“No shit,” Mads muttered. “So, Sherlock Holmes, what’s the big secret?”
Grayson poured drinks for each of us, passing them around. Odd. I hadn’t thought he had a gentlemanly bone in his body. Perhaps that jerk inside him was just reserved for me. I still needed to havethatconversation, but it would have to wait.
“I want to set up a trap for Carter,” I announced, taking the glass Grayson held out to me.
“What do you have in mind?” Grayson didn’t so much as blink at my suggestion, which meant this was probably something they’d already considered doing.
“Are you sure you should get involved? Won’t that piss off Brock?” Mads pointed out.
“Definitely,” Grayson and I said together.
We stared at each other, my smile slipping at the frown on his lips.
What was it about this particular Elite that made me want him to like me? It didn’t make sense.
“The truth is, I can’t live in that house with Carter. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to hurt me.” My brain shuddered at the thought. “And I’ve seen the files you have on the Pattersons,” I revealed to Grayson. “I know Steven protects his son, which leaves me defenseless.”
Neither of them had to ask about my mother. She was a worthless cause when it came to putting me before her rich husband. Some days I had to wonder how she could be my mother.
“You have us,” Grayson stated with pinched brows, and I believed he meant it, despite the roughness in his features.
My heart squeezed at his offer, regardless of his reasons for offering me his protection. “Are you guys going to spend the night with me too?” School was one thing, but they couldn’t be with me every second of the day. “Not to mention, Steven is onto you. He made it very clear I was not to associate with any of you.”
“Okay, so what’s your idea?” Mads prompted. “It’s going to be reckless, isn’t it?” she added, sighing.
“Probably,” I admitted. “Can you handle it?” I challenged, looking them both in the eye. “You would be going behind Brock’s back, lying to him.” I needed them to understand the scope of my plan.
Grayson considered. “For Kenna, I would.”
Not me. Kenna. I tried not to be hurt. Obviously, he didn’t love me more than his sister.
I took a sip of my lemonade and swallowed, looking each of them in the eye. “Okay, you guys are in?”
Grayson nodded. “I am. But I don’t like leaving Brock and the others out. I’m not sure that is the right approach.”
“The fewer people that know, the better. This needs to be believable. Carter can’t suspect anything or it won’t work,” I disputed. “He knows you guys are shadowing me. Mads?”
She took a long drag, holding the cigarette smoke inside her lungs before exhaling. “I need to hear the details first before I agree to anything. I don’t like the idea of you being hurt.”
We spent the next hour brainstorming, perfecting what we hoped was a foolproof plan, but honestly, there was no guarantee when dealing with someone as corrupt as Carter. He thought of himself as invincible, but hopefully that cockiness would work in our favor.
The plate of cookies and nachos Lucy brought out was nearly gone. Grayson scooped up one of the few remaining chips. “We’ll set Carter up with the perfect opportunity. He won’t be able to resist. Shit, he’s already tried to drug you before.”
I had a cookie halfway to my mouth. “What?!”
Mads’s silver eyes narrowed.
But Grayson just shrugged. “It was at my back-to-school party this summer.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“We knew who was supplying Carter with his drugs of choice. That information was easy to obtain, and we made sure he was at the party. One of us had an eye on him at all times. We were hoping to catch him slipping one into someone’s drink. And he did.” His face went dangerously dark. “Yours.”
“Mine,” I echoed, thinking back to the night. “How? I didn’t feel anything. I would have known if I’d been drugged.”
“You would have if Fynn hadn’t switched out your drink,” he explained.
“Fynn? Why did he switch my drink?” The Elite had wanted to catch Carter red-handed. That would have been the perfect chance. Not that I was complaining, but this all happened prior to the Elite knowing me. Was it because I reminded them of Kenna?