Page 40 of The Weekend Getaway

It was only right that Mia should know about Sarah and Alex. Grace didn’t regret telling Mia and had secretly enjoyed watching Mia’s face crumble into despair. Sarah was a deceitful slut, but Mia was skinny and good-looking so she deserved a little despair and desolation, as well.

Grace sighed, staring at Sarah. “Okay … get some rest. I’ll come back and check on you later.”

She glanced around the room, eager to look for items to take, but deciding that it was too risky. Standing, Grace left the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

CHAPTER 39

Fifteen Years Ago

1:51 a.m.

Phil

After Grace left the bedroom, Phil moved from behind the drapes, then walked to the bed.

He sat next to Sarah and stared at her. From the gentle rise and fall of her chest, he could tell she was breathing. She was still alive, thank God. Phil wouldn’t put it past Grace to leave Sarah dead in the bedroom of a house that didn’t belong to her.

Phil knew Grace from one of the business classes he took. She was another freeloading, scholarship bitch who didn’t deserve to be at WBU. But she was clever and ambitious. The kind of person who would scratch and bite and claw to get to the top. The kind of girl who would ask you to borrow a knife, then stab you in the back with it. She had a raw, feral qualityto her, like a wild hog, and she was plump like a pig. Cute, with a porcine face, blonde and ruddy, but a bit too fat for Phil’s liking.

Sarah was more his type. Tall and slender, with nice boobs. She had a fresh, girl next door vitality. Phil thought he might ask her out. When she woke up. Maybe.

“Sarah …” Phil said. “You awake?”

Minutes passed, but Sarah’s eyes remained closed.

“Sarah …” Phil touched her face again, letting his hand linger, allowing his fingers to play upon her skin.

Eyes still closed, Sarah didn’t respond.

“Sarah …” he said, raising his voice.

The bitch didn’t respond.

Phil slapped her, crashing his hand against her cheek.

CHAPTER 40

Fifteen Years Ago

2:38 a.m.

Alex

“Something bad happened to Sarah,” Jason said, his voice low and shaky, nervous, like the look in his haunted eyes.

Alex frowned, staring at him. “What the fuck does that mean?”

After he, Jason, and Mia had seen Grace guiding Sarah to the stairway, and Sarah was stumbling, Alex was curious. He’d sent Jason upstairs to find out what was going on. Why were Grace and Sarah on the second level? What were those bitches up to? The last thing Alex needed was one of Phil’s friends to see them, traipsing through the chalet in places where they didn’t belong.

If that happened, and Phil found out, he might not talk to Alex. He might not invite him to another party. Might notview Alex as someone he could confide in and possibly take on as a project. Alex was under no illusion that Phil Richart would ever choose him as a friend. Alex didn’t have the money or class to cultivate a friendship. The most he could be was an acquaintance. The best thing he could be was someone Phil might want to mentor. He hoped Phil would look at him and think he could direct Alex’s life. Rich assholes like Phil got off on playing God with people’s lives. Alex needed to manipulate Phil into being his benefactor while fooling Phil into thinking everything was his idea, that he was doing some sort of good work by helping Alex succeed in life and get ahead.

But his plans might be in jeopardy if Phil dropped him because of his uncouth, trailer park friends. Not that those bitches were his friends. Sarah was a fuck buddy, or rather, a girl he hooked up with when he was in the mood to be brutal. Mia acted like a princess, like she was too delicate to be choked and slapped, but Sarah craved violence. As for Grace, Alex hardly noticed her. She was the fat bitch Chris was hooking up with.

Jason swallowed, then leaned closer to him, whispering desperately beneath the loud music.

Alex cursed. Bending down toward Jason’s ear, he asked, “And you saw Phil in the bedroom with Sarah?”

Nodding, Jason whispered, “He was sitting on the bed next to her …”

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