Mercy (Somerset University #3) - Ruby Vincent Page 0,36

he said. “I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have.” I smoothed a line over the ridges between his brow. “I wouldn’t want you barreling toward me on the football field, but I have a feeling even you’d have trouble getting through six guys.”

“They don’t want to hurt me, Val. What they want is to pretend they’re not like the average college guy chasing after booze and women. They’re intellectuals too. Elite. This question game they play is another way to up the high of winning or losing everything, but this way they get to prove who is the smartest guy in the room. It’s baboons showing off their butts.”

“Why do they want you to be a part of it so badly?”

He shrugged. “I’ve got money and I can handle my own with them. Sawyer was also brimming about having an odd number. They’ve been looking for a seventh.”

“How long would you guess they’ve been doing this? The gambling. The bets. The orgies.”

“Don’t know. Did you ever notice Aiden flashing more money than a guy with no job and middle-class parents should have?”

I tossed my head. “No. I’ve seen his car and it’s pretty sweet. Otherwise the guy keeps it low-key. He doesn’t flash gold watches or slide around in designer bomber jackets.”

“He wouldn’t. The bastard is too smart to draw attention like that.”

A thought occurred to me. “Whatever these guys are about... do you think it’s connected to the file he’s keeping on the Sams? And while we’re on the topic, were Nasir, Hayes, Rowen, and Winston in the file?”

Maverick’s eyes flared. “No. Holy shit! No! Sawyer is but there’s not one mention of those guys. Why in the fuck didn’t I notice that before?”

“Because we’re partners and this is what I’m here for.” I flicked his forehead. “That’s why you shouldn’t do this without me.”

His fingers curled through mine, bringing my palm to his lips. “The smartest person in the room... is always you, baby.”

“Don’t try to be sweet to me now,” I replied, but the smile tugging at my lips gave me away.

Nala trotted out of the closet. She sniffed around, clearly searching for her baby. In a single bound she was on our bed, staring me straight in the eye for what was hers.

“Here you go, Mommy.”

The dogs curled up on our pillow, making themselves right at home. I slipped away for two weeks and life continued on without me.

Ryder and I loved our time in Costa Rica, and as promised, we didn’t do a lick of sightseeing. Feeding each other breakfast on the canopy. Bathing under a waterfall. Shedding the craziness of work and school and just being Valentina and Ryder for a brief pocket of time. It was—in a word—perfect.

Then we came home and stumbled on seven puppies that Adam was so attached to, he was guaranteed to bawl his eyes out when they had to return home to their owner. My baby’s room was being gutted to remind me he wasn’t a baby anymore. Jaxson picked up a bug and was home sick. Ezra picked up an assignment and was barely home at all. And, oh yeah, Maverick got in deep with a group of underground hedonists who are led by a guy who makes people disappear. Suddenly, I was reminded why I don’t leave my boys on their own.

“Aiden and those four guys aren’t in the file,” I continued. “That’s gotta mean something.”

“We said the information could be used for blackmail. Well, what if the reason there isn’t a record of what he’s doing with the info is because he doesn’t do anything with it? He collects it for the guys with the money, power, and knowledge of what having dirt like that on all of your future colleagues and opponents could do for you.”

I nodded along. “Aiden is in the perfect position as president. He’s in charge of all the guys and digging up secrets isn’t a tradition he started, but it’s one he can take full advantage of. We all have to share one devastating secret to get into the house, but Aiden’s files have more than one. He has them all.”

“As well as the ability to hide their tracks,” Maverick said. “He buried their little black book so deep in his computer, I’m sure no one other than me could’ve found it.”

“Wow,” I breathed. “It’s just a theory, but if it’s true... Wow.

“Proving it has been our sticking point from the beginning. We can’t get those guys on what