Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“What time was that?” Holden asks.
“Around five? I was home by eight. But how—” I break off mid-sentence, thinking back to when it happened. “There was a man holding the door while Ryan helped me pick up my stuff, but his back was to me. I never got a look at him, but it was Samuel. It had to be.”
“So he swiped your key and went for you instead of me,” Holden says, echoing my thoughts. “My guess is that he had your earring after watching the security footage. We’ve got to work on your situational awareness.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t we have security cameras in the hall?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he says cryptically. “We know it was him. I knew it was him the second you thanked me for returning it earlier. I called Grey—”
“Wait, you called Grey?” I interrupt. That is, perhaps, the most surprising part of this story so far.
“He hates Samuel just as much as I do, maybe even more. I didn’t want to call Thayer and ruin Shayne’s trip, but I needed backup in case things went south.”
Makes sense. I nod for him to continue.
“We drove over to rough him up a little. Told him to stay the fuck away from you. And then I threatened to turn in the video from the night Danny died.”
That explains the bloody lip. It looks a lot better after a shower. Swollen, with a small cut in the middle, but much less noticeable. “You should,” I agree. “I don’t know why you guys haven’t already, to be honest.”
“And tarnish the Ames family name?” he asks bitterly. “My dad said he’d handle it. But turns out, it doesn’t fucking matter anyway. It never did.” His expression matches the defeated tone of his voice.
“What do you mean? Why do you keep saying it doesn’t matter?”
“Christian kept his word, after all.” Holden stands, closing the space between us, looking down at me as he squeezes my hip. “But there’s something you’re not getting.”
“What?” I ask nervously.
“When I say he saw us together, I mean he saw us together,” he stresses the word, making his meaning clear. “On the patio.”
“What?” My heart pounds harder as I try to make sense of everything that he’s telling me.
“He had the video on his phone. I erased it from the security app and his phone, then I broke his phone just in case. It’s blurry and pixelated and you can’t even tell it’s you.” He’s quick to assure. “If I wouldn’t have called him out like that, if I hadn’t been digging through his shit, he would’ve never checked those cameras. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I push him back, shaking my head. I feel violated and disgusted, but mostly, I’m fucking angry. Another man in power thinking he can control everyone around him. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a man who thinks his checkbook or his status can get him out of anything. “So, what, he’s threatening to post the video if you turn him in or something?”
He shakes his head. “The cops have already seen the video of the night Danny died. Christian did what he promised. He turned Samuel in, and then he disappeared. My uncle has more pull than we ever thought.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“Another one of his little games to show he has the upper hand. To bait me into going over there. Fuck, I don’t know.”
The idea of him seeing us like that makes me sick to my stomach. The thought of him in our dorm makes it even worse.
“We have to tell Shayne and Thayer he was here. If he decides to pull something else, they can’t be blindsided.”
He nods. “I know.”
“And then you guys have to find Christian.”
Another nod.
I my grab my laptop off my desk before I turn off the lights and crawl into bed.
Holden walks over to the side of my bed and tucks my hair behind my ear before tilting my chin up with his fingers. Weirdly, it feels more intimate than everything else we’ve done tonight. “I’ll fix this,” he promises. “We’ll call the housing office to get your key deactivated tomorrow.” Before I realize his intent, he holds my chin in place as he leans down and kisses me. It’s gentle but possessive and he pulls away before I can overanalyze it. Without another word, he turns to leave.
“Where are you going?” I raise a brow.
He turns back to look at me, surprise written all over his face. “You want me to stay?”
“Your creepy uncle has the key to my room. You’re not leaving me here alone.” I lift the corner of the blanket in invitation. “Besides, it’s not like you won’t just drag me to your bed later, anyway.”
“It’s cute that you’d think I’d actually leave. I was just going to take the couch.”