“And you?” Titus glances at me as he goes up to my mom and kisses her lips before hugging her tightly as well.
“Did weight training this morning. I don’t have anything going on for the rest of the day,” I say, returning his hug when he reaches me.
“Tate asked me about you and Finn,” he says, undoing the knot of his tie and tossing it over the jacket he’d set over the chair.
“I’m not surprised. What’d he say?”
“He … well…” Titus’ brows rise. “He’s not happy, that’s for sure.”
“He’s a fucking asshole,” Dame growls, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Has he called you?” Mom asks, picking up two plates and handing them to Dame.
“Yeah.”
“I thought you blocked his number,” Dame says as he setsthe plates down on the center of the table. I stand and pick up the bowl of salad to help set the table.
“I unblocked it.”
He rolls his eyes.
“I’m surprised he didn’t text me about it,” I say.
“He really hates that guy,” my stepfather says. “With good reason. And now this.”
I roll my eyes. “I will never understand inherited drama.”
“Finn made it personal,” Titus says. “You remember that girl who died years back? Blair?”
“The one who drowned in the frozen lake?” Mom asks with a sad look in her eyes. “What a terrible tragedy.”
An uneasy feeling skates down my spine.What the hell does Finn have to do with that?A part of me wants to cover my ears and not find out. I was in middle school at the time, but I remember the story. I think she was on her way home from a party when her car veered off the road and went into a lake. From pictures on the news, I know the girl was beautiful, with a tight-lipped smile and dazzling blue eyes.
“According to Tate, there was some sort of love triangle between them and Finn,” Titus says. “He says Finn was there the night it happened.”
My heart drops and I’m instantly ashamed of myself for being even remotely jealous of that poor girl. A love triangle hints at a relationship, though. It’s not like I thought Finn never had a girlfriend, but he’s made himself unavailable for so long that I hadn’t really thought much of how, why, or when he became that way.
“Damn. I didn’t know that,” Dame says.
“Not many do,” Titus responds. “The Barlows are good at covering their tracks. There’s a reason Richard bought his lawyer a house beside his.”
Dame whistles. I’m not sure if he’s impressed or disturbed. I’m definitely both.
“He doesn’t think Finn killed her, does he?” I ask, or say. I can’t tell with the pounding in my head.
“No, that’s not the impression I got. More like he blames him for whatever led to the accident,” Titus says.
“He could just be saying this, since he knows you’ll tell Josslyn,” Mom says.
“Maybe.” Titus shrugs and glances at me. “The point is, Tate asked and I told him last I heard, there was nothing going on between you and Finn. I assume that’s still the case.”
I nod.
Thankfully, the topic of Finn only lasts a few more minutes, and by the time we’re sitting at the table, we’re talking about sports and work. Titus’ words remain at the front of my mind, though. Mallory’s death was barely reported on. They acknowledged it, of course, but they never said she was at Onyx. In the official public story about Onyx, they call the woman Jane Doe. A couple of days later, they quickly reported on Mallory’s “tragic, untimely passing.” I knew it was her parent’s doing. They wouldn’t want their daughter associated with a sex club.
33
JOSSLYN
