Actually… no, I could believe it. Of course they had something like this. Even with Charles in prison awaiting trial—and the stock prices of his companies subsequently plummeting—the Connerys were still one of the wealthiest families in Royal Falls.
Hunter briefly glanced toward our right and let out a sigh. “Shit,” he muttered. “My great uncle is on his way over to my mom. I better go and rescue her. Will you be okay by yourself for a minute?”
I nodded. “Sure. What’s wrong with your great uncle?”
“Nothing, really, but he’s always annoyed the shit out of Mom. She’s too polite to walk away from him, though.”
I smiled faintly. “I see. Go save her, then.”
He let go of my arm and strode over to a spot beneath a gnarled tree, where his mother was standing with a few other black-clad memorial service guests.
I turned my eyes back to the mausoleum and slowly headed toward it, chest aching with emotion. In my left hand, I held a wreath. When I reached the top of the steps that led into the tomb, I knelt down and propped it up against the smooth wall, well away from the harsh elements.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Lindsay’s necklace. Then I placed it inside the wreath, letting the pendant dangle over the pale pink and white flowers.
“I wish I got to meet you in person while you were still here,” I murmured. “But I’m still glad we met online and had all those great talks. I really miss that.”
“Hey, Laney.”
I looked up to see Trina standing behind me. “Hi,” I said, rising to my feet. “Thanks for coming.”
She gave me a watery smile. “Wouldn’t miss it,” she replied. She put her hands in her pockets and glanced around the cemetery. “I think it’s really nice how they’ve put on a second memorial service for her, now that we know what really happened to her.”
“Me too.”
She looked back at me, brows knitted. “How’s Adam doing?”
“He’s still in the ICU,” I said, stomach lurching at the thought of him. “He probably won’t be out for another few months.”
“I still can’t believe he survived that fall.”
“Me neither,” I said, shaking my head.
It was sheer luck that saved Adam in the end. One of the gardeners had been working on the western side of the property that day, and they’d left a huge pile of raked leaves and trimmings from bushes and hedges in the courtyard next to the garden. That pile of foliage had saved Adam’s life when he landed on it—but only just.
After such a long fall, he was still terribly injured. Over half the bones in his body were broken, including several parts of his spine, and the trauma to his head was so bad that he had to be placed in an induced coma.
He would remain in that coma while the swelling in his skull subsided, and when he came out of it, he wouldn’t be the same Adam. The doctors had told us that he would never be able to speak again due to all the damage to certain parts of his brain. He probably wouldn’t be able to retain very many new memories, either, and he would suffer from drastically-reduced information processing for the rest of his life.
On top of that, he was paralyzed from the neck down. He would never walk again, and he would always need a mechanical ventilator to help him breathe.
Trina rubbed the sides of her arms as she shivered in the cold wind. “Is it horrible for me to say that he got what he deserved?” she asked in a low voice. “Like, if he died when he fell from the roof, it’d be an easy way out for him. Do you get what I mean?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“Obviously he can never go to a real prison for what he did, considering the circumstances, but he’s essentially trapped in his own body now. Trapped in a hell of his own making for the rest of his life. That’s just as bad as prison.” She shuddered and rubbed her arms again. Then she let out a soft groan. “God, I’m terrible for saying all of that, aren’t I?”
“No, I get it.” I touched her arm and smiled faintly. “You aren’t the first person to say that he got what was coming to him after everything he did.”
She glanced around the cemetery. “Who’s going to look after him once he’s out?” she asked. “Or is he going to some sort of institution for incapacitated criminals?”
“Tinsley Connery is going to take care of him,” I said, gesturing over to Hunter’s mom.
“Really?”
“Yeah. We thought the news of Adam being a murderer would make her spiral again, but she’s actually doing really well,” I said. “She’s left rehab now, and she’s living at the mansion again.”
Trina’s brows rose. “And she’s okay with looking after Adam, even though he killed Lindsay?”
I nodded. “I think she feels partially responsible for the way he turned out, so now she sees it as her job to care for him.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Why would she feel responsible?”
“She wasn’t around much when the kids were young,” I explained. “And when they were older, she was away even more. So she feels like it’s partly her fault that things went so wrong, and she thinks she owes it to Adam to look after him now.”
“Oh. Well, if that’s what she wants to do, and it makes her feel better, then good for her.”
“She’s actually hired my mom to help her out with the whole thing,” I said. “She’s offered her three times her old salary to do it, and she’s giving her one of their vacant houses in Royal Falls to live in so that she can be closer to the mansion. Rent-free.”
“Wow. That’s great for her.”
“Yeah. She can quit her other office cleaning job when this new one starts,” I replied. “And she can finally leave that old house in Silvercreek.”
“Good for her. She deserves it after all the shit she’s been through. I can’t believe Adam was actually going to frame her,” Trina said, shaking her head. She paused and chewed on her bottom lip. “You know, speaking of that… I talked to Hunter about the whole thing yesterday when he called to see if I was coming to the service. He told me about the new suspect list you guys came up with after Adam blew up your car, and I know you thought it could be me for a hot minute.”
“Shit. I’m so sorry, Trina,” I mumbled, burying my face in my gloved hands.
She laughed softly and pulled my hands away. “Don’t apologize. It’s fine,” she said. “Talking to him about it made me realize that I owe you an explanation.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t owe me anything.”
“I do.” She held up a palm. “I know it’s really weird that I never told you I was best friends with Lindsay. I acted like I barely even knew her.”
“I’m sure you had your reasons.”
She nodded slowly and sighed. Tears were glistening in her eyes now. “When she died, I didn’t know how to process it. Before it happened, I was really fucking angry at her. I was going to go and confront her for the stuff she did, and I was ready to tear her a new asshole. But then…”
“She died,” I said softly.
Trina nodded. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel then. I was devastated that she was gone, and I was shocked too. It didn’t even feel real. And also…” She trailed off and wiped her cheek with one hand. “I was still angry at her at the same time. It made me feel like such a terrible person. Like… are you even allowed to be angry at your dead best friend?”
I lightly rubbed her forearm. “I know what you mean.”
She looked down at the wreath before continuing. “I was so caught up trying to figure out what to feel that I just went numb. I guess it was like a coping strategy for me. I figured if I never spoke about her and tried not to think about her at all, I could hold on to that numbness and never have to worry about breaking down.” She looked up at me again. “Does any of that make sense?”
“Yes,” I said, squeezing her hand in mine. “I’m sorry for thinking you could’ve hurt her. I should’ve realized that everyone has their own way of dealing with grief.”
“It’s okay. You were just trying to find out who killed her, and like Adam told you at the time… I was angry at Lindsay for what she did. That could’ve been a motive if I was a psychopath like him.”
“I know, but I’m sorry anyway.” I bit my lip and tilted my head slightly to the side. “How do you feel about Lindsay now? Are you still angry?”
Trina hesitated. “She really hurt my sister. Ruined her marriage. But… she didn’t do it alone,” she said softly. “That man took advantage of her. She was young, and honestly, she wasn’t very emotionally stable. So I’ve forgiven her now. I just wish I got the chance to do it before I lost her forever.”
I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around her, throat aching as her guilt and sadness permeated the air. She cried silently, chest heaving against me, and I held her tightly and stroked the back of her head until she was ready to pull back and wipe her eyes.
“There’s one other thing I should tell you,” she said. “When I was talking to Hunter, he said he thought I was acting like I wanted to get rid of you when all the shit was going on. Like, I kept suggesting you leave town and change schools.”
“You were just trying to help.”
She nodded. “I already lost one good friend,” she said, voice trembling. “I was worried I’d lose you too, with everything that was happening. So I know I probably seemed like I was overreacting by suggesting that you get out of Royal Falls, but I wasn’t trying to get rid of you. I just wanted you to be safe and happy. That’s all. I still wanted you in my life.”
“I know. I totally get it.”
She hugged me again, and then we turned to look at the flowers and wreaths that other people had already laid against the wall of the mausoleum.
Trina told me some stories about her and Lindsay getting up to all sorts of mischief when they were kids. Her voice seemed lighter now, and the tension in her body seemed to melt away as she spoke about her old friend.
Her phone pinged in her pocket a moment later, and she briefly glanced at it before letting out a sigh. “I have to take this,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”
She gave me a quick hug before heading over to the courtyard on the other side of the mausoleum. Hunter returned to my side a couple of minutes later.
“Hey,” he said, slipping an arm around my waist. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I just had a good talk with Trina,” I replied. “How about you?”
He rubbed his jaw with his free hand, brows furrowed as he looked down at the wreath with his sister’s necklace on it. “I’m okay,” he finally said.
“I know you still miss her a lot,” I said softly, stroking his arm. “You can talk to me about it whenever you want.”
“I know.” He nodded slowly, eyes still on the wreath. “I can’t imagine there ever being a day where I won’t miss her. But at the same time, now that the truth is out, I feel a lot better.”
“Like you’re more at peace with the whole thing?”
“Yeah. I used to be so fucking angry all the time. It was like I was stuck in limbo or something. But now…” He rubbed his jaw again and looked over at me. “Now I feel like I can finally start to move on. I don’t mean I want to forget Lindsay, or anything like that. But I can be happy again without feeling like I’m betraying her.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” I said, smiling faintly.
He looked back down at the flowers. “This will probably sound weird,” he said. “But I don’t just miss Lindsay. I miss Adam and my dad, too. Not for who they turned out to be, but for who they used to be. Before I knew what they were really like.”
“That makes sense,” I replied, nodding slowly.
“I dunno. It feels weird,” he muttered, looking down at the marble floor. “But I guess it’s not black and white. They both had good parts as well as the bad. And that’s what I miss. All the good parts.”
“I get it. Sometimes I find myself missing things about my dad,” I said. “Like the stuff we used to do when I was a kid. I think it’s pretty normal.”
Hunter looked at me again, brows raised. “Do you ever wish you could go back?” he asked. “In time, I mean. Before you found out he was such a piece of shit.”
I gnawed at my cheek as I considered his question. “No,” I said, shaking my head.
“Why not?”
“Because then I wouldn’t have you.”
He smiled down at me and leaned closer. “I wouldn’t do it either,” he said. “I could never risk losing you.”
“I’m glad,” I murmured.
“I love you, Laney. I love you so fucking much.”
A thick ball of emotion clogged my throat as I looked up at him. “I love you too.”
Tears stung my eyes and threatened to roll down my cheeks as Hunter leaned down to kiss my forehead, but they weren’t sad tears. They were warm, happy tears.
Maybe a cemetery wasn’t an appropriate place to cry with joy, but I couldn’t help it. My happiness was overwhelming me, along with the pure love I felt for Hunter. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he felt the same way for me, too.
If I ever told anyone every single nitty-gritty detail of how we got started together, I had no doubt they’d be horrified. Our relationship was forged in darkness and anguish, but in the end, that only made us stronger.
I’d fallen for Hunter even when his pain made it seem impossible for him to give or accept love, and I knew now that he was so much more than his worst moments.
He was strong and protective, and he was capable of feeling love like everyone else. He just needed to find the right person to help him unlock it and let it all out. So did I, and for me, he was that person, in the same way I was for him.
That sealed it for us. We belonged to each other, and we always would. We didn’t need everything wrapped up in a pretty pink bow—we just needed each other.
I knew most love stories didn’t start out with hate, but neither of us were normal, conventional people. Our love wasn’t conventional either, given how it originally took root and blossomed between us, but it was still love.
Raw, passionate, can’t-be-without-each-other love.
That was all that mattered.
Epilogue
Hunter
4 years later
Alton University Campus, New Hampshire
“What do you think?”
Laney did a dramatic twirl in her graduation cap and gown, smiling widely.
I raised a brow, lips twisting into a teasing smirk. “I think I prefer what’s underneath.”
“Asshole.” She giggled and did another twirl. “Seriously, though, does it look okay?”
“It looks perfect.” I grinned and stepped closer to her before leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead. “But why are you trying it on so early? We don’t graduate for another five weeks.”
“I know, but I thought I’d order everything early so that I have time to make sure it all fits, because the next few weeks are going to fly by.” She let out a wistful sigh and glanced around the college apartment we shared. “I can’t believe we’re nearly done already. It honestly feels like yesterday that we graduated from school.”
It really did. It seemed like we’d only walked across the stage at Royal Falls Academy to get our high school diplomas last week, when in reality, four years of college had passed.
We both made it to Alton in the end.
Laney’s fake essay prank had dampened my chances at acceptance for a while, but once the ‘misunderstanding’ was cleared up, everything was fine. It didn’t hurt that everyone knew me as one of the two students who’d taken down the Network schoolgirl sex trafficking ring and solved a murder during senior year. Elite colleges were practically clamoring to have me attend them after that news broke.
It was the same for Laney, but she didn’t even need that fame to have every college begging her to enroll. Despite all the shit she went through in senior year, she graduated at the very top of the class, and her
mailbox was flooded with full-ride scholarship offers as a result. She chose Alton for its prestige—it was the top university in the whole country, beating out MIT, Yale and Harvard every year—and also because she knew it was my dream school, and she wanted us to be together while we went to college.
She was about to complete a double major in political science and human rights studies. After graduation, she planned on heading to law school. She would still be studying at Alton, but we were moving out of our apartment and getting our own place in Manchester, seeing as the campus housing was for undergraduate students only.
She didn’t know it yet (she thought we were getting another small apartment downtown) but I’d bought a house for us as a post-graduation surprise in an upscale northern neighborhood. We’d driven past it a few months ago, on our way to a weekend hiking trip, and she’d turned all starry-eyed, saying she wished she could have a nice big house with a huge yard and forest behind it, just like that one.
I bought the house a week later.
It was twenty minutes closer to Royal Falls, where her mom still lived with her new partner Robert—and Mignon the terrier, of course—so once we moved in, we’d be able to visit them more often.
Trina was helping me decorate everything on the inside, seeing as she had a much better eye for that sort of stuff than I did. When she wasn’t doing that, she was attending her own undergrad course at another university in New Hampshire as a film and media major. She also took special effects makeup classes on the side to learn new techniques, and she regularly practiced on Laney. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d come home after a lecture to have her pop up from behind the kitchen counter in full zombie or swamp creature makeup.
She’d joke that I deserved the scare for forgetting to take the trash out, and I’d tell her that she looked better as a swamp creature than she usually did. We were always like that—teasing each other and joking around. Our apartment was filled with laughter and warmth all the time, and our house would be the same.
Shattered Kingdom: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 2) Page 23