Page 85 of Twisted Elites

Cormac drew back from the reception desk and smoothed down his suit. “Sorry.” He gave his head a quick shake, as though vesting himself of the temporary outburst. “That’s probably it. Could you try Byrd, please?”

Inching forward, I placed a hand on Cormac’s arm. “Bianca wouldn’t have booked your wedding. She asked me to pig you at the start of last term, remember?”

“There has to be another explanation,” he whispered.

“Why don’t we take a walk and get some fresh air?” Wrapping my arm around Cormac’s slender bicep, I shot the woman an apologetic look.

The smile she gave me was one part-worry and three-parts relief. As I pulled Cormac back to the entrance, she reached for her phone and dialed a number. Hopefully, it wasn’t to inform security or the police. Cormac was the victim here, not her.

Outside the venue to the left stood an old-fashioned tea room with tables and chairs in front. Since it wasn’t quite yet nine o’clock, they hadn’t opened up the parasols in the middle of the tables.

“Let’s have a sit-down and work things out,” I murmured.

With an absent nod, Cormac followed me to the tea room and sat at one of the round, wooden tables. He bowed his head and stared into his shaking hands.

“I couldn’t have been pigged,” he said between panting breaths. “It’s usually a public affair with evidence and camera phones.”

Maybe after the incident with Ashley and her subsequent revenge, they had moved on from pigging to a jilting. I said nothing, not wanting to upset him further with useless speculations, and wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

“Sorry,” I said.

“You warned me time and time again,” he muttered. “But I was too love-struck to listen.”

I swallowed. The ironic part was that when we’d first met, he had told me that the girls were bigger players of the game than the boys. But I kind of understood how he would cling to the belief that Geraldine’s affection was genuine. Those with beautiful exteriors seldom noticed ordinary-looking people, regardless of their intelligence or inner beauty.

Cormac rested his head on my shoulder and held me around the middle. Quiet sobs shook his body, and a tight fist squeezed at my heart. This was so shitty. What was the point of hiring a fancy vintage sports car only to lead Cormac through a wild goose chase? It was just so petty.

“They’ll be waiting for us,” he muttered into the juncture of my shoulder and neck.

“Huh?”

“The pigging. By the time we get back, a whole group of them will be at the entrance, waiting to humiliate me.”

My stomach churned with disgust. He was right. This scenario almost mirrored what happened to Ashley. Bruce had asked her to sleep with a bunch of boys to prove her love to him. Here, Geraldine got Cormac to give her ten-thousand pounds and drive all the way to Scotland for a bogus wedding. Two grand gestures followed by a brutal pigging.

One of the workers bustled past and slapped two menus on the table, muttering something about needing to order inside if we wanted anything to drink.

I drew back from Cormac and kissed him on the cheek. “Do you want a cup of tea?”

He opened up the menu. The Garraway Tea logo filled nearly half a page. Slamming it shut, he pulled his face into a grimace. “No, thanks.”

We both stood and walked back to the Aston Martin. Cormac got into the sports car and drove us out through the village and toward the highway. His face turned stony, which I supposed was him trying to lock up his emotions before we returned to the academy.

We drove in silence back to the highway with the late morning sun shining overhead. I rubbed my temples, wondering if there was something I could have said or done to have avoided Cormac getting jilted. Since their relationship was already well established before I became aware of its existence, I wasn’t quite sure.

I was about to ask what we should do about the inevitable ambush when my phone buzzed in my purse. My breath quickened as I thought about Sebastian sitting by his grandfather’s bedside. I pulled out my phone and read the message.

This is Miss Claymore. Geraldine Hill was found sexually assaulted and beaten half to death in her room. If you are with Cormac Gibbons, please be careful. He is considered extremely dangerous.

Chapter 22

I stared at the message for several moments reading it over and over until the words blurred. Then my eyes darted to Cormac, who maintained his stony expression. This had to be a trick. A way for Geraldine to separate us so that I would leave Cormac before we reached the academy. So he would be alone and without support for his pigging.

But was it?

I turned the smartphone face-down on my lap and placed my hands on top of its cover, trying to work through events. Miss Claymore’s number was programmed on my phone from the time she’d given me private lessons. I couldn’t see someone trying to fake a message from her. But Miss Claymore was the least trustworthy person I knew. Behind the dedicated, stern facade was a woman who couldn’t keep her hands off Sebastian.

“What was that message?” asked Cormac as he turned into a highway.