Girls wearing very little, bikini tops, and short skirts or shorts lingered holding paper cups of liquor while flirting with sweet, dimpled smiles and friendly giggles. A pretty girl with wavy brown hair caught my eye, and I moved in close to her as she was swaying to the music, batting her eyelashes.
“What’s your name?” I asked her, and she beamed, played with her hair, and was about to answer when she was shoved out the way by Melrose, the coach’s daughter, who then shrilled in distress, “We need to talk,” and grabbed my forearm to pull me aside.
I wasn’t buying her fake urgency because she’s already proven to be mad, but I shot the pretty girl look of assurance before I allowed the coach’s daughter to say what she needed to say. “You’ve got two minutes,” I told her over the pounding music. “Hurry up.”
She stood on the tips of her toes so her face was only an inch away from mine, and I pulled away, declaring my lack of interest in her. “I know what was in your room,” she said flatly, then bit her bottom lip flirtatiously, making me want to barf.
I shook my head impatiently, “What?”
She pressed her lips against my ear and breathed, “The gun.” A sly smile spread across her face, then she bit her bottom lip again, flaring her nostrils. “What will you give me to keep my mouth shut?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, seeing red, “Give you? The fuck you talking about?”
A solid hand landed on my shoulder, but I was too enraged by what this chick was suggesting to react. “Bro,” Ez’s voice inmy ear, then he scrutinized the smirking girl before me, “I’m heading to Lev’s.”
“Huh?” I shook my head back into reality. He moved into Morgana to help Lev watch over the Boleyn girl. “Wait. Hang on. I’ll come with you. Give me a sec.”
Ezrah stepped aside as his eyes flicked from me to Melrose back to me again in curiosity. Once he walked away, I grabbed Melrose by the wrist and took her to a quiet corner by the stairs. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The gun,” she repeated, confidently. “I found it in your room.”
Again, I played dumb, pretending not to know what she was talking about. “Why were you snooping in there in the first place?”
“You have two choices,” she started.
“No. You don’t dictate to me,” I fumed, pointing my finger at that smirking face.
That vindictiveness came to shine, “Should I call the police that I found a gun in your room, or call my father? What’s your choice?”
I screwed my face up. “What do you mean?”
She licked her lip, batted her eyelashes, and said, “We could make a deal.”
“A deal over what? You made the claim that you have a gun in your possession, so you can hardly pin that on me,” I snarled, then laughed at the look on her face. “Maybe I’ll call the cops on you. Or maybe I’ll tell Coach that his daughter bought a gun to Castlehill.” I turned her little twisted plan on its head, but it alerted me to what type of person she was.
I caught up with Ez outside on the balcony, and we grabbed my bike from the basement, where he’d have to ride on the back because he and Lev left their bikes in Morrisville after pursuing Adina. Organized a vehicle in Morrisville to rent, then drove to Richmond, then left the hire vehicle at the station to take thetrain back to Castlehill, the next day with a heavily drugged Adina.
While they were always discovering that Maxwell Boleyn had killed himself, I was attending practice and training at the gym to keep up the pretense so no one would get suspicious.
No one noticed that Lev was gone; maybe that was because he kept to himself anyway, but the boys were asking about Ezrah, wondering where he was. I mean… we’re in the middle of nowhere, so it’s not like we could leave. But I made up some bullshit story, and Lev went hunting on the bikes. No more questions were asked.
“What was that all about?” Ez asked, nodding back at the house, referring to Coach’s daughter who was sidling up to Conrad. The guy was stupidly loyal to his girlfriend back home, so that ain't going to go far.
“Nothing,” I said, then started the engine. Once I dropped Ezrah off, I went for a ride around campus, stopping at the entrance to the maze. Parked up next to the picnic site and reflected on the conversation with my mother and the death of Maxwell Boleyn. This changed everything. With Maxwell out of the way, it will open up opportunities to expand our territory into Richmond, which was always the plan. Yep, this brought a fresh perspective, and I, for the first time in months, felt excited for our family’s future, especially my role in the business.
This could only be good for us.
The Boleyn girl lost a father, whereas we gained power and control of Richmond.
