Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
A thought occurred to me. “Did you pick up anything from Owen, Levi, Giovanni, or Wesley last night around midnight?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Why?”
“They all went off together after Rafael gave them Ashton’s name.” I grasped his hard, muscled forearm. “Wilder, I came on this campus with my sister’s letter, believing I knew everything I needed to know. Now I’m not sure I know a damn thing. What’s this secret? If it’s something about one of the five, okay, but why haven’t you or I found out what it is? We’ve both made it our life’s mission to rip the skeletons out of their closets, so how come we can’t unearth this one, and Winter did?”
Wilder grasped the back of my neck, gently kneading the muscles. The gesture both shocked and pleased me. I had a kink in my neck from a bad night’s sleep.
“My guess is if there was a hole, they plugged it after Winter found out. Buried their tracks, got rid of evidence, paid off the right people. Someone found out a secret that kicked off all of this.” The café came into sight. “They weren’t about to let it happen again.”
Shoulder slumping, I said, “Then how do I have a chance of finding out the truth? How can I be sure I’ve gotten them all? Winter was giving her last act of kindness when she sent us those notes—saving us months into years of wondering why. I need to know what secret my sister was tortured to keep. I have to.”
“We’re not at the point of giving up yet,” Wilder said as we climbed the steps. “Saylor knows, and with the right leverage, we’ll get her to give up the truth. If it doesn’t work on her, it’ll work on the guy who just acquired four enemies overnight and doesn’t know it.”
Ashton Scott.
“Whatever those four went off to talk about, it wasn’t a peace treaty. They’ll go after him and his family, sever the ties connecting them, drag them down the Royal ladder, and he won’t know why. At that point, we can run the same trick on him—show up like the Rogues are willing to help in exchange for everything he knows.”
“I don’t know.” Joining the line, my eyes found Ashton immediately. He ended up in the café at some point morning, noon, and night. A lifetime of chefs didn’t prepare him for cooking for himself, and he wasn’t about to start now.
I had something left to fight for until he took it from me. Owen, Levi, Giovanni, and Wesley were my bullies, but my killer is Ashton Scott.
“I can’t stand the idea of letting up on him even for a second,” I hissed. “That bastard doesn’t get a moment of hope thinking someone will help him. From today to the end of his short life, he suffers.”
“Understood.” Wilder traveled down, grasping my waist and... hugging me. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
I lay my head on his chest, eyes fluttering shut. “Thank you.”
Wilder knew what Ashton did. He knew everything.
Wilder stayed by my side as I covered a plate with eggs benedict and two slices of bacon. I had to eat fast, class would start soon.
I wonder if Professor Anthony is back yet. I owe him another apology, and maybe he could give advice on how to handle this situation with his parents. I still can’t believe they’d give up their last son over marrying me.
Wilder and I sat down at a booth in the back.
Bang!
“Where’s Scott!” Our heads swung around as Owen, Levi, Wesley, and Giovanni blew in. “Ashton Scott!”
Ashton looked up from his eggs, thick brows furrowing. Hatred burned my gut looking at him, even thinking about him—which is why I put him out of my mind while we went after the others. Ashton was the one I wanted to kill first, so in the original plan, I saved him for last, relishing his fear as he watched the others picked off one by one, asking himself if and when he’d be next.
Then came the night we blew Giovanni’s car and Gabriella pushed Annika off the Bluffs. Not the punishment I wanted for her, but seeing them gave me the idea for the lists and pinning the blame on Ashton. Why do this all on my own when the Royal Shitheads were just as capable of punishing each other as I was of punishing them?
The knife squeezed in my grip as they surrounded his table. Now you’ll finally get yours.
“What?” Ashton grunted.
“Get the fuck up,” Levi ordered.
His frown deepened. Ashton Scott was wealthy, privileged, and connected. What he wasn’t was handsome. Small eyes set over a piggish nose and were covered by a pronounced brow. He had a tiny mouth nearly always twisted in distaste—like it was then. “What the hell is your problem?”