Page 101 of The Casualty of Us
“That’s tomorrow morning.” His head pulls back in surprise. “I only flew into town for this.”
“Even better.” I squeeze his arm in my hand, dragging him along to the backyard now and determined to help him make a good impression.
Completely ignoring the look Bobby tosses me that’s screaming there’s a fat chance of my plan for escape happening.
Bastards should’ve learned better when I burned that note to a crisp.
Hell breaks loosethe second the party is over.
Or more specifically, the second I announce that I’m heading to the Hamptons for the rest of the summer with Graham. It even warrants an emergency meeting of the war council, apparently. All four of them traipsed into my living room like good little soldiers not an hour after my announcement, with Talan glaring daggers at me like I just stopped him from getting laid or something, which would just be the cherry on top of my day if that’s the case. So high on possibility by that point that I even wiggle my fingers at him.
Ollie got barred from the room around the hour mark and his tenth outburst.
That was two hours ago, though.
And I’ve been engaging in what feels like a fight for my life ever since.
“The logistics involved in moving the whole team there by themselves are extensive,” Jack mutters, sitting across from my parents with his salt-and-pepper hair artfully swept across his head. “Not to mention we have no idea what kind of security they might have in place.”
“Mr. Bettencourt is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company,” I snort, pacing back and forth in front of them with the other three sitting in the armchairs at the other side of the room. “I’m sure their alarm system will do just fine.”
“It’s not just that.” Jack shakes his head wearily. “We have cameras here. A whole system—”
“No!” I gasp, hand going to my chest. “An alarm system with cameras? What is this new discovery, Sherlock?”
“Ophelia.” My father raises a hand to the side of his head with a long breath. “Please, I know this is diffi—”
“No!” I shout, waving my hand through the air at all of them. “This is what you call bullshit.”
“Our system is plugged into the cameras here,” Jack continues over me, taking the explanation and launching it right up there to mansplaining. “We can maintain eyes at all times and have personally ensured there isn’t a blind spot or way of entry that hasn’t been covered.”
“Constant surveillance, always a comforting thought,” I deadpan, not giving him the time to win them over before turning to my parents and begging them. “I need this—please—I really, really, really need this.”
“Princess.” My father’s face falls with his nickname for me, and I already know what he’s going to say. “We’re just trying to keep you safe.”
It’s the same thing he’s been saying all summer.
“You have to give them time to catch this guy. None of us could bear it if something happened to you again.”
I let my eyes drift over to my mother, catching the frown pulling at her lips as she stares at him.
“I know this is hard, but you just have to remember it’s not forever.”
“Says who?”
“What?”
Jack’s interruption has me turning my wrath his way. “Well, have you made any progress in catching him?” I pause for a beat, waiting him out and laughing viciously as his face turns sour. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, you useless—”
“Ophelia Sage!”
I whip back around at my mother’s voice, gaze finding hers instantly and face twisting up as something cracks in me at the possibility of having to stay here. “I swear I will walk out that door one day when no one is looking and never come back. You can’t keep me here.” My voice cracks as the past couple months seem to press down on me. “I can’t do this anymore, Mommy, please.” The words wrap themselves around my throat and try to strangle me as I gasp for air to get out, “I can’tthinkhere.”
“Hold on now—”
“Princess—”
Jack’s and my father’s voices fight for dominance in the air, but I keep my eyes on my mother’s as she raises a hand. “Enough.” Her one quiet word echoes around the room like a cannon before she blinks and turns to my father. “She’s going.”
