Page 139 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

There’s a mirror on one wall even though this is an office. I’m not going to even pretend like we’re alone. Jack sits next to Caden, and Luke leans against the wall. Harper bites her lip like she doesn’t know where to go in this situation. Her eyes bounce around us. Punishment for biting her lip is the last thing on my mind right now.

“Come on, kitten.” I hold my hand out to her, and she takes it. I lead her to the other chairs and wait for her to sit on her own before taking the seat next to her.

“We need a chance to talk after this.” Ashley meets my eyes. “Somewhere we won’t be overheard.”

Caden nods and runs his hand through his hair. “You on our side now?”

Ashley’s laugh is sharp and brittle. “Yeah, there’s no way Sidney can maintain this. She sicced her guard dogs on all of us. We chose to help Harper and her friends. That was our choice.”

I nod. Ashley’s always been a little cold and logical about things. It’s what drew me to her. That and she didn’t usually play the games the other girls played. Except to stake a claim on me. Just so the others didn’t get their hopes up that I’d be only theirs.

“You protect what’s yours.” Her words are for us, but she looks at Harper. She knows Harper is ours. “We’re going to need protection too.”

“And you’ll have it,” Luke says. He tips his head. “You’ll also have your talk. Once we get to Jason’s. We’ll use one of his rooms.”

She nods and rubs her hands together. Her gaze flicks to Harper again, but not to me. It’s almost like she’s seeking permission from Harper to speak with us.

Harper might not even be aware of the power she has now. And that’s one of the reasons we all love her. She’s not the kind to lord it over the entire school. She just wants to be with us. If she craves power, it’s not obvious. And from the way she hid for so long, I honestly don’t think she wants it.

But she does crave our touch and our love, which I’ll gladly give her. I slide my hand over hers and she turns her hand to link it with mine. It’s that fucking simple with this girl.

She rests her head against my shoulder as we sit quietly and wait. Jack has his phone out and is working on it.

“Did anyone find my phone?” Harper asks after a few moments.

“What happened to it?” I ask.

“It was in my hand. I was using it for a light and then when Ashley pulled me into the room, I dropped it.” She rubs a hand over her face. “I completely forgot about it until now.”

I glance at Jack, who I know started tracking it as soon as she asked.

“Last ping was when you went into the locker room.” Jack’s gaze lifts to Harper’s. “It could still be there or it might have run out of battery using the flashlight⁠—”

“Or someone could have picked it up.” I shake my head. “Can you remote wipe it?”

Jack meets my gaze and nods. “I can set it up to remote wipe as soon as it turns on.”

“But my stuff...” Harper sighs.

“I have a clone of your phone on my computer at home.” Jack smiles. “We’ll get you a new phone in the morning.”

“We could stop and look in the locker room on the way to the party.” Nico straightens a little.

“Not you.” Luke shakes his head. “Head injuries are serious. We need you to recover.”

Nico’s eyes flare with a little heat like he’s going to argue, but then he nods. It’s hard on him to be injured, but we need him to get better. He’s already dealing with a knee injury.

“I can do it.” Caden cracks his knuckles. “I’ll need someone with me in case Zach’s already sent in a clean-up crew or they get there the same time as us.”

“I can go.” Luke raises his gaze to Harper before looking at me. “You, Jack, and Nico can head to the party with the girls.”

In essence, I’ll need to protect Harper and the others. Though Jack seems a lot more alert and present than he has been. Sleeping with Harper has done him good.

Fuck, sleeping with Harper would do me good too. I missed out on that part of our night. But not tonight. We have plans to crash at Caden’s. Together.

Harper

I yawn as my eyelids grow heavy. I don’t know how long we’ve been at the police station, but I’m so ready to be done and just crash for the night. That’s not on the agenda though.