if he’d taken a step away from everything to focus on work and my case.
I was quiet as we returned to the Fitzpatrick house, the knot in my stomach refusing to go away. I still couldn’t believe it. Archer’s mom was dead. Who the hell could’ve pushed Melinda down the stairs and killed her in a way that it looked like a suicide? Who around here was that evil?
I both wanted to know the answer to that, and I didn’t. A part of me feared what would happen after the truth was out, if everything about Midpark would be absolutely shattered and changed after the revelation.
Someone around here was a great liar, good at what they did. Someone here was cold, cruel, calculating beyond all belief. Someone could smile and disarm anyone they met.
As silly as it was, my first thought was Brittany. But that couldn’t be. That girl was dead.
Chapter Twenty-Four – Dante
If you could take a poll and test to see who was the most jealous that a certain Archer Vega got to live with Jaz in that big house, I was certain the results would show that I scored the highest. Shouldn’t be surprising, but the more I thought about it, the more I prickled.
So what if his mother had been found dead yesterday? Give me a break. People died all the time. That didn’t mean he should pack up all his things and move in with her, see her each and every morning, get to spend more time with her—
Jaz would be pissed if she knew I was so jealous of him, but I couldn’t help it. I was stuck in a fucking motel just out of town. If anyone should live with her, it was me.
But then that would require her introducing me to her sweet mother, and I didn’t think that would ever happen. Some men you could bring home to meet your family, but me? Most parents didn’t end up liking me.
Too wild. Too dangerous. Too much of a psycho glint in my eyes. Whatever.
Midpark High was rampant with gossip that Friday. For once, it wasn’t one of them who’d bit the dust; it was just a parent, and who cared about parents? Certainly not them. No, they were all glad it wasn’t their parents, glad it was someone else, someone who’d already lost one of his parents to the law.
I didn’t partake in the gossip, but I did listen. The more I listened, the more I stewed. It really wasn’t fucking fair, but I suppose you could come at me with: when was life ever fair? It definitely hadn’t been fair for me from the beginning. If it wasn’t for Skull, I’d probably be dead. My girl had been taken from me before she was even born. The list went on and on.
No, life wasn’t fair, but that didn’t lessen the blow I felt in my gut when Jaz told me Archer was staying with her.
Lunch came around too fast, and unlike every other day, I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t try to take any food off of Vaughn’s plate. I sat there, trying to wrestle back my emotions, knowing Jaz wouldn’t be too happy to see how jealous I was. After all, she’d already told me she needed all of us—and I’d known she included the blonde fuckup in that number.
And yet…and yet here I was.
Jaz wasn’t here yet, which wasn’t too odd. I bet she and her little friend had a lot to talk about in choir, the class she had right before lunch. Bobbi’s dad was the detective on the case. He was also the detective on Brittany’s case, and I wasn’t too happy with how he’d handled Jaz before.
Oh, yeah. If I was ever alone in a room with that guy? I’d show him just how crazy I can be when I let loose. My sharp little friend hadn’t seen enough use lately, anyway. Stabbing was good for the soul.
“You need to calm down,” Vaughn spoke, his dark eyes on me across the table. His hands lay flat on the table on either side of his tray, the tattoos on his knuckles bare.
“I am perfectly fucking calm,” I muttered, meeting his stare as I frowned.
Though I hadn’t said a single word before that, he went on, “You know Jaz won’t be happy if she comes here and sees you this jealous.” On his tray, pasta sat, untouched since he left the kitchen.