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He exhales slowly. “Fine, but you might want to refresh Blaise’s mind about that, too.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I think something happened between them yesterday.”
My thoughts wander back to what I overheard Al tell Jessa about losing her chance to get fucked before the fate ceremony. I nearly lost my shit at the idea of her being with someone else. Luckily, I managed to rein in the anger to avoid a scene, but that doesn’t mean I’m letting it go.
“Do you know exactly what happened?” I ask as I button the sleeve of my shirt. “Because I just overheard her talking to Jessa about losing her chance to get fucked before the fate ceremony, and I’m hoping it was Blaise. Otherwise …” I bite down hard as that rage bubbles inside me.
I know I have no right to feel this way. She isn’t ours, and we’re not hers yet. But that’s the thing. All of this—the plan we’ve been working on—is built around the illusion that Al became mine a long time ago.
Reece doesn’t utter a word, and my anger burns fiercer.
“It wasn’t Blaise.” I lower my hands to my sides and open and flex my fingers. “And you know something about it.”
He fiddles with a ring on his finger. “I do, but I can’t tell you anything.”
“Why the fuck not?” I growl out.
“Because I promised her I wouldn’t say anything. And if I’m ever going to rebuild my relationship with her, I have to not break this promise.” His shoulders rise and fall as he releases a slow exhale. “I can tell you this, though—she didn’t do anything with anyone. I stopped it before it got too far.”
Breathe in. Breathe out.
“What about the guy she almost messed around with?” I ask. “Did you take care of him?”
Reece nods while sweeping strands of his hair out of his eyes. “I did … He has connections to one of the families. He’s the son of a lackey, but still, he knows who Al and I are.”
I ball my hands into fists. This is so bad. “Did you take care of it? Because if word gets out that you were at that party dealing, our fathers will kill us.”
“I know. I’m working on it,” he replies in a tight tone. “For now, this guy won’t be a problem.”
“So, you have him locked up then?”
“Yeah, in a storage unit.”
“Good. We’ll deal with it more after the ceremony.”
Reece nods but doesn’t relax as he grips the edge of one of the sinks. “Please don’t say anything to her about this. If she knows I even cracked on our promise, she won’t ever give me the time of day again.”
While I’m irritated with him for even making a promise like this with her, I understand why he did it. We’ve all always had a soft spot when it comes to Allura, before and after our friendship crumbled.
It’s why after three years of careful planning, we’re all here.
I just hope it’ll all be worth it, that the plan will work. Because if not—and if someone finds out—we’ll all end up together still, but six feet beneath the ground.
“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” I ask, not referring to the fate ceremony.
He nods with zero hesitation. “I’ve been ready to do this since the moment you came up with the idea.”
“Even with the risk of death?” I question.
He nods. “ ‘Til death do us part, right?”
I nod, hoping to God it’s that easy.
But in this world, nothing rarely is.
TWENTY-TWO
