The Hearsts were another old money family, and it showed in both his education and way of living that was echoed by his brother Lawson. The two of them were said to be a world apart in personality, the first more rational than the second because of his temper. I wasn’t sure I agreed with the statement, though, because Eugene looked on edge as he kept a hand hovering against India’s lower back.
I knew everyone was talking around me, but the dynamic was far too interesting to look away from, especially considering the other three men with them. Plus, this is what I did. I was far better at watching than I was at interacting with people. Just like how my brother was far better at finding information on people. My gaze moved to the man walking across the room to greet King.
Callum Reyes. Our FBI contact was far more accessible in terms of finding information regarding his past, considering he was government-connected. A former college football player from Alabama and twenty-seven years old, the man wore cowboy boots even now and offered King a handshake as if he wasn’t here to talk business. I had to wonder how he had gotten involved with the Lexington and Hearst families, because there was no way that happened by chance. You didn’t even meet their families by chance. They were that powerful. It also wasn’t something we were going to question, because this was their business and not ours. If Callum wanted to trust them, it was on him.
My gaze darted over to Silas Huntington, who was seemingly having a silent conversation with Yates. From what we had found on Silas, which was startlingly little, he was a ghost. Rumored to be CIA, but not confirmed, and currently stateside for unknown reasons, his past and present were essentially blank files, and I knew that made King nervous. Hell, it made me nervous. Every piece of intel we received made it clear that Silas wasn’t someone we should ever interact with, so him being around Dahlia scared the hell out of me. But if he was crazy, it made sense why he and Yates would get along so well.
I’d always known that Yates was goddamn insane, but last night I realized just how bad it had gotten. What had started as a small hobby—hell, a habit—was now a full-blown obsession, and I knew it wouldn’t stay a secret for long.
As Dahlia returned to the desk and King positioned her again, Bishop Vos took a seat across from me. I guess in a way, he was the most surprising. It wasn’t very often that someone with so many military accolades after such a short career decided to put themselves in the company of at least three people that I knew didn’t have pristine reputations.
It really made me wonder what brought all of this together.
Dahlia’s voice pulled me from my musings. “I’m honestly not positive I know much to be helpful, outside of my suspicions about Abby being the one bullying me. I don’t have a lot of interactions with Max or his father.”
“Just tell me everything about your interactions with them since they moved here.” Callum leaned forward, his expression open and relaxed, which was in contrast to the rest of them. I don’t think they were attempting to be intimidating on purpose, because Dahlia was willingly giving them the information, but it didn’t stop me from feeling defensive.
As Dahlia began recounting the first time she met them, fall of our senior year, I found myself fascinated by listening to her perception of things. I also was sort of blown away by her memory as she detailed interaction after interaction, most regarding Abby, although she did mention Max. She made quick work of the times he’d harassed her, something that had only happened twice, the first being a passing comment and the second… well, King had walked in on that one. I think that was when Max realized we hadn’t wanted to be his friend.
Callum had already gathered information regarding Mr. Brooks from us and from what our fathers had told us, although the man seemed to keep a low profile. I didn’t know what he hoped to gather from hearing about Abby and Max, but Dahlia seemed to like getting it off her chest, so that was a good enough reason for me.
“The last interaction I had with Abby in person was the night of the bonfire when she came up to our table and tried to talk to all of them.” She scowled slightly before adding, “Again.”
“And Max?”
Her face went tense. “That was at the tennis court, before… well, yesterday morning, before all the news broke.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“That they were hiding something from me,” Dahlia murmured before squinting in thought. “I think his exact question was ‘How do you handle knowing that the men you love are hiding shit from you,’ and I obviously asked him what he was talking about, and then he said something about them ‘sneaking behind my back and dealing with shady people’? I think he wanted to know if I was even aware of the situation. He also essentially threatened me by saying that I was going to suffer because of it.”
“He didwhat?” King asked, no doubt hating that she hadn’t included that part when she told us before. Her cheeks flushed as she shrugged, the rest of the room frozen, half because of King’s tone of voice and the rest of us because the idea of anyone threatening Dahlia had us fucking furious.
“Later?” Dahlia’s voice was soft, and I could tell she was a bit embarrassed. Luckily, King seemed to stow his anger temporarily, but I had absolutely no doubt that this wouldn’t be the last of this conversation. I hated how she didn’t view that type of shit as important enough to tell us, or worried it would be a bother, because I knew exactly how Dahlia thought.
I found myself a bit jealous that King had been with her today, and not because of the reason anyone would assume. When we had talked about being with Dahlia one day, as a group, I knew someone would be her first. She would always be my first when I did finally get her in my bed, but the notion of her being with the others didn’t bother me. No. I was jealous because unlike me, King now had the ability to fuck the answers out of Dahlia that she didn’t think were worth giving.
I groaned, wondering how much she would freak out if I tossed her ass over my shoulder and tied her up to her bed, making her come enough until she decided that moments like that were important because of her safety.
Hell, everything about Dahlia was fucking important.
“Alright.” Callum nodded and looked down at his watch, making me realize how much time had passed. “We will stay in touch. We are meeting with a few people that work at the local pharmacy, so if we find anything else or you get any new information—”
“Actually,” King drew out, “we may be leaving the country for the weekend.”
Callum didn’t seem surprised. “You will still be contactable?”
“Yes.” King smoothed Dahlia’s hair out as she stared at him in confusion. I loved that my sugar’s facial expressions were so blatant and easy to read. It made me know when I was doing shit right or when we were fucking shit up.
“Great. If questions come to the Bureau about the incident regarding this weekend, we will just say your location is known or some shit.”
“Did you kill him?” Silas asked curiously, his face void of emotion.
“Greg?” Yates confirmed. I frowned, wishing he hadn’t given him his name, but if Yates did so, then he didn’t consider them a threat.
“If that’s his name.” Silas shrugged.
“Unfortunately not,” King sighed, and I saw Dahlia’s lip twitch slightly.