Page 157 of These Summer Storms

“He and Saoirse had overheard the terms of the game—and they thought that if I left and you didn’t inherit…Sila might leave.” Which had, in fact, happened.

“Shit.” Annoyed dad became guilty parent fast. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I would have stopped it.”

“You locked me in the book vault to keep me here, Sam.”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “Okay, fine. Maybe I wouldn’t have stopped them. That was a pretty good prank.” He cast about for someone to shift the blame onto (once an older brother, always an older brother). Found it. “For what it’s worth, Emily isn’t exactly innocent in all this. She’s the one who told me you were leaving with Mike Haskins!”

Emily’s mouth dropped open. “Um, to be fair, Ididdo that, but I didn’t think you’d—”

“You knew exactly what I’d do!” Sam crowed. “You just didn’t want your fingerprints on it.”

“I think the important thing to recognize here,” Jack said, “is that I did not do any of this. In fact, you might recall that I offered to help you getoffthe island before the boats went missing.” When she started to speak, he held up a hand. “Which I also had nothing to do with.”

She knew that. Alice could still feel his relief when he’d burst through the screen door, worried she was out in the storm on one of them.

“So…” Greta began, raising her hand like they were in school. “That one is on me.” Everyone turned shocked eyes to her. “I’m sorry. I was just somadthat Mom had sent Tony—” Her throat closed on the rest of the words. “I thought, well now Alicehasto stay or else it will all be for nothing.”

This whole family was unhinged. “You know, Gabi thought you all might murder me.”

“What?”

“I’m offended!”

“Why would we do that? That would only make everythingmorecomplicated,” Sam added.

None of this let Jack off the hook, though. Alice rounded on him. “You still haven’t told me what you get. For keeping me here.” Her throat was closing, her mind was racing. “You told me you weren’t in the game. That you weren’t playing for anything. No carrot, right? No stick?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t playing for anything,” he said. “I said I wasn’t playing for the inheritance.”

Another riddle. “God, you are so completely like my father sometimes.”

Sam lost his temper. “So is he in or is he—”

Alice raised a hand, cutting her brother off. This was her fight. One that was due with her father, but she had to have it here, now, with the man he’d selected as a second.

“So what do you get, Jack? When you’re done seducing me?”When you’re done making me fall in love with you.At least she didn’t say that. How embarrassing.

“Hang on a minute. That wasn’t part of it.” He sounded furious. “That had nothing to do with it.”

“Are you sure?”

Everything about him turned to stone. “Yes, Alice. I’m very fucking sure.”

She wanted to believe him so much. It was hard to imagine that everything she’d felt in the days leading up to that moment had been hers alone. But if this was Franklin’s plan all along, how could she be certain?

“Tell me, then.”

He pushed a hand through his hair, frustrated. “A fairly substantial portion of Storm stock. Enough that I would never have to work again even if it didn’t include the Class A stock, but if you remember, I was prepared to help you get off the island, so—”

Of course. “Class A stock,” she repeated.

“What?”

“The deal was Class A stock.”

“Partially?” His frustration was palpable. “The deal was that if I kept you here, through the week, through midnight, I would get Franklin’s Class A stock. It’s not part of the Storm family inheritance. Contractually, it has to go back into the pool or to someone who works at the company. And it’s more valuable than—”

“I know what it is,” she said, understanding dawning, chased by anger. And something else. Like triumph. She’d been right. “But Jack, you misunderstood.”

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