ALEXEI
This is afucking mess.
I’d been cautious about grabbing the key card, but it was impossible to manage the lock and rummage through his bag while also being fully aware of my surroundings. Now here I am, face-to-face with Matteo, struggling to come up with a way out of this predicament. Maybe it would have been smarter to cop to stealing cash—that wouldn’t bother the Saints as much as what I’m really trying to do.
I must be silent for too long because Matteo says, “Alexei, talk to me.”
He sounds so compassionate. Like the kind of guy I could tell about my brother and my arrangement with the Saints, but still… “Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Hell, I didn’t believe it until Preston demonstrated his power. But now if I tell Matteo without any evidence, knowing Preston and the Saints will just call me a liar—if not out of my mind—he’s not gonna think any differently than he did when he came here. Maybe he’ll think I took the keycard to get to Gage’s belongings to sell them online. Whatever BS he thinks some poor scholarship kid like me needs to do.
I try to collect my thoughts, think of something I can say to get him off my case, but I’m blanking.
Matteo stares me down, waiting, and when I don’t come up with anything, he shrugs. “Fine. I guess I’m gonna have to tell Gage.”
He starts for the door, and I jump into action.
“No!” I step in front of the door. “You can’t do that.”
He squints, pulling his phone from his jacket pocket. “You realize I don’t actually need to leave this room to tell him, right?”
He keys away on his phone. He’s not giving me time to come up with a plausible lie, so I blurt, “Gage has a spare key card to Spencer’s room, so I knew I could take it and they likely wouldn’t realize it before I had a chance to sneak in.”
“Why do you need to sneak into Spencer’s room?”
“He owes me. Or I should say, some of the guys at Alpha Alpha Mu owe me. And no, it’s not money, but they haven’t followed through on their end of a deal, and if you send Gage a message, they’re gonna know, and I might never get paid. Happy now?”
He stops punching into his phone. “Happier,” he says, his lips twisting into a victorious smirk. He looks at his screen like he’s considering whether he should let Gage know—or maybe Spencer, or both—before sliding it back into his pocket. “I’m listening.”
“Listening? I already told you more than I thought I would.”
“You only told me that this isn’t about money, and now you say it’s about a payment that’s not financial, so I’m obviously gonna want to know what that is, if you’re gonna expect me not to talk to Spencer about it.”
The more I talk, the deeper I dig this hole, and I’m so deep, I don’t know that I can climb back out. All I know is I didn’t keep tabs on the Sinners all last semester for Matteo to fuck this up for me now.
I grapple with my thoughts for a few moments before Matteo pulls out his phone again.
“Are you really gonna fuck me over like this?” I ask.
“Give me a reason not to.”
Maybe there’s a way to answer his questions without giving away my real intentions or mentioning the weird shit… “Spencer keeps a notebook in his room that I was promised access to if I helped the guys out with something, which I did all last semester, and now Preston is being evasive about when this is gonna happen. And I don’t want to keep being at their beck and call.”
“What did you help them with? And what do you want that notebook for?”
“Jesus Christ. Can you not be satisfied that I’m giving you more than before?”
“I’d be a lot more satisfied if any of this was adding up.”
“I can’t answer those questions.”
“Fine by me.” He starts to text, so I take his wrist gently—I’m doing more than trying to stop him; I’m trying to get through to him.
“Please, Matteo…please.” I hate that I’m fucking tearingup right now. I’m just so desperate.
