mother’s death, but there were other things on my mind now.
The procrastinator in me was glad for the distractions. But I also knew I couldn’t put off my snooping forever.
“He’s out of town on business. Don’t ask me where. I don’t even know.”
I heard a trace of bitterness in Hayle’s tone, which surprised me. Usually, he was Vincent’s biggest fan. I’d have to ask him about it later.
For now, I was going back to bed. I didn’t even care if I fell asleep. All I cared about was diving under my covers and pretending the last few hours never happened.
Chapter Three
Thea
Gerard—the Sharpes’ chauffeur and groundskeeper—was waiting for me in the kitchen the next morning, and I immediately knew what that meant. Tristin was ditching me.
Technically, he was likely still on non-academic probation. But if he’d wanted to see me, he could have driven me to class.
You can leave me the fuck alone.
A secret, stupid part of my heart had spent the rest of yesterday hoping he’d spoken the words out of anger. That he hadn’t meant them.
But I knew better. I’d seen his steely resolve. Whatever progress we’d made in our friendship had been wiped out in minutes. And I wasn’t even sure I understood why. My interference wasn’t exactly new. What had made him snap, now?
Considering how closed off he could be, I may never know. And that frustrated me more than I wanted to admit. I knew myself well enough to realize that I’d been falling for Tristin. And that was saying something, because I didn’t fall for anyone.
Well...except, maybe, his brothers.
I reached for a cinnamon raisin bagel and chomped into it, chewing like my life depended on it. This was what I got for caring—I was turning feral. I hadn’t even sliced the bagel in half. Or toasted it. Or slathered it in cream cheese.
Gerard cleared his throat. “Is everything okay?”
I swallowed my too-large bite. “Men are the worst.”
He chuckled lightly. “Well, I can’t argue with you there. It probably doesn’t help that you’re living in a house full of them.”
Was I, though? Vincent was gone half of the time, and Tristin was living on his boat.
I took another vicious bite of my bagel. Apparently, they didn’t have to actually be around for me think they were the worst.
I studied Gerard while I chewed, wondering how he’d remained so kind after spending all of these years around his employer and sons. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What do you think of the Sharpe men? Do you think any of them are decent under all of that wealth and conceit?”
It was a ridiculous query, and I half-expected a ridiculous answer. But Gerard’s expression turned thoughtful rather than amused. “You know, I’ve witnessed a lot over my years working for Mr. Sharpe. And the one thing I’ve learned is that things are not always what they seem.”
I attempted to read between the lines, but his comments could be taken too many ways. More questions bubbled up, but I shoved them down. Now was not the time to give away my hand. As much as I liked Gerard, I didn’t know the depth of his allegiance to Vincent. I had to assume anything I said to him might be passed along to the head of the household.
No longer hungry, I tossed the rest of my bagel in the trash and reached for my backpack. “Guess it’s that time.”
He nodded and followed me outside.
My morning didn’t improve over the next hour. Not surprisingly, Tristin wasn’t in Western Civ. But neither was Violet.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with her. Was Bodie in such bad shape after his accident that she’d had to stay at the hospital with him? Or was she still clinging to yesterday’s claim that she was sick? When Leo and I went to see her yesterday afternoon, she’d seemed fine, if not a little more peculiar than usual.
I wanted to trust her. I still believed she was a good person. My first, second, and third impressions couldn’t be that far off. But there was no doubt she was hiding something.
Then again, unless what she was hiding had to do with the Sharpes, it wasn’t any of my business. She was entitled to her secrets. We all had them.
I considered texting her but ultimately decided against it. At this point, she might believe Tristin, Leo, or Hayle was responsible for her brother’s accident. Maybe all three of them. And it wasn’t something I wanted to try