Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Audrey stares at her lap. “Father.” She sounds pitiful.
My lips rise, and Rose says to me, “She’s playing you.”
“She’s trying,” I say, and yes, Audrey can hear us very clearly.
She lets out a melodramatic sigh. “Okay, it was me.” I hand her the Ziff and she takes tiny sips. “I was in charge of the punch.”
“What were the ingredients then?” I ask, still having doubts she was the sole contributor.
“Cherry Fizz, orange juice, vodka, gin, pink lemonade…and Skittles.”
“Skittles?” I arch a brow.
“That is absolutely revolting,” Rose cringes.
We've been through this six times before. We're not shocked by the underage drinking. I went to boarding school as a teen. I socially drank. I'd be deluded to think my children wouldn't test these waters themselves. We always told them that if they were to drink, we'd appreciate if they were with their older siblings or better yet, at home with us and under our supervision.
Though I'm aware this might be the first time she's ever been drunk.
“It was regrettable in so many ways,” Audrey winces, looking sick.
Rose dabs her forehead again, and our daughter relaxes, eyes shutting closed.
I rub my fingers against my mouth, and I turn my head. “Did you try the punch?” I ask Ben.
“No. I just had a couple beers.”
Rose splays the cloth over Audrey’s forehead. “Did the other girls drink any alcohol?”
“Nona didn’t,” Ben says. “I don’t know if Kinney tried the punch, but I think Vada was drinking it.” Off his uneasy glance towards Audrey, I’m suspecting Vada helped our daughter make the punch.
Rose and I exchange a knowing look. There’s more we need to know. “Who disabled the security system and why?” I ask.
Ben scratches the back of his head. “Audrey, you want to take this?”
“I’m not at liberty to—”
Rose removes the washcloth and takes a few steps away.
“But Mother!” Audrey bolts upright in her chair. “I’m ill—”
“You drank too much. You threw up. The consequences of your actions tonight.”
Audrey tries not to cry. “It’s my pre-birthday.”
Rose nearly crumbles.
I step in. “It’s important that we know how you disabled the security system. It shouldn't have been that easy. Did you ask Jane or Charlie or Beckett for the passcodes?”
“No,” Audrey murmurs, taking a bigger swig of Ziff.
“Did you figure it out yourself?”
She shakes her head. “We all thought none of you would approve of our party, and I really wanted to have it here, so…”
“So someone disabled the security system.” I help her along. “Who and how?”
“I don’t know how she did it.”
Rose whips her head to me. “Vada.” Out of all four girls, she’s the only one who could’ve learned how to disable this kind of tech.
I already take out my phone.
“No!” Audrey springs to her feet, so dizzy that she falls back into the chair. “I’m not a rat! I didn’t rat her out! Please don’t call her, Father!”
“You won’t be implicated,” I tell Audrey.
She pants heavily. “You promise?”
“Je te promet de tout mon cœur.” I promise with all my heart.
Audrey expels a breath and nods.
I send Garrison a quick text.
So you know, I have a suspicion your daughter disabled my security system.
He replies in one second.
GARRISON
Wtf. Will ask her about it
After Rose and I get more information from the security team tonight, we'll have a bigger discussion with our children about the dangers of disabling the security system.
“How did the party get crashed?” Rose asks both Ben and Audrey.
Ben tosses the dirtied rag in the sink. “I think people started hearing about it through one of Audrey’s friends that was invited. It just spread. People were texting me asking if it’s legit all day, but I didn’t reply to most of them.”
“Barely anyone was invited,” Audrey defends. “Gossip is to blame.”
Rose gives her a sharp look.
Audrey spins to me for reprieve.
I lift another brow. “Did gossip disable the cameras too?”
“I’m also to blame,” Audrey notes.
“And the flour?” Rose turns to Ben.
I say, “I’m assuming this is your mess.”
“Yeah.” He’s already squirting more Lysol on the counter. His eyes flit to his mom. “I have this handled if it’s bothering you.”
“It’s not, but thank you.” She examines him, her hot gaze cooling. “I’m more bothered at the idea that you had a fight with a family member and not a friend.”
Ben tenses, and he pushes up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “It wasn’t Xander’s fault. It moved from the living room to the kitchen. I grabbed the flour. I started it.”
Rose goes rigid. “The living room? The glass table—”
“I fell onto the table. I’m sorry.” That feels like a quarter of the story.
Audrey slips her brother a sympathetic look, but she’s also fighting to stay alert.
Rose presses her fingers to her forehead. “Ben, you’re almost twice his size.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I’d never hurt him.” His eyes flood, pain cinching his face. “I was just trying to help Nona. She was in trouble…and I had tunnel vision. Xander is the one who made sure no stranger came inside the house. You should be grateful for him.”