Page 45 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

"If they're not careful, the school will sink under the weight of all those billionaires," I joked.

I watched my brother and his—friends wasn't quite the word—until they disappeared into the building. Somehow, the air in the place got heavier, like a shadow passed over the Academy. That wasn't far wrong. The combined evil deeds of the school board would make the average person shudder. If their power didn't make them horny as hell.

"Here we go." Hunter tapped the keyboard and brought up the feed. The camera off to the side of the board room showed a table surrounded by thick, leather chairs. Several men and a couple of women already reclined in them. All of the men were members of the Brotherhood of Kings. The women were, no doubt, aware of its existence. Neither looked deterred. Of course not. If they had enough power to sit on the school board of Brutham Academy, they wouldn't be intimidated by anyone here.

Hunter already decided Lila would sit on the board someday. Him too if he could swing it. I'd be happy to watch from home. Or hear about it all later.

The sound of shuffling and low conversation came through the laptop speakers. No one seemed in a hurry to take their chair.

"Please be seated." The Academy's principal stepped around to the end of the table and stood with his palms pressed against the mahogany timber.

The shuffling persisted for another few minutes before silence fell.

"Thank you all for coming." The principal droned on with his standard welcome, along with a reminder of the minutes of the last meeting and notes about things which needed to be discussed at this one.

Most of it was boring as shit. School funding, the discussion to expand or contract certain departments, or combine others. The board could argue for hours over all of that and not come to any conclusions. No one ever wanted their department to be cut back. No one wanted their children or sibling's degrees to be compromised.

Reuben sat on the opposite side of the table from Samuel Bell. Every so often, one would look at the other like they expected trouble. That was nothing out of the ordinary either. This was the only time they tolerated being in the same room as each other.

Sometimes, I wondered if our hope for the two families to come together was in vain. Old hate and animosity seemed hard to put aside.

"Are these meetings always so boring?" Lila asked.

"Usually, unless someone gets shot," Hunter said. "That's when things get really interesting. Mostly we watch because sometimes they change things up with the trials. We don't want to be taken by surprise."

"Yeah, there was the time—" I started to say.

Hunter hissed at me to be quiet.

"I assume you received the request to consider the founding of a Brutham Academy campus in Dusk Bay?" Reuben asked.

"We did," the principal replied carefully. "That’s on the agenda to discuss today."

"Let's discuss it now," Reuben said. "The funding is there. Adequate land was donated. I see no reason to delay."

"That's Reuben," I muttered. "Straight to the point." He'd be more interested in his own personal agenda than the rest of the board’s priorities.

"Why does he want a campus there so badly?" Slade frowned.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Caleb is pissed about us disrupting his operation. He's probably the one pushing for this. If he could arrange it, he'd sidestep Reuben and Reuben wouldn't want that. In proposing it himself, he puts himself in charge. Caleb gets what he wants, but on Reuben's terms." Hunter waved at us again to be quiet.

"We don't want to be hasty," the principal said. "There is much to be discussed—"

"I suggest we put it to a vote," Reuben said. "We can work on the logistics later. Let's come to an agreement first."

"Your father looks like you when he’s suspicious as fuck," I told Lila, speaking softly in her ear. "I can almost see him thinking. Wondering what Reuben is planning."

"I'm wondering that myself," she whispered. "Why would anyone want another Brutham campus?"

"More people to play Kink or Drink?" I grinned.

She choked back a snort. "I can't imagine Caleb taking part in anything like that."

I chuckled. "Probably not. Chances are, he and those he works with would like somewhere closer to home for their children and prospective children. I'm surprised it's taken them this long."

The principal looked uncomfortable, but nodded. "Very well. All in favour of a Dusk Bay campus, raise your hand."

Not surprisingly, Reuben, Mac and Hilton raised their hands. So did a few others. Samuel kept his hand firmly down at the table.

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