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I grimace. “Ew. Why?”
Aiden shakes his head. “I think he just enjoys thinking about pretty virgins being defiled, whoever is doing the defiling. I don’t know. The guy’s fucked up and not in an interesting way, but that’s not the point. The point is, he made another plan to come for you. I know what it is and when it’s supposed to happen. But right now, I have no motive to tell you. I can be incentivized if you get me a meeting with the leader.”
“And you think that’s Hex.”
I say it to fuck with him, and I know I’ve hit my mark when his smug expression slips. “Is it Silvan? I had it narrowed down to the two of them, but I wasn’t sure which one it was. Silvan makes the most sense to me because of who his father is, but I’m not sure he’d want the responsibility. Hex would.”
He’s certainly done his homework.
“Why do you want to be a Blue Blood so bad anyway?” I ask.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“My capacity for comprehension might surprise you,” I say lightly.
He looks at me like he’s not sure he wants to share, but I guess he decides to. “I come from kind of a fucked-up family situation. When I turned 18, I inherited all the money I’ll need to get where I’m going in life, but I’m on my own. And I’m doing fine, but… I won’t lie, I can feel there’s something missing.”
I swallow.
“And when you join the Blue Bloods, it’s like joining a family—but not a fucked-up one where you have to watch your back. Your brothers have your back, no matter what. At least, that’s my understanding. And I want to be part of that. Who wouldn’t?”
Damn. I expected his reasons to be more opportunistic and less relatable than that.
I sigh softly, then I say, “Well, if the Blue Bloods are real, I think blackmailing them into a meeting may not be the best way to get a seat at that particular table.”
He holds my gaze for a moment, then he says, “I’m a senior. I’ve spent three years waiting for them to tap me, Brynn, but I can’t wait any longer. You have to join in college. This is my last chance.”
Oh man.
Maybe it’s the soft-hearted sucker in me, but as much of an absolute asshole as he has been, that felt just vulnerable enough that I feel myself viewing him as a person instead of the murdery frat scum I’ve previously viewed him as.
“Why don’t you bring my purse back as a gesture of goodwill? Who knows? Maybe the hypothetical Blue Bloods will respond positively to their ‘Society Sweetheart’ getting her things back.”
He smirks faintly. “You think so?”
I shrug. “Couldn’t hurt.”
Chapter Eighteen
Brynn
“He played you.”
I look up, eyes wide, as Killian scoops veggie chili up on a Frito and pops it into his mouth. “No.”
He nods. “Yes,” he says when he finishes chewing. “He’s clearly not an idiot. He’s observant enough to gauge your reactions during the conversation and manipulative enough to pivot when he needed to. When the first tack he took didn’t get him the results he wanted, he switched courses. He probably figured you for a softie, so he appealed to that side of you instead. And it worked,” he says, gesturing to me.
“Look, I’m not vouching for the guy, I’m just telling you what he said.”
“He shouldn’t be saying anything to you because I don’t want you talking to him.”
“So I should cancel our lunch date this weekend?” I ask innocently.
The flat look he gives me tells me he is not amused, and it makes me smile.
“It’s not like I wanted to talk to him. Ryan wasn’t there yet, and he just showed up. We were in public, so I figured he couldn’t do anything.”
“He could piss me off,” Killian mutters.
