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He laid his head back on the leather cushion and yawned. “You said there’s an emergency. What is so important it couldn’t wait?”
“Rhys had sex with Grace and filmed it.”
Drake sat up, eyes wide with interest. “That’s fucked up.” He studied my face briefly and said, “What are you not telling me?”
“Remington Vanderbilt sent the video to Fitzy. I need to get Grace out of Devil’s Creek before something happens to her.”
Drake lifted an iPad from the table and started typing feverishly. “He could use this to leverage Fitzy into a payoff.”
I nodded. “Exactly. They need the money. Can you help me get Grace out of here?”
Drake drunkenly pushed himself up from the couch, iPad tucked under his arm as he staggered to the desks on the opposite side of the room. At least a dozen monitors hung from the ceiling and on the walls. Around fifteen desktop and laptop computers were scattered throughout the messy space.
My cousin wasn’t usually so unorganized. But he thrust himself into chaos whenever he went on a bender like this one. Staring at the chip bags, open soda cans, and snack wrappers gave me the sudden itch to clean.
“I can create a new identity for Grace.” Drake sat in front of one of many monitors and started typing so fast the keys pounded. “A new passport and license. Medical and dental records. Credit history. The complete package.”
“Yeah, great. Just do it. I don’t have much time.”
Eyes flicking between the monitors, he said, “But how are you going to explain to your parents and Fitzy that she just disappeared from Fort Marshall? It would start an inquiry with The Founders Society that could jeopardize your future. And who will protect her? She’s more vulnerable now than before.”
I propped myself against the wall by my hip and watched Drake work his magic. He was so brilliant I sometimes envied him until I realized his life was a complete mess. He couldn’t have the woman he loved. People were trying to kill him for his technology. And because of his secrets, he carried the world’s weight on his shoulders.
“I’ll ask Hunter or Brax to help me.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “And make your friends complicit in your crimes? We’re family, so I don’t mind being an accomplice. But you can’t burden them with this. If you’re unwilling to uproot your life and go with her, there’s no point in sending Grace away.”
He was right.
This was too heavy of a burden to dump on my friends. If I wanted to protect Grace, I had to do it myself. I had to give up everything for her.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
GRACE
Rhys left Fort Marshall after we had sex. Cole hadn’t been around since he caught us in the act. I wasn’t even sure if he was home.
I couldn’t wait for my dad to pick me up, so I could get as far away from my mistakes as possible. What I thought would be the perfect summer quickly became my worst nightmare. Rhys used me to get back at my grandfather.
I believed his lies.
Fell into his trap.
Cole was right all along.
If only I had listened.
Every time I thought about that night, I vomited. I couldn’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror.
I cracked open my bedroom door and poked my head into the hallway. My nose tipped up at the scent of beef, so I wandered downstairs, letting my growling stomach lead the way.
I found Mark Marshall in the main dining room. He sat by himself at the head of the table, drinking a glass of scotch as he read the newspaper in his other hand. The opposite of my dad, he reminded me of a businessman, not a military academy's commandant.
"Did I miss dinner?"
Mark looked up from the newspaper. "No, you're right on schedule."
I sat in the chair beside him. "Is it just the two of us?"
