by James Tate
Awkwardly, I sat down at the seat he indicated and cleared my throat. “I, um, went to see him the other day,” I said softly, not wanting to upset him any further. “I hope that’s okay. I just wanted to...” I shrugged “... I don’t really know. It just felt right to visit.”
Richard nodded. “He would have liked that. He would have liked you. I’m so sorry you never got the chance to know him.”
His words got me a bit choked up, and I needed to swallow the lump in my throat before I could respond. “Me too,” I whispered.
As if by unspoken agreement, we both rushed to change the subject to more neutral topics.
Throughout dinner, which Stew served, we remained on safe conversation. School assignments, sports teams, movies. It wasn’t until Stew had cleared our dessert bowls that Richard got to the point of why he’d asked me over.
“Riley, I know I’m not currently an acting member on Delta’s council,” Richard began, handing me a crystal cut glass of whiskey as we relocated to the sitting room. “But that’s by my own choice. After Oscar’s death, I didn’t feel like I was of a sound enough mind to handle the decisions and votes which are required of a Delta sitting council member.”
I snorted quietly with contempt. “But Catherine is?”
Richard’s lips tightened. “Catherine ...” He sighed heavily. “Catherine is a very smart, very calculating woman. When she sets her mind to something...” he trailed off again, then shook his head like he was saying too much. “Anyway, what I was saying, is that although I’ve allowed Catherine to proxy my position, I am still aware of everything going on. I was kept well informed of your mission with the other successors on the weekend, and given a full report on your success. I wanted to tell you how proud I was of you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “For ... breaking into a senator’s office and stealing his illegal sex tape? Strange thing to be proud of your daughter for, but whatever.” That was mostly muttered to myself, and I took a long sip of the amber spirit to stop running my mouth further.
“Yes, well. Strange world we live in.” Richard just shrugged it off. “Here’s the thing, though.” He paused, like he was trying to decide if he should continue or not. “Somehow, Huntley also obtained the same recording.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “How?”
“Well, that’s what I’d like to figure out,” he said softly, his gaze all too sharp on me for comfort. “What can you tell me about that night, Riley? Could anyone else have gained access to that recording room? Made a copy of the flash drive, perhaps?”
I blinked at him a couple of times, comprehending his question while I took another sip of the whiskey. “You mean... did Dylan or Beck make a copy?” I was already shaking my head. “There’s no way, they had one copy and it was handed off immediately.”
Richard just shrugged again, his face neutral and non-threatening. For some reason, that scared me more than any of the other Delta members I’d met. “Not just Dylan and Beck … anyone at all?”
Frowning, I shook my head again before belatedly noticing how fuzzy it felt. “No, I was with them the whole time. Beck only had the one flash drive, then he gave it to Dylan to take to Catherine. And no one else was in the room with us.”
Richard nodded slowly. “I see. And you saw Dylan hand the flash drive to Catherine, then?”
“No, I...” I scrubbed at my eyes with the heel of my hand. “I was fucking Beck in the bathroom.” I frowned, hearing those words come out of my mouth. What in the world? “Did you...” A sick feeling of dread washed through me as the room began to spin. “Did you drug me?”
Richard shrugged again, a gesture I was fast coming to despise. “Just a little something to loosen your tongue, dear. It won’t have any long term effects, I promise. Now, to be clear, you said Sebastian handed the flash drive to Dylan, but you never actually saw him give it to Catherine?”
“No, but he did.” I scowled and tried to stand up, but my legs turned to liquid and I fell back into my seat in an awkward sprawl. “Fuck you, Richard,” I snarled. “You never actually stepped down from Delta, did you?”
A smile creased his features, which were blurring a bit. “Oh, I did. In a way. My son’s murder required investigation, and it was so much easier to fly under the radar when everyone writes you off as a grieving father on the brink of breakdown. And now here I am, investigating a mole. Tell me, Riley ... are you that mole?”
His tone was so light, so matter of fact, I wouldn’t have been shocked if he decided to shoot me in the head right here in his sitting room. Fuck. Me. The rest of the council combined didn’t have shit on Richard Deboise, he was one scary ass motherfucker.
“No,” I snapped back, “and neither are Dylan or Beck. If you want to find a mole, maybe look at the other people who knew about our mission.” Namely—the entire Delta council and whoever else was involved with our operation that night. Especially Catherine Deboise, who had a very close tie to the head of Huntley.
Richard smiled again. A creepy, soulless smile. “I believe you believe that. Thank you, dear. It’s been lovely getting to know you better. Stewart will see you home.”
I could no longer feel my limbs, and my vision was both blurring and spinning, but I still noticed when Stewart gathered me up in his arms and started walking out of the sitting room.
“Oh, and Riley?” Richard called after us, causing Stew to pause. “I trust you won’t share this chat with anyone. It would be so sad if Beckett lost their heir so close to his succession, and when you’ve clearly formed such a close bond with the young man too.”
“Fuck you, Richard,” I tried to snarl back, but it came out a bit slurred.
Stewart started walking with me again, and just before I passed out, I could have sworn I heard Richard mutter something more from close by.
“You should have taken the IDs and run while you could, stupid girl,” he said, but instead of sounding threatening, his voice was full of ... regret and despair. Something soft brushed across my forehead, but I was already dropping into unconsciousness.
* * *
Sunlight beat down over my face, and I groaned. Why did my head feel like I’d been put through a meat grinder and who the fuck left my curtains open?
“What the hell?” I mumbled, my tongue thick and heavy like I’d been drinking all night. Picking up my phone from the night stand, I checked the time ... then groaned. My alarm was set to go off in six minutes, and it was a school day.
My head was pounding. Utterly thumping. Cringing with every movement, I staggered over to my bathroom and busted in without taking notice of the fact that the shower was running.
Why was my shower running?
Ugh, too hard to look.
I turned the sink faucet on and splashed a couple of handfuls of cold water on my face then patted it dry with a washcloth as the shower turned off.
My eyes opened just in time to see the reflection of a very wet, very naked Sebastian Beckett stepping out of my shower.
“Sebastian.” I frowned, still fuzzy headed and confused. “Why are you in my shower? I don’t remember...” I was going to say that I didn’t remember going to bed with him, but really I didn’t remember anything.
He grinned, taking his sweet ass time to pick up a towel and slowly dry off. It was like getting front row tickets to the Magic Mike show ... if Mike ditched the G-string. “I’m not surprised you don’t remember,” he said with a low laugh. “You were passed out cold when Stewart brought you home. Hit the Scotch a bit too hard with Richard, huh?”
“Huh?” I wrinkled my nose, then all of a sudden the night before came flooding back to me, and I gasped. “Holy shit,” I whispered, covering my face with my hands. Richard ... he’d drugged me! What kind of sick, deranged, messed up...? But of course he was unstable. All of them were. It had to be scientifically impossible to maintain total sanity in the fucked up world Delta operated within.
“Butterfly?” Beck tucked his towel around his waist and stroked my
hair. “Are you okay?”
My lips parted to tell him everything. All of it. Richard’s questions, the fact that he suspected a mole, the fact that I may have inadvertently cast suspicion on Dylan, the fact that he’d been working for Delta all along, conducting investigations into...
But I couldn’t tell him. Richard’s threat came slamming back to me, and I had to swallow several times to keep from throwing up. Not just because the threat had been really fucked up, but because I’d been mad at them for keeping secrets, and now I was doing the same fucking thing. And using the same excuse.
To protect him.
Beck would be pissed too, but that was just something I’d have to deal with. Keeping him alive was my number one priority.
“Uh huh,” I lied, giving him a tight smile. “Just, uh, really hungover. I guess.”
He cupped my cheek in one of his huge hands, peering into my eyes like he could read my soul, and secretly I hoped he could. Maybe then he’d have a heads-up on everything and be able to ... I didn’t know. Save himself?
“Okay,” he finally said, accepting my bullshit. “Get ready for school and I’ll grab you some aspirin. One of us should have warned you how heavily Richard can drink.” He said this last with a chuckle, and ice formed down my spine. Had Richard pulled this same trick on him at some stage? Except he didn’t remember it?
The whole thing was turning my stomach, so I just gave him a tight nod of acceptance.
“Sebastian, wait,” I blurted as he started to leave the bathroom. He turned back to me with interest in his gaze, and before I could second guess myself, I grabbed his face and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
It had caught him by surprise, no doubt, but not so much that he didn’t grab me back before I could pull away, deepening the kiss to something much hotter than I’d intended.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you this morning, Butterfly,” he whispered in a husky, lust filled voice. “But I like it.” He pressed another kiss to my swollen lips. “I’ll be back with those aspirin in a sec.”
He left the bathroom, and I hurried to shower and dress for the day. Beck had left the aspirin on the bathroom counter along with a glass of water so I gulped them down while blow-drying my hair. By the time I emerged ready for school, I was already feeling better.
“Coffee,” Beck said when I met him in the kitchen. He placed a steaming mug—my queen mug—in my hand, and dropped another quick kiss on my lips. “I just need to grab something from Dylan, I’ll meet you at the car?”
“Yep.” I nodded and took a long sip. Holy damn, Beck made an orgasmic cup of coffee. I might just keep him around to make me coffee for the rest of my life ... among other things. He bent down to pull his boots on, and I didn’t even try to pretend I wasn’t checking his ass out. He had a really great ass.
He glanced back, catching me staring, and I just shrugged.
After he left, I allowed myself a couple more minutes to drink my coffee while Richard’s threat echoed through my head. There were two major things I could take away from what he’d said.
One, Oscar had been murdered, and I think he suspected another council member. Just like Beck did. And two, I was sort of falling in love with Beck. Okay, fine. It had already happened, but my anger toward him had masked it all. Hearing his life threatened in such a callous way had sent such potent, soul crushing fear through me, that I couldn’t keep burying my head in the sand.
So now what the hell did I do?
Panic, I guess? For today, though, I would allow myself a little indulgence. Would it really be so terrible to drop my guard around him for one day and just see what it was like? After all, Dante himself had told me to let it go...
Lost in thought, and practically buzzing with butterflies in my belly, I made my way down to the parking garage. I was so distracted, I didn’t see the dark figure waiting between the cars until it was almost too late.
As it was, it was my heel catching in a drain grate that saved me when the person took a swing with his knife. Terrified, I let out a scream and ducked out of the way when he stabbed at me again. He didn’t get a chance to try a third time as a shot rang out with a deafening crack, and my attacker crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
“Riley.” Beck rushed over, his gun still in his hand and his eyes darting all around us, even as he crouched beside me. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He must have been satisfied that there was no one else jumping out of the shadows, because he tucked his gun away and pulled out his phone instead. “Dylan, parking garage, now.”
“What the fuck just happened?” I squeaked, staring wide eyed at the dead man. Blood had begun pooling under him and was slowly crawling toward the drain that had saved my life.
Beck gathered me up in his arms and stood, carrying me away from the body and placing me gently down on the fire escape stairs. “Riley, baby,” he coaxed. “Tell me if he hurt you anywhere. Did he hit you? Cut you?”
I shook my head, numb. “N-no. No. I caught my heel and tripped...” I waved a hand at the drain grate which was now stained red with my attacker’s blood. “He just came out of nowhere. What the fuck just happened, Beck?”
His face tightened, the skin around his eyes pinching as he cringed. “Please don’t, baby. Please don’t shut me out again. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He wrapped his arms back around me, hugging me tight to his chest. His heart was thundering, and the way he stroked my hair it seemed like he was shaking a little.
I frowned, confused, then it clicked. I’d called him Beck again, and he’d taken it as a sign that our earlier progress was ruined.
“Hey.” I pushed back from him just far enough that he could see my face, see the sincerity in my eyes. “Sebastian. I’m fine, I promise. That scared the shit out of me, no joke. But it’s pretty far from the worst that’s happened in the last few months, you know?”
He looked unconvinced, but Dylan arrived then and it was suddenly all business again.
“Did he say anything to you?” Dylan asked, after he’d checked behind every car, pillar, and shadow in the whole damn parking garage. “Anything at all?”
I shook my head, hugging my knees as I remained on the steps where Beck had put me. “Nothing at all. Just popped up out of nowhere and started swinging his knife.”
Dylan and Beck exchanged a look. “He was trying to be quiet,” Beck said gruffly. “A gunshot would have alerted us. He was no amateur.”
Dylan shook his head. “They’re getting bolder. They really want Riley out of the way, but I can’t figure out why.”
I eyed Beck closely. “So Katelyn can have Beck. It’s the only explanation.”
Huntley was desperate to secure their second vote.
Beck looked extra pissed and disgusted then. “I’ve called the cleanup crew,” Dylan advised, distracting us. “I’ll wait here until they arrive. You two should get to school.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Just ... go to school after someone tried to murder me?”
Beck nodded. “He’s right. If Katelyn had anything to do with this, we want to see her reaction when you turn up alive and well.”
I gaped at him. “But what if one of you guys were the intended victim?” I changed my story. “It was your car he was hiding beside.” I might have just been the unlucky one to come out first.
“True, but considering all the threats sent to Delta recently have been centered around you, it’s a pretty safe guess that this was an attack on you.” Dylan shrugged like it was so fucking common to get death threats—or attempts.
“Wait, what?” I blurted, “All the threats? There have been more than one? What the Hell, Sebastian? You told me about one!”
Dylan grinned at us both. “Sounds like you two are back on good terms, Sebastian.” He dodged just in time to avoid the punch Beck was about to deliver to his midsection, and backed up a few steps—still smirking. “Go on, I’ve got this handled here. You two sniff around Ducis and see if any blondes are
acting suspicious.”
Without really giving me any opportunity to delay further, Beck did a quick check of his car, and then had me bundled into it and out on the road in no time. The short drive to Ducis Academy gave me just enough time to reel at what my life had become. It wasn’t even nine in the morning and already I’d fought off a drug hangover, seen a totally naked, totally gorgeous man coming out of my shower, had a coffee, been almost murdered, and seen a guy shot.
“Fuck,” I swore as Beck parked in front of the Academy. “I forgot to do my English assignment.”
Beck just shot me a puzzled glance, and I burst out in borderline hysterical laughter.
Someone had just tried to kill me and I was worried about my English assignment.
Yep, another one on the list for my future therapist.
26
School passed uneventfully again. Katelyn didn’t seem to register any shock at seeing me alive so she was either the best actress in the world, or innocent—in this case.
I did, however, get called in to a meeting with the academy guidance counselor just before the end of the day.
“You’re failing,” she told me, when I sat down in front of her.
I blinked a few times while this sunk in. “Sorry, what?”
“You’re failing,” she repeated, slower this time, like I was an idiot.
“How?” I demanded. “I know I’ve missed a couple of assignments and taken some time off but you don’t understand everything that’s—”
The guidance counselor held up a hand to stop me. “Miss Deboise, you’re absolutely right. I don’t understand what’s going on with you, nor do I want to understand. The mere fact that the teachers here have been paid an exorbitant ‘bonus’ to give you passing grades regardless of attendance is enough to tell me I don’t have a single clue about you or your life.” Her lips pursed and she frowned at me. “I could be fired for even having this conversation with you, but I’m going out on a limb here, Riley. When you arrived at Ducis Academy, your grades were stellar. For all intents and purposes, you seemed to be a model student. Now...” She shrugged, looking severely disappointed. “I’m taking a chance here that I’ll still have a job to return to tomorrow. But you needed to be aware that despite the fact that you will graduate—your family’s bribes have seen to that—you don’t deserve to. Not the way things are right now. Is that what you want?”