Page 1 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

CHAPTER 1

The Report

Harper

Coming home to find my mom gone wasn’t on my bingo card. Even knowing that she’s okay, it still feels wrong that she isn’t here.

I don’t know why she ran without me, but I know she’ll be in touch. Hopefully soon. Because we’re all we have. If she’s gone, there’s a damn good reason. I lift my gaze and look at the guys gathered in Luke’s basement rec room.

Maybe not all we have. Butterflies lift in my stomach as I look at my guys.

Eli and Luke play pool. Caden and Jack sit on the couch watching football. Nico had to go home. He has surgery in the morning, but we’ll keep him in the loop. My guys send worried looks my way, but I’m just trying not to fall apart. We’re waiting for Penny to arrive. I can’t sit still. Everything is upside down right now.

Penny needs to tell me something about Sidney and the party. And since we watched the recording of her in Sidney’s room while Sidney wanted an in into Luke’s life and potentially bedroom, I just hope Penny comes through with the whole truth. Because my brain is already spinning enough.

With the constant threats. Learning about my father. Unraveling mysteries.

But at least I had my rock. The person who held me, tethered and safe from spiraling into darkness. Who am I without my mother?

I’ll need to check on the house. How safe will it be for me to stay with any of the guys? If it was just the guys, I would be safe. But it’s not. Any of their parents could be a threat to me.

I glance at the staircase and give a little shiver. Luke’s dad isn’t here, but it’s possible for him to come home at any time. Can I actually face him, knowing what I know? Can I pretend as if I don’t hate the man?

It was bad enough after finding out he abused Luke. Just being in the same room turned my stomach. But to know he didn’t think twice about threatening my mother with trafficking me as a four-year-old. That he had an obsession with my mother in high school that my dad had to bargain who knows what to keep her out of his clutches. William Foster is most likely the reason my dad is probably dead. But one hundred percent the reason my dad isn’t here right now.

A shiver runs through me as I think about when he asked how old I was now. I look a lot like my mom. With a man like that, it isn’t a stretch to think he might see me as another version of her. Especially when he asked me to wear another pretty dress. My stomach churns.

An arm wraps around my shoulders and draws me back into a hard body. I soften into Luke, knowing he’ll do anything to keep me safe. Even deal with the devil himself.

“You doing okay?” His words are low, but they’re all listening. Waiting for me to break.

My mom. My eyes burn with unshed tears. There’s this feeling of wrongness inside me without her, but it won’t break me. I’m stronger than that.

I blow out a breath. “Mom’s safe wherever she is. I don’t know if she’ll still go to work or not. Or how long she’ll be gone, but she’ll come back.”

Maybe she won’t be gone long at all. Maybe she’ll be back tonight.

Someone went into our house and blocked the security system. It should have alerted us, but they must have known that. Besides Jack and my guys, I don’t think there are a lot of high schoolers that could do all that.

Only the one chair was tipped over. Maybe she just had to rush out. Maybe there wasn’t a struggle. But I know the guys are keeping something from me. And I need to know what.

I turn to face Luke. “What else was at my house that you didn’t want me to see?”

His arm stays around my waist. He brushes my hair away from my face and sighs. “Someone went through your room.”

My breath catches and my heart skips. “Went through?”

“It was tossed, princess.” Luke holds my hips as I take that in. I put my hands on his chest, trying to process this information. Trying not to flip out over my things being gone through. Maybe it’s not that bad. I just need to stay logical and cold like Luke.

“What were they looking for? Was anything gone?” I lift my gaze from his chest to his eyes.

“We don’t know.” He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and draws me into his chest, holding me close. I lean against him, drawing from his strength. I inhale the scent that’s uniquely Luke, soft and seductive, and let the tension fall out of me.

What could I have that someone wanted? Did Mom surprise them, and that’s when she ran? Was it one of the adults or a high schooler? With the intricacy, I’m thinking adult, but the students here aren’t normal. Even Sidney had help when she got in. Fuck. We need to start eliminating enemies.

I tuck my head against Luke and hold onto him like he can keep me from falling apart entirely. Mom’s safe. She’s safe, and she knows I’m safe. We’ll get through this. We always get through everything.

A crack forms in my heart. We always get through everything together. But we’re not. “Luke?”