Page 134 of Vexatious Queen

“Why not?”

“I’d have to hack the telephone company,” he said.

“And,” Ren asked, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you saying you don’t have the skill?”

It was a good thing I didn’t have a drink in my mouth because it would’ve gone everywhere. Princess always had a pair on her, but now she had an edge that was as hard and icy as the color of her hair. I fucking loved it.

Zigzag’s jaw dropped. Rolling out his shoulders, he slowly stood.

“No, I didn’t say that. But this is like federal-level, get myself arrested and locked away for years kind of shit. I can’t get caught doing that.”

“So, you are saying you’re not good enough not to get caught,” Ren said, and he narrowed his eyes. “That’s fine, I know someone else who can do it,” she said, turning away, and effectively threw the gauntlet at his feet.

Guys like Zigzag lived for the rush of the hack, and respect was earned by the level of their skill. To be dismissed for someone else was not only a massive insult, but it was better than any threat. It was the equivalent of dropping fresh meat in front of a lion.

“Wait, I didn’t say I couldn’t do it,” he said.

Ren slowly turned around to face him.

“That’s what it sounds like to me.”

Swearing under his breath, he cracked his fingers and then pulled out his laptop, which was oddly under his mattress. He walked over to the table in the corner and sat down.

“What do I get for doing this,” he asked.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to convince Ivy to go on a date with me,” he said.

Ren shook her head.

“You had your chance, and you blew it by dumping her. Why should I let you anywhere near my friend again?”

“If you want the information, you will,” Zigzag said, thinking he had the upper hand.

Princess smiled, and the dark look in her eyes had my hand itching to get her naked.

“Like I said, I have someone else. I don’t need to throw my friend under a bus to get what I want.”

“You don’t understand, I need to get Ivy away from Sabastian,” Zigzag said.

Ren’s brow furrowed. “Why? Why do you need to get her away from him?”

He ran his hands through his hair.

“Fuck…it was a screw up. This whole thing, including what went down with Ivy, started with me fucking shit up. I ended up trapped in a sociopath’s web of lies,” Zigzag said.

“What are you talking about? What screw up? Why are you trapped,” Ren asked, looking as confused as I felt.

“I’m not at Wayward because I have rich parents. I don’t even know who my parents are. I’m here because I was too young to be tossed into jail, and some rich guy stood up in court and said he’d pay for me to go to a reform school. He told the judge that he liked to help two or three wayward teens a year and that he would help me.”

“What was his name,” I asked, stepping closer.

My gut told me we were on the edge of a breakthrough. After the shit he’d pulled helping Axel, Zigzag should have been our first stop. The fact that I hadn’t suspected him at all pissed me the fuck off. I was tempted to grab him and slam him up against the wall.

“Yuriy Nikitovich,” he said.

“Son of a fucking bitch,” I swore, my hands balling into fists. Christov’s alias.