Page 179 of Wicked Little Darling

To make Dakota happy.

In my heart, I knew what needed to be done. The pieces of this complex puzzle were coming together—slowly, and still not very clear, but they were coming together all the same.

I had to protect him. Fight for him.

Who else would, if not me?

I had the confessions.

I’d backed them up on two separate hard drives and in the cloud, so even if my phone got stolen or destroyed I’d still have them.

Now I just needed to confront the dean.

I was beyond nervous; there was no telling how this would turn out, but I guessed it didn’t really matter in the end.

I was pretty sure blackmailing someone was illegal, but what, exactly, qualified as blackmail? It was a question I could look up online, but then it would be in my search records and would incriminate me if I was ever arrested.

And I was probably going to be arrested.

It would be easy for someone as wealthy and influential as Albert Voss to get rid of a small nobody with zero ties toanyone. I was banking on him placing his reputation above all else, though. What good was his money and power if the world knew how terrible his son was? That he’d protected said son, propagated his lies, and condemned his other son with labels like ‘crazy’ and ‘unstable’? A man like him viewed Everett as an extension of himself, and it would be a stain on his good name if his son’s machinations became public.

At least, that’s what I was counting on.

From everything Dakota had told me about his family and from everything I’d witnessed and experienced for myself, I was fairly certain that my plan would work.

But if it failed and Dean Voss didn’t care if his son behaved badly and he had me arrested, then at least I could say I’d tried. And the files would become public anyway; I’d scheduled a post that would go up three days from now no matter what.

The bottom line was that Everett’s name would be besmirched and his true nature—and all the awful things he’d done—would be exposed.

The dean was either completely ignorant of Everett’s behavior or knew of it and enabled it.

Either way, he was responsible for it. For believing one son over another, time and time again.

So it would be in his best interest to handle things quietly. Behind the scenes. As much as I wanted the world to know how vile the Voss family was—Dakota and Val excluded—I wanted Albert Voss to know the truth. And if he already did, I wanted him to do something about it for once in his pathetic, privileged life.

It was Friday, and I was scheduled to meet with Dean Voss at lunch—but when I got to the administrative building, Ilsa told me the dean wasn’t in and that no more meetings would be necessary between the two of us.

I was so confused.

“What?” I stared at Ilsa, wondering if I’d heard correctly.

She gave me a fake smile. “He told me to relay this to you when you came by today. He thanks you for your time thus far and wishes you well on all your future endeavors. He also said that if you press for a meeting—uh, for anything—he’s not available until next month.” Her fake smile became fake pity. “Sorry, hon.”

What…?

I opened my mouth, then shut it. When the fuck was I going to talk to him now? What did this even mean? Was I getting kicked out after all? Had he finally had enough?

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Am I getting kicked out?”

Ilsa looked so horrified that it immediately filled me with relief. “What? Of course not! What would make you think that? No, hon, the dean is just very busy right now. You’re not getting kicked out.”

Thank fucking god.

But…now what the fuck was I supposed to do? How was I going to play this confession for him when he wouldn’t even see me?

Then I remembered Val’s party.

Would I be able to get him alone somehow and play it for him?