The uncertainty in her gaze nearly makes me change my mind. Grant hasn’t always had it together, but he’s never gotten like this. Not even when we were teenagers and thought getting drunk made us cooler than the others.
“All right,” she says, not sounding so sure.
We leave the building, and I give the guy at the reception desk a chin lift on my way out.
*** *** ***
What should have been a forty-minute drive took thirty when Ethan phoned to say he’s going to call the police. I told him to hold off on calling them until I got there, worried what Grant would do if he saw authority figures coming at him with everything that is going on.
The tyres skid on gravel when we reach the school, parking outside the rec room.
“Holy crap, is that—”
“Grant? Yeah,” I finish for her when she trails off, at a loss for words. Looking through the windshield, I can see him walking along the volley of the roof, above the window of the rec room.
I slam the car door shut and rush through the building. When I reach the rec room, I enter the code and push through the door.
I hear Ivy rushing behind me, and if I had time, I would tell her to stay here, but I don’t. The stairs to the sun roof come into view and I rush up them, stepping out onto the flat roof.
“Bro, we can’t get him to come off,” Ethan says, visibly relaxing when he sees me.
“Oh look, the motherfucking prince is here,” Grant growls, pain flashing in his eyes when they land on Ivy. He walks closer to us, swaying as he tries to keep his balance. “What are you doing here?”
There’s no venom, just anguish.
“What are you doing, Grant?” I call out, diverting his attention from Ivy.
“You’ve not heard?” he asks.
“Heard what?”
“My dad’s a rapist.”
“Grant,” I sigh, frustrated. “This isn’t the place or the time. Get down so we can talk about this.”
“Have a drink with me,” he cheers dryly, sadness lurking in the depth of his eyes. He gulps down another swig of vodka, not even flinching at the burn. “One last drink.”
My gut churns and I take a step forward. He moves away, back onto the roofing above the boxed window. I pause, my hands shaking.
He can’t be serious.
He shakes his head in disgust at me. “I’m just like him.”
“No, you aren’t,” I vow, growing more and more frustrated. Anyone could walk out below and hear him, but more than that, he’s going to kill himself being up there in his condition.
His gaze drifts back to Ivy and fills with torment. “I’m just like my father. Just like him. I hurt you and he hurt your mum.”
I glance over my shoulder to see how Ivy’s handling it. She looks torn, her eyes darting from Grant to me and back to Grant again as she grips the end of her T-shirt. And I don’t blame her. We all did messed up shit, but Grant did the worst. If she agrees with his statement, he could jump from the roof. If she doesn’t say anything, he could still jump. There is no win-win situation here.
Facing Grant, I take a small step forward, noticing from the corner of my eye that the twins do the same.
“Get down, Grant. You aren’t this person.”
He laughs without humour, curling his upper lip. “Why? Because I have money? Well, guess what? I don’t. It’s gone. The only reason I’m at this precious school is because it was already paid for—courtesy of your dad.” He staggers a little and I take another step forward, ready to rush at him to stop him from falling, but he manages to right himself.
“What do you mean, because of my dad?”
“He paid my dad to keep quiet. He told me everything.”
I hear Ivy’s intake of breath as anger surges through my veins. “What the fuck do you mean, he told you everything?” I ask through gritted teeth.
I see a flash of confusion before he clenches his jaw. “He’s been arrested. I got the call after I left you and went to meet him where he’s being held.”
“Royce?” Ivy breathes, and I feel her step closer.
“Nope. Just my dad.”
“Get down, Grant. We can talk about this without you being up there,” I order, needing him to get down. My stomach is rolling just watching him. I can feel it in my gut; something bad is going to happen.
“Why? What do I have to possibly live for. I’m not a Kingsley. I’m a fucking rapist. A son of a rapist.” He takes another sip, and I use the moment to move another step closer, bringing me only a few feet away from him.
“Grant,” I warn.
“You aren’t a rapist,” Ivy whispers behind me.
“What, because I didn’t fuck you, it makes what I did okay?” he snaps at her. “I’m just like my dad.”
“No, it doesn’t. Sexual assault is sexual assault and I won’t make excuses for your behaviour. You shouldn’t either,” she answers, pausing for a moment. “Would you have taken it that far?”
He looks utterly confused for a moment, his brows lowering as he lets her words sink in. “I don’t need to rape someone to get a shag,” he says, a look of disgust over his face. “I don’t know what I was going to do that night in the pool.”
She takes another step closer, passing me by a step. “You know what I think?” she asks him, tilting her head. He shakes his head, looking so much younger and vulnerable in this moment that I barely recognise him. “I think you knew someone would stop you. You could have easily cornered me on my own at any given point. You could have bided your time that night or any day after. You guys have been taught that sex is a tool. I was given the same lesson, but instead of following in my mother’s footsteps, I went in the other direction, because I’m not her.” She pauses, and I’m glad, because I feel like I’ve been sucker punched in the stomach. She’s right, and by the look on the twins’ faces, they feel the same too.
“As shallow and judgemental as this might sound, I don’t mean it to. But you were given the world. You were spoiled in your upbringing and took everything for granted. You saw sex and money as power and you all use it to your advantage. You wanted to punish me, but how could you punish a girl who was raised with nothing? It wasn’t like you could take my car away from me, my home, or bleed me dry. I didn’t have anything of importance. I still don’t. So, you used the only tool you had left. Sex. It doesn’t make what you did right, Grant, it never will. But you need to get down from that wall and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Change the cycle. Change the way of your world. Do it today. If you don’t want to be your dad, don’t. You said yourself you don’t need to rape someone to get sex. You miss your mum, but ask yourself, would she miss you if this is the road you take? No, so make her proud. I believe Sam when he said she was leaving your dad, and she didn’t go alone. She didn’t want you around a monster. As for money, you’ll survive. People survive with a lot less. You have the connections and friends to help you start fresh and make something of yourself.”
She’s struggling for air when she finishes, and I watch as the life drains out of Grant, his shoulders sagging with defeat. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how I go on, knowing what he did, who I’ve become.”
“This isn’t you,” she snaps, and he lifts his head to meet her gaze.
“She’s right,” I rumble, emotion stuck in my throat. I clear it, taking another step. “You aren’t this person. You fight. We fight. Don’t take the easy way out, Grant. It’s not who you are.”
“What if it is?” he asks brokenly, but I can see it’s no longer what he wants. He just needs to realise it.
I shake my head vehemently. “It’s not. Your dad was weak, so was mine, but you aren’t. Ivy’s right, we’ve lived a privileged life and have no clue what real struggle is. We can have our issues, our faults and our losses, but we’ve never really understood true struggle. Our lives were mapped out for us before we were born. It’s time we change that and make our own choices. We acted like spoiled brats the minute she rolled up in her ca
r. We need to stick together.”
“Amen,” Lucca whispers. “Get down, Grant.”
“I thought you wanted me dead?” Grant asks, looking over at Lucca.
Lucca rolls his eyes. “I want my own twin dead sometimes, it doesn’t mean I mean it. This isn’t you. If that was one of us up there you’d be telling us to pull our shit together and stop acting dramatic.”
“Lucca,” Ivy snaps, glaring at him. “That isn’t helping.”
“Not going to sugar-coat it to get him down. If he wants to jump, he can, but it’s the coward’s way out. We’ve all gone through shit, Ivy. Every one of us here have in our own way. But we’re here for him, here for each other. After all the shit he’s pulled lately, he should be able to see that. But he’s not seeing past his own pain, which is exactly what Kaiden’s problem was when you arrived.”
She opens and closes her mouth before throwing her arms in the air. “I give up.”
He grins. “But you’re here,” he declares, pointing to the ground before turning to Grant. “And she has every reason to push you off that ledge, but she’s standing there and giving you reasons to get down. So do it. And not just for her but for yourself. You’re like a brother to us.”
“He told me Mum was leaving him, that he couldn’t let that happen, so he cut her breaks and paid people off to leave it out of the police report,” Grant whispers.
“Fuck,” I whisper, running my fingers through my hair.
“Then make him pay,” Ivy tells him, her voice stronger. “Make something of yourself and make him pay. Let him see that hard work pays off, that you didn’t need to have things handed to you to get where you are. Let him see you didn’t need to impregnate someone for a pay out.”
“Why are you here, after what I’ve done to you?”
She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because I’m not an arsehole like you lot. And honestly, I have no fucking clue, because I’ve been imagining killing every single one of you since I woke up in hospital.”
“Me?” Ethan calls out, pointing to his chest. He looks dejected, hurt that she would say it, and I inwardly laugh.
“You were first,” she mutters, but I can tell she’s lying when her gaze flicks to me. I sigh, knowing I’ve got my work cut out for me.
I turn back to Grant and reach my hand out for him. “Come on. You can stay with us for as long as you like.”
His empty hand reaches out, but he stumbles, and I watch as everything moves in slow motion around me. One foot twists towards this side of the wall and the other twists off the ledge of the roof, his arms flailing in the air.
All of us move at the same time, grabbing anything within our grasp.
The fabric of his shirt tears when I curl my fist around it and pull. The twins each grab a sleeve of his blazer next, and somehow, we manage to secure him, half his body dangling off the roof, the other half on. I breathe a sigh of relief, pulling him over the small wall and falling back on my arse. I breath heavily, looking up at him as he leans against the small portion of brickwork.
“Fucking hell,” I gasp out, staring at him. He looks green, and when it dawns on him how serious that could have been, he retches, vomit spewing out of his mouth.
“Are you fucking serious? These shoes cost me four-thousand quid,” Ethan barks, crawling back. He gags at the smell, kicking his shoes off as he continues to retch.
The sound of laughter fills my ears, and I look over my shoulder to see Ivy’s hand covering her mouth, laughter spilling from those perfect lips.
“This isn’t funny,” Ethan growls.
“He’s safe, isn’t he?” she says, her expression sombre now.
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t, I’m still tempted to throw him over. These aren’t even out in the shops yet.”
“Shouldn’t have worn them if you didn’t want them getting ruined.”
“Because I knew dickhead was going to get drunk and vomit on them,” Ethan snaps back.
I look up at Grant, who’s wiping his mouth, still looking out of it. “You going to be okay?”
He shrugs, not speaking for a moment. “She’s right. We can’t keep thinking we’re gods. We need to earn what we have.” He breathes through his nose, massaging his temples. “I don’t want to be him, Kai. You met my grandfather. He was as abusive as my dad. What if this is who I am?”
Having heard him, Ivy kneels down next to him, avoiding the vomit. “Every cycle can be broken, Grant. You just have to want it badly enough.”
“Let’s get you back to mine and get you cleaned up. You need to sober up, and then you can fill us in on everything else that has happened today. Yeah?”
He nods before trying—and failing—to get up off the floor. With Lucca’s help, we get him standing, tucking our shoulders under his armpits to support him.
“I’ll call Annette, see if she can get someone to pick me up,” Ivy comments, digging into her bag.
“Call Nick. I’ll meet you back at the house,” I tell Ethan before turning to Ivy. “Stay with Ethan and get a lift back with him. I’ll call you after.”
She looks like she’s about to argue, but thinks better of it, shaking her head. I leave her with Ethan, knowing she’ll be safe, and head downstairs to my car with Grant and Lucca.
“Has she forgiven you then?” Lucca asks and I sigh, looking back up to the rec room after closing the door behind Grant.
“Not by a long shot,” I admit.
CHAPTER TWELVE
IVY
The house is quiet when I let myself in and it’s eerie. It still takes me aback to think my mum was raised here. I just can’t imagine her in this home. Everything is clean and tidy for starters, and not very kid friendly. I’ve never thought of having kids, but I know there’s no way I’d trust one to play in this house. If they didn’t break some antique, then they’d smash their head open on the marble floor.
“Ivy?” Annette calls, and I scream, twisting towards the staircase, my hand over my chest.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Annette, you scared the shit out of me.”
She frowns, shaking her head at me. “Do not use that language, Ivy. You’re a lady.”
Thoroughly scolded, I nod, even though I’d like to laugh at her ‘lady’ comment. “Is Nova awake?”
“She is. Go on up to her room. The tablets have made her drowsy, but she’s resting.”
I nod, taking the stairs two at a time before following the halls to her room. I knock lightly.
“Annette, I told you I’m not hungry,” she growls, making me smile. I push open the door, stepping inside, and her eyes widen at the sight of me. “Ivy.”
Her eyes are red-rimmed and swollen. I want to put this crap behind us and start moving forward. Seeing Grant up on that roof put a lot in perspective. I realised I’d been acting like an ungrateful cow since the minute she showed up.
“I acted like a bitch from the moment you showed up,” I blurt out, and her eyebrows pull together. I shake my head, stepping further into the room. “I was acting out. I’m not a bully. I’m not a bitch. Yes, I’ve hardened myself so I can’t get hurt, but I’ve never purposely been mean to someone. From the minute you found me, all you wanted to do was help, and I kept pushing you away. I didn’t trust it or want to.”
She smiles, her expression softening. “Sweetheart, I knew you didn’t agree to move here for the money. You would have figured it out eventually, but you have your own. You’ll get it when you turn twenty-one. That’s not saying I still won’t pay for your school and other needs. I will. I’d do anything for you. But you needed a reason to come with me. You didn’t like that you were hurting over your mum, and about my intentions, so you wanted to lash out. When you refused to come, it wasn’t because you didn’t want to, it was because you were protecting yourself. Being forced into coming and making out you were only here for the money, you did just that. But it was lie.”
On shaky legs, I move towards her bed, sitting down on the edge. I suck in a breath
, the pain hitting my chest.
She’s right.
She summed up everything I had been feeling when I couldn’t. Maybe I’m forgiving her too easily, maybe I was too hard to begin with, I don’t know. I just know I can’t keep living like this. I want to start enjoying life.
“No one has ever wanted me, Nova. Not my mum, and all my life, my dad was on that list. I put my trust in you without even realising I had done it, and you lied to me,” I explain, holding my hand up when she goes to speak. “And I understand why you lied, but I don’t have to like it. I’m tired of trying to figure out your motives, tired of not feeling safe or wanted. I need you to be straight with me, to tell me if me being here is what you wanted or if it was out of obligation.”
She sits up straighter, rolling the blanket off her chest and into her lap. “I swear to you, with everything I am, that I’ve never had a hidden agenda for you being here. There are no more secrets. This isn’t a game to me. You aren’t a pawn. You are my niece and I love you.”
I nod, feeling a lump in my throat. Shaking it off, I look at Nova and sigh. “No more mushy shit because this isn’t me, either.”
She laughs, sounding lighter than she has in a while. “All right, but before we stop with the heart to heart, I need you to know that I’m sorry for how I’ve handled things. It will change.”
“Did you get the email?” I ask, and her face pales.
“I did. I’ve forwarded the email to the officer in charge of the case. They’re looking into it. But there’s something you should know about Neil Tucker.”
“He was arrested earlier this morning, I know.”
“You know?” she asks. “How?”
I explain everything that has happened from the moment I left earlier until the moment I got back. She stares at me in shock, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.
“I’m going to tan their hides. How dare they treat my niece with such disrespect! Their mother is going to kill them,” she shrills. She tries to get out of bed but gets tangled in the blanket.
Crowd of Lies (Kingsley Academy Book 2) Page 11