Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I swallowed three times trying to get the words out. “Are you saying... that my future father-in-law drove my sister to suicide?”
“We’re not saying that,” Lucien broke in. “We can’t. We don’t know enough yet. I just find it interesting that the club has been around this long. And a Wilson was close by when it started.”
“But if he kept it alive for nearly fifty years, isn’t it even more unbelievable that none of you guys have heard of it? Again, if the Royals are that good at keeping secrets, how does Saylor’s chart exist?”
Rafael dropped his head back, sighing. “We keep coming back to that.”
Wilder shoved off the couch. “Enough with these guessing games. There are three guys we know for sure are in the club. I say we take the questions straight to them,” he said, pacing a tread in the carpet. Rafael may have looked rumpled, but Wilder was wrecked. He looked like he hadn’t slept since Thursday night. “They’re freaked by this phantom killer who manipulated them and who they blackmailed.
“No matter what deals were made, they must’ve been looking over their shoulders all this time—wondering if they’d be next.” He jerked his chin at me. “That’s why Natale was such a mess. He finally snapped. What if we pushed them all over the edge? We thought we were making Winter’s bullies pay, but now we know they were getting paid. They were pawns in someone else’s plan, and from the sounds of it, they know exactly who that someone is. If we can get them to think that someone is taking them all out one by one—”
“They’ll run to me like Giovanni did!” I shot to my feet. “He was convinced I could protect him. Once I knew the secret, his puppet master friend would have no reason to come after him. But Giovanni’s body was found floating in a pool next to me. Owen, Levi, and Wesley must’ve figured out that he tried to talk to me. Would they risk getting anywhere near me after that?”
“Giovanni was high,” Rafael said. “A fucking mess. He tracked you down at a crowded party. Almost every damn Royal was there. Fact is they saw him go in after you and acted fast. When Wesley, Levi, or the other shit approaches you, they’ll be a lot more careful.”
“Lucien?” I noticed my martial arts teacher had yet to offer a word. “What do you think? If they’re not leaving breadcrumbs for us to follow, let’s bring the bastards to me.”
“It makes sense,” he offered, choosing his words carefully, “but it’s risky. The Phantom is only a phantom to us. Those three know who he or she is. All they have to do is deny they’ve got anything to do with our attacks. Maybe even push the blame on someone else who has reason to hate them.” Our gazes locked. “They’ve already tried to frame you once.”
“We’ve got her back no matter what happens,” Wilder said. “While they’re panicking, trying to figure out what to believe, they’ll get sloppy. Texts going back and forth. Secret meetups. More blackmail.”
“We have to do this.” Calm certainty settled in my bones. “I have everything to gain and nothing to lose. I do nothing, they all win. But it was still Owen who attacked her in the dorm. It was Wesley who fucked with her brakes. It was Levi who had her beaten. If I drive those bastards mad, hounding them day in and day out—maybe they give up the Phantom, maybe they don’t. Either way, they will regret ever hearing the words truth or dare.”
Silence followed my statement.
I sensed the guys exchanging looks, wordlessly communicating, and coming to a decision that was mine. Because there was nothing they could say to change my mind.
“We’ll have to throw out the whole plan,” Rafael spoke up. “We were going for slow mental torture—stripping them of everything they cared about. Now we need them to believe the Phantom is actively trying to kill them. Turning them into human pinatas and getting their girlfriends to dump them won’t do it.”
“Wesley is still deathly allergic to nuts.” My voice was dead. “We poison him again.”
Wilder shook his head. “He won’t risk that again. He’s got EpiPens strapped to the inside of his thighs by now. We can’t risk it either. If he dies, that’s one less person to spill the truth about the club and the Phantom. We need to think bigger but also subtler. They won’t see the next hit coming, but it’ll scare them so bad, they won’t take a solid shit for the rest of their lives.”
I bobbed my head, following him exactly. We had to make them believe their lives were in danger without going too far and actually killing them. Giovanni died before he could tell me the truth. That was not happening again.