and looked at me over her glasses in a schoolmarm sort of way. “Like I wouldn’t have found out?”
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, okay, Tess was almost always twelve steps ahead whenever it came to Daddy and his schemes. She was his right-hand man—his words, not hers. I don’t think she loved being referred to as a man.
Or as his right-hand.
It was that sort of relationship that had her stuck living at home and going to a school not of her choosing while the rest of her friends went off to college and formed lives of their own.
She heaved a sigh. “He’s going to call…”
“I know.”
She bit her lip. “I’ll try and buy us some time.”
I nodded, some of my former despondence lightening at the fact that I wasn’t about to face my father’s wrath. Not yet, at least. “I’ll make this right.”
“How?” she asked.
I met her gaze and tried not to flinch. How? I’d sort of been hoping she would tell me. I swallowed. Jack knew, Amber knew… there was no doubt in my mind that one or both had already told Brandon. There was no beating them to it to come clean the way I’d planned. There was only one thing left to do.
Beg.
“I’ll go see Brandon today,” I said, getting up from the couch, ready to burst into action. “He’s a nice guy. Understanding and sweet. If I can get him to talk to me, I can explain how—”
“How the guy who made his father’s life hell has a job opening for him?”
I ignored her sarcastic tone and stuck my hand out. “Car keys, please?”
She grabbed them from the makeshift dining room table, which was currently being used as a place to drop crap since we didn’t have things like end tables and chests of drawers.
Not that we’d need furniture. We wouldn’t be here that long. I still had one week before this turned mission critical. School here in Pinedale might start up on Monday, but my school still had another week of summer vacation. A solid week before I’d either have to head home with my tail between my legs and accept my punishment or start making excuses for why I was skipping school when college applications were looming.
“Hey, Lila,” she called after me as I headed to the bedroom to change.
I turned back and saw her chewing on her lip again. Another sure sign that she was scheming. “I got a lead on another angle,” she said slowly.
“Wow, I love it when you talk in mysteriously vague statements,” I deadpanned when she failed to continue.
She gave me rueful smile. “One of Daddy’s sources told us that Brandon and his family might be having money problems.”
I blinked. “Sources?”
Tess ignored that, and I let her. She and Daddy could have their cozy little secrets. I wanted no part of that world. Just get me the guy who would land me the role, and I’d have everything I needed in life, thank you very much.
Actually, at this particular moment, I would have even settled for having my old life back. But there was no going back to life as I knew it if I failed my father. He held all the power in our family, and even if I was willing to walk away from the starring role of a lifetime that would finally give me some power of my own, I wasn’t naïve enough to think Daddy would let me come back home as if nothing had happened.
If I went back now, I’d be a failure.
Daddy didn’t accept failure.
Tess looked like she might clam up, but instead, she hurried on, “I still need to do some more digging, but it’s a solid lead. They might be having money problems, and you can use that.”
I nodded. Money problems. I could totally use that.
A little while later, I climbed into our rental car and saw my phone light up with texts from my friends.
Evie: Traci says you got sent off to a fat farm.
That Evie—ever the diplomat.
Evie: It’s not true, right?
This was followed by about ten laughing emojis.
Hilarious, Evie.
Siobhan: Why are you being so secretive?
They were drunk. It was evening in Europe, and they’d clearly been drinking.
I tried to dismiss the texts, but they were having too much fun.
Siobhan: Marcus says you’re in AA because you overdosed after he dumped you.
I threw the phone out of my hand with a snort of disgust. Please. If anyone had been dumped it was him. But Marcus was there and I was