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“Emails?”
“Yeah. Looks like from her dad to your mom.” I see the look of uncertainty in Dax’s face. He lips turn down, and he shifts his focus to the floor.
I don’t think he has had time to deal with the fact that his mother is gone for good. She died in that accident or suicide, whatever you want to call it. He has been hell bent on making Red pay for her death, only to truly figure out she might not even know what has been going on.
And let’s face it, she lost a parent that day too.
“What did the emails say?” Dax asks.
“Talked about a meet up. There were more, but I just didn’t get a chance to go through them.” I let out a breath. “I think this is over our heads, man. There’s something bigger at play.”
“I mean, if my father’s involved, who knows what’s actually going on?”
“My father called me yesterday, asked me how the project was coming along. I had no clue what he was talking about, until he clarified that he meant if we were successful at removing Phoenix from the school.”
“So, your dad’s involved too. Fuck.” Dax rub the back of his neck and starts pacing. “This isn’t good.”
“No, it’s not. She may be in more trouble than we thought. Let’s not forget the note she got. Though, I wouldn’t put it past our fathers to try to scare her out.”
“But why do they want her out? Why not just come after her here? What happens if she leaves?”
I shrug. “That’s the million-dollar question now, isn’t it?”
Maybe her aunt knew what she was doing by putting her here. This was her way of keeping her safe. Because it seems Emerson can’t get to her until she leaves this school.
And that changes things drastically. We definitely have been going about this all wrong.
I look at Daxon, and I can see he is putting the pieces together too.
We need to protect her.
twenty-five
PHOENIX
Wednesday nightI woke to a note on my bed from Mason, but the man was nowhere to be found. My roommate woke me up when she got home because she saw my door open and me lying in bed. Liz said when she saw the bruises and dried blood, that was missed by Colt, she got scared. That’s when she woke me.
So, I explained to her what happened and how the guys ended up bringing me back to the room. She of course was shocked to find out that my tormentors were the ones to care for me after Bianca and her minions beat the shit out of me in the bathroom.
Honestly, it was an unfair advantage to begin with, but I hadn’t expected it. If I had, maybe I would’ve been able to defend myself just a little bit. I probably still would’ve had the shit kicked out of me even if I had defended myself, but maybe less of a head injury. That’s okay, though, they will get what’s coming to them.
Mason had texted me that night to tell me that they had some things to take care of but to make sure that my roommate went and grabbed me dinner.
In a weird turn of events, I was a little sad to find him gone when Liz woke me up. And I had hoped that they would have come back, but it was probably better that they didn’t. I needed to regain my confidence, my strength. Being around those three seem to weaken me every time.
I mean, I cried in front of them. All of them. They saw tears. I save those for my couch sessions with the head doctor or in the middle of the night when I tend to have my anxiety attacks.
But no. They saw me at a low point. Completely beaten mentally and physically. Drained of any fight left in myself, completely in shock. And they cared for me. Mason laid with me, Colt wiped blood from my face, and Daxon was ready to get vengeance on my behalf.
I felt like I had entered an alternate reality.
And all night, they had checked in on me. I had no clue where they were, but they made sure to ask how I was. They even put me in a group chat with them.
It has all been very, very strange.
But then Thursday happened. And the entire dynamic of everything around me shifted. Changed. Nothing was the same.
From the moment I walked into study hall in the library, the three of them walked over to me and flanked my sides. It was like having personal bodyguards. Hot as fuck personal bodyguards who wouldn’t leave my side.