Page 70 of Brutal Kingdom

“So what I’m doing is a means to that end?”

“God, I hope so.”

Her head tilts to the side. She’s looking through me again. “Then you admit it. You’ll be using me.”

“We can use each other. I have access to places and resources you don’t.”

“I have Noel and Sterling.”

This conversation just went from cordial to contentious. She knows how I feel about them. “How many times do I have to tell you they’re not your friends?”

“They’re notyourfriends. I don’t have those same issues.”

“Jordanna, they’re the sons of the very families whose standing you jeopardize. When it’s time to choose sides, they won’t be on yours. Their parents will never allow it.”

“And yours will?”

“My dad is driven by facts, not money.”

“Logan, I appreciate your offer to help, and to fuck me comatose. But I don’t need you for any of it, so just stay out of my way.”

I let her go. She’ll need a few days to think about my offer. She may not want my help or my body. But she’s getting them, anyway.

TWENTY-NINE

LOGAN

“Everybody leave!” I snarl when I walk up to the group gathered at the table around Bella. There’s a moment of hesitation before they move, rightly deciding I’m the one they should be most scared of.

“You know you have no authority to order my people to leave. Do you need another time out, Logan?”

Her people? As Simon reminded me last night on our business call, the fate of everyone in this school is still in my hands. One little algorithm change on Prospectus could ruin all their future plans. That opened my eyes to just how shortsighted I’ve been worrying about dethroning Bella. She can have the fancy little title here. The world is still in the palm of my hands. And after what she did to Jordanna, I’m done pretending to fall in line with her.

“Mind telling me why I found Jordanna locked in a car on Fallyn Road in the middle of a race?”

“Maybe whatever piece of crap car she was racing in stalled out.”

“We both know she wasn’t a driver, and Hal is the one who organizes those races. He said her name wasn’t on the list.”

“Why do you always assume I have something to do with the trouble she finds?”

“Because you do. I told you it was a bad idea to move her dorm, and you did it. Now you set her up to be left out there with those idiots doing 140 miles per hour. She could’ve been killed.”

“I didn’t-”

“I tracked down the driving instructor you paid. He told me everything.”

She drops the innocent act now. “God, it was hilarious. Montanna had a camera in the car too, so we saw her meltdown.”

“You think this is funny?”

“It was a joke, Logan. So what if she was a little scared? You came and rescued her from the big bad car. She’s fine.”

“Bella, remember when you asked me to trust you, and to consider us a team?” I grip her wrist, pulling her to her feet. “Stunts like that don’t show you have the school’s best interest in mind and they don’t make you trustworthy.”

“Okay, okay. You’re right, I should have run these last few plans by you so you could do your safety assessment. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up. When Tabitha said she heard her telling someone that she was scheduling another driving lesson. I just couldn’t resist. I mean who knew all this time that she didn’t have a license? I thought she was just too poor to have a car.”

I knew, and I know why. I squeeze tighter, barely keeping it together. “Ow, Logan. You’re hurting me. Logan!”

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