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“You need to make sure he keeps his mouth shut,” Antony says. “If you don’t, I will. And my solution will be permanent.”
Claudia
Talking to Eli proves to be more difficult than I think. The next day, I try to catch him as he heads out to track practice, but he’s already on the field when I arrive, doing warm-ups in his tiny shorts and talking to his coach. I head to our last cheerleading practice before the big game, where I drown in Antony’s drool as he leads a hellish warm-up drill where skirt hems fly in all directions. He shoved Cleo aside and tries to teach us some boxing moves to inject a little attitude into our carefully choreographed routines. It’s hilarious watching Cleo try to keep her squad together without pissing off her new favorite teacher.
I race from practice without changing to try to make it to the track before Eli finishes. I’m too late. The field’s empty. Noah emerges from the changing rooms, his dark hair wet from the shower, sticking to his forehead in an adorable way.
“I need to speak to Eli.”
“He’s already gone.” Noah’s arm goes around my middle, and he pulls me to him. “He saw you watching him before. I saw you too, in your little skirt, and my thoughts went to a very bad place.”
I melt against him as his lips envelop mine and his hand slides up my thigh, playing with the edge of my underwear. It’s wild how Noah Marlowe can just flick a switch in his head, and all that hate he had for me has burned up in a fire of lust. All it took was a few bitter words and a finger in his ass and he’s mine.
I know Eli won’t come to me so easily.
This is exactly what you wanted, my sensible half wrestles with me as Noah’s finger teases and tempts. If Eli’s not your friend, then he’s safe.
No one is safe with Nero in their house.
Noah tries to slip his finger inside me, but I know if he does that, I’ll be gone. And I need his help. “Antony saw Eli’s mother inviting a new boyfriend into their home.”
“So?” Noah reaches out to grab me again, slamming his chest against mine. He kisses a line along my jaw. “Darlene’s had a string of lovers since Walter went to prison. I doubt it’s serious.”
I wriggle free again. “I don’t care who Eli’s mother is fucking. But he can’t be in the same house as Nero Lucian. It’s not safe. If he won’t listen to me, can you talk some sense into him?”
“If I promise to try, will you let me kiss you?” Noah growls.
I may be desperate to help Eli, but I’m in Noah Marlowe’s arms and I’m only human. His lips sweep mine again, and this time I don’t resist. His kiss drags me into fire and brimstone, where his touch sears my skin and melts me against him.
I’m debating dragging him behind the bleachers and doing filthy things to him when he draws back and peers at me, as if he’s only just registering what I said. “Who is this Nero guy, anyway? His name sounds familiar.”
“He’s the current head of the Lucian crime family. They have their greedy-ass fingers in every entertainment company, casino, club, and film studio in the city. You can’t play an illegal poker game in this town without lining Nero’s pockets. He’s got a stake in Antony’s club and sponsors his best fighters.”
Noah’s jaw works. “And he’s having dinner at Eli’s house?”
“That’s what I said. Do you lose your hearing when your little brain is engaged?”
“There’s nothing little about it.” Noah cups my cheek and kisses me roughly, grinding his hips against mine as if I need any reminding of just how not-little he is. “I’ll make sure Eli’s safe. But it can wait – right now I need to bend you over the bleachers so the moonlight catches your ice-cold eyes as you come.”
Eli
I stare at the freshly-painted ceiling in my bedroom. Even with two thick layers of white paint, I still imagine I can see the outline of the words Claudia scrawled there. I roll over and close my eyes, but I see them imprinted on my eyelids.
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ME
They might’ve been Claudia’s words designed to trap me, but I felt like Mackenzie spoke to me through them. She was the one in all of this who didn’t have a voice, and it’s my job as her only friend to give her one. I need to stand up for her against what Claudia and Noah and Gabriel are doing. And that starts with figuring out what happened to her four years ago.
My clock reads 3:47AM, but there’s no way I’ll be falling asleep. No way in hell can anyone sleep with my mother and Nero Lucian banging like a screen door in a tornado. The sounds coming from my mother’s room have scarred me for life.
Instead, I’ve been turning Mackenzie’s disappearance in my head for hours, even though I desperately need rest if I’m going to get through school and the homecoming game tomorrow. It seems like everywhere I look at Stonehurst, I’m confronted with my former best friends and Claudia August, the mafia king’s daughter with the lies on her tongue.
I’ve tried to locate Mackenzie before – I even hired a private investigator two years ago, although he turned out to be a scam artist who disappeared as soon as I paid the deposit. Noah said it was my own fault for trusting him. “No one pays for a PI’s services up-front.”
I guess he’s right – I am too trusting. I’ve always wanted to believe the best in people. I was the only person who saw through Mackenzie’s Ice Queen bitch witch facade. But now I’m the reason Claudia is getting away with stealing Mackenzie’s house. I’m done being the Golden Boy. I’m ready to fight dirty.
To do that, I need weapons. I’m not going into this fight wielding violence – that’s not a weapon I know how to use. But I can arm myself with the truth.
I searched for the truth for so long and never got anywhere. I know I need help from an outside source – someone who gets off on Sherlock Holmesing their way into dangerous situations.
