cane; Eldridge, Silvan and Whitley, Eric. These are the seven founding families of Camelot Court. When they grabbed this land and settled here, did they know it would become the breeding ground for the most ruthless businessmen in America? Did they know their ideas of exclusion would lead to the torment of anyone different from them? Supposedly I’m a descendant of Charles Bendevire. What would he say if he knew his family split, and a rivalry had formed between the Lan Bel Anons and the Summers? Was he cruel and narcissistic like Bella? Or warm and comforting, like Daniella and my dad?

As if my thoughts have reached across the ocean to her, my phone rings. “Daniella?”

“Jordanna. Hi, sweetie. I was gonna leave a message. Aren’t you in class?”

“No. This is my free afternoon. I was just thinking about you. What’s up?”

“I think I found it.”

“Found what?”

“That family bible I told you about. My cousin Marie remembers hearing about it and says she thinks it has a list of all the names leading up to the Summer line.”

“All? Even the Lan Bel Anons?”

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