Page 57 of Brutal Kingdom

“Wait!” I pause, giving her time to come clean. “Like I said, there’s nothing wrong. I’m handling it, but I might have to take a few days away from school, so I’m gonna need you to step up.”

“What exactly is it that you’re handling?”

“Some family stuff. I’ll be gone two days, max, so can I count on you or not?”

Two days for family stuff and she needs to be away from school to take care of it? Sounds like damage control to me. “No problem Bella. I’ll make sure everything doesn’t go to shit while you’re away.”

TWENTY-FOUR

LOGAN

The sun feels brighter; the air smells cleaner, and the birds are chirping just a little louder than usual this morning, and it’s all because Bella is MIA. I know it’s only a couple of days, but anytime I’m not forced to see her face or listen to her voice is cause for celebration. The havoc I could reek in her absence… I won’t do what she did. I won’t steal the throne away from her while her back is turned. When Bella goes down, I plan to be looking her right in her dead, emotionless eyes.

Today is the lecture and peer critique day for our senior artist studio. That means it’s nap time for me, in the back of the class. The lecture is mandatory, the critique part optional, and given the current state of affairs at school, I’m not about to give any of these assholes a chance to try to tear me down. I’m not saying the sculpture I’m working on is perfect. It’s not. I haven’t even started it, and the sketch I made of what it should look like is incomplete. But I already know what’s wrong, so why would I sit around and let someone else tell me what’s wrong in a meaner way?

Jordanna walks into the room and put her canvas up front. She, unlike me, wants to hear their comments. She sits a few rows away, and I can’t explain why I feel the need to move closer. I fight that feeling right up until the point where Gredin, the kid she sat next to last semester, takes the seat next to her. He slings his arm across the back of her chair and she slips down, relaxing against it. Her laugh reaches me when he leans over and whispers in her ear.

An irrational urge to rip his arm off and beat him with it runs through me. No one cares that Jordy’s my ex. Some could argue that she was never really mine- since what we had was built on lies- but as far as I’m concerned, she was, and she could be again.

It would be so easy to make her want it. Trapped in a dark quiet space, taking her body, until we’re both too weak to move. The fantasy comes crashing down around me when I remember her words in the elevator. She hates me, and I hate her too, but underneath that rage, I still want mine to be the only name falling from her lips when she comes undone.

There’s so much pain between us, but underneath the cloak of anonymity, we could be consumed by our lust and devour each other again. My dick jumps at the idea.

It took a few calls, and I had to spend about two grand more than I wanted to put things into place, but I pulled it off. I convinced an LA prop and special effects company to create a haunted escape room experience on the grounds of the outdoor amphitheater thirty miles from here. A huge projection screen will show movies and three local cover bands are providing the music. I have a few surprises up my sleeve for this weekend, and I’m counting on the crowds, cars, and tents to be so chaotic that nobody will remember who showed up or what they were doing.

Bella came back this morning, and she’s pissed because I didn’t run this by her. In response to her asking why I planned this event, I tell her, “I was feeling bored, and wanted to get away from campus for a couple of days. Tabitha seems to be out of her rebellious phase, and I don’t see any other opportunities to hop a last-minute flight to raise hell presenting themselves in the foreseeable future, so I brought a weekend of fun and mischief to us.”

“What if I had other plans for this weekend?”

“Your presence isn’t required. I actually didn’t think you’d be back from your family emergency so soon. How are things, by the way?”

“They’re great.”

“So what was the emergency?”

“Do I ask you about your family drama?”

She’s defensive. Add that to the timing of her departure, and I’m pretty sure it has something to do with what I told her about Jordanna’s search.

“You’re right, and I don’t actually give a shit. I was just making conversation. There’s a lot riding on how we finish out this school year. I just hope whatever issue you’re having won’t be too distracting.” I lace the statement will all kinds of subtext.

* * *

I’m waiting for my dad in his study when he gets home from work. I’ve been struggling with whether to bring this up, but based on the speed with which he’s checking off items on this marriage contract, I can’t wait any longer. It’s after eight when he shows up and even though I’ve got a ton of homework to do, I’m prepared to stay up talking until the whole story comes out.

He knows something’s up when he walks into the room. I’m never here during the week unless Ava and Hunter are home.

“If you’re here in the middle of the week, it must be important, so I’ll skip asking how school is and you can tell me how much damage control I need to do.”

“That depends entirely on how much damage you’ve done with pairing me with Bella.”

“Not this again. We’ve already talked about it. It’s happening. End of discussion.”

“Would knowing the firm financial backing the Lance’s are claiming to have might be a lie help reopen this discussion?”

Sitting at his desk, he says, “That’s a bold allegation.”

“Well, how about this? There’s someone in town challenging them for an inheritance that they never disclosed.”

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