The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play #1) - B.B. Reid Page 0,103

Fox.”

Hiding my surprise, I decided to get as much truth out of him as I could before whatever judgment that told him to keep secrets returned. “Who is he?”

“He’s one of Exiled’s founders.”

I sucked in a breath, fighting for composure, but my voice trembled anyway when I spoke. “How do you know him?”

“I don’t.”

“Then why do you want to find him?”

“Because he has something that belongs to me.”

I could feel my frustration building. “What? What could he possibly have to make you risk your life?”

He shook his head and looked almost as if he felt sorry for me. “You wouldn’t understand if I told you.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do,” he answered quietly.

“Are you sure you’re not just aspiring to be the next Gambino or Capone?”

He barked a genuine laugh despite the sadness radiating from him. “I’m sure.”

“So if your dream isn’t to be the next American gangster, then what is? Football?”

For a moment, he looked as if he were debating something. “Turn around.”

After a brief staring contest, I did as he ordered and faced the table that nearly took up the entire room. He moved to the other side of the room and whipped off the black cloth.

I stared down in wonder at the 3D model covering almost every inch of the table. “Is that the academy?”

“It is.”

I gaped until I realized how I must have looked and then I shouted, “Ever, it’s incredible! How did you learn to do this?”

“I’ve been taking courses since the ninth grade, but it all started with popsicle sticks. For my twelfth birthday, my mother bought my first Lego set. It was the Empire State Building. I loved it so much I collected as many Legos as I could. I never liked following the instructions. Sometimes I’d play it by ear or sketch shapes that meant nothing, but I just had to build. They were never anything special, but she treated them like masterpieces.”

I couldn’t believe it. Ever seemed almost shy as he spoke about his passion. He watched me closely as I gingerly moved around the table scanning every piece. He’d modeled what seemed like every inch of the grounds down to the very last bush. I wanted to touch it, but it seemed like one of those things you admired with your eyes only.

“How long did this take?”

“A few months. There was a bit of trial and error.”

“But you were determined as always.” I flashed him a smile that fell at his blank stare.

“She would have wanted me to.”

He moved over to the slanted table and ran his hand over the surface. “My mom bought me this drafting table when I told her I wanted to be an architect. We even talked about building my first model together.”

“What about your dad? Did he help you with this?”

With a sad smile, he picked up the discarded cloth and started arranging it over the model again. “My father was thrilled that I found something to call my own, but he was always too busy running the company.”

For a moment, he looked frustrated and angry, but then he blinked, and it was gone. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Ever never wore his heart on his sleeve. He kept it locked away in a box that put Pandora’s to shame.

“Do you think she’ll come back?”

He didn’t need to ask who I meant. “No.”

I gnawed on my bottom lip as I pondered the right words to say. Anyone else would offer false hope thinking he’d want to hear it. That it would cure his broken heart. Thanks to my history with mothers, I offered him something else instead. “Maybe it’s for the best. I bet it’s painful to be constantly reminded that you’re regretted.”

He was silent for so long that I wished I had just kept my mouth closed. I had no right sowing doubt in his mind about a woman I didn’t even know. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why does your mother regret you, Four?”

Shame cast my eyes to the floor. I should have known he’d see right through me.

“Four?” he pressed when I said nothing.

“If the third time’s the charm, the fourth must mean tragedy because I didn’t just break Rosalyn’s heart—I broke her mind.”

He was silent for so long. Whatever he had been expecting me to say I was sure it wasn’t that. “You were the tragedy?”

I nodded. “She had three miscarriages before me. Rosalyn couldn’t understand that her body didn’t reject them simply because she didn’t love them enough, so when I was born, she