Defiant Princess (Boys of Oak Park Prep 2)

What the fuck?

I’d been so sure it was Philip, and now that I knew it wasn’t him, I couldn’t think of a single other person it might be.

But someone had done it. Someone had paid a solid chunk of money to retain Erin’s services—the lawyer hadn’t just woken up one morning and decided to fly to Sand Valley, Idaho, on a whim.

When the phone rang again, it startled me out of my thoughts. This time I did check the caller ID, and my heart jumped when I saw it was Finn.

I swiped the screen quickly and put the phone to my ear. “Hey.”

“Hey, Legs.”

His voice sounded strange, oddly pinched and strained. He was usually the most fun-loving and laidback of the Princes, the first to find the humor in a situation. But he sounded like he hadn’t so much as smiled in days.

“What’s up? Are you okay? What’s going on? What’s been happening?”

He let out a soft chuckle at my barrage of questions, and the sound was like a balm. Finn was meant to be happy. Seeing him sad made it feel like there was something wrong with the whole world.

“That’s a lot to answer, Legs. And none of the answers are short. What are you doing right now? Can you come over?”

“What—to your house?”

“Yeah. The other guys are here too. We need to figure out what to do about Adena.” Before I could say anything, he added quickly, “This isn’t just us hatching another revenge scheme, Tal. This is about defense. I don’t think Adena’s done trying to fuck with us, and we’re just trying to keep ourselves—and you—safe. Will you come?”

At the moment, getting revenge on Adena didn’t sound at all like a bad thing. But the constant drive for revenge was what’d gotten us into this fucked up situation in the first place, and I appreciate that, even now, Finn was trying to prove to me that he’d changed. That things were different.

“Yeah. I’ll come. Where do you live?”

He rattled off the address of his parents’ house, and I darted into the kitchen to grab a pen before writing it down on the back of my hand. I didn’t know the area well enough to know where it was, but the GPS in my phone would guide me there.

“Okay. I’ll head out right now.”

“Good. We miss you, Legs.”

A hint of the old, teasing Finn returned as he spoke, and I gripped the phone tighter, a rush of emotions and words I couldn’t quite say filling my chest.

“See you soon.”

I hung up the phone and shoved it in the back pocket of my jeans, then threw on a jacket and headed out the door. I hadn’t gotten many chances to drive my car since I’d bought it, but I was suddenly intensely glad I had it. I didn’t think I could stand waiting for an Uber to pick me up right now. My skin was already prickling with urgency.

My car was one of only a few left in the lot, and I typed in the address Finn had given me as I walked across the empty asphalt toward it. According to the map app, it would take me almost an hour to get there, which felt interminably long.

I pulled out of the student lot and swung left, adjusting my rearview mirror as I did. The route to Finn’s house was mostly along a coastal road, which I would’ve loved if my stomach hadn’t been clenched so tight with nerves.

Still, I rolled down my window and tried to let the ocean air and the view of the sea relax me as I drove up the winding road, music blaring softly from the speakers.

It would all be okay. I had survived what the Princes had thrown at me; they would survive this. And we’d make sure Adena didn’t do anything else. Whatever else she had planned, we’d stop it.

I cruised up a hill, pressing the gas a little harder as I glanced at the clock on the dash.

Less than half an hour, and I’d be there.

As I hit the peak of the rolling hill and picked up speed on the other side, I shifted my foot to the brake to slow my descent, but the pedal felt… squishy. The resistance that was usually there had disappeared.

And the car didn’t slow.

I pressed the brake harder, slamming my foot against the useless pedal as adrenaline flashed through me like a bomb exploding.

Another bend in the road loomed, and I stomped on the brake over and over as my hands scrabbled to control the wheel, to control the turn.