Vengeance (Private 14)

She nodded at her assistant, who tapped her iPad’s screen. “We’ll be there.”

My jaw dropped slightly. Was she serious? She was still committed after hearing all that?

Double H stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded as well. For once we were on the same page. “You’ll be there.”

“Yes. We’ll be there. We’ll present our plans and answer any concerns your board may have,” Carolina said definitively. Then the smile was back on again. “I look forward to working with you, Mr. Hathaway!”

The headmaster clicked his teeth together. Clearly the frustration over not having a comeback was killing him. And I was loving every minute of it. I wanted to turn around and kiss Carolina. Calling her in had been the best idea ever.

“See you then,” the headmaster muttered finally. He turned and walked away, retracing his steps through the freshly clipped grass toward Hell Hall. I shot Missy and Paige a triumphant look and they both rolled their eyes at me before following Double H. As they stormed off, I could have sworn I heard Missy let out a growling sort of groan. Apparently the frustration was contagious.

“Well,” Ivy said. “That was fun.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, Reed? This is your baby,” Carolina asked, grasping my shoulder.

“I don’t . . . I mean, you seemed to have it under control, so—”

“Yes, but you’re the one in charge. You’re the face of the project,” Carolina said in a pep-talky way. “If you can’t defend it, no one can. Or should, for that matter. If a leader doesn’t believe in her own cause, what’s the point?”

I swallowed. It was the quickest plummet of all time from victorious to humiliated, guilty, and unworthy. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Start sticking up for yourself!” Ivy said, jumping on Carolina’s bandwagon.

Carolina put both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look her in the eye.

“Money means power, Reed. You’ve got all the power here. Sure, my fame is going to help speed up the process, but you’re the one who got us this far. You can’t let a little grandstanding like that stop you,” she added, chucking her chin toward the retreating headmaster. “If you do, then you are not your father’s daughter.”

Just like that, my shoulder muscles coiled. How did she even know who my biological father was? But then . . . maybe she did have a point. My hand fluttered up and touched my locket. Maybe it was time to start accepting, or even embracing, the fact that I had Lange blood in my veins. I’d been through a lot in the past couple of years. I was a seriously strong person, right? I didn’t need Mr. Lange or Noelle to speak for me. I could speak for myself.

“So, are you in or are you out?” Carolina asked me, releasing me finally and standing up straight.

I smiled slowly, my own posture lengthening as the sun warmed my face. “I’m in.”

PEACEFUL PERFECTION

Later, just as the sun was starting to go down, Josh and I commandeered a couch near the window wall of the solarium, cuddling back against one of the arms with our legs up on the cushions. The large, airy room was jam-packed with students, and we caught more than a few annoyed looks as underclassmen searched for empty seats, but I didn’t care. In a few weeks Josh would be graduating. Each moment like this one was precious. Besides, he was a senior and seniors could pretty much do what they wanted around school these days. A perk of being basically outta there.

“What was I thinking last night?” Josh said into my hair. “No pizza is good enough to make me miss this.”

“Yep. Pretty dumb move if you ask me.” I smiled, turning to the side so I could see him better. I felt a pang when I saw the guilt written all over his face. “I’m just kidding. It’s okay. It was just one date. Actually, it wasn’t even a date, it was a hang. You missed one datelike hang. No big.”

Surprisingly, I realized I actually meant what I was saying. Josh had told me he was sorry so many times over the past twenty-four hours that I was starting to f

eel guilty for being annoyed about it in the first place—not to mention more than a little clingy. Couldn’t the guy go out for food with his friends without me getting all jealous about it? I wasn’t the only one he was leaving behind when he went off to school. Pretty soon the guys he hung out with every day wouldn’t be there. Every time I thought about not seeing Noelle and Ivy every day, it made my spirits sink.

“One datelike hang too many,” Josh said under his breath.

He leaned down to kiss me and I looped my arms up and around his neck. We half-lay there like that and kissed and kissed and kissed until I forgot we were in the middle of a crowded room.

“Yeah! Take it all off!” Gage Coolidge shouted at us.

Josh and I broke apart and a bunch of people applauded, hooting and hollering and shouting more gross crap—enough to make me blush. I glanced at Josh sheepishly. Oops.

“I think we’re making people sick,” Josh said with a smirk. “Or possibly turning them on.”

“Either way, not my problem,” I said, even though my skin was on fire.

I leaned back into the crook of his arm again and sighed happily. This was definitely the most perfect moment of my week so far. I was not going to think about Billings or Thursday’s board meeting or what the future might hold for me and Josh. I wasn’t even going to think about MT, about whom Josh was still in the dark. I wanted to tell him, but after the awesome meeting with Carolina that afternoon, the last thing I wanted was a lecture about how I shouldn’t trust anonymous texters. I’d get around to telling him eventually. Just . . . not tonight.