Page 26 of Broken Discipline

Before I had agreed to be Bruce’s wife, I had sold meth for Blister. He promised a quick payout, and that was what I needed. But I had lost my stash, and when the opportunity with the Marked Blooms Syndicate popped up, I hadn’t questioned it.

The car doors opened. Two men got out. The first one was tall and skinny with a low ponytail riding down his back, and the other had bulky shoulders.

“If it isn’t little Kylie Lowell,” Bulky said, pounding his fist into his palm. I hadn’t heard that name—my full name, before I married Bruce—in years.

“Blister’s been looking for you,” Ponytail said.

“He’s been looking for you for a long, long time,” Bulky added.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“Got a tip from an anonymous caller. Didn’t take long after that,” Bulky said.

My stomach twisted. Who would call them?

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You owe our boss money,” Ponytail said. “We came to collect.”

The estate manager was watching from the mansion windows, a phone against her ear. If she was calling the community security and they found out that I was associating with my old life, back in Oakmont, my contract stated that I would be officially discarded.

Had Upchurch—Bruce’s cousin, the same man who had broken into the Carter Compound and cut the twins’ hair—told Blister where to find me?

I found Chip. He was on the phone too. Maybe he was calling Finn.

But I shook my head. I couldn’t rely on Finn or Chip to be there for me. Everyone left. Fathers died. Mothers left. Even your lover could get you pregnant and ghost you. Hell, I even left Oakmont and my best friend behind without a goodbye. I had to take care of this myself.

“How much?” I asked.

“Ten thousand,” Ponytail said.

I cleared my throat. I had been saving up these last four years, but I didn’t havethatmuch. I held my arms around myself, trying to think. But then I stopped.Fairview Elite Academy.Finn had paid them over a million dollars for twelve years of tuition.

I walked to my car. “I’ll get your money.”

“You think you’re going without us?” Ponytail said. Bulky grabbed my arm, digging his nubby fingers into my skin.

I flinched. “Hey!”

“You’re not going to disappear again,” Ponytail said. “You’re coming with us.We’lltake you to get the money.”

Bulky pulled his gun out, shoving it into the back of my neck.

“All right,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “I’ll go.”

They shoved me into the backseat. Once the car started down the driveway, I pulled on the handles, but they didn’t budge.

“Child locks,” Bulky explained.

I sighed, gazing out of the windows frantically for a white cargo van or a black SUV. But there were no signs of Finn, Chip, or any of Finn’s guards anywhere.

Maybe the anonymous caller who had told them about me was Finn, trying to get rid of me. That must have been why he had been distant lately. He was waiting to give Blister’s men the right moment to attack me.

Eventually, we pulled up to the Fairview Elite Academy. The tall brick buildings loomed, creating a shadow over the parking lot. I glanced around for Finn again, but I didn’t see him anywhere. My stomach dropped, and I dug my nails into my palms. I wasn’t supposed to rely on Finn anyway. I had to help myself.

“You got kids here?” Ponytail asked.

“The principal owes me,” I lied. He didn’t need to know about the twins, and I crossed my fingers that Blister’s men hadn’t gotten any smarter in the last few years. It didn’t take much to figure out that lie.