Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

I knew he would be leaving to pick up Jenny from school, so I went up to my room to wait. The anticipation was beginning to eat away at me, but patience was better than getting caught. Technically, I could have played it off—my mother gave me the password—but I didn’t want Pennington to check in with his boss if he saw me messing around in Edgar’s office. It felt like an eternity as the last hour crawled by, but Pennington finally left—and I ran down the stairs so fast that I was practically sprinting. I made it to the bottom before I remembered that I was going to grab a flash drive, so I had to go back to my room to get one.

Hopefully, I won’t need much time. If there is something on his computer, I’ll find it.

I stepped into Edgar’s office with the flash drive in my hand and instinctively looked over my shoulder. I was all alone and had free reign over his computer until Pennington returned. My heart was beating really hard in my chest when I sat down in Edgar’s chair. I had been there before and tried every combination I could think of, but I never thought it would be as easy as Sinn123. I typed the password in, leaned back in his chair, and smiled—but the smile faded an instant when I was greeted with the same message I had seen every other time I tried to access his computer. The password was wrong.

“No!” I shook my head and typed it again—with the same result. “What the hell?”

I wondered if my mother had gotten it backwards. I tried 123Sinn—it didn’t work. I tried multiple combinations of uppercase and lowercase letters—they didn’t work. The message kept flashing—taunting me—to the point that I felt like I was going to start crying. I was so confident that I finally had a way into his computer, but my mother had given me the wrong password. I didn’t know if she just made a mistake, or if she did it on purpose. The latter was somewhat terrifying. If she lied to my face just to get me to stop asking, then she had sealed her own fate. I was stilling sitting at the computer typing in everything I could think of—in a total panic—when I heard a car outside.

Damn it. They’re back…

I retreated to my bedroom before Jenny and Penning

ton made it inside the house. I heard Jenny stomp up the stairs immediately and slam her door. My stomach was twisted in a knot. I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do. I couldn’t go downstairs and snoop around if Pennington was there. Jenny probably wouldn’t care one way or the other, but I doubted she would help me if I asked. I would have to reveal that I was helping Damien, and I didn’t know how that would go. The secret was too important to share with her, even if she was close with her brother—the last thing I needed was for her to accidentally say something to Edgar during one of their screaming matches.

That won’t matter after this weekend—because I made a promise to Damien.

I gave Damien an update on my lack of progress and then stayed in my room until my stomach started to remind me that I needed to eat. I was so nervous that I skipped breakfast and barely touched my lunch. I considered reaching out to Damien to see if he wanted to meet at the villa—it didn’t seem like I was going to have any success at Sinn Manor. I might have more luck once Pennington retired for the evening, but if I couldn’t get into Edgar’s computer, I had no idea what good it was going to do. I reached for my phone, but before I could send a message to Damien, Jenny walked into my room.

“Hey…” She pushed the door closed.

“Hi.” I looked up at her, confused.

“Listen, I’m going to have a few friends over tonight—okay, a lot of friends. I’m throwing a party.” She fidgeted with one of her fingernails like she was nervous. “You’re not going to rat me out, are you?”

“A party?” I blinked in surprise and sat up.

“That’s what I needed the money for.” She nodded.

“I won’t say anything.” I felt apprehensive telling her that, but I had no intention of ever telling Edgar that his daughter did something he might not approve of.

“Good.” She smiled.

“Wait…” I held up my hand. “There’s no way Pennington is going to let you throw a party.”

“Don’t worry about Pennington.” Jenny slid her shoulder strap down until her bra was exposed. “I know how to distract him.”

“Uh…” I started to object, but Jenny left my room before I had a chance.

I felt a surge of concern when I heard Jenny’s footsteps going down the stairs. I might not have cared about a party, but the thought of her—doing whatever she planned with Pennington was enough to make me bolt for the door. I didn’t think Damien would forgive me if I just let her go without trying to intervene. I carefully walked down the stairs and saw Jenny in the living room. She was batting her eyelashes at Pennington and turning so that he could get a good view—he might have been Edgar’s loyal bodyguard, but I could see the temptation in his eyes. I was two seconds from bursting into the living room and putting a stop to it when I saw Jenny walk to the bar and pour a glass of whiskey—then she dropped two pills in the drink.

Is she going to drug him?

“We’re stuck in this house all weekend…” Jenny let the strap fall further down her shoulder and walked over to Pennington. “We might as well have fun.”

“Your father would not approve.” Pennington’s words were hollow, and he wasn’t taking his eyes off Jenny.

“My father doesn’t approve of half the things I do.” She tilted her head and handed him the drink with a grin on her face.

“You always were a little wild.” Pennington chuckled and took the glass of whiskey.

“Do you want to find out how wild I really am?” She turned and unfastened her jeans.

“Damn…” Pennington lifted the glass and downed most of the whiskey in a single gulp.

Pennington tried to reach out and touch Jenny, but she carefully avoided his hands. She slid her jeans far enough down to expose the top of her panties and then started to run her tongue across her lips. Pennington squirmed in his seat and immediately finished his drink. Jenny danced just out of his reach and continued to tease him—until his eyelids fluttered. He realized something was wrong, but when he tried to stand, his knees just buckled, and he sat back down. A hint of rage spread across his face, and he leaned forward—but that was it for him. His eyes closed, and he slumped forward in his chair.

“What did you do?” I ran into the living room. “Is he going to be okay?”