Page 123 of Intolerable Bishop

I licked my lips. Theo lifted an eyebrow. “I think we’ve earned your trust. We’re used to handling situations and keeping secrets. We’ve kept you safe all summer. Tell us what happened,” he said.

I couldn’t argue with that logic. “He wants me to stay away from all of you, or he’ll kill my dad and then move on to someone else I care about. Could be one of you or Ivy or even Lizzy.” I rubbed my face. “I refuse to let him hurt someone because of me, but…if I stay away from all of you, he wins. I won’t let that happen either.”

“Son of a bitch,” Nash said as he stomped away.

“He says I’m a bad influence. I don’t understand.”

“He’s pinning all of the changes we’re making, like my attitude and Myles refusing to rape someone, on you.” Nash made little quotation marks with his fingers. “You’re a bad influence because he didn’t see a change until after you arrived.”

“Well, that’s not happening. Not the stayin’ away or the killin’ yer da. Yer safe here, Snowflake. Lawrence has no reach inside the school.” Myles walked over and wrapped me up in a hug.

“How are you so sure?”

“That was why he felt the need to threaten you. It’s his only card to play to scare you. The question is, why,” Liam said. “And why all of us and not just Nash?”

Liam brought up a very good point. Glancing between him and Theo, standing with their shoulders almost touching, it was impossible to tell if they were still at odds.

“Guys, can we deal with this tomorrow? I want to talk to Snowflake alone for a few minutes,” Myles said, and if he hadn’t said it so seriously, I would’ve thought he wanted to have sex.

“Wait. Before you all go….” I pulled out my phone. “I may have broken into Lawrence’s office.”

“You what?” They all said together.

“He didn’t see me, I swear. You can give me shit for that later. I found this picture framed on the wall.” I handed my phone over, and all the guys stared at the photo.

“Well fuck me,” Blake said first. “That’s Lawrence and Christov in front of Wayward. They look our age.”

Nash zoomed in on the photo of his dad and my possible father, smiling with their arms around each other. “Fuck, this picture has been on the wall my whole life. I didn’t even notice it was the same guy.”

“So…what do you think it means,” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Nash said, handing me back my phone. “We’ll head out, but Princess…never go into my father’s office again. He’d either kill you or fuck you for it,” he said, and I swallowed hard. The thought of Count Dick touching me with a single finger made me want to throw up, let alone be forced to have sex with him.

“I won’t,” I said.

“Don’t worry, Princess. My father’s time is almost up,” Nash said as the four of them walked out the door and closed it behind them.

As soon as they were gone, Myles took my hand and led me over to the bed. “I need to kiss ya before we talk.” I smiled as he gently cupped my face and kissed me. Touching him meant that I was finally able to really breathe again. He was safe, or as safe as you got in this insanity. “That’s better,” he said, breaking the kiss.

“What’s going on? You look worried.”

“I wanted you to hear what I had to do from me before you hear rumors and speculation from someone else.”

“Oh…okay,” I said, prepping myself, and not sure I wanted to hear this from the look he was giving me.

“But this has to stay between us. The only others that know are the guys, and it must stay that way.”

“You have my word, I won’t say anything.” Reaching out, I touched his face, and he grabbed my hand and held it between his. He took a deep breath, and as much as I wanted to know, I was also terrified of the truth.

“I was ordered to kill Fiona and her entire family.”

My mouth fell open. “What?”

AUGUST 28 – SUNDAY 5:10 AM

Nash

The rhythmic sound of my strokes, as I pushed my speed, was a sweet slice of heaven. Reaching the end of my final lap, I touched the wall, looked up at the massive clock, and smiled.