EVIL VILLAIN (The Royal Court #3) - Rebel Hart Page 0,36
guy or two just to suss him out, but he won’t be harmed, I promise.”
“Thank you.”
He let out a whistle. “I didn’t even realize Connor Loche had another kid. Kinda makes you wonder if there are any more of you out there.”
“I’ve had nightmares about that,” I explained. “But I’m inclined to think no, or at least the woman was smart enough not to tell him. Connor’s possessive. He feels like anything that has anything to do with him belongs to him. That’s how it is with me and my brother. If there was another kid, at least one that he knew about, he’d have dragged that kid into this shit too.”
“Anything else you can think of?” he said.
“I mean, he’s got Postings bugged to high hell. Postings Proper High School, any major corporation, for sure everything in the building his company is in. I was only there for a couple of months between getting out and having to go on the run again, but there wasn’t a place I could go to where he didn’t hold influence. Anywhere you’d go in Postings, there’s someone, somewhere, who has helped him.”
Nico nodded. “That’s good to know. We’ll be exploring that avenue for sure.”
“How long will it take to hunt him down?” I said. “It’s not just for me, it’s for Venom, Felicity, my brother. He’s tormenting my whole family. I want him down.”
A smile crooked up Nico’s cheek. “Well, you really are Venom’s kid. Don’t you worry. These things take time, but for every contact in Maine that Connor has, your boy Nico’s got two. I’ll dig him up. It’s only a matter of time.”
11
Cherri
“Okay, go!”
I held my phone up as Gus barreled into the swirling slide that splashed down into the main pool of Nathan’s house. Water went everywhere, spraying over Kyle and Colette who were standing closest to the bottom, and Kyle quickly wrapped his arms around Gus and lifted him out of the water, tossing him away. Gus’ cheery laughter filled the afternoon air, and I smiled.
It felt good to just be happy for once.
“Cherri!” Gus popped up from the water at the edge of the pool. “Did you get it?”
“Yeah, bud, I got it. I’ll send it to your phone,” I said, stopping the recording. “That makes about twelve videos you’ve had me record.”
The hot sun felt good against my exposed skin, and I was excited for the tan I’d be getting. Avery was sitting next to me, her legs dipped into the pool, with her head knocked back, soaking in the rays. Nathan, Nikita, and Jaxon were sitting at the bar, drinking and laughing, each in their own swimsuits and Alistair was camping at the table that Nathan had stacked high with food. As soon as I mentioned that Gus wanted to come over for a pool party, The Royal Court went all out. They decorated, Nathan bought a bunch of brightly colored pool floats, and food and drinks of all sorts were brought in. When I asked Gus if he wanted to invite some friends, he funnily enough said no—he wanted all the spotlight on himself.
“What are you going to use all the videos for, Gus?” Avery asked.
Gus’ face lit up. “My YouTube channel!”
My eyes widened. “Your what?”
“I want to become a YouTuber! This kind of stuff, like playing in a rich, fancy pool, gets like millions of views,” Gus said.
Nathan looked over from the bar. “You should do a tour of the whole house, even the back one,” he pointed to his smaller house towards the back of the property. “Title it ‘Connor Loche’s decommissioned house’.”
Colette snickered. “That’s clickbait.”
Nathan shrugged. “It’s not. It’s true.”
“Will you give me a tour?” Gus asked.
Nathan nodded. “Of course.”
Gus clapped. “Yes! I’m gonna be famous.”
He swam away, over to where Kyle and Colette were wading, and started to play with them. I looked over at Avery, with my brow furrowed. “Is… is my baby brother gonna become a douchebag?”
Avery giggled a little. “He’s certainly on his way.”
“Great,” I replied flatly, making a note to myself to talk more with Gus about his new venture later. YouTube had been blowing up with kids lately, and he had what it took to be a successful one, but being in the limelight that much could kill a kid. I at least wanted to make sure he knew what he was getting into. “Here,” I said, handing my phone to Avery. “You’re on camera duty while I pee.”