The tide rolled in beneath the moon.
Luke leaned his forearms against the balcony railing. “Logan’s gone.”
I turned toward him, the pads of my fingers ghosting across my lips where he’d forced a brutal kiss. “I thought he was just suspended.”
“Not after Coach heard everything that happened. He was removed from the team—permanently.” A faint edge crept into his voice.
A strange sense of closure moved through me. Logan had once been a shadow at the edges of everything that went wrong at Blackwood.
Now he was simply… gone.
“And Elise?” I asked. Things had been kept tightly wrapped at school regarding those two. We’d all known they were under disciplinary measures, but it had appeared only as suspensions. That was where the rumors had ended, and no one seemed the wiser.
Luke huffed softly. “Her dad transferred her to a boarding school back east.”
Exile. Quiet and controlled.
“She won’t be back,” he added.
The cypress trees bent further as the wind shifted.
“What about Charles Dunn?”
Luke’s gaze moved toward the horizon. “Investigators are still digging.”
I studied his face. “But?”
“But Victor Langley isn’t hiding anymore.”
That name had surfaced more often in the weeks since Darren’s body was found. The strategist behind Dunn’s corporate structure. The man who had placed Darren inside King Enterprises years ago.
“Marcus thinks Langley underestimated Darren,” Luke continued.
“How?”
“He assumed Darren would stay loyal to Dunn.”
“But Darren flipped.”
Luke nodded.
“After meeting my mom.” The words felt strange out loud. “He realized both companies were dirty.”
Luke’s fingers wrapped gently around mine. A wave broke below us, the sound echoing faintly against the cliffside.
“My mom finally told me everything,” I continued quietly.
Luke turned slightly toward me.
“She and Darren were planning to leave Blackwood.” The admission felt heavy. “They knew the companies were corrupt. Darren wanted to expose it.”
Luke didn’t interrupt.
“He thought if the truth came out, it would protect people.” The irony stung.
“He was right,” Luke said. “Just later than he expected.”
We both watched the dark water. Then Luke nudged my shoulder gently. “What about your mom now?”
