Page 3 of They Will Fall

My shoulders rise and fall rapidly. “I just don’t think any of us are free of guilt right now, and I certainly wouldn’t want you walking around campus with a bout of confidence and wind up getting your ass in deep water.”

I’ve had my suspicions for a while, and I don’t think Ridge is as innocent has he’s letting on. Cade and Zeke aren’t the only ones who died—there are others, too. Others who I originally thought Riley killed. It could have been Lev, but I’ve put together a timeline of the events that took place, and Ridge’s whereabouts aren’t accounted for during any of the other murders. I’m not saying he’s guilty, but he’s on my list of suspects, along with Lev.

“We need to find Lev,” Riley pipes up. Her shoulders draw back and she inhales a deep breath. “Maybe we can talk some sense into him and get him to confess to what he’s done.”

A humorous chuckle bubbles up my throat. “Lev, confess? Not a chance in hell. Lev only cares about saving his own ass.”

“I agree,” Riley says solemnly. Her face pulls into a frown as she looks down at her finger that’s wrapped with the blanket threading. “Lev has no intention of helping any of us. He’s not the man I thought he was.”

“For what it’s worth, you made him want to be better,” Ridge tells her. “I saw the way he looked at you, and it was a look we haven’t seen from Lev in years.”

I hate that Ridge is sugarcoating this for her. I know he’s trying to ease the fall from the high she was on with Lev, but it’s only going to give her something to hold on to, and she needs to let go of him. Of course, Ridge and I have his back, and we’ll do everything we can to help him once he allows us to. But Lev isn’t relationship material. He needs to fix himself before he can be trusted with our girl’s heart.

Riley’s eyes lift, dancing from mine to Ridge’s and back. “If only it was enough. I just don’t get it.” She averts her gaze, staring off in thought. The corners of her mouth twitch as a smile slowly spreads on her lips. “Toward the end, Lev was gentle. Kind. Compassionate, even. It was nothing I’d ever imagined I’d ever feel from him, but everything I’d hoped for.” Her smile quickly drops. “I guess it was all for nothing.”

Ridge and I share a look of displeasure because we both knew this thing with Lev was going to end with Riley brokenhearted. Fortunately, she’ll have Ridge and me to mend the shattered pieces.

Or, at the very least, she’ll have Ridge. I might have to disappear for a while if I decide to tell my side of the story. Head to the East Coast. Change my name. Riley and the guys will be mad at me for a while, but I hope one day they’ll understand why I did what I did. It was all for her.

I was given an assignment to keep an eye on the Kappa Rho brothers—Cade being one of them. Thanks to Lev, I thought Cade assaulted Riley. In my heart, I believed I was avenging what he did to her by taking his life. But I was wrong. So fucking wrong.

“You’re right,” Riley exhales heavily. “Lev isn’t who I thought he was, and now he needs to be a man and face what he’s done.”

Be a man.As opposed to a coward who hides behind his own secrets, while others feel the wrath of his mistakes.

“There’s something you both need to know,” I fess up, ready to unleash this dreadful burden from my shoulders.

A sudden knock at the door grabs all our attention. My eyes shoot over my shoulder as Ridge and Riley jump up from the floor. I remain crouched, hands dangling over my knees.

“Fuck,” Ridge blurts. He looks left, then right. “We gotta hide.”

This is it. They’re here for her. It’s now or never.

I stand up, straightening my back before crossing the room to a trembling Riley. “You need to hear what I have to say.”

The pounding grows in intensity and Riley pulls me by the hand, lugging me into the bathroom. Standing in the doorway, she whisper-yells to Ridge, “Get in here!”

Refusing to listen, Ridge slides his back against the wall, inching slowly toward the window. The air escapes him with a heavy sigh as he passes the window and reaches the door. He stops in front of it, puts his hand on the knob, and his eyes bolt over his shoulder, while Riley and I wait impatiently for an inkling as to what he's doing. "It's fucking Scar." He pulls open the door.

Riley drops my hand and rushes out of the bathroom to greet her best friend, while I press the heels of my palms to the doorframe and drop my head in defeat.I tried.

CHAPTER2

RILEY

“I didn’t do it,”I cry as I throw myself into Scar’s arms. Crew, Jagger, and Neo stand behind her, arms crossed over their chests and stern looks on their faces. Well, two of them, anyways. Neo is wearing a prominent scowl with his lips set in a firm line, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.

“Sure, you didn’t.” Neo scoffs and I just roll my eyes at him. He dresses like he doesn’t want to be seen, but that doesn’t stop everyone from looking. He’s always sporting that bad-boy persona and I’ve learned to just ignore anything that comes out of his cocksure mouth. And often, it’s warranted.

Scar's forehead creases in contempt as she glances over at Neo. Slow strides bring her closer to me before she takes my shoulders in both hands and gazes into my eyes with a reassuring look. “We,” she emphasizes, “know you didn’t.”

My lips press into a thin white line as I swallow the lump lodged in my throat. “It was Lev,” I blurt out, immediately wishing I could take back the words because now that I’ve said them, with witnesses, there is no going back.

Jagger’s eyes perk up. “Lev Pemberley?”

“No,” Ridge says from behind me. “Riley’s confused. The last twenty-four hours have been draining for her. We don’t know who it was.” His hand rests on my hip as he stands behind me. “Isn’t that right, Angel?”

My thoughts elude me as I try to decipher why Ridge is covering for Lev. After everything Lev’s done, why is he protecting him? I turn my head to look at Ridge, losing Scar's hold on me, as a cold wave washes over my skin. Eyebrows knitted, I question what he just said. “I’m confused?”

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