“I’ve met cruel people, Kai. You might be a wanker, but you aren’t a monster.” She pauses, licking her bottom lip. “As long as no one does anything sexual to her, I’m good with whatever you have planned.”
“I hope you mean that, because there’s no going back now.”
She nods, quiet for a moment. “Danielle went to my old home, asking around about me, and ran into Snake, my mum’s drug dealer.”
“I guess that answers the question as to where she got it. I had Rome ask the local dealers, and none of them admitted to giving it to her,” I explain, running my hand through my hair. I push back in my chair, needing to move, but she reaches out and grabs my hand.
“Kai,” she calls, a plea in her tone.
“Yeah?” I push the chair back up against the bed, gently lifting her chin so she’s looking at me. Tears pool in her eyes, and I know she’s trying her hardest not to cry.
“It felt so real. In the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t. It was like being locked in a cage in my own mind, the part that made sense anyway. Everything else was bright, loud, and felt more real than you sitting in front of me right now.”
“It was because you were hyper aware of everything around you. Your senses were heightened.”
“I was so scared. Even now I’m still trying to put together what was real and what wasn’t.”
“It’s okay. You will in time. The drug is still in your system so it will mess with your head.”
She wipes at her eyes before gripping my hand. “I want to live, Kai.”
Not understanding, I ask, “What do you mean?”
She looks up, blinking. “I can’t go another day living in the past. Once they’ve caught your dad, I want to enjoy life. I don’t want to be afraid of letting people in or losing them.”
I smile, running my hand over her hair. “When all our shit is behind us, you can do just that. Nova was talking about taking you to meet your grandparents. I could come with you to America, show you my favourite places.”
She shakes her head and I swallow, wondering if this conversation isn’t just about living, but living without me.
And who could blame her? I put her through so much, things no other person would forgive me for, let alone be in the same room as me. She was bound to wake up and realise she’s better off without me.
“Kai, I’m not talking about materialistic things, I’m talking about getting the most out of life. Yes, I want to go places, but I want to enjoy the rest of my school years. I want to experience the things I missed out on. I want to love and be loved,” she declares, her voice strong yet hoarse.
“You are loved,” I whisper, hoping she can read the truth in my eyes.
Her pupils dilate, pooling with tears. “Yeah?”
“Deeply and irrevocably. I’m never letting you go.”
Sniffling, she wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “I get it now.”
“Get what?” I ask gently.
“Love. It isn’t what you can do for one another. It isn’t what you can buy or what you look like. It’s in moments, actions and words. It’s something that can never be measured or described.” I hold my breath when she pauses, blinking up at me through her lashes. “I think I love you too.”
The tension rolls off my body and I grin, tilting my head at her. “You think?”
“I’ve never loved or been loved. I have nothing to compare it to. But if this isn’t love, then I don’t know what is. I mean, who would want you after the shit you pulled if it wasn’t more than sexual chemistry?”
I laugh, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I love you too, but if you ever make me admit it in front of people, we’re going to have problems,” I tease. Kind of.
“Don’t worry, your man card is safe with me,” she tells me playfully before taking a deep breath. “I don’t think we’re that couple anyway. You don’t need to tell me, just keep showing me.”
“Anything,” I vow.
She groans, hiding her face in her pillow. When she glances at me, her face is pale. “People saw me lose it, didn’t they?”
I bite my lip, not knowing how to answer. She growls, looking away. “Great. I don’t even remember half of it, so I’m not going to know what’s true or not. They’re going to think I’m crazy, proving Danielle’s rumours about me.”
“No, they won’t. Jenny and Jasmine came by earlier to check on you. They told us it was Danielle who spiked your drink. Not everyone is standing by her. She’s finished at Kingsley Academy. As for anyone else, I’ll rip their fucking head off.”
“You can’t do that to everyone.”
“I can,” I snap.
She rolls her eyes before covering up a yawn. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
I don’t want to tell her yet, but if she finds out from someone else, she’ll think I’m hiding shit on purpose and going behind her back. And although it’s partly true, it’s not for the reasons she’ll cook in her head.
“There’s no easy way of saying this, so I’m going to go ahead and tell you. It was recorded. From the moment you walked into the men’s toilets to the time you hit the pool. I don’t know who she had record it. We’re still trying to find that out.”
“Great, just fucking great.”
“Rome’s working on getting it taken down,” I tell her, not wanting her to stress over it.
“What’s the fucking point? It’s been seen by everyone already, I bet.”
“It will be okay,” I promise.
She sighs, not looking convinced. “I’m tired.”
“All right. Get some rest.” I lean over, kissing her forehead.
She looks up, biting her bottom lip. “Can you stay?”
I grin, resting my feet on the edge of her bed as I lean back in my chair. “I’m not leaving until you do.”
She studies me for a few moments before she tiredly blinks, struggling to keep her lids open. It’s not long before she’s in a deep sleep, her chest rising and falling.
And I stay.
I watch.
Because for a few moments yesterday, I didn’t, and I never want to feel that loss again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
KAIDEN
Ivy is angry, withdrawn, and although she did well to hide it at the beginning of the week when they discharged her, she’s now done pretending.
She spent the week at home, recuperating, but Nova was starting to worry and ordered us to get her out tonight for the charity event she’s hosting.
We’re hanging out in the rec room while we wait for the event to start. The large space is more modern looking than the rest of the school. With its wide bay windows, the room has a great view of the landscape surrounding the school and a majority of the carpark.
What I love most is the light that shines brightly into the room during the day, even though it doesn’t need it since the white furnishings give the room a bright and open-spaced look. The view we get when it’s dark isn’t something to sneeze at either, especially when the night sky is clear and all you can see is stars. It’s one of my favourite places to be, and if it wasn’t for the twins being at home alone with Dad last year, I would have lived here permanently. It doesn’t feel like a prison, unlike how Kingsley Manor had become with all its strict rules and bad memories. Kingsley Manor didn’t feel like a home, even if it was the closest to one. It hasn’t been the same since Mum kept taking her ‘extended spa trips’.
Here it was different. The walls are dark grey and black, along with some of the furnishings, blending nicely with the white. It screams guys. With three rooms, two with an adjoining bathroom, the rest is an open space; a living room and open kitchen, with a pool table in the corner. And then there’s the pull-down ladder that leads up to the rooftop.
The girls haven’t long finished getting ready in my room. Ivy had walked out first, her shimmery silver dress with dropped back that fell to the top of her arse looked flawless. She took my breath away. She’s stunning without all the make
up and fancy clothes; my cock that has been rock hard will attest to that.
Her head isn’t here. She’s lounging on the sofa, gazing out the window, lost in her own head.
I don’t know how to fix this. She wants to confront Danielle, to confront the people spreading rumours that she’s crazy around school. And I can’t blame her. I’d have knocked everyone out and burnt the school down by now if that had happened to me.
Ivy isn’t like me. She doesn’t get mad, she gets even, and I’m pulling her back from that.
I walk over to her, taking a seat on the footrest, my hands pressed together between my legs.
She jumps a little before turning her attention to me, forcing a smile. “Is it time to go?”
I shake my head. “Look, I know I told you to come tonight, but if you want to leave, we can leave. I can’t stand you being angry with me.”
“I’m not angry with you, Kai. I’m livid at the situation. I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate her. I didn’t even feel this contempt towards my mother, and she put me through hell. Danielle brings out the worst in me. I want to kill her, Kaiden.”
Tears of frustration pool in her eyes. I learned early on to never mistake those tears for sadness. She’s on a warpath of destruction, and until Danielle gets what is coming to her, she won’t be okay.
My phone alerts me of a message. I pull it out of my blazer, reading the message from Rome saying that it’s on and to get downstairs.
I grin, ready for this to be done.
We have people coming in from all over for tonight’s event. But the most significant and prominent attending is New York’s top fashion designers, arriving to see Danielle’s work. She has a lot riding on tonight, hoping to team up with one to build her own line.
Only, I have plans to ruin any kind of future she thought she’d get once she left Kingsley Academy.
“Come with me,” I order, taking Ivy’s hand.
She looks up, puffing out a breath. “I’m really not in the mood. And I’ll only embarrass Nova if I see Danielle.”
I roll my eyes, because Nova would stand on the side-lines and cheer her on. It’s taken me awhile, but all I see is a mother’s love when Nova looks at Ivy. Her reaction to the drugs and to what happened cemented that. She was ready to kill Danielle, Sam not far behind. They really do want her to be happy.
“You really don’t want to miss this,” I tell her, amusement in my voice.
“This had better be good, Kai,” she snaps.
“Aww, lovers spat,” Grant calls out by the door.
“Fuck off, you tosser,” Ivy snaps before pausing by the door, looking around the room. “Where’s Selina?”
Clary laughs, linking her arm through Ivy’s. “Seriously, you need to wake up, girl. Selina said she’d meet us here, that she was going to dinner before, with Carter.”
“Oh yeah,” Ivy mumbles, shaking out of her fog.
Grant and I share a look at her behaviour, worried she won’t snap out of it. The only cure is Danielle getting put down, so hopefully, what I have planned, works.
*** *** ***
There’s a chill in the air tonight and the promise of rain. When goose bumps begin to rise over Ivy’s delicate skin, I pull off my jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders.
She smiles gratefully up at me, pushing her arms through. “Thank you.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Clary snaps, pushing Ethan away when he tries to be a gentleman, handing her his own jacket.
Looking like a wounded animal, he backs away. “Was only trying to be nice.”
She rolls her eyes as she pulls the sleeves of her dress down, covering her hands.
Danielle’s white convertible pulls into the school parking lot, police sirens following not far behind.
“What?” Ivy’s astonishment brings a smile to my face.
I pull her back so she’s leaning against my front. Leaning down, I run my lips over her earlobe, feeling smug when she shivers. “Let the games begin.”
“What did you do?” she whispers, watching as Danielle gets out of her car, completely unaware of the police parking up behind her. I snort, disgusted that I ever fucked her. I’ve never known anyone to be so self-centred that they aren’t even aware of the predicament they’re about to be in.
“You’ll see,” I answer Ivy, kissing the crease in her neck.
“Miss, put the bag down and step away from the car,” Sullivan calls out, yet Danielle ignores them, walking to the back of the car.
The curvy female cop with Sullivan runs up behind her and pins her arms behind her back, cuffing her.
Danielle screams, her eyes widening when she finally takes notice of her surroundings.
“What are you doing?” she screeches, struggling to get free. “My father will have your jobs.”
“We’ve been tipped anonymously that you are in possession of drugs with intent to sell. We have bank statements faxed, informing us you took out a large sum of money. We also had a young lady come in to file a statement this evening, informing us that you purposely drugged an unwilling victim, who nearly died.”
Danielle is ashen as he lists off the crimes she’s committed, before that scathing expression twists upon her face. And I know she’s about to try and worm her way out of it.
“I paid a man called Snake for information,” she fires back. “And I’ve never touched or bought drugs in my life.”
Sullivan takes out his pad, reading his notes. “Do you mean a Johnathon Walker, a drug dealer who goes by the name of Snake?”
“Yes, but I didn’t buy drugs off him,” she screeches, struggling. “Let me go!”
He holds up his phone, showing her a picture that has her turning green. “Is this the man?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
The picture is one my PI got, who’s still in the area looking for evidence that my dad had Cara Monroe killed. It was by chance that he saw Danielle, all too happy to take pictures, along with witness statements stating they saw my dad a few weeks before Cara was killed.
“Yes, a Mr Walker who has recently turned his life around. He was helpful in our enquiry when he went to his local police station, informing them of a girl, who fits your description, who offered him money to buy a lot of drugs.”
“What?” she yells, shoving forward. “I paid for information.”
“That’s not what Mr Walker says. He had a feeling you were going to hurt the daughter of his ex-girlfriend and would get the drugs another way. He found the courage to speak up this morning, having heard of the near death an Ivy Monroe experienced last week.”
Ivy tenses at the mention of her mum. I didn’t like not warning her, but I wasn’t sure Snake would fulfil his end of the bargain when Grant and Rome offered him a lot of money to go to the police and make up a statement.
We listen to them read Danielle her rights, the corner of her eyes turning into slits when they mention Ivy’s name. She scans the parking lot, her gaze landing on us.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” she screams at Ivy. “You did this!”
“Miss, calm down before we add to your charges,” the female cop warns her, feeding Danielle’s anger.
Her gaze meets mine, softening a little. “Tell them they’ve got it wrong. Tell them she did this to get me away from you.”
I stay silent, yet I’m unable to look away as Sullivan opens her boot, pulling out bags of LSD and other substances, all over the amount to be classed as personal use. It cost us a lot, but watching this moment, it was fucking worth it. And what better way to enact our revenge than to use her own dirty tricks against her.
A crowd forms around the vehicle, all watching as Danielle struggles to get free. Sullivan steps back from the car, reading out the estimates and guesses of which drugs are in the car and how much they weigh, over the radio.
“What? That’s not mine,” she screams, paling when he unzips another garment bag; sealed bags of cocaine piling to the floor.
“Does
anyone else have access to your vehicle?”
“Just my parents,” she tells him, glancing around at those watching on. Rome walks up with the fashion designers, shaking his head like he’s disgusted with what Danielle has been up to. Even from here I can see him lay on the charm. Hopefully all his talk works and he can still get them to keep funding the fashion design programme. If he doesn’t play the drugs as an isolated incident, we’re fucked. But it was something I was more than willing to gamble.
Danielle notices them and moves towards them in a blind panic, but the cop jerks her back, quietly giving her a warning.
Danielle glares behind her before turning back to the designers. “It’s not what you think. I’ve been set up. I’ve never seen this before in my life,” she cries out, but they snub their noses at her. I watch in relief as they smile up at Rome, patting his arm before walking away. He gives me a chin lift, letting me know we’re good. “Wait! Don’t go! This is all a mistake. My dad will be here to clear this up.”
“Are you the only one who had access to these garment bags, Miss Holden?”
“Of course. My designs are worth a fortune, which is why you should put them down,” she snaps, looking a little green when he throws a dress back into the car.
“Did you put these dress bags into your car today?”
Danielle glares at Sullivan. “Yes.”
“And you live in a home that is gated and has security?”
“Yes,” she growls, blowing hair out of her face.
“So, no one can enter your property without being seen?”
“Yes. What does that have to do with anything?” she snaps, glaring at the female cop when she pulls on her arms.
“Did you leave your vehicle unattended at any moment since leaving the house? Maybe to get a drink or fill your tank?”
“For God sakes, no!”
“That is all we need until we can interview you later. I suggest you get a lawyer, Miss Holden.”
“What? No! I didn’t do this. It isn’t mine,” she screams, when the cop begins to drag her towards the police car. I pull out my phone, ready to snap a photo so Ivy can look back and feel nothing but satisfaction.
Crowd of Lies (Kingsley Academy Book 2) Page 24