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“I-I don’t know what you mean, Xay, baby.” She laughs nervously. She continues to back up until she is met by a wall. That wall being Dekker, who she doesn’t see get behind her.
“You know exactly what I mean. You sent her that video of us in the parking lot of the diner. Come clean, Mon.” My hands curls into fists because it’s all that is keeping me from wrapping them around her neck.
Her eyes dart around as she contemplates her next move. “Look, it was harmless fun.”
“Harmless fun? Are you that fucking stupid? She ran out of the house and took off! She left the fucking state!” I yell into her face.
“Well, she wasn’t in that! So you can thank me that she’s safe! And thank God she left. Now you can be mine again.” She takes a step forward, but Dekker yanks her back by her hair.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Mon. I was never fucking yours. Never. You were a place for me to keep my dick warm when I couldn’t get one of your other slut friends to.” I step forward again, and her eyes widen in fear. “And I will make sure you pay for chasing her away. If anything happens to her, it will come back on you ten-fold. So you better hope and pray that she is okay and that nothing happens to her, or you are a dead man walking.”
She opens and closes her mouth like she’s a fish, but nothing comes out. Dekker pushes her off to the side and stalks over to me. I turn back around to watch as the fire department works to put the fire out. The flames are shooting through the roof as the firefighters try to battle them. We can hear the sound of shattering glass and the popping of the wood from where we stand over the sounds of the chaos in front of us.
“He made me do it!” Monica yells next to us. “He made me! Said that was the only way I could get you back!”
My head snaps to her. “Who? Who made you?” I start to take steps toward her, but her next words have me coming to a halt.
“Your dad.” Tears start to fall down her cheeks. “I’m sorry! He had the video. He gave it to me to send!”
A pain slices through my heart. My stomach drops when the words she’s saying catch up to me.
My own father did this? There’s no way.
“He needed her to leave,” she continues. “He needed her to be away from you three. He needed her to leave her mother on her own. When it didn’t work with Damien, he had to try something else.”
Turning to Seven, I command, “Stay here.” Then I grab her by the arm and lead her away from the crowd of people.
“Stop, Xay, baby, please,” she begs.
“It’s Xayden. I’m not your baby.” I stop about twenty feet away from the crowd. “Spill your bullshit now. What do you mean when it didn’t work with Damien?”
“I’ve already said too much. They will kill me if I say anymore.” She runs her hands anxiously through her hair.
“Monica, I want you to hear me when I say this. I will kill you if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on.” My voice is low, and I don’t even blink as I say the words.
Our eyes are locked in on each other, and I can see her trembling.
She wrings her hands in front of her for a minute before she speaks. “I-I don’t know everything. But I know your dad was working to get Dekker’s dad out of prison. They needed Rory for something. They sent Damien to try and work his way into her life, thinking that would get them what they needed. Damien fucked that up.”
“What did they need Rory for?” I demand.
She shakes her head. “I have no idea. But they wanted her off this campus. Everything has been planned to get her to leave. Her mom and your dad had fought about bringing Rory here, but her mom won out. Your dad said he needed them separated. That he had to play the part of loving stepdad. She wasn’t supposed to still be here. But she’s stubborn.”
“She didn’t even want to be here! She wanted to be back in Vegas, going to school there!” I yell.
“Xayden! I don’t know why they did what they did. I was just given instructions and told to do it. But if she did leave, then the video did what they wanted it to do.” She frowns.
“None of this makes any fucking sense, Mon. My father? My own father hurting his stepdaughter? Do you know where they are? Where Rory’s mom is?”
She bites her lip and looks out behind me. After a few, her eyes meet mine. “I only know they said they had unfinished business out West. They didn’t say where, and I didn’t stick around to find out.”
My blood runs cold. She could be headed right for them. Which, if this was all planned, that’s exactly what they wanted to happen.
I run over to Seven and Dekker who are talking to a couple officers. Steeling my facial expressions, I come up behind them.
“Sorry, girl drama.” I shrug at the officers, plastering on a fake smile I hope works. “Hi, I’m Xayden Brooks. I’m the president of Sigma Xi Delta.”
“Mr. Brooks, I was just telling these two that the fire chief thinks based on preliminary evidence that this was a case of arson. There will be an investigation that will be opened for this matter. Do you know of anyone that would do such a thing? Have any enemies? Bad blood between frats?” The officer narrows his eyes at me.