Dare to Play (Dare Nation 3)

They’d had to leave the party early. Their seats would be noticeably empty. Another strike against him, and it was her sister’s fault.

“I’m so sorry.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have left Hannah alone.”

A wry smile lifted his lips. “She’s fifteen. My mother left us alone at that age. Sometimes we behaved and sometimes we didn’t.”

She nodded, grateful for his understanding. “We might as well go see what we’re dealing with.”

The fact that there were no cops at the house calmed her somewhat. Media was one thing. Legal troubles another.

He pulled the car, the Lamborghini she’d learned he saved for special occasions, into the garage, and together they met by the door to the house.

As he grasped her hand, they stepped inside and walked through the hall and into the family room. Red cups were spread all over, while Lilah and Hannah were rushing around, cleaning up, dumping the plastic into the trash, and setting the turned-over tchotchkes to their former upright positions.

“I’d like an explanation,” Macy said, startling them both.

Hannah, red cups in each hand, turned to face her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes red from crying. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, I swear. I invited a few friends over. Actually two. Okay four. But two of them thought it would be cool to announce a party at Jaxon Prescott’s house on their pages.”

She spoke fast, obviously trying to get all the information out at once. “And the next thing I knew, people were pouring into the house. I was freaking out the whole time, I swear. I tried to clean up as things went along, but everything got out of hand.” She tossed the cups from her hand into a large green garbage bag and started to cry.

Before Macy could get to her, Lilah stepped over and wrapped an arm around her daughter. “When things got out of control, Hannah called her mother. Because she knows she can trust me. I came over to help her clean up the mess the kids left.” She looked around the room before settling her gaze on Macy. “And it’s a good thing I did, because the police showed up soon after, and they had to ask permission to come inside. I said no. So they gave me a warning to get the kids out of the house and not to have an underage party again.” She wiped her hands as if she’d handled the problem to everyone’s satisfaction.

Which she seemed to have done. But it didn’t make sense that Lilah knew she could refuse to let the police enter. Macy hadn’t known that. In fact, faced with a police officer, she’d probably do whatever they asked. This situation aside, Macy just didn’t trust Lilah.

Macy narrowed her gaze. “You’re saying that you looked out for us.”

Lilah shook her head. “I looked out for Hannah and, by extension, both of you. The only way police can constitutionally enter a house are with a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances. I denied consent,” she said, sounding proud of herself.

How did Lilah know these things? Macy tucked the question away for a later time. Lilah’s actions didn’t help Jaxon with his team, but they did prevent a bigger scandal and problems with the law, all of which begged the question, why? She could have gained even more of a custodial upper hand by letting the police inside.

“I suppose I should say thank you?” Macy asked.

“Not so fast.” Jaxon glanced at Hannah. “You, Macy, and I will talk later, but can you give the three of us a few minutes?” He tipped his head toward the bedrooms, indicating Hannah should go to her room.

“Umm, yeah.” She took the opportunity to leave and quickly darted out.

Confused and curious, Macy glanced at Jaxon. “What’s going on?”

He looked at Lilah, the picture of innocence in a pair of jeans and a loose, flowing top, casual without makeup, like her daughter had called her and she’d rushed out to help her.

“How did the police know to come by? We have no neighbors the kids’ noise would be bothering.” He owned such a large parcel of land, they couldn’t see his neighbors, Macy realized.

“And better yet, how did the paparazzi know there was a party at my house? Because I doubt they were following social media pages of kids in high school.” Jaxon pinned her with a knowing glare.

Although there was a damned good chance the paps were hanging out by his house, waiting for something like the morning she’d left doing the walk of shame, Macy assumed this was Jaxon’s way of pushing Lilah into an admission.

“I’m sure the paparazzi follow police scanners,” Lilah said, not meeting Jaxon’s gaze.

And the wheels in Macy’s head began to turn. About Lilah and how she could use this situation to her advantage yet still look like the more caring parent.