Page 108 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

I smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that. The story kind of starts with me drowning.”

She blinked. “Drowning? You’re kidding, right?”

I launched into everything. How I got kidnapped. How Max’s father tied me to a chair. I recounted the drowning and how Max saved my life. I told her about my parents in the hospital and that’s when the tears started. She was just as angry at my parents as I had been with them, and she rooted me on as I told her about the plan we came up with to get rid of all this nonsense.

“I knew there was something weird about that Benji guy,” she said with narrowed eyes.

I laughed. “Yeah. A lot was weird about him. But the plan worked.”

“The police showed up at the right time?”

“Yep. S.W.A.T. and everything.”

“And Randy’s out of jail?”

“Rupert. But, yes.”

“And his father’s out of the picture?”

I nodded. “Very much so.”

She sighed with relief. “Holy fuck, Dani. You really do love this man, don’t you?”

I smiled. “I do. And I’ll protect him at all costs. Whatever it takes. He’s not bad, Hannah. None of them are. They were just being controlled by a bad man. But not any longer. They’re free.”

“You’re all free.”

I paused. “Yeah, we are. All of us are.”

She licked her lips. “Can you forgive me for all this? For what I’ve done and how hard I fought against you?”

I sipped my coffee. “With time, I think so.”

“Why do I get the feeling that’s not all you want to say to me?”

“Because it’s not. And I don’t know how you’re going to take this news.”

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

My eyes bulged. “What? Hell, no! Are you kidding me? Come on, I’m not that stupid.”

She threw her head back with laughter. “Well, I just thought I’d make sure!”

I snorted. “I mean, I’m dropping out of school, but I sure as hell am not pregnant.”

Her laughter ceased. “What?”

I paused. “I’m dropping out of school. At least for now.”

I fell silent and braced myself for Hannah’s judgment. But to my surprise, she didn’t say anything. So I continued.

“I’m just not happy here. And no, it has nothing to do with you. I’ve felt this way ever since I enrolled, you know? I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so Dad had me declare his major. I was so unhappy my freshman year that I cried myself to sleep almost every night.”

“I remember those nights.”

I settled my hand on her knee. “I know you do. So I changed my major. It caused issues with Dad, but I figured it was worth it. But then I started classes and didn’t give a shit about the subject matter and realized I didn’t want to do that either. I don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don’t know what kind of career I want right now. In fact, everything I do know about my life right now--everything I am confident about--has nothing to do with college for the moment.”

“I can understand that.”

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