Brutal Heir (Court University 1)

“I know enough.” I wet my lips. “And maybe those monsters in the dark from your hometown… maybe you fit right in with them.”

His hand curled at his side, that King ring he’d talked about shining over his finger. Yeah, he fit right in with them. Yeah, those were definitely his people.

Knight pushed off the tree without another word from me, clearly simmering in heat as he stalked away. He’d found his place, and it clearly wasn’t with me.

I think in the end I’d been the one to gratefully benefit.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Knight

“And this year’s humanitarian award goes to Gerald Reed!!”

The room erupted in applause when Grandfather’s name was called, and I stood, right next to him. He eased out of his chair, holding back his tie, but before going up on stage he shook my hand, giving me a hug. He always acknowledged me first, always.

I led the room in applause after he broke away from me, always the loudest in the room whenever my Grandfather was acknowledged for anything he did, whether it was business related or otherwise. In this case, he’d been one of the lead backers for the research and development department at Pembroke University’s medical school, and needless to say, the grant committee had been pleased. They held this luncheon every year, but this had been the first year Grandfather had been recognized for his role in everything. That’s not why he did the things he did to help, of course, but it was nice to see him be acknowledged. He worked hard and took care of many people.

He got up on stage, in a dark suit like mine, and after the room quieted a little, I eased back in my chair, the rest of the room doing the same. Grandfather was handed a crystal award in the shape of a bird, a dove, and I felt some irony in that for myself. I thought about Greer more than I liked these days, what she was doing.

Putting her out of my mind now and respecting this moment for my grandpa, I sat back while Grandfather took pictures with the award for the cameras. After, he approached the podium with it, a smile on his face.

“I’d liked to dedicate this award to my grandson,” he said, putting the award out toward me. He could see me easily, smiling at me in the afternoon lit room. “He inspires me every day, such strength for such a young man.”

I clapped before everyone else once again, the room following behind me. Grandfather entertained several pictures at the podium before returning back to our table. The room had a nice lunch, and though I never usually went to stuffy events like this, I enjoyed hearing about the things the medical school did. A lot of the money that went there funded research for coma patients, a big reason why I’d decided to go to school here, outside of the obvious legacy thing. I believed, maybe one day, I’d have a chance to have my mom come back to me. That maybe I could do something for her one day.

Swallowing, I smiled as Grandfather pulled me into a picture with his award. Some of the alumni wanted it, the pictures snapped quickly after the luncheon concluded. Of course, they wanted even more with my grandpa, but I got a text from Royal and got distracted, letting Grandfather do his thing as I looked at my phone.

My chest squeezed.

Royal: Hey. You around? I got that stuff you were looking for.

I had my buddy look into my mom’s medical records. He’d said he had a guy who might be able to help with that. Royal always had “a guy” and I’d be lying if I said his resources hadn’t been useful in the past. He and the rest of our close friends had a pretty dark history when it came to our hometown and the Court affiliation we came from.

I thumbed my phone.

Me: What did you find?

Royal: Can I call you?

Chest squeezed again, but as it seemed grandpa was dealing with his many admirers, I excused myself.

“Everything okay?” he asked me after, so concerned despite being surrounded by his adoring fans.

I waved him off, my phone to my ear. “Yeah, just Royal. Texted me something so I was gonna call him. I’ll make it quick.”

With Grandfather’s blessing, I took the call outside the ballroom, hand shoved in my pocket. My heart was beating a mile a minute, worried that Royal actually found something and I might have to lose my shit. I’d asked him to look into my mom’s medical stuff for merely peace of mind. Grandfather and I were about to take her off life support soon, and I just needed to know.

And Greer Michaelson got inside my head again.

But could she be right? I hoped not as much as I did. If there was some foul play here, that meant the doctors handling my mom’s case couldn’t be trusted. That meant something was going on here…

I shook my head, ahead of myself when I should be talking to my friend. “What do you got? Did you find something?”

“Not sure yet.”

“What do you mean not sure?”

“I mean, I got the email with the e-file and didn’t open it. All this shit is obviously private.” He blew a breath into the phone. “I felt you should be the one to open it. Whatever you find.”