This Fearless Girl (St. Clary's University #2) - E. M. Moore Page 0,94
what he’s said.
I turn to Stone. “You changed her grades? Is that true?”
Wyatt mumbles something about a pot calling the kettle black, and Stone glares at him before turning to me. “I was only showing her how easily we could take her down if she didn’t stop messing with you.”
I’m oddly okay with that. She tortured me mentally for years. She’s called me every name in the book. She’s had parties where I was the only one not invited. She’s made fun of me for not having anything my entire life. But does that mean she deserves to be in the hospital right now? I don’t know.
Part of me is wondering just how bad off she is. Cole acted like she was being a pussy, and seeing her friend’s reaction is making me think the same thing. Maybe it’s all for attention. A show. What a sad life it must be to only perform for other people.
I shake my head. “Just whatever about Meghan. She’s the least of our worries.”
Stone presses his lips together. “I hate to say I agree with you, but I do. We can’t control what Cole does, obviously.” He rubs his face. “And in a weird turn of events, he contacted me yesterday for any information I had on my mother. So, he’s taking your request seriously, Dakota.”
“It wasn’t a request,” I tell Stone. “It was a deal. An agreement. I get the feeling that giving his word means more to Cole than most things.”
“But why does he want to protect Dakota? He’s blackmailing her to find the treasure.”
“When you find that out, let me know.” I wrap my arms around myself. “I’d also like to know why he thinks I’m in so much trouble. If I’m not in trouble from him, then who?”
“My dad.” Stone’s icy blue eyes meet mine. “I was doing some snooping last night to try to find some information about my mother when I stumbled on something else entirely. It was my dad who poisoned us that one day with the takeout. After I teamed up with you—like a real team, not just making you give us information—my father hired people to find the treasure before us. Those people have guys at their disposal who will do anything to us to find it.”
“Jesus, Stone.” My breath rushes out of me. “Do you think your dad would hurt you?”
Stone shifts his stare toward Wyatt. “He’s been hurting me, Dakota. Do I think he would do anything to find this treasure, including taking me out? Yes, I do.” I try to slide off the Audi to hug him, but he stops me with a hand on my knee. “It’s been like that with him since I was a little boy. He’s not like a normal dad. His love is conditional. Right now, if I play his game, I’m safe. If I marry Marissa; if I provide him an heir; if I grow the wealth of his business, basically. The treasure was always going to help with that, but since I’ve become untrustworthy in that department, he doesn’t care if I’m involved anymore. Not really. If I find it, good. If I don’t, his other team will. But right now, he’s really not happy with you. He thinks you’re the reason he might lose every reason he had to have a son.”
“Fuck him,” I snap, determination singing through my veins. If I can affect anything Lance Jacobs does, good. He’s a piece of shit. All Stone’s words just did was make me feel bigger than I actually am. The fact that Lance is afraid of me, that’s fucking perfect. Let him be afraid. I hope I take him down.
“He’s making me marry her, Dakota. On Sunday. He’s told me if I don’t marry Rissa, I’ll never see Mom again, and it’s implied that if I don’t marry her, he’ll also do something to you. He’s smart enough not to threaten me with that yet because he doesn’t want to push me too far, but I’m already on the edge.”
My heart stops beating. It literally freezes in my chest for one painfully long moment until it kicks into high gear. “Sunday?”
Stone nods.
“You can’t marry someone else, Stone Jacobs. You’re mine.”
He gives me a pained look so full of longing that it’s like a bullet to the chest. Potent rage wraps around my soul. All I want to see is Lance’s lifeless eyes. He’s done fucking with his son’s life, and I don’t care what I