“No, I’m not,” I stress, but she might be right. “And I haven’t had one of those for years.”
“Yeah, well, if anything is going to push you over the edge, it’ll be this.” She sits down on the armrest of a chair. “You can’t handle this alone.”
“I’m not alone. I have Noah.” I nod my head in his direction.
“You two will not be able to do this either,” she says, reaching up to pull the elastic out of her hair. “Dad is an expert on corrupt stuff. He’ll outplay you. And if Grey is in on this, you have no one else to help you.”
Noah frowns at me. “She has a point.”
“I know.” I scratch at my arm, jitteriness humming through my veins. “But I have no idea who else to go to.”
“Me either,” Noah mumbles with his brows knit. “I couldn’t even handle getting those drugs on my own. I needed Maddy’s help with it.”
“The irony is that Maddy could help us figure this out.” I drag my hand across her face. “She’s the one who could figure out a way to save her.”
“I know.” Noah sighs heavily. “There has to be—” He’s cut off as his computer pings.” He slants forward, his eyes lighting up.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I got into the satellites,” he replies, tapping on the mouse. “I can see the entire perimeter…” He trails off, his eyes widening with horror.
“What is it?” I stand up to go look for myself.
He shows me the screen, and what I say makes my blood boil. It’s a view of the shore near the house where dozens of cloaked figures are standing amongst flaming torches.
Cloaks that belong to the society members.
“The entire society is in on this,” Noah breathes out. “We are so screwed.”
He’s right. It was already going to be challenging to go up against my father. But now it’s dozens of men just as corrupt and wealthy as my father…
“We’ll figure something out,” I say, but deep down I’m worried we won’t be able to.
CHAPTER 22
MADDISON
It’s been abouttwenty minutes since Aiden slipped me that piece of paper. I want to read it, but I can’t figure out how to do that without being seen on the camera. The best bet is to go into the shower, but even there is risky. I need a distraction.
I have an idea, but I’m nervous about doing it because it means getting naked in front of Finn and doing a lot of kissing and touching while we’re in the shower. It’s my best chance, though, at not being caught, since not only can I hide behind Finn, but the nakedness will be a distraction for the people watching us on camera.
Mr. Averson may say he isn’t a pervert, but I’ve known enough men like him that I can read pervy vibes all over his little sneers and dirty comments.
I’m sitting with my legs crisscrossed in the middle of the bed, amongst the blankets and pillows that probably need to be washed at this point. My arm that the blood was drawn from is resting on my knee, and I’m staring off into empty space.
“Where’s your head at, sweetheart?” Finn asks me as he pulls the fridge open with his good hand.
I slide my attention to him as he grabs a soda and hands it to me. “I’m just thinking about some stuff.” I pop the tab on thesoda can and take a sip. How am I going to make this look as natural as possible?
Rubbing my lips together, I place the soda down on the nightstand before standing up. Finn watches me with his brows furrowed as I walk toward him.
“You have a strange look on your face,” he tells me as he closes the fridge door.
“That’s because I have to tell you something.” I stop in front of him.
“Okay, what’s up?”
“It’s… I just…” Summoning up as much courage as I can, I settle my hands on his shoulder and push up on my tiptoes, kissing him.
