Page 58 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

Harper’s fingers weave into mine, and her head tips back against my chest. “Do what you have to. I’m not going anywhere.”

MacKenzie stands up. “Penny’s going to be at this thing too?”

“Yes.” I watch MacKenzie. Harper trusts her, and for that reason, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. But she took our girl off the map without any problems. She could be helping us or lulling us into a state where we give her our trust and she takes advantage of it.

“You don’t know what Sidney wants from this.” MacKenzie steps forward more. “We all know Sidney wants power. You assume she’s doing this to get Luke back, but what if it’s to get more players off the board?”

Her gaze goes pointedly to Nico.

Eli releases a breath and meets my eyes. We hadn’t thought about how she could make us vulnerable. It could be about getting me away from the group.

“I swear I’ll sit in a room and only move when one of you tell me to.” MacKenzie holds her hands up. “Sidney isn’t a friend of mine. Penny is barely a friend. The only one I’m looking out for is Harper. And if she loves you guys, then I need to look out for you too.”

“Why?” I ask.

She looks at all of our stony faces and sighs. “Why are you friends with these guys?”

I arch an eyebrow.

“Do you know how hard it is to fit in as a girl changing schools? Every clique is already formed by sixth grade. No one wants to take a chance on a new girl. But Harper did.” MacKenzie turns to look at Harper. “Probably for the same reason you guys cling to her. She accepts me for who I am. I don’t have to go out of my way to impress her, and she’s the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t waste that on any scheme, especially if that scheme was meant to hurt her.”

“You don’t want to be popular?” Eli asks.

MacKenzie’s laugh is short and abrupt. “Hell, no. Fuck. There can’t be anything worse than being a popular girl in high school. Having to deal with all the fighting and power-hungry frenemies? The disloyal bitches? The thirsty boys? No, thank you. I’ll stick to Harper. I know who she is and why she’s my friend. She’s not my friend for any other reason than she likes me and I’m fun to hang out with.”

Harper relaxes back against my chest. Her sweet vanilla scent rises to my nose. I can understand the draw.

“I’ve been trying to help Harper. She means everything to me. She asked me if I’d follow Brandon to college, and that answer was easy, but not having Harper next year will be hard.” MacKenzie reaches out and Harper takes her hand. “So let me help you make sure my best friend is safe. I can help tonight and look into things. Loop me in because I’m already in this.”

Harper looks up at me and there are tears in her eyes. Not sad ones though. I glance at the others before returning my gaze to Kenz. “You can help, but that doesn’t mean we trust you.”

She laughs. “The world would have to be ending for that to happen.”

I lead the way into my room. Eli walks in and sits at my desk, unlocking my computer. Kenz stops at the door, but I wave her in.

She doesn’t look at me like she’s starving for me. No, she looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here. I get it though. If Eli gets distracted because Penny is being attacked, then I’m on my own. It’s better to have numbers, where someone can alert the others.

I hold up my hand when Kenz tries to say something. She tightens her lips and nods. My room is most likely bugged and possibly has some recording device in it. Eli gestures to the couch, and Kenz sits on it.

Eli moves to sit on the arm of the couch and waits for me. I grab some clothes and change in the bathroom. Jack gave me a little pin with a camera in it. I attach it to my shirt next to a button and fix my hair in the mirror.

I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but I know I’ll just be creating another enemy. So far, Sidney has played what she would call nice, because there was that lingering hope of getting me back. But that delusion ends tonight. One way or another.

I walk out into my bedroom and Eli nods. His phone is in his hand as he makes sure the camera is transmitting and shows everything. I clear my throat and it echoes on his phone.

Fuck, this is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Giggles sound in the hallway. Penny and Sidney. We need to work on taking Sidney down and installing Ashley. She may not be any easier to control, but at least she’s rational when it comes to Eli. Sidney has taken this too far.

Kenz’s knuckles are white as she clasps her hands. Good, she’s nervous. That means she’s not in on whatever is going down. Or she’s meant to take out Eli and realizes how futile that would be.

Fuck. Maybe it was a bad idea to include her, but she’s right. Too many chess pieces. If it was just me, I’d be okay. But Penny could end up a target. And if Penny ends up hurt, Harper will feel that.

Maybe I get what Penny told me. Being unwanted or used as a pawn, it makes me hold tighter to Harper because like Kenz said, she’s not out to use me. And maybe I want to have family that I can rely on occasionally without them asking for something in return.

All I know is I want to come out of this dinner tonight unscathed.

Eli gives me a thumbs up, and so does Kenz.