“Are you telling Steve about this mess?” I wave a hand toward the living room, where Grier just dropped a bomb on my life.
Dad shakes his head. “This is Royal information only.” He gives me another half-smile. “That’s why Ella needs to be here.”
“Truth.” I take the stairs two at a time, texting Ella when I reach the top.
Dad’s gonna make it so u can come over.
Really? :) I feel like I’m under house arrest here. Not to complain or anything but Steve said this hotel suite was 2 small. I thought he was nuts, but after living here for 3 weeks, it feels like a cracker box.
I wonder how big a prison cell is.
I text back, I hear u.
My mind starts to race as I think about the plea deal. If I take it, I’ll be shoved in a concrete room and kept there for five years. Nearly two thousand days. Can I do it? Would I survive it?
My heart starts pounding so fast I wonder if I’m going to have a heart attack.
I force my fingers back to the phone.
When are u going to be let back in2 the penthouse?
Soon, I hope. G wants me 2 look 4 blackmail stuff. Do u think I shld?
Yeah. If it’s not obv.
Damn it, I want to break Dinah and Brooke’s hold over my family. Getting rid of this murder charge is a step toward that. I could fight, but what’s the point? Grier says my case is hopeless.
I don’t want to drag my family through a trial. I don’t want a parade of witnesses up there talking about Easton’s struggles with gambling, drinking, and drugs, the twins’ private life, distorted stories about Gideon and Dinah, me and Brooke and Dad. And then there’s Ella’s past. She doesn’t need to be dragged through the mud again.
Our family has already gone through so much. The prosecutors will rake up the details of Mom’s death if I go to trial. Everything we fought so hard to keep behind these closed doors would come spilling out.
I have the ability to stop that from happening. The price of tucking those secrets away is a slice of my freedom. And it isn’t long. Five years. Five if you’re lucky. I can live through that. It’s just a fraction of my entire life. What’s that worth against the trauma that the trial would inflict on my family?
Nothing.
Yeah, I’ve made up my mind. This is the right decision. I know it is.
Now I just have to sell it to Ella and my brothers.
* * *
Ella shows up an hour later. When she breezes through the front door, my heart feels immediately lighter. I barely have time to brace myself before she throws herself at me. After planting a long, dick-raising kiss on my lips, she wriggles out of my arms.
“Gosh, you feel like a block of ice.” She pinches my bare arm. “Put some clothes on.”
“Thought you liked it when I was naked,” I counter, forcing a light note into my voice. “I think you once said it was a crime for me to wear shirts.”
She wrinkles her nose but doesn’t deny it. “What do you think Callum said to Steve? Steve told me I could come right over and he didn’t even make a fuss. Maybe he’s coming around?”
She’s smiling so brightly, thinking I have good news for her. I don’t want to tell her, but I have no choice. This is her future, too.
“Come on.” I grab her hand and tug her up the stairs. “Let’s go to your room.”
I march down to my brothers’ rooms. Knocking on their doors, I yell, “Ella’s here.”
My brothers pop out of their rooms immediately.
“Little sis!”
Pangs of jealousy curl in my stomach as I watch Easton wrap Ella up in a big hug before passing her off to Sawyer and Seb. But the closeness they all share with her is a good thing. Especially for East.
I turn my back and walk into Ella’s room, forcing myself to quash my negative feelings. They’ll need each other after I’m gone. I can’t be angry about this.
I’m the one who put myself in this situation when I decided to sleep with Brooke. And then I made stupid decision after stupid decision. The what if game will probably drive me insane in prison. What if I’d flown to D.C. for dinner with my family? What if I hadn’t answered Brooke’s call? What if I hadn’t gone over there, thinking I could reason with Brooke?
It was my own damn pride that got me into this.
I wait for everyone to walk in before I start. “I wanted to give you guys an update on the case.”
My brothers perk up. I know they’re starving for details. But Ella… She’s frowning deeply at me.
“Is this about…?” She trails off, glancing at my brothers and back at me. She’s obviously not sure if I’ve told them about the plea offer yet.
I nod. “Yeah. And there’s another new development.”
Slowly, I go through the statements that I’ve read so many times I can recite them by heart. I offer only the highlights and leave out the stuff about Easton and the twins’ relationship with Lauren and focus on the crap the police have compiled against me, finishing with the statement from Ruby Myers.
Ella grows paler and paler with each passing minute.
“That’s an incredible amount of bullshit,” East declares once I’m done.
“If Brooke was still alive, I’d kill her myself,” Ella mutters darkly.
“Don’t say that,” I chide.
“We should fill out our own statements,” she suggests.
“Yeah.” East nods. “Because that shit with that waitress never happened.”
Seb and Sawyer join the chorus, swearing that they’ll testify, too. I realize I have to put a stop to this before their bedroom lawyering gets out of hand.
“I’m going to take a plea deal,” I announce.
Easton’s jaw drops. “What the fuck!”
He and the twins stare at me as if I’ve gone crazy, but I can’t take my eyes off Ella, whose face is full of fear.
“You can’t,” she protests. “What about the Delacorte deal?”
East perks up. “What’s that?”
Ella starts talking before I can shut the idea down. “Judge Delacorte offered to lose evidence if Daniel gets to come back from juvie military jail and if I agree to say I lied about the drugging.” She crosses her arms. “I say we do that.”
“Yeah,” Seb agrees. Sawyer nods excitedly.
“Not happening. Ever.” I glare at my brothers until they turn their hopeful expressions to the floor.
Ella holds up her hands, mimicking the scales of justice. “You going to prison for twenty-five years, or me living with Daniel.” Her left hand drops down and her eyes burn angrily at me. “Take the Delacorte deal.”
“Even if I was remotely okay with that, which I’m not, there’s too much evidence to get rid of. There is no Delacorte deal anymore,” I say through clenched teeth. “They have no one else to pin this on. Grier says they have me on means, motive, and opportunity, which is all they need to convict me of a crime.”
“You’re not pleading guilty, Reed.” Her tone is harder than steel.
I swallow hard. Then I lock my gaze to hers and say, “Yes. I am.”
27
Ella
My emotions are all mixed up right now. I hate Reed for thinking I’d ever be okay with his stupid plea deal, but I love him for wanting to make this whole mess go away. I know that’s why he’s not fighting this. He’s decided that he needs to save his family from a stain on their reputation.
I get it, but I hate it.
“For the record, I’m not on board with this plan,” Easton tells the room.
“Same,” the twins say in unison.
Reed nods at them. “Noted. But it’s happening whether you like it or not.”
Bitterness jams in my throat. Well, I guess that’s the Royal decree. And to hell with what anyone else thinks about it, right?
A soft tap on the doorframe has our heads turning. “Everything okay in here?” Callum asks, his tone oddly gentle.
Nobody says a word.
He sighs. “I assum
e Reed’s told you about the deal?”
Easton frowns at his father. “And you’re cool with it?”
“No, but it’s your brother’s decision. I’m going to support him no matter what.” Callum’s stern eyes imply that we should all be doing the same thing, supporting Reed.
“Can I have a moment alone with Reed?” I ask tightly.
At first, nobody moves, but then they notice the look on my face, and whatever they see spurs them into action.
“Come on, boys, let’s go down to the kitchen and rummage up some dinner,” Callum tells his sons. Before he leaves the room, he glances my way. “Oh, and Ella, I’ve already arranged it with Steve that you can spend the night here. I’m sending Durand over to your hotel to pick up your uniform.”
“Steve was okay with that?” I say in surprise.
“I didn’t give him much of a choice.” With a wry smile, Callum ducks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
Once I’m alone with Reed, it’s impossible to contain my anger anymore.
“This is crazy! You didn’t kill her! Why would you ever, ever, ever say you did!”
He slowly sits down beside me. “This is the best option, baby. Five years in prison isn’t the end of the world. But the alternative? Going to prison for the rest of my life? That is the end of the world. I can’t take that chance.”
“But you’re innocent. You can go to trial and—”
“Lose,” he finishes flatly. “I’ll lose.”
“You don’t know that.”
“The statement from Ruby Myers is too damaging. She’s going to tell a jury that I threatened to kill Brooke.” He sounds frustrated. “I don’t know why that woman is lying about me, but her testimony will put me away.”
“Then let’s prove she’s lying,” I say desperately.
“How?” His voice is low, defeated. “She signed an affidavit.” Reed takes my hand and squeezes it tight. “This is happening, Ella. I’m taking the deal. I know you don’t like it, but I really need you to support me on this.”
Never.
Out loud, I only manage a weak croak. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t. It’s only five years. It’ll fly by, just watch.” He hesitates suddenly, raking one hand through his dark hair. “Unless…”
I narrow my eyes. “Unless what?”
“Unless you’ve changed your mind about waiting for me,” he says sadly.
I gape at him now. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wouldn’t blame you.” His fingers tighten through mine. “And I don’t expect you to, either. If you want to break up, I’d totally underst—”
I cut him off with a kiss. A furious, incredulous kiss. “I’m not breaking up with you,” I hiss angrily. “So erase that thought from your stupid head, Reed Royal.”
Rather than answer, he yanks me toward him again, his mouth locking with mine. His broad body pushes me onto the bed as he kisses me so deeply that it sucks all the breath from my lungs.
His hands are down my pants. Mine are busy tugging at his shirt. His lips break away from mine for the second that it takes to pull his T-shirt over his head. Then that mouth is back on mine. His hand reaches between my legs. I rock my lower body against the hard, hot length of him.
We sink into the mattress, his body pressing against me. My shirt comes off. A thigh nudges its way between my legs as his mouth finds my breasts, lavishing attention on the aching tips. A light tug of his teeth has me arching off the bed and crying his name.
“Reed, please.”
He licks lower, taking away that exquisite pressure to give a different kind of kiss—one that drives me mad with need until I’m splintering into a thousand different pieces. Then he surges to his knees and grabs a condom from the nightstand. In my dazed state, I hadn’t even been thinking about that, but he is. Reed’s not the destroyer. He’s never destroyed anything in his life; he’s always been the protector, even at this moment when he battles his own lust for control.
I reach between us and guide him between my legs. The broad head pierces my body, but there’s no pain this time. Sweat dots his brow as his body shakes with the effort to let me set the pace. Slowly, tenderly, desperately, he pushes into me over and over until the friction builds into a bomb of pleasure that explodes once again.
Afterward, he buries his head in my neck. “I love you, baby. I love you so damn much.”
“I love you, too.” I’m glad he’s not looking at me, because I can’t stop the tears from filling my eyes. I clutch him to me, wrapping myself around him as if I can keep him there, safe with me forever.
He wakes me up twice more during the night to tell me with his mouth and hands and body how much he loves me, how desperately he needs me, how he can’t live without me. I say the same things right back, until we’re both too exhausted to keep our eyes open.
But I don’t know if either of us believes anything we’re saying at this point. We’re just a tangle of wild, hopeless emotions trying to find peace with our bodies. No matter how hard we try to forget, we can’t.
Because Reed’s going to prison and it feels like death.
* * *
In the morning, Reed and Easton take me to school. I run through dance practice listlessly, because most of my attention is pinned on the other side of the gym, where the football players are lifting weights. I stare at Reed’s back until Jordan finally snaps at me.
“I know your felon boyfriend is over there, but can you try to keep your attention on the team for one measly second?”
“Why am I even here?” I snap back. “Layla isn’t injured anymore.” I point to the senior, who’s taping her ankle.
Jordan purses her lips and places her hands on her tiny waist. “Because you agreed to join the team, not hang out for a weekend on an away game.”
“I don’t give two shits about your team!”
A group of girls behind me gasp, and I instantly regret losing my temper. Truth is, I do care about the team. It might have started off as a deal with Satan, but I loved every second of performing at the away game. I’m even willing to put up with Jordan if it means getting to do what I love the most.
But it’s too late. My outburst causes Jordan’s eyes to blaze.
“Then get out,” she orders, jerking her arm in the direction of the locker rooms. “You’re officially off the team.”
“Fine by me.” The lie burns my throat on the way out, but there’s no way I’m letting Jordan see how devastated I am. So I just pick up my water bottle and march across the gym.
Only when I enter the locker room do I allow my emotions to surface. Tears sting my eyes. I want to punch myself for lashing out at Jordan. She deserves a good lashing, usually, but not when it comes to the dance team. She’s actually not a bad captain, and from what I’ve seen, she only ever does what’s best for the team. Yelling at her was such a mistake. Now there’s no way she’ll let me come back.
Reed catches me at my locker before class, his heated gaze searching my face. “What was that all about at practice? Jordan say something to you?” He’s all worked up, ready to defend me.
I give his biceps a weak pat of assurance. “No, it was all me,” I admit. “I snapped at her, and she kicked me off the team.”
Reed sighs. “Aw, baby. I’m sorry.”
“Whatever,” I lie again. “It’s no biggie. It was just supposed to be a one-time thing anyway.”
I grab my books and slam the locker shut.
“All right then.” He slides a hand under my hair until his fingers curl around my neck. “See you at lunch?”
“Yup. I’ll save you a seat. Or we can share one—I’ll just sit on your lap.”
Reed’s response is to bend down and kiss me so thoroughly that I forget my spat with Jordan, that we’re not supposed to have any physical contact at school, and my worries about the future. I might even forget my name for a few seconds.
When he finally lifts his mouth from mine, I’m glassy-eyed
and shaken. Then I realize that the bells ringing in my head are the school alerts. Classes are about to start.
“You look gorgeous right now.” He leans forward and whispers in my ear. “I hear conjugal visits are real hot.”
Immediately, my gooey mood hardens to displeasure. “Don’t say stuff like that.”
His expression goes serious. “I’m sorry, but—”
“You should be.”
“—if I can’t joke about it, then I’m probably gonna cry about it, and that’s not an option.”
He looks so miserable that I feel bad for snapping at him. God, I’m just losing my cool all over the place this morning.
But I just…I refuse to accept that Reed is going to prison. I can’t let that happen.
I can’t.
* * *
Since I no longer have dance practice after school, I’m free to pursue what I call Operation Justice. I bring Val along, not just because I need the backup, but because I’m hoping if we’re trapped in a car together, she’ll finally tell me what’s going on with her and Wade. I know they met up to talk, but she hasn’t given me any details about it.
“So how was the talk with Wade?” I demand as I drive out of the school lot.
“Fascinating.”
Her tone is off. I tilt my head and study her. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”
“I am. And I’m not.” She sighs. “He said all the right things, but I don’t know if…”
“If you believe him?” I finish.
“Yeah. Or if I’m willing to even go there with him. Like, to the relationship zone.”
“Is it because you’re not over Tam yet?”
“No, I think I’m over Tam. I’m just not sure I’m ready to be…under Wade.”
We both snort.
“Do you want me to stop asking about it? Because I’ll shut up. But if you want to talk, I’m here.” Thinking about Val’s problems is kind of a relief from my own.
“No, I don’t want you to stop asking about it. I just don’t think Wade and I are in the right headspace for each other. He’s fun and all, but he’s all about fun. I can’t get anywhere with him.” She gives me a slight smile, this time actually looking at me so I can see her bemused expression.