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CHAPTER23
LILA
My father was standing, leaning against his car when we stepped down the front steps of Brutham Academy. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, gaze watching us through half-lidded eyes. His expression was guarded. So much so I couldn't tell if he was pissed off or not.
He wasn't alone. I expected to see Chloe and maybe Zachary here. I didn't expect to see my half-sister, Kennedy Knight, or her three boyfriends.
I introduced them to Slade one by one. "Mannix Cassani, Ares Turner and Ice Miller. My sister Kennedy and my father, Samuel Bell. This is—" I raised my hand to gesture at Slade.
"Slade Lincoln," Dad finished for me. His eyes lingered on Slade. "You didn't think I'd do a thorough background check on everyone that works at Brutham Academy?"
"I wouldn't expect anything less." Slade shook hands with Dad, then offered his hand to Kennedy.
All three of her boyfriends stiffened.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Ice said with menacing pleasantness.
Mannix actually took a step forward.
Slade lowered his hand. "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend any of you." He was clearly not intimidated by their ‘touch her and die’ vibes.
"What are you doing here?" I directed the question at Kennedy. She was a couple of years older than me, with flaming red hair and freckles.
Beyond those, there was some family resemblance. Not as obvious as Chloe and I, but it was there. I'd noticed it the first time I met her, but I knew to look for it. At the time, she had no idea she was related to us. I felt a stab of remorse for taking her down to the basement, but at the time I was just glad it wasn't me going in there.
"I'm here to see how you are," Dad said. "Kennedy wanted to see Brutham. She happened to be visiting along with her boys."
Ares glared at him, apparently annoyed at being referred to as a boy.
Mannix didn't look too pleased either.
Ice went on smiling, like he always did. He looked sweet, but that was all a façade. He'd happily slice the skin off my body to see what I looked like underneath. I got the impression he’d love to get his hands on Chloe and me to compare the insides of a set of twins. To say he was slightly unhinged was an understatement.
Anyone with a drop of sense watched their backs when he was around.
"We came because Ric DiMarco is concerned he hasn't heard from Hunter or Parker," Mannix said coolly. He gave off an aura of not giving a shit about the twins. "Where are they?"
I frowned. "They went away on business for Reuben." Ric DiMarco answered to Caleb Brantley, who in turn answered to his brother, Reuben. Why come here instead of asking one of them?
Mannix scowled. He grabbed out his phone and stomped a few metres away before calling someone. I couldn't hear what he said, but his tone was respectful. Much more so than I ever got from him.
While Mannix spoke, Dad gripped my chin with his thumb and forefinger.
"How are you? I was worried when Chloe called me and told me what happened to you. It's out of character for you to get out of your sister's way. Especially as comprehensively as you would if you’d died."
"I wouldn't exactly have had a choice," I pointed out. "I didn't expect anyone to put toxic shit in a teddy bear."
His grip tightened to the point of pain. "Youshouldhave expected it. You should have anticipated that someone would try something. You let down your guard and you almost died because of it."
I stood still. Tears of pain gathered in the corners of my eyes.
"Chloe let Zachary give her a bear too," I whispered.
"This isn't about Chloe," he said firmly. "This is about you and what you did. You have to be more careful. Next time, you might not be so lucky." He loosened his grip and drew me in for a hug.
After a moment, I hugged him back. He wasn't wrong about anything, but the look of disappointment on his face was a stab straight into my heart.
"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I'll be more careful next time."
