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)
After I dressed and showered, I returned downstairs.
“—fuck does any of that matter!” I’d never seen Rafael so agitated. “The point is that he can get in, so we’re junking the system and getting a new one.”
“There isn’t one better.” Wilder propped his fists on the table. “Seriously think I’d install second best? Besides, I looked at the security tape. He didn’t break in. He typed in the code and walked in, after waving to the damn camera. Cato must’ve told your dad the code.”
The Cato in question ate his lunch while ignoring the pile of pills beside him, and all the people talking.
“I’ll change it,” Wilder said. “Done.”
Rafael slammed the countertop. “I’m telling you—!”
“Guys?” I broke in. “Maybe this should be obvious, but why is it such a big deal that your dad was here? Are you on bad terms? You never said.”
Jaw tight, Rafael threw open a cabinet and started taking bowls and seasonings out. “I told you he kicked us out of the house and has refused for years to help us find our mother’s killer. Being estranged is implied, gorgeous.”
“Fair enough,” I muttered. “But you’re so estranged he’s not allowed to step foot in here?”
“It’s not him being here, it’s how he got in,” Rafael replied. By the ingredients, he was about to make his famous beef curry. I sat my butt down for the first bowl. “Neither of us gave him the code, but somehow he got his hands on it. There’s how he got it. There’s why he went through the trouble just to speak to you here, when he could’ve done it anywhere. And then there’s why he doesn’t care that we now know he found a way past our security.”
“No one gets past my security,” Wilder corrected. “I’ll change the code and make some upgrades. This won’t happen again.”
“There’s something else we should talk about,” I spoke up. “It’s about the T.O.D. Club. Gabriella spilled everything...”
I told them what she told me, kicking off another argument.
“If it’s hosted online, I would’ve found it by now,” Wilder said. “Forget hacking, we would’ve found out because no way that many people kept the secret. Half the freshman class went after Winter. We’re supposed to believe they all did it because they were paid by the T.O.D. to bully her? Dozens of people and not one slipup?”
I shook my head. “Gabriella said there are scary penalties for snitching. Giovanni said the same thing now that I think of it. They were both serious about it, and scared. Whoever is in charge must be holding something over each member. That’s the most effective way to keep someone quiet—make it hurt if they talk.”
The guys shared a look.
“We need access to that site,” Lucien said. “Now that we know it’s linked to their student accounts, you can get in, yes, Wilder?”
“No,” he replied. “I hacked the student accounts of Montana, Starling, and Natale only last week. There was nothing there that shouldn’t be.”
“Gabriella told me that too.” Rafael broke away to go to the stove. He came back with two bowls of curry for the both of us. We’d been talking for a long time. “She said she could only show me on her computer at home, even though she can get on her student account through her phone. Whoever runs the club must have some way to control that.”
“There is a way,” Wilder admitted, “but I don’t know anyone around here who could do it. That kind of computer programming is on my level. Whoever started this must’ve hired out, but why go through that much trouble and expense for some stupid dare club?”
“We’re a step closer to getting the answers,” I said, “and I know how. Giovanni’s dorm room... They haven’t cleaned it out yet, have they?”
Rafael’s brows shot up his head. “Are you suggesting we steal from a dead man, Cloud Girl?”
I raised my chin. “Don’t make it sound like that. Giovanni wanted to tell me the truth, and he’ll definitely want me to avenge his death. All of this is to find the person who started this nightmare. If one desktop computer can do that, then we steal it.”
“Then I steal it,” Lucien amended. “Now. Don’t know when they’ll clean out his dorm. Shouldn’t leave it to chance.”
“Before you do,” I said quickly, stopping him in his tracks. “There’s something we should talk about. Honestly, we should’ve talked about it a long time ago.”
Wilder heaved a sigh. “Yes, those cannisters really hold radioactive material, but it’s perfectly safe in the containers, and I know how to handle them.”
“Wha— That’s not—” I held up a finger. “We’re coming back to that topic and discussing it at length, but that’s not what I’m talking about. We need to talk about us.”
“Us?” Rafael repeated.
“Yes, us. What we are to each other. What’s our relationship.” I tried to speak confidently, but I was doing it at the table. I couldn’t bring myself to look any of them in the eyes. It was easy to flit between them, exploring our connections, and doing whatever in the moment we felt like doing when there weren’t any rules or expectations.