Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

“Who knows.” She shrugged. “I think Jenny just woke up in a bad mood this morning.”

“It sounded a lot worse than a bad mood.” I raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” My mother waved off my concern. “Please keep an eye on her this weekend while we’re out of town.”

“I’m not her babysitter…” My head snapped back.

“Just let us know if there are any problems.” My mother turned towards me. “I put Edgar’s number in your contact list.”

“You did?” I pulled out my phone and checked—sure enough, his number was there.

Oh god, does that mean she looked through my phone when she was swapping them out?

“If there are any problems, I’ll probably just call you…” I stared at the screen.

“That’s fine.” She nodded.

“Hey…” I looked up as an idea suddenly came to me. “You set my phone up on Edgar’s computer, right?”

“I did.” She nodded again.

“I’d like to move everything over to my laptop. Do you think that would be a problem?” I tilted my head inquisitively. “It’s been a while since I organized my playlists. This phone can hold a lot more music than my old one.”

“I think it would be fine.” She shrugged.

This might work—and she won’t even be suspicious.

“Cool.” I stifled the smile that was forming. “I’ll need to use Edgar’s computer to do that—is there a password on it?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t like people messing with it.” She nodded and then grimaced. “Actually, I should probably do that for you when we get back. Edgar has a lot of Sinn Technology stuff on his computer—I wouldn’t want you to accidentally delete something…”

“Mom, I’m literally working on a Computer Science degree—I know how to use a computer without deleting anything.” I looked over my shoulder to make sure Edgar was still downstairs. “I won’t mess with his files, I promise.”

This is going to work!

“Yeah, okay.” She nodded. “The password is Sinn123.”

Really? I expected it to be a lot more complicated than that…

“Thanks mom!” I smiled and felt the weight of the world, lifting off my shoulders. “Need any help packing?”

“Sure, if you want.” She nodded and started to stand. “I wish you could go with us—maybe next time.”

Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.

“Yeah, maybe.” I shrugged. “Where are you two going anyway?”

“Edgar has a summer house at Cabot Beach. Personally, I’m fine with the villa he has here in Carson Bay, but he doesn’t want to be close enough to get pulled away if there’s a problem at the office.” My mom smiled.

“Makes sense…” I nodded and started helping her pack.

I felt guilty pretending to be happy for my mother and helping her pack for a trip when I was doing everything I could to bring her fairy tale to an abrupt end. I couldn’t focus on that—my mother walked blindly into a marriage with a man she barely knew—the repercussions were coming whether I was the catalyst or not. It was only a matter of time before she got a taste of Edgar’s cruelty. She had already gone full-Stepford, so I wasn’t even sure that would be enough to take her rose-colored goggles off. I needed definitive proof that Edgar’s intentions were as ominous as the phone call I overheard.

I’ll have that soon enough.

Edgar and my mother were leaving in the early afternoon, and I didn’t have a late shift, so I rushed back to Sinn Manor as soon as I clocked out. I didn’t even wait around to talk to Hank, even though he mentioned that he had something to tell me after work. I couldn’t waste a single second that I had alone in Sinn Manor—especially since I had the password to unlock Edgar’s computer. Unfortunately, there was a barrier to that plan. As soon as I walked through the door, I realized I wasn’t alone. Pennington was sitting in the living room.

Right, Edgar said he was going to be staying behind—that could be a problem.