Page 7 of A Man of Prestige

“Yay! We totally have to try that new Italian restaurant beforehand. Oh, and we should hit a club afterward. I hear the band is staying at that hotel by the club we went to last year for my birthday.”

I close my eyes and sip some water, so I can collect myself.

“Oh, and, uh, I can spend the night, right?”

“Of course,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll leave a key at the front desk for you.”

“Thanks, Ella. I can’t wait to see you. I miss you,” she says.

“I miss you too, El-bell. Hasta la pasta,” I say, ending the call with our favorite childhood goodnight saying.

“Hasta la pasta, Elly-belly.”

I grin at her nickname for me as we disconnect. There are a few years between us, but I do love that kid. And now that we’re both adults, I must admit, it’s nice to hang out with her for short periods of time. I can’t take too much Elena at once. She’s a lot.

I put my glass in the dishwasher and head back to my bedroom, crawling beneath my covers and picking up a murder-mystery book that my mom had mailed me a while back. Every few weeks, she asks if I’ve read it yet, and I’m starting to feel guilty about my lack of time to do the simplest tasks and mundane pleasures.

I force myself to stay awake for thirty more minutes as I immerse myself in a story of assassins and secret societies. My troubled mind keeps comparing the fiction to my real life. As I slide the book onto my nightstand and turn off the light, Aiden’s words come back to me. “I’m sorry I brought you into all of this.”

Why do I feel like he’s sorry about so much more than asking me to illegally process a substance for him? He’s not explained very much to me and I’m beginning to wonder what exactly is going on with him. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t ask questions. I should do him this favor and then never see him again. Only, a part of me, a very buried part of me, wants to see him again. And that scares me.

Chapter5

Aiden

Ella:It’s the same drug that was used on Alexis. One hundred percent match. It’s also the same drug used on the other girls. It’s a seventy percent match to the drug used on Tina. We should talk.

I stare at the text. We found it.

I call Sebastian and Conner first.

“It’s a match. Ella confirmed it. We need to lay out our plan,” I say after they answer.

“Damn. Vivienne’s room looks like one of those detective shows. She’s been working on digging up things on everyone on the council. She’s narrowing down who the last two elite members are. We should debrief. Give her another seventy-two hours,” Conner says.

“How’s Alexis?” I ask Sebastian. I’ve been worried about her since she was found in the woods. Maybe it’s the big brother in me. I always wanted a little sister. I used to love hanging out with Elena. Ella’s sister is the coolest. I’ve kept tabs on her. She’s in grad school now.

“She’s fine,” Sebastian answers, cutting into my thoughts. “The doctor she saw for her follow-up says all her bloodwork is back to normal.”

“That’s good. Let’s plan to meet up on Thursday night at the safe house,” I suggest.

“Yep. Hopefully we have more intel by then. I’ve had Bryce’s team doing some research for us, too. He has contacts that may be able to get us intel,” Conner says. There’s silence on the phone for a heartbeat.

“So…how’s Ella?” Sebastian asks. I knew that question was coming. After the breakup, I didn’t talk about her. I didn’t talk about our fight. I didn’t talk anything regarding her. They don’t ask, but I know they want to.

“She’s fine. I’m going to thank her for helping us and then she’s out of this. She has her whole life set up. She doesn’t need to be involved any more than she has been,” I assure them.

“If you say so,” Conner says. I want to reach over the phone line and punch the smirk right off his face. Fucker.

“Oh, and there’s one other thing that you’ll find interesting about the girls whose bodies have been found in the park recently,” Conner adds. “Remember the parties?”

I freeze at the mention of them. Of course, I do. TOD used to have parties. In fact, the night we found Tina we were coming home from one of them. They were typical frat parties, aside from one difference. Some of the alumni would attend. Older alumni. Powerful alumni. They garnered quite a bit of attention from some of the younger women at the parties who were drawn to the power of these men. There were girls that the alumni would inquire about. It was always the same type of girl. They preyed upon young women who they saw as weak. They preyed upon young women who didn’t have life figured out yet or who wanted the husband and the house with the white picket fence and two kids. They took advantage of women with a particular desire for their futures, and it was wrong on so many levels. These powerful men were like rock stars to these young women, and they fucking knew it.

“I remember,” I mutter.

“They all had been at a party the night before,” Conner says, and I can tell it’s through clenched teeth.

My mind does somersaults.

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