by Ruby Vincent
I scooped my laughing baby up. “I’m so proud of you,” I said between peppering his face with kisses. I saw Olivia enter the dining room over his head.
“You get his pants on, Mommy Tina. I’ll start on breakfast.”
She tossed the thing on my head before I had a chance to reach for it. “Thanks, Mom.”
“So what classes are you going to take?” Sofia asked as I sat down with Adam.
“I’d say any class that doesn’t have the new Knights in it, but that’s not an option. I miss when the classes were split.”
“Any class that you don’t have with me, you’ll have with Zane, Kai, or the boys. You will never be alone with them.”
“But we’ll still be outnumbered,” I replied under my breath. The thought sent my mind whirling. Even with my friends by my side, it was hard to face an entire school of people determined to take me down. They had destroyed me once and I swore the same wouldn’t happen to my friends.
I gazed at Sofia while she tapped away at her computer. I’m going to keep my promise. I have a plan, and this time, no one is changing my mind.
“Mommy?”
I shook myself out of my thoughts. “Yes, baby?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Olivia is making you breakfast right now, Adam.”
He seemed to accept this. He rested his head on my chest and got comfortable.
“So now you’re Olivia and Mommy,” Sofia said. “Will your mom be Grandma soon?”
I snorted. “I tried calling her grandma once and ended up with a sore backside for my trouble. As for me, I call myself his mommy so he’s been calling me that instead of Tina.”
“Aren’t you worried about... being called that in public?”
“I was,” I admitted. “I was afraid of people asking questions about how I ended up as a fourteen-year-old mother, but now”—I dropped a kiss on Adam’s head—“I don’t care what people think. I’m his mom. I never want him to think he shouldn’t call me that.”
“I wish Madame Madeline and I had the relationship you two have. I called my nanny mom until I was four. I was really confused when she told me the lady that flitted in and out of my nursery every other day was actually my mother.”
I winced. “Are things still awful with you guys?”
She didn’t lift her head, but the tapping on her keys got more vicious. “There’s a reason I packed up and came straight to your place after school ended. I never told you this, but Mom and I got into a huge fight after I was— after what happened. The nurse called her because I wouldn’t stop crying. She asked me why someone would do that to me and when I told her it was because I stood up for people who were marked, she flipped out.
“She started shouting at me and demanded to know why I would do something so stupid. If I was marked too, they might come after the business and destroy what she’s worked for. Everything I went through and the first thing she did was make it about herself!” The keyboard assault got worse until I was sure it would break under her hands. “The worst part is she was right. All of a sudden, Honey Hair products are being flooded with bad reviews saying they make your scalp itch, your hair fall out, and are tested on animals. Awful lies that are hurting sales. Mom is so consumed with damage control; she hasn’t called once since the start of summer break.”
“I’m so sorry, Sof.”
“Don’t be. It wasn’t you. It was them.”
She didn’t need to define “them.” I knew exactly who they were. The new Knights.
“They won’t get away with it this year,” I stated. “I promise.”
“I know. We have each other’s backs.”
Not just that, I thought, but I didn’t correct her.
“Girls.” Mom’s voice drew our attention. “Breakfast is ready.”
We abandoned our class schedules in favor of eating. My mind was a tangle of thoughts while I fed Adam his yogurt. I knew what I had to do, but I had no idea if it would be enough.
There were a lot of people in my way now, but this battle was between me and Ace. Nothing would stop me from finding them. I would bring them down no matter what it took.
“MOMMY, WHERE YOU GOING?”
I paused with my hands on the suitcase. It crushed me that my son knew what it meant when I brought it out.
Adam gazed curiously at me from my pillow. I tried for a smile. “Remember I told you Mommy has to go to school?” He cocked his head. “Today, baby. Mommy is going to school today.”
“I don’t want you to go.” He said it so matter-of-factly, but it made me feel worse. Leaving him never got easier.
“I don’t want to go either.” I climbed onto the bed and let him snuggle into my side. Pushing it and trying to convince him I had to leave would only make him cry, which would make me cry. We had to leave in ten minutes. I didn’t want us both to be a mess when we rolled out of the driveway.
“Val, you’re not going to believe this.” Sofia’s voice preceded her before she marched into my room. “They’re coming. They are actually coming.” She waved her phone at me like that was a clue.
“Who is coming?”
“My parents.” Sofia tossed my suitcase aside and took its place. “After months of nothing, Mom just called to say they are coming to College Day. She said we need to present a united front.” She kissed her teeth. “Again, she’s making it about her.”
“Maybe this will give you a chance to talk.”
“We’re going to talk alright.” There was a glint in her eye that sharply reminded me of when Sofia punched the crap out of Natalie. “She sent Dad down to pick me up and I’ve got a lot to say to both of them.”
Sofia dropped the look long enough to give me a sad smile. “He’s going to be here soon so I’ve got to say bye now, but I’ll see you at school. At least no one will try to pull anything on College Day.”
I had to agree with that. Today would be the one day out of the coming school year that I should be off-limits. The same went for everyone who had been marked along with me.
We hugged one more time before she went back to the guest/Adam’s room to pack her things.
Sofia’s dad showed up while I was in the middle of getting Adam into his suit. She shouted goodbye at us as Mom came into my room.
“How do I look, kid?” She did a little spin. “Do I look like I’m about to send a daughter off to college?”
“Not at all,” I said to Mom’s crisp white pantsuit. “You look like you’re about to go to college yourself.”
She winked. “Good answer. I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”
I laughed as I heaved Adam into my arms. “Is it weird that I’m nervous? I know we’re just meeting the Somerset rep today, but still, I keep practicing what I’m going to say over and over in my head.”
“Not weird at all. This is a big deal.” We talked while we headed out to the car. “Somerset is your first, second, and third choice university. We’re all praying you get in so you can be close by.”
“I won’t have to worry about tuition,” I replied, thinking of the bank account Caroline Shea kept healthy. “But the price tag is the least of your worries when thinking of Somerset.”
“When the rep learns about you, she’ll confirm that you’re a lock to get in. Trust me.”
I held on to Mom’s encouragement as we loaded the car and set off for Evergreen. Today wasn’t just any move-in day. For the seniors, it was College Day.
The day when college representatives from all over the country came to Evergreen used to be later in the first semester. This fact changed when helicopter, live-through-their-children parents began harassing the former headmasters and demanding they be allowed to come. They wanted to be sure their kids spoke to the right reps and impressed them.
They made it open to parents, but that led to complaints about scheduling and getting time out of their boardrooms. The compromise was to hold the college event on the day when all of the parents and students were collected on the Evergreen
campus.
If there was one good thing about this nerve-racking day, it was that no one would mess with me on College Day. Even if they didn’t fear Evergreen’s wrath for embarrassing the school, they weren’t about to embarrass themselves in front of the reps they wanted to win over. The real hell would start tomorrow when everyone was gone.
Or they will try to start hell. I’m going to put a stop to it before they get a chance. I won’t put my friends through this. I’ll protect them and... my boys.
Thoughts of Maverick, Jaxson, Ezra, and Ryder flooded my mind as the distance between me and Evergreen grew shorter. I couldn’t wait to see them. Texts and random visits when they could get away hadn’t been nearly enough. I loved that I would get to see them every day now, but I hated that came with a dark cloud over our heads. A cloud named Ace.
When Mom joined the line of cars in front of the school gates, I scanned the sea of faces. Students in jet-black dresses and blazers mingled on the cobblestones. That was our color this year. Black for seniors. Black for our final year. Black for the painted bells on the joker hat that plagued my nightmares.
They are here somewhere, I thought as Mom drove past the entrance for the parking lot. Ace is here.
Mom pulled into a space and we piled out. I steadied my nerves as I settled Adam in my arms. The toddler munched on his cookies without a care in the world. I looked down at him and smiled. I hadn’t told anyone, but there was something else I needed to do.
“Miss Moon?” I glanced up and landed on two of the school staff. “We are happy to take your bags up to your room.”
“Thank you.”
Mom handed them the keys on her way around the car. “This thing doesn’t start for another hour, right? I’m going to hunt down a bathroom and those refreshments the email promised.”
“Okay. I’ll head up to the dorm with my bags.”
We split up in the driveway. Olivia went in one direction while Adam and I followed the familiar path to my dorm. As we passed through the side gate, I could see the booths and stalls covering the front lawn. Parents and students streamed around them in their haste to get their things put away, load up on snacks, and get in a few tips before the reps arrived.
We reached the disused building that had become my dorm and one of the staff opened the door to let us in. A racket of noise smacked me over the face.
“What is going on?”
I stepped in and was met with chaos. Staff ran all over the front hall, yelling to be heard over the sound of drilling.
“There you are, Miss Moon.” I turned as Gus came down the stairs. “I hope you had a good summer.”
“What is going on?” I repeated. “What are you doing to my dorm?”
Gus held his arm out to indicate he wanted to go outside—a good idea considering the noise. I let the staff with my bags go on while the three of us stepped back into the crisp September morning.
“What’s up, Gus?”
“There has been a change, Valentina. I’m afraid I got word only this morning.” Gus spoke casually like he would to a friend, or to someone he had gotten very familiar with after the school turned on me for the second time, and his job as head security guard got even harder.
“What change?”
“The Knights went into Evergreen’s office two hours ago and issued new orders.”
I stiffened. Those were not my Knights, which meant this wouldn’t be good.
“Eight students are to be removed from the senior dorm and placed in here. I was given a list.”
Gus handed it to me but I knew what it said before I read it.
“This is a new method,” I said, “but at least it didn’t take flaming balls of duct tape to drive them out.”
He shook his head. “Nothing like that will happen again under my watch. This will now be a coed space so cameras are being installed. You, of course, understand that I will be enforcing all rules in regards to all of you living here.”
My cheeks warmed. I didn’t want to think about what those cameras picked up before everything changed, but that was all over now.
The new Knights had screwed me again.
“I get it, Gus. Do what you have to do.”
He nodded and then went back inside. After a minute, I followed with Adam.
“Things just keep getting more complicated, baby.”
Adam nodded solemnly like he knew exactly what I was talking about. I took him up to the third floor and excused the staff putting away my things. When they were gone, I set my son on the bed and stepped back.
“Okay. Do you want to help Mommy get ready to speak to the rep?”
“Yes.”
I cleared my throat. “Hello, my name is Valentina Moon. I—”
“I should hope he knows your name.”
I whirled around as my door swung open on squeaky hinges.
“Ryder,” Adam squealed. There was a soft thud and then the toddler streaked past and tackled Ryder’s legs.
The older boy chuckled as he ruffled his hair. “Hey, little man. Did you miss me?”
“Yes!”
“Did Mommy miss me too?”
“Mommy missed you so much.”
If I could see my cheeks, I was sure red would have glared back at me. “Adam, don’t give away my secrets.”
Adam giggled as Ryder hefted him into his arms. He raised a brow at me over the little boy’s head. “Oh? Was it a secret?”
“Yes.” I closed the distance between us, a smile playing on my lips. “I can’t have you thinking I’m pining after not seeing you for two weeks. How was the rest of your summer?”
His forehead wrinkled. It drew my eyes above his brow to the faint scar that now marred his features. “Now that I’m eighteen, Benjamin’s partners have been coming by the house and dropping non-subtle hints about my plans for the company. I’ve been in unofficial meetings with them the last couple weeks. Mom appointed someone to step in after he... disappeared, but the arrangement was only meant to be temporary.”
“What are your plans?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want anything to do with his company. He certainly never wanted it to be mine.”
My skin tightened thinking of Adam.
“But it’s not just about me. There are over a hundred thousand employees working for Shea Industries. I owe them something even though I owe that man nothing. Not to mention Mom. I have to make sure she is always taken care of.”
The smile did come through now. I gazed at Ryder as warmth spread through me. “You’re a good man, Ryder Shea. Who knew?”
He cracked a smile. “Don’t tell anyone. The reputation I’ve been building as a cold, violent maniac may get us through this year.”
Those words popped my bubble of good feelings like a balloon. My eyes snapped up to his new scar. “Ryder, I don’t want you to have that reputation. Things are not going to be like last semester.”
“They’re not just going to stop, and we’re not going to let anyone mess with you.”
I reached up and pressed my fingers to his temple. I gently traced his scar. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted—”
“Stop.” His hand flashed up and grabbed mine. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t apologize.”
I couldn’t help but be sorry. After that horrible morning when the Knights woke up and found out they were marked, it all started up again. Another card was put in my locker and no one was hearing that it was fake.
My classmates came for me just as hard. The worst thing was they had the picture of me and Ezra in the library to use as ammunition. I found it everywhere—on my locker, my desk, my dorm front door, everywhere. The Knights were ruthless in defending my honor, and when one guy tried to corner me in the library, leering about “round two,” Ryder socked him with a punch that cracked his jaw.
The two got into an awful fight while I screamed for them to stop, but I couldn’t pull them apart. Not even when Ryder’s head was bashed against the shelves and blood poured down his fac
e. They both ended up in the nurse’s office the day before school let out and I vowed right there that I would end this.
“You’re all in this mess because of me,” I replied.
“We’re in this mess because Ace is psychotic. They flipped when the Knights they thought belonged to them chose you. They did this to punish us and show the school who is really in charge.”
“The Spades,” I whispered.
He nodded.
The breath whooshed out of me and took my strength with it. I dropped forward and rested my head on his chest. “How will we ever find out who it is? Or if there are more Spades? We thought it was over with Scarlett. The entire senior class could be Spades and how would we know?”
“We’ll figure it out.” A warm hand settled on my head. “Don’t forget we’ve got that list of Ace suspects. Somehow all of this fits together. We’ll find out who these people are.”
“I’m not going through this again, and I’m not seeing my friends get hurt anymore. I told Ace I would find them and make them regret ever sending me that first text. I meant it.”
His chest rumbled with his chuckle. “I know you will. When you set your mind to vengeance, you can’t be stopped. Turns out its incredibly attractive when it’s not directed at me.”
The words flipped on the bubble machine in my stomach. What am I going to do with this guy? He keeps me at arm’s length all summer and then goes and says something like that.
Ryder tugged on my short strands until I raised my head. Our eyes met in a spark of electricity that made my pulse quicken. Our lips could not have been more than an inch apart. It would take nothing for me to rise up and close the distance. So I did.
“We shouldn’t,” he whispered, stopping me when we were only a hair apart.
“Why not?”
Ryder twisted his neck to the side. I followed his gaze and we both landed on Adam. The toddler was fixed on us. A tiny pout was forming in the corner of his mouth.
“This is why,” he whispered. In a louder voice, he said, “Adam, Tina is mine.”
I had all of a second to ride the high those words gave me until—
“No! She’s my mommy!”