The Sinners - Ruby Vincent Page 0,89
pulled me out for a midnight chat because I’m the one who planted drugs in their room.”
My hands went limp at my sides, muscles unraveling like my strings had been cut. “You did what?” I rasped.
“I almost got them expelled. Almost!” Anger bleached his glee. “I’d been waiting for the perfect time to make a move. And then Vera tells me Royal asked Destiny for my number and I knew this was it.”
“Your number? You’re—”
“Keep the fuck up,” he snapped. “Yes, I run a little drug business on the side. You can blame the Angels for that too.”
“How the hell is it their fault?!”
“Because it was the only way to take him down!” Nolan came at me. I leaped and snatched a pair of scissors off the desk.
“Stay where the fuck you are,” I snarled. “You don’t want a fight, don’t ask for one.”
He put up his hands, smirk returning as he backed away. “Easy now. We’re just talking. This part is important. You need an explanation.”
“Damn right, I do. You were the dealer the whole time. You sold to the freshmen. Your drugs were used on Cam. Were you gift-wrapping her for your rapist buddy?!”
He bared his teeth. “Don’t put that shit on me. I didn’t know what Leo was going to do. And don’t bother with the ‘what about the children’ crap either. They’re the demand, I’m the supply. Everyone who bought from me knew what they were doing. Whatever happened to them is their own damn fault.”
“You—”
“It’s also not important,” he broke in. “This is about Royal. He’s a fucking disease! A cancer spreading from the Horsemen and I will exterminate him”—he thumped his chest—“because someone has to. Someone has to make it right!”
My head was spinning. Make it right? What was he talking about?
“Royal didn’t make it easy,” he plowed on. “I couldn’t get him on the poker game, SAT scam, or running Hiro’s store. He stays out of all of it. It had to be something I could pin on him that no one would question. Hooking up with my new dealer friend was perfect. I supplied his drugs, quietly spread the rumor the Angels were behind it, and when that text came from an unknown number, I knew he was ready to play.
“I could’ve planted the drugs and tipped off a room search any time but I needed him to know in some way that it was me. That I got to him and for all his tattoos, thugs, and Horsemen, he couldn’t stop it.
“That’s what got me in the end, isn’t it?” He tossed his head. “That text was a step too far. Royal realized something was wrong, and saved Cassius, Clay, and that trashy bitch. Shame because those three deserve everything they get for backing him up and inking that angel in their arm.”
“You’re crazy,” I whispered.
“You think so?” Nolan dropped his chin, humming. “Good. Believe that, Ember, because I’m telling you all of this for a reason. I want you to know what I’ve done. You have to see that I’m serious, so in the back of your mine while I’m telling you what happens next, you’ll think ‘if he’s already gone this far, how much farther will he go?’”
I held the scissors higher, recoiling on the look in his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been watching you with them. I assumed at first that you were just a fuck. Royal doesn’t care about anyone. Why would he care about you? But after that night in the woods and Cassius and Clay risking federal prison to get you revenge, I held off getting those cunts hauled off and took a closer look.”
Nolan took a step and so did I, passing behind the desk and putting two hundred pounds of wood, papers, and more sharp objects between us.
“It’s the real thing. The way Royal looks at you. Touches you when he thinks people aren’t watching. He loves you.”
He flung the beautiful statement like an accusation.
“And I’m betting he’s told you things he’s never told anyone else.” He leveled a finger at me. “You’re going to tell me, Ember. That guy is as innocent as a child-diddling priest. He’s into shady shit and you’re going to spill and help me take him down.”
“The fuck I will!”
“You will,” he stated, “because if you do, I’ll tell you who attacked your brother.”
The world tilted sideways.
No, I did.
I fell hard against the chalkboard, physically smacked by his reply.
“Eli? But how— Who—” The amusement on