“Yes, I do.” He lowered his voice even further. “I fucking hate your whore of a mother, and I know you’re just like that evil bitch.”
I gasped, my mouth falling open. “You don’t even know anything about me. How dare you make assumptions?”
“I know enough,” he said darkly. “And I promise you, right here, right now, that I’m going to do everything I can to make your life miserable. I don’t trust you. I don’t want you here. We don’t want you here. Leave, or you will regret it.”
The threat hung heavy in the air between us as I tried to wrap my head around his words.
“Leave? You think you can scare me off?”
“I know I can.” His words were stated as fact, and I felt rage building. I welcomed it, using it to bolster me.
“Do your worst. Because I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere.” I clenched my fists, shaking with anger and staring into his eyes, which had darkened to the colour of the ocean at night, black and fathomless.
“Watch your back, Winter. You’re out of your depth, and you don’t know how to swim in these waters.”
“Big words coming from someone who relies on Daddy’s money to get by.”
“You know nothing,” he spat.
He slammed his fork down on the table and rose to his feet. “Dad, I’ve lost my appetite. I’ll call you in the week.”
His father rolled his eyes. “At least you managed to last through fifteen minutes of the meal this time. That’s an improvement.”
“Whatever. Weston, you coming.” It wasn’t a question.
Weston sighed and rose to his feet. “See you soon, Dad.” Both of them ignored my mother, but Weston sent me a half-smile as he turned to leave. I attempted to smile back.
This family clearly had problems, and I’d somehow ended up in the middle of them. Investigating my dad’s death was going to involve some very careful planning.
We finished the meal in silence, and then Arlo announced he was going to his study to work. My mother turned to me. “You’d better be getting back now, hadn’t you? Don’t your classes begin tomorrow?”
Guess it was time for me to leave. I nodded, keeping my endgame in mind. I needed to stay on my mother’s good side. “Yes, I probably should. Shall we arrange to get together next weekend?”
My mother pursed her lips. “No, next weekend won’t do. I’ll get Arlo to talk to the boys and coordinate our schedules.” She stood, crossing to the doorway, and stared at me expectantly.
“Allan will see you out. It was…nice to catch up.” She swept out of the room, and Allan peered around the door frame. “Miss Huntington? I have your coat.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him, and he gave me a genuine, beaming smile, the first proper one I’d received all evening.
The smile was wiped from my face when I walked around to the driver’s side of my car. Under th
e soft outside lights, I could clearly see the words that had been scratched into my door in deep, angry gouges.
Whore.
THREE
Kinslee led me over to the large grey stone building that housed several lecture halls and classrooms. “There. Do you want to meet at the Student Union building for lunch?” She pointed across the campus, where beyond a grassy square, a long building with huge glass walls, stood.
“Sure. Twelve? If you get there first, save me a seat. I’ll do the same if I’m there first.”
“Sounds good to me.”
I smiled. “Brilliant. See you at lunch.” She turned in the opposite direction, and I headed into the building in front of me to find my lecture hall. I peered at my schedule, trying to work out where I was going.
“Lost?” The low drawl came from my right, and I spun around to see Cassius, one of the Four, leaning against the white painted wall, staring at me.
“Uh… I have to find the Brunswick lecture hall.”