I study him for a few beats. There’s a chance he’s bluffing and is just trying to bait me into confirming his suspicions, but with how volatile he is right now, it’s better if I don’t risk it and just come clean.
We might be family, but that doesn’t mean Jace won’t hesitate to fuck me up if he thinks I’ve betrayed him. And I’m not too proud to admit that both Jace and Jax could end me before I’ve even worked up a sweat defending myself.
“How did you figure it out?” I ask.
The corner of his mouth tips up in a dark smirk. “I know you, and I know when you’re hiding shit from me.” He points to his computer behind him. “And I have access to all the security cams on campus.”
I can actually feel the color draining from my face. “You’ve seen us on the cams?”
His smirk deepens. “Yup. And because I’m the awesome person that I am, I scrubbed the videos. Gotta say, cousin, it’s not like you to be so careless.” He raises his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. “I’m not judging. I’d be all over that if I had someone like him offering what he is and doing what you’re doing, but you’re thinking with your dick and leaving evidence behind, and that’s not like you.” He tilts his head to the side, his look intense. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on, or are you going to keep lying to me?”
“I’m not really sure what’s going on,” I tell him truthfully. “But it stopped being a job a while ago.”
“Are you still actually on the job?” he asks pointedly.
I shake my head. “Not for the past week. I gave Jordan my report the day after you told me what you found. I have no clue if they’ve connected Damon to the files, but Jordan seems okay with him being friends with Eden, for now, at least.”
“You know this is messy as hell, right?” Jace asks. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re just boner bros or if you’re a thing, but he’s a Keeper. You know that’s a giant complication wrapped up in a problem.”
He isn’t wrong. There are no official rules about dating or banging guys in other frats, but that’s mostly because the rules were written in a time when people did that sort of thing on the DL and no one talked about the fact that queer men exist. The “don’t fuck around with our rivals” rule is unspoken, and as far as I know, no one has ever been caught breaking it.
I have no idea what the consequences would be if anyone found out about Damon and me, but I imagine they wouldn’t be great for either of us.
“I know,” I say quietly. “And I’ve been trying to end things for the past week, but I just can’t.”
Jace purses his lips, his eyes piercing as he studies me like he’s trying to read my mind or see into my soul. “There’s more to this than just getting your rocks off and fucking around,” he says, his gaze boring into mine. “Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to figure it out on my own?”
Letting Jace find out on his own is the worst-case scenario. I might as well tell him everything. “Something happened at the rave.”
He makes a “go on” motion with his hand.
Being as concise as possible without leaving anything out, I tell him everything, including what happened when we wentinto the smash room together, and how I went to Carter to get answers instead of him.
He doesn’t interrupt, and instead of being pissed I lied to him, he keeps studying me when I finish talking.
“What?” I prompt after a solid thirty seconds of him staring at me like I’m some sort of science experiment..
“You’re a bigger dumbass than I thought,” he says bluntly.
“Care to elaborate on that?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything more.
“Your boy was kidnapped from a rave and held for ransom. I get why you didn’t tell us about that and why you thought it wasn’t a big deal after the evidence Carter found for you. But you didn’t think that maybe something might be up when he almost got offed here on campus a few weeks later? Two attempts on his life in two completely different locations in less than three weeks seems pretty sus to me.”
“I obviously considered it,” I tell him, barely managing not to snap at him. “But it’s not like we ever found a motive for why that guy attacked him, or even who it was.”
Jace stares at me in disbelief. “Did you not look at the drive I gave you?”
“I looked at it.”
“And you didn’t see the part where I found out who attacked him?” he asks incredulously.
Wait, what? He found Damon’s attacker?
“By the look on your face, I’m gonna assume that’s a no.” Jace rolls his eyes and spins around in his chair. “Get your ass over here, and I’ll show you.”
He already has what looks like a personnel file open when I wheel Jax’s desk chair over and sit next to him.
“This is your man.” He points to the screen. “Jeremy Reynolds. He was a steward at King House.”
