Wicked Liars (Windsor Academy 1)

She folds her arms across her overinflated chest. “You’re actually defending that piece of trash?”

“Jasmine has more class than you ever will,” I seethe. “And I came here today to tell you that if you ever fuck with her again, you’ll be answering to me.” I look over the crowd. “That applies to every-fucking-one of you.”

Peyton releases a scream so high-pitched, I’m surprised windows aren’t breaking right now. “You can’t be fucking serious, Kingston! What the hell kind of voodoo pussy is that bitch rocking?”

Bentley and Reed hop into Bentley’s Porsche, instinctively knowing I’m about done here.

I flip the Agera door open and give Peyton one last look of revulsion before saying, “I can have that crown you’re so fond of, ripped off of your bleached blonde head at the snap of my fingers. Don’t test me, Peyton. You won’t like the outcome.”

With that, the guys and I peel out of the parking lot without a backward glance.

“I NEVER GOT A CHANCE to ask you. How’d your date with Jazzy Jazz go the other night?”

Bentley throws his controller to the side when I score another touchdown on Madden. After Peyton’s verbal beatdown earlier, he and I came back to his place to hang. Reed claimed to have dinner plans with his mom, but I’m not buying it. He and my sister have been acting really weird lately and I intend to figure out what that shit’s about.

I take a long pull from my beer. “It wasn’t a date.”

He laughs. “Right.”

“It wasn’t,” I repeat. “It’s all part of the plan. I need to keep her close to ensure she doesn’t go running her mouth and fuck everything up for me.”

Bentley rolls his eyes. “C’mon, dawg. Are you really going to play it like that? You’re into this girl—why is that so hard for you to admit?”

Because she makes me lose sight of my goal, and I don’t like that.

I grunt in response, earning another laugh from this asshole.

“How’d you know about her little sister anyway?”

I pick at the label on the bottle. “John dug it up. Jasmine’s call history showed multiple attempts to reach the kid’s father, but they only connected once. When I showed up at his house, he admitted she was trying to arrange a visit, but he claimed not to have the time to deal with it. He changed his tune really fast when I pulled out a wad of bills. Miraculously, he agreed to allow Jazz weekly visits with her sister as long as the money keeps coming.”

Bentley frowned. “Why would he want to keep them away from each other? You’d think at the very least, he’d like getting a free babysitter out of it.”

I shrug. “I get the impression it’s a power play... like, he wants leverage over Jazz. The way he looks at her isn’t right.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Like in a skeevy way?”

I nod. “Exactly. It was almost identical to how my dad looked at her. I wanted to knock his fucking teeth out.”

“You wanted to knock his teeth out... for a girl you have no feelings for whatsoever?”

“Just because I don’t have any feelings for her, doesn’t mean I want her to become some sick fuck’s plaything.” I take another drink of my beer. “Speaking of sick fucks... you won’t believe what John dug up on Jasmine’s mom.”

“Are you waiting for a fucking invitation? Spill.”

“Get this—for whatever reason, Callahan didn’t follow his typical pattern with Jasmine’s mom—besides the fact that she was only seventeen, maybe eighteen when he brought her in. She lived with him for over three years in the mansion. And she was formally employed as a live-in maid until shortly after Jazz’s second birthday, which means Jazz also lived at that house. Even after Charles married Madeline. I found a picture of me and Ains playing with Jasmine as a toddler. I’m pretty sure Jazz has no fucking clue. As far as she’s concerned, they first met after her mom died.”

“Oh snap,” Bentley mutters. “This shit is complicated.”

“No kidding,” I agree. “My PI dug up some other stuff that makes it even worse. My head’s been spinning nonstop.”

“Jazzy Jazz’s arrival sure shakes things up, doesn’t it?”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Speaking of shaking this up... you takin’ her to Reed’s party on Friday?”

Reed’s parents are going away for the weekend. He’s the only one of us who doesn’t have absentee parents, so having the house to himself is a rarity. We all decided he needed to throw a party to celebrate.