Page 50 of Unspoken Truths

“Ugh, Elijah,” I groan, listening to Rachelle tell me about what happened to her yesterday. We haven’t had a chance to catch up until now, and I’m driving to school with her now. “I’ve been around these guys since kindergarten, and he’s usually the one who moves in the shadows. They used to protect me when I was younger. I remember a bully messing with me, and Elijah slid behind the kid and kicked his leg out from under him in such a way that he snapped it.”

“You guys were what, five?” she asks, jaw dropping.

“Yeah,” I say, grinning. “Nacio took the blame for it, said he pushed him and Henry fell wrong. I have a feeling there have been other incidents, they just haven’t let me find out about them. As I got older, Dad taught me how to protect myself, but there’s always been a healthy respect between us. Until now.”

“Am I the reason?” Rachelle asks softly.

“Yes and no,” I grunt. “There’s something I need to tell you too. I wasn’t keeping it from you, just trying to figure out what to do.”

“Okay,” Rachelle drawls, brow raised.

Turning into a parking lot, I bite my lip when I see the time. Grabbing my phone, I call Mr. Emil. We’re going to need a little time to talk, and Rachelle’s Dad actually is my emergency contact now in my school records.

“You just left,” Mr. Emil says sharply as he picks up. “Where are you?”

“We’re fine, sir,” I say, sighing. “I need to talk to Rachelle about something before we get to school, and I realized that it’s going to mean that we may miss homeroom.”

“Are you breaking up with her already?”Mr. Emil asks.

“No! God, why would you ask that? The guys are being dicks, and I’m trying to figure out a way to get them to back off,” I explain.

“If one of them wasn’t my son, I’d just offer my help,”Mr. Emil mutters. “I try not to get involved in high school politics unless I need to. This is getting out of hand, and she’s barely been at the school for over a week.”

“I know,” I sigh. “Will you cover for us, please?”

“Take your time. I’ll tell them you’ll be there after first period,”Mr. Emil says. “Just talking, no funny stuff, is that understood?”

“Are you telling me I should protect your stepdaughter’s virtue?” I ask him, enjoying the way Rachelle’s head drops into her hands as she groans. “Do you have any of these conversations with Ignacio’s girlfriends?”

“No, but because he’s never had any,”he grunts. “I’m not as concerned about what the guys get up to. They’ve been thick as thieves for years.”

Did he just admit that he knows his son is bisexual?I’m speechless as I blink at the phone.

“What, nothing to say? That’s not like you,”Mr. Emil teases me. “I know more about Nacio than he thinks. I don’t care who he loves, I just wish he’d realize his stepsister isn’t the enemy he thinks she is.”

“I should have known that you wouldn’t allow yourself to be pegged as a stereotype,” I murmur. “I don’t think Ignacio knows that though.”

“Sounds like I’ll need to correct that. Tick, tock, Liliana,” he says, and the line disconnects.

“I didn’t expect that to be quite such a heavy conversation,” I mutter, putting my phone down. “He told me to behave and keep my hands to myself, Rachelle.”

“I’m going to crawl under a rock,” she says, her voice muffled by her hands.

“It’s fine. Come on, he’s getting us excused till after first period. Let’s take a walk,” I tell her, opening my car door.

Blowing out a breath, Rachelle drops her hands, and I marvel at how her cheeks are blushing. I want to play with her hair, kiss her lips, and see where things go, but we need to talk about Ignacio and the Kings.

They want to break us up, isolate Rachelle. I won’t let that happen, because I’m going to blow up their plan. If she and I keep telling each other the truth, no matter what, then the guys won’t be able to twist it against us.

Locking the car once she joins me outside, I link my fingers in hers and begin walking.

“Everyone knows the Carlysle Kings,” I murmur. “The seniors choose who will be their successors when they graduate, from the entering freshman class. That means, the guys chosen are fresh out of middle school. They control everything that happens, and I once heard that Ignacio and Elijah handled an issue in the seventh grade the headmaster was ignoring. Personally, I’m glad Mr. Lee is gone now.”

“He was a dick,” Rachelle agrees, shuddering.

“To say the least,” I agree. “Most of the guys don’t have a great home life outside of Ignacio, and even he hasn’t been seeing eye to eye with his father. They’re the heirs to large corporations, crime empires, and expected to take over after college. The four of them are living on borrowed time before they have to step into the future that’s already been planned for them.”

“No offense, but they have to understand that their wealth is something their families have amassed,” Rachelle says. “It doesn’t belong to them outside of fringe benefits. I’m not sure how I feel about Emil’s work situation, but wealth has strings attached. Am I expected to feel bad for the whiny little babies?”

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