Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
I gave her a look. Camille Story. Hello?
She flushed. “I mean to myself or Melissa, or anyone else in our class. I will go to the school dean, and I don’t care whose father donated that check, I’ll take everything with me that I have on you.”
Now I started to get heated. “That wasn’t a threat, was it? Meaning you don’t currently have anything on me.” I paused, letting that hang in the air. “Because if you did, then you know me, and you know that I’d have to go and find it.”
Her eyes were almost bugging out. She screwed her face up, her mouth flattening. A quiet scream escaped, sounding like steam leaving a teapot. “No! I don’t have anything. Just, don’t hack me. Ever. Or I’ll go to the feds.”
Hawking’s dean. Now the FBI. I almost retorted, Who’s next? The pope? But I refrained. She was upset. I understood it, and now she needed to maintain a semblance of control. Having the last word would give her that sense of control. So yeah. Whatever floated her boat. I kept quiet and she huffed off a second later.
Fitz came down the aisle. “Was I supposed to have fended her off?”
“No.” I was back in my program, and I changed my password for the entire system. Then I went in and got into her phone. Call me a violator, but I needed to make sure.
A second later, she sent a text out.
Hoda: It’s done.
Quinn: Are you sure? And you watched her the entire time?
Hoda: Yes. I told her I’d go to the FBI if she did it again.
My stomach dropped, but I was waiting, air suspended in my throat, and my fingers were itching to start typing away, when Quinn texted back.
Good. I’m sure with everything Kash and Peter are going through, that’s the last sort of battle Bailey wants. Are we still on for drinks tomorrow night? I know how you can get Liam to sleep with you.
I wanted to puke. My stomach was churning over.
Hoda: Yes! Let’s. Girls’ Martini Night at the Ritz.
Quinn: You’re on. See you then! 8 sharp.
I had meant to close out Hoda’s text messages, too, but not now. And crap. Crap! I had wanted to believe Hoda had become somewhat of a friend. I truly did. But this changed everything.
Quinn.
Fuck.
* * *
I was going to tell Matt first about Hoda and Quinn.
I knew I should tell Kash, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t, and I didn’t know why. It was like when I tried to open my mouth, to tell Fitz that I should be going to wherever Kash was, the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth. And my hands refused to pick up the phone and call him myself, or even text him.
Matt I could text.
I asked where he was. He said Naveah, so that’s where we were going. I looked up at the front seat where Fitz and my driver were sitting, and for once I had something they didn’t know about.
Once we pulled up to Naveah, I texted again.
Outside Naveah. Can you come out here? I don’t want to be where Torie is.
He wouldn’t question me on Torie, but he’d question me on where else I wanted to go.
Matt: Sure. Finishing, gotta pay. Can I bring Tony and Guy?
Me: No. You and me only.
Matt: Is this a Team Batt thing?
I grinned, typing fast, and more relieved.
Me: Oh yeah!
Matt: Sweet. Paying now. Out soon.
I put my phone away. “Matt’s coming out here. He wants to go to Octavo instead.”
I was lying.
Fitz frowned at me in the rearview mirror. “He does?”
I nodded. “Hmm. That’s not a problem, right?”
Fitz didn’t respond. He just stared at me until there was a commotion outside and the door was opening. Sounds from the street and the club filtered in. There was a line waiting to get into Naveah, and people began shouting, seeing Matt. Then he was sliding in, his guards coming up behind him, the door shut after him. His guards went to where Fitz was getting out to talk with them.
Matt saw that and looked at me, his eyebrows raised. “What’s going on?”
I locked eyes with him at the same time I texted him.
I spoke, “I told Fitz you wanted to go to Octavo instead.”
His eyebrows arched even higher, and his phone buzzed from me. He took it out, reading my text.
Go along with it. I’ll explain there.
He nodded, putting his phone back and raking his hand through his hair. “Yeah.” Fitz opened his door, his head coming inside. “Are you sure about Octavo?”
Matt dipped his head down, his mouth pursed as if he were bored already with this questioning. “Yeah, man. What’s the problem? Kash knows the owners. We’ll be safe there.”
That was the point. Kash knew them. Kash did not own them. And for full disclosure here, I didn’t know who owned Octavo myself. What I did know was that there was some form of mutual respect between the owner and Kash. He mentioned the owners, saying there were two of them, and I could tell from his tone that he was cautious about both. So, for what I wanted to talk to Matt about, I knew his only employees would be the guards, and they would stay a respectable distance away. That meant I could actually talk to him, without having anyone else, like Torie, dropping by, or any of Matt’s friends. Or mine, now that I thought about it. I knew Melissa had taken to hanging out with Torie and Tamara at Naveah, too.