Page 10 of Unspoken Lies

“It’s because she and my father no longer have me under their thumb,” Jared grunts. “I hate that they are still doing this to you.”

The two men share a long look before Jared nods.

“Alright,” he says. “Turn in your resignation, and we’ll draw up our non-disclosure agreement and contract. We both know that’s the only way my parents will get off your back.”

“Yes,” Calvin says, releasing the breath he’s been holding in relief. “Thank you, sir.”

“None of this sir shit, please,” Jared says. “I’m just me.”

“Of course,” Calvin says with a wide smile. “Should I go ahead and resign now or wait for the paperwork?”

“Let me draw it up,” Theo says. He is still taking pre-law classes because they come in handy when things like this come up. “We’ll go into town once I’m done and we’re cleaned up.”

Never a dull day, I swear.

JARED

Glancing at Elijah as I get into the car with him and Theo, I try to figure out why he’s been acting so odd. Even though we are setting up our own rooms, we’ve still been crashing in Theo’s at night because he ordered a king size mattress almost immediately after we moved in. Calvin gave it his stamp of approval after vacuuming and cleaning, and we dragged it in.

It’ll do until we get a frame for it. I think it may end up being the bedroom we sleep in. It’s not unusual for us to sleep together when we’re going through a big change.

Or fighting personal demons.

None of us are magically over what we did to Rachelle, though I pretend better than the other two. I am planning to spend some serious time in the pool after Calvin ensures it’s up to my needs. Until then, I’ve been punishing my body through running and weight training.

However, Elijah doesn’t drop into bed the way I know I do, and the exercise certainly isn’t quieting his demons. Instead, he twitches and mutters in his sleep, waking up exhausted.

It’s worse than it was in Portland, and I know that because he was sleeping with me in the pool house. He slept deeply. If he had nightmares, they weren’t apparent back then.

Something recently happened to fuck with his head. I intend to find out what it is. Somehow.

There are actually two driveways to the house. One is at the front of the house, and the other is at the side and goes toward the backyard. It’s all done with beautiful pavers, there’s no concrete. This area definitely knows how to build a unique home that’s not simply ostentatious and ugly.

Driving off the property, I merge onto the road to drive into town. I feel better knowing that Calvin is cut off now and protected from my parents. Theo drew up the paperwork and Calvin signed it. Theo is so talented, no matter what he decides to do, there will always be a flair with which he does it.

I appreciate that Calvin came to me with his concerns immediately, so we could fix it. He was on the phone with my parents to end his employment with them as we were walking out the door.

Theo and Elijah, on the other hand, are harboring secrets. Theo hasn’t done much hacking or coding unless it’s for aspecific reason, and has given up his work on the dark web for extra money. Secrets have a way of creating division and destroying friendships, the way that Ignacio’s did.

Fuck him for falling in love with Rachelle and Liliana. It’s not like we’d have been able to retract the bet, not once it was sent in to the Kings Society. He’s the one who chose her.

Fucking Rachelle didn’t have to lead to catching feelings. That was all him.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t immune to her charm, it’s why we had to kill her. Even then, we struggled to keep it together long enough to bury her.

Fuck, I don’t want to think about that night. All of it was fucked up.

Focusing on our goals, I drive to the real estate agent’s office in downtown Santa Barbara. The town is historic and rich in history, and I’m hoping there will be the perfect place for our speakeasy. I wouldn’t mind needing to go to Montecito if necessary.

I have a feeling people will be willing to travel the extra few minutes.

Parking on the street isn’t terrible at this time of the day, and the three of us walk in to meet with Mrs. Terry Walker. She also sold us our house and is who I’ve been working with.

As soon as we walk in, she pops her head out of her office.

“You’re here! Come in. Louise, can you ask if they need anything before they do? Hold my calls too, please,” she says gruffly before disappearing again.

Her secretary, Louise, raises her brows at us as if to ask if we need anything, and we shake our heads before stepping into Terry’s office.