Page 203 of Choosing You

“It doesn’t surprise me, Jade. That’s not uncommon when someone won’t keep quiet.”

It’s just like Garret said. It’s one of the techniques powerful people use to hide their secrets. Making people who know the truth crazy so nobody will ever believe them. I start to wonder if I should be telling all this stuff to Garret’s dad. I’m not sure if I can trust him. Garret always tells me his family does stuff he doesn’t approve of. And the story about the fire just proved that. Now I’m wondering what else his dad has done.

“When did Sinclair start threatening Jade?” Garret asks.

“A few months ago. But he wasn’t making threats, at least that’s not how he made it sound. He called me and said he suspected she might know about the affair. Again, he called it an affair, not a rape. And he mentioned something about a letter. Anyway he told me to keep a closer eye on her and that he would be sending someone out here to give her a little scare so she wouldn’t start digging for more information. That’s when I started to have concerns. I tried to talk him out of it. I told him it wasn’t necessary. And then I found out you two were dating and I had to stop it. I didn’t want you involved in this, Garret.”

So that’s why Mr. Kensington kept trying to keep Garret and me apart? I still think my background had something to do with it. Along with input from Katherine.

He continues. “When you two showed up at the fundraiser, Royce was furious. He assumed I brought Jade there just to flaunt her in front of his wife and daughter, like I was trying to reveal his secret to his family. I assured him I had nothing to do with it, but he didn’t believe me.”

Mr. Kensington turns to Garret. “Later that night, Sadie made a joke, saying you picked a girl who looks just like her. Royce panicked. He was sure his wife or other people at the party would also notice the similarity and would eventually put the pieces together. That’s when I started getting even more worried.”

“So you think he’s really trying to kill me?” I almost can’t say the words. The thought that someone, especially my own father, wants me dead is too much to comprehend.

Mr. Kensington sits back in his chair. “I thought he’d just start having you followed. Listen in on your calls to see how much you knew. I didn’t think he’d actually try to harm you. But now, with this incident with the car, it’s clear he’s trying to do just that. And he obviously wants to harm you as well, Garret. He must assume you know about all of this, given your relationship with Jade.”

“So what now?” I ask him. “We hide out and hope he doesn’t kill us? Can’t we do something?”

“I’m working on it.” Mr. Kensington stands up, as if signaling that our conversation is over. “I don’t think you need to be prisoners here in the house but stay close to home. Royce knows better than to send his people to the house, or even to this town. But Garret, if you go anywhere, I want you to take your gun.”

“Yeah, I will.”

I look at them like they’re insane, but the two of them act like it’s perfectly normal.

We leave the office. Mr. Kensington shuts the door behind us.

“I guess that explains some things,” Garret says. “I’ve never seen him so worried about me. And he’s worried about you, too. He’ll take care of this, Jade. He’ll do whatever he can to keep this guy from hurting you. And me.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Call up his people. Go into full attack mode. Force Sinclair to stop whatever he’s planning to do.”

“I probably don’t want to know the details.”

“No, you don’t.” He puts his arm around my shoulder. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

I hope he’s not going to show me his gun, because I’m still trying to accept the fact that he has one. And is ready to use it.

CHAPTERFIFTY-THREE

Garret leadsme beyond the foyer and around the corner to the formal living room. Standing near the window is the largest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen, at least in person. It’s artificial because Katherine would never allow a real tree in her house. It would be too messy. But the fake tree looks real.

It’s covered in white lights which are turned on even though it’s the middle of the day. Giant blue and silver ornaments hang from almost every branch. I notice more lights glistening off to the side and see that the staircase banister is covered in lighted greenery.

“We have lights outside in the back, too,” Garret says. “They come on when it gets dark.”

“This tree is incredible.” I walk around it. Every ornament is placed perfectly, like someone measured the distance between each one.

“There’s more. And it’s even better. Let’s go to my side of the house.”

We go to the game room that we hung out in over Thanksgiving break. It, too, has a tree. It’s not as big as the other one, but it’s still huge. Garret turns the overhead lights off and flips a switch that turns the Christmas lights on. The tree is covered in multicolored lights and there are smaller trees in other sections of the room, also lit up.

“I told you I’m into Christmas,” Garret says.

“Who did all this?”

“We have a company that comes in and does it. We just tell them what we want. I always pick the stuff for this room. Katherine hates the multicolored lights. She doesn’t allow them in the main house, so I put them in here. What do you think?”

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