“My dad said something about that. That their stories conflicted.”

“Yeah.” His chest caught and held. He sounded in pain. “The longer we were all there, more of them started to change their story. I think the detectives figured out what was going on and laid into them. We couldn’t leave. Nate, Logan, and I were held in a back room the whole time. We could only leave if we needed to piss.”

“Your dad was there the whole time?”

He cursed again and grinned from the corner of his mouth at me. “His lawyers were there, but he wasn’t.”

I frowned. “David said my mom and James were at a hotel next to the station.”

“I believe that, but they weren’t there.” He lifted a hand to scratch a bruise on his chest. “I’m sure he was waiting.” He groaned again as he lifted himself up and scooted back against the headboard beside me. His arm draped over my shoulder, and he pulled me to his side. “My mom’s coming back.”

My eyes closed and my forehead fell into my hands.

He chuckled beside me. “It’ll be fine. Charges were dropped against me. I think my dad’s already told his lawyers to start a civil lawsuit against some of them.” He grinned crookedly at me. “Doesn’t hurt that my dad hates some of theirs. Business rivals, you know.”

I shook my head and held onto his hand. “Just as long as you’re okay.” Then I remembered my day and a soft curse slipped from my lips.

“What?”

I looked up and frowned. Why was I always nervous to tell him about my day? And then I started.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Helen arrived that evening and a family meeting was held. The kids weren’t involved. Analise, James, Helen, and David were the only ones included. It was around eleven that night when the doorbell rang again. Logan and Nate filtered inside. The screeching from the family meeting had penetrated all rooms in the mansion. They needed peace and quiet. Mason grinned as the three of them took over the theater room.

As they watched basketball, I stayed in my room and did my homework. It was already late, but I knew they needed that time to settle down. Too much chaos had happened. When it was midnight, my eyes were starting to droop. We had napped during the day, but I couldn’t hold out much longer. It was one in the morning when I crawled in bed. I felt Mason slip in later and I opened my eyes a crack. It was around three.

Everyone was quiet the next morning. Nate had gone to pick his parents up at the airport. Logan took off in the yellow Escalade, but not after he riffled a hand through my hair and kissed my cheek. “See ya, kiddo.”

I glared at his back, but Mason chuckled behind me. When I turned to glare at him, he kissed me on the lips and tapped my butt. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.”

We stopped for my morning coffee so I was happy.

The next few days were quiet. It was strange.

The Elite stuck close to my side. Lunch was spent at a restaurant every day and I realized they took turns fitting the bill. I figured my turn was coming up, but I wasn’t rich so I wasn’t sure what to do. Adam never asked about the guys. No one did, but I felt as if they knew. Then I realized they probably did know.

Mason and Logan returned to school that Tuesday while Nate was shipped to Brazil with his parents. They hadn’t been happy about his involvement and Logan confessed one night that they blamed Mason for all of Nate’s troubles. He said that they deemed him an unhealthy influence. I ventured once to ask Mason when Nate would come back and his jaw hardened. When he replied that he didn’t know, it seemed to pain him.

I never asked again.

Now it was Friday.

The parents hadn’t clued us in to their family meeting, what was talked about, what they had decided, or if there had been anything to decide in the first place. Helen booked herself a hotel room in town, and the guys had stayed with her for the last two nights. When Garrett arrived from Boston, I hadn’t the heart to tell him about Helen’s arrival. I wasn’t sure if he knew and to be truthful, I didn’t want to be included in their relationship.

When Becky halted at my locker after our first class, she was red in the face. Her red hair had been swept back in a ponytail, but half of it had been forgotten. She gasped and leaned against a locker for breath.

“You okay?”

She shook her head and held a finger up. One moment.

I closed my locker and waited.

Then she gasped out, “Sorry—mile today.”

My eyebrow arched.

The redness spread from her cheeks to her entire face. It slipped down her neck and she yanked her shirt away from her neck and started to fan herself with it. “Sorry. I had to run the mile this morning for gym. I met Coach early and he said I could try out for the squad.”

“The squad?”

She nodded her head in earnest and shot her arms up in the air. “I’m a cheerleader! Congratulate me.”

“Congratulations.” I inched back a step. “Who are you cheering for?”

“For the hockey team. Their first game is next Thursday night.”

“That’s right.”

Her eyes sparkled. “I get to cheer for Adam.”

I frowned. “I thought he had a job at the country club.”

“He does.” Her eyes lost a little of the sparkle, but she frowned, twirled some strands of hair around her finger, and the sparkle doubled back. “I’m sure he’ll cut down on his hours. I’m not sure. I don’t care. I’m a cheerleader, Sam! Aren’t you happy for me?”