“I’m with Ty,” Thomas said. “Aren’t you taking this a bit too seriously?”
Ty turned and nodded toward Thomas, the nod of two men who had clearly interacted before. His father really did know everybody.
“Did they restrain the student?” August asked, forcing himself to participate in this silly discussion.
Sister Mary Elizabeth seemed to stumble around that one. “Well, no.”
August fought not to roll his eyes. He’d missed a midterm for this. “Did they harm him?”
“No, he was a willing participant,” she said hesitantly.
“And where arehisparents?” Lucas asked. “Did they demand this meeting?”
“They opted not to participate,” Sister Josephine said primly.
“That was an option?” Atticus snapped.
“Can we please stay on task?” Sister Josephine asked.
“As soon as you tell us what it is,” August countered. “Why are we here? Was their Latin incantation incorrect?”
“I—well, actually no.” Both August and Atticus exchanged smug looks, causing Sister Josephine to give an exasperated huff. “But do you not find this at all concerning?”
“What I find concerning is that you dragged all of us here for something that feels like it could have been an email and a few house point deductions. Would you rather the children invoke demons or rebuke them, Sister?”
“Yeah, what he said,” Ty added. “I thought the Catholics were big on this sort of thing.”
“Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Jones, if you refuse to take this seriously?—”
“Then what?” Thomas asked, menacingly. His tone wasn’t raised, but it filled the room anyway.
She gave him a pissy look. “Then we might have to consider expulsion.”
“Then perhaps it’s time I considered buying the school,” Thomas countered. “I feel quite sentimental toward it.”
Ty’s face split into a grin, his arms crossing to mirror Thomas’s as he leaned back in his seat like he was about to watch a Wimbledon match. Cherice elbowed him in the side, but he continued to grin at Sister Josephine like they had a personal beef August wasn’t yet aware of.
The silence that followed was taut, the kind that made even the saints in the paintings look like they were waiting to see who’d break first.
Sister Mary Elizabeth looked utterly confused by this whole exchange, but Sister Josephine leaned back in her seat. “Mr. Mulvaney,” she said evenly, “you can’t simply buy the school because you’re unhappy with how we conduct ourselves. The Sisters’ charter can’t be bought.”
“Then I’ll build another school,” Thomas said mildly, straightening his cufflink. “Bigger, better funded, and far less…encumbered. One that allows for creative…expression. When the donors and parents follow their children through its doors, perhaps you’ll understand what can—and cannot—be bought.”
Ty nodded. “Sign me up, Tommy. I just know Jasmine would do amazing in a Mulvaney-run school.”
Tommy.Nobody but Aiden had ever gotten away with calling Thomas Mulvaney anything butThomas.Who was this man? Did Aiden and Thomas have…friends? August spared a moment to try to picture Aiden being sociable with anyone outside the family but it just didn’t track. It felt…unnatural.
His father gave Ty a nod of approval, like Jasmine’s acceptance to this nonexistent school was all but guaranteed. The grin that flickered across Ty’s face was the kind of look that said he’d just found his new favorite billionaire.
That seemed to throw the headmistress, who cleared her throat. “Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves?—”
“Perhaps,” Atticus said tightly. “Have you asked our children why they decided to…perform an exorcism?” He said the last part like it physically pained him to shape the words.
“Well, no.”
“I suggest you start with ours,” Lucas said, staring pointedly at the girls’ costumes. “I have a feeling it’s far less complicated than you might imagine.”
“Adelyn. Arabella. Come here,” August said, crooking his finger.
