Page 60 of The Revenge Plan (Forbidden Descendants 1)

Wick looked away again and shrugged as if it were no big deal, but I could tell by the sudden tension in him that it was a huge deal.

“Doesn’t matter now,” he said dismissively. “The point is, my situation made me question the same things you’re questioning right now. How could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I see it before? What was wrong with me? But that’s the thing; the problem wasn’t us at all. It was him. He’s just that deceptive and manipulative and good. He can make you feel like you’re special, like you’re in his stupid inner circle, like you’re on top of the world when he shines his sparkling, magnetic personality on you, just so he can get you close enough to plunge the knife deeper into your fucking back. And you never see it coming.”

“Wow,” I said softly, shaking my head as doom dropped heavily into my stomach. “He really betrayed you bad.”

Another deep sigh escaped him. “Let’s just say it was a learning experience.”

“So what did you learn?” I had to know.

He met my gaze. “To beware of who you open up to. Never let ’em know what’s important to you.”

I shivered. His answer actually hurt to hear. A little ache rippled through me because I pretty much knew Topher had taught me a similarly painful lesson.

Hugging myself, I rocked on the bed gently. “But what if I go overboard and now shut everyone out so hard that I miss something that could be amazing and real because I’m just too afraid to trust anyone ever again?”

Wick crinkled his facial features sympathetically. “Might happen.”

I pointed at him sternly. “Well, don’t let that happen to me.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised, only to lift his nose and sniff the air. “Smells like one of your cousins found the coffee K-cups.” Then he held a hand out toward me. “Want to go back out there and show them you’re not defeated?”

I sighed, not at all ready, but then nodded and pushed to my feet. “Sure. I might want some of those Cocoa Pebbles you were eating, anyway.”

“Hopefully Fox didn’t eat them all.” Wick glanced at me. “It was Fox, right? The non-cousin.”

“Right,” I said. “His mom’s name is Felicity and his dad is Knox...so they shipped their two names together and came up with Fox. He and Beau’s mom are best friends. And then Beau ended up marrying Fox’s sister, Bentley, so...yeah. He was close enough to being right when he called himself my cousin.”

“Beau and Cress are actually blood cousins though, right?”

“Yep. Beau is my uncle Noel’s son, and Cress is Uncle Colton’s son. Noel and Colton are my dad’s brothers.”

When I took his hand, he looked down at our clasped fingers before saying, “Cress comes on kind of strong.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Not usually. I think he was just testing you. Seeing how tolerant you were.”

“Oh.” Wick nodded once, then frowned before he asked, “Did I pass?”

I grinned. “Well, you apologized to him for not being gay, so… I’d say yes. I think.”

“Huh. Cool.”

“Besides,” I went on. “I’m sure he was already well aware that you’re straight. Knowing my parents, they’ve told the entire freaking family everything we said the other night when they were here.”

When Wick groaned in mortification, muttering, “Lord, I hope not,” I sent him a commiserating wince, letting him know I understood completely, just as we entered the kitchen together.

Facing off with my cousins, I narrowed my eyes as my gaze fell on Fox who was emptying the last of the Cocoa Pebbles into a bowl. “That’s it,” I announced, “you guys owe me an awesome breakfast for waking me up so early on a Saturday and then invading my apartment and harassing my new roommate.” Letting go of Wick’s hand, I crossed my arms over my chest. “So, get to cooking.”

Fox, Cress, and Beau exchanged a glance before Beau shrugged. “At least she’s stopped crying.” He hitched his chin up toward Wick as if letting my roommate know he’s just passed some kind of test. “That’s good enough for me.”

The guys stayed for probably an hour or two after that. They actually got along pretty well with Wick, talking football and automobiles. I even lear

ned my roommate was a finance major. Huh. I hadn’t known that. But listening to them began to bum me out, too. I couldn’t remember any of my family members having a conversation remotely as engaging with Topher.

Had none of my relatives liked him? I knew he had his arrogant moments; I got uncomfortable when he belittled people, mostly behind their backs, but I’d been able to look past the little flaws because no one was perfect, and he could be so…charming. When he focused on you, he could make it feel as if the entire world revolved around you.

Had all that just been a front, a great big fake distraction to keep me from seeing things everyone else I loved had known all along?

Telling the guys I had homework, I slunk to my room, only to unpack a couple of my things before crawling back into bed and sleeping the rest of the morning away.

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