Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Nodding, I look to the two, unable to hold in my frown. “Don’t forget, B, this is still a punishment.”
Bronx’s smile is more heard than seen. “Oh, I’m aware.”
I don’t stick around to see what happens next but head back up to my wing to finish off the so far useless pile of papers waiting for me.
Bronx found very little on my … on Bastian.
So little, in fact, all we know for sure is his name is real, his father is dead, and his mother isn’t. He said he had no parents, so there could be cause for concern there, but I can name a solid dozen people at Greyson Prep who claim the same, even though their families show up for most of their allotted visits.
Despite the lack of a paper trail on him, though, Bronx figured she would find what she needed from the car, but, of course, the DMV had no record of it. In the end, she was able to track his car via satellite by going back to the time and place we knew he was and seeing where he went from there. She found out where he resides.
He stays in Brayshaw, a place Calvin knows well, located nearly two hours north of here. It’s a town our name holds no weight in, but even so, it doesn’t rival our own. The family there runs a solo operation of sorts. Basically, they want nothing to do with our world and keep to their own problems.
Which means Bastian Bishop is what he said he was.
A nobody who does morally gray work.
It’s both a best- and worst-case scenario.
There is no knife he’s waiting to thrust into my back, but also no trust he can be given.
Outsiders are what they are for a reason.
Greed and the need for power are hard enough to handle for the people bred into our world, and it’s only that much harder for those who stumble upon it.
And the ones who stumble tend to fall flat … right into a pre-dug plot at Greyson Cemetery.
My father would have his head, without a second thought, if Bastian so much as lingered too long.
Curious minds cause conflict, as he would say in justification, just as he loves to remind me, some paper trails need not be forged, daughter. We’re only dishonest when we must be.
That is his favorite line when I argue my case as to why I should be sitting in classes all day and not privy to his business meetings, being that I’ll take his place one day. We could easily forge my transcripts to reflect I completed all that was required, but he won’t allow it because “paper trails.”
Truthfully, he’s not being entirely overcautious. I know there must be tracks inquiring minds can touch, just in case, and every once in a while, someone does decide they want to know more about who we are and what we do. Paper trails point them in the direction we want them to go, allowing us to control the narrative.
For instance, if you look at my transcript, it shows an eighteen-year-old Olympic gold medalist. Honor student, doubling her studies in international business and investment management with a perfect record. The average man reading my file would see it for what it is, an academic genius, likely due to being a spoiled rich girl with every resource available at her fingertips, just as they believe Greyson Elite Academy to be some kind of rich kid club.
But if, say, an enemy of my father was to look at this, he’d begin strategizing immediately. Seeking allies in favor of keeping Rayo Revenaw from expanding his reach any further than it already is—which I fully intend to do in time.
So poor Bastian, and his lack of living proof, won’t sit well with my father, should he take an interest in him, but I won’t give him reason to.
My father knows I’m no angel, even if he and the other elders demand we pretend to be in the presence of most, but he’s fully aware of who his daughter is and likely knows some of the things I might be up to. It’s his job to keep me in line, focused and headed in the right direction, but he allows a bit of leeway as I never give him reason to worry.
He expects me to be cunning and ruthless when the situation calls for it, as it does when dealing with potential prospects. So long as I continue to do what’s expected of me, be pretty and perfect in all areas, and poisonous to the ones that matter most, he pretends to leave me alone, expecting Sai to report if the reality reads otherwise.
Sai does report to my dad, but as his lifelong best friend, Sai knows how to work my dad when necessary. He would never directly lie to a pointed question, so he’s strategic with the things he shares and always has to give him more than I would want because if he didn’t, my father would grow suspicious, Sai would be relieved as my guard, and who the hell knows who would be put in his place.