this guy. The single good thing about his act is since he’s so determined to play the good guy, he’ll be careful when I’m around.
“I’ll see you at the party tonight. Early. Helping you keep an eye on things.”
On cue, my phone blew up. Juliet’s name flashed on the screen. Disappearing into basements with shady kidnappers tended to put your bodyguards on alert.
“Juliet,” I answered.
“Miss Moon. Where are you?”
“Dipping into the basement to talk over some president stuff. I’m coming out now. You can meet me at the car.”
“I will meet you on the front steps and escort you to the car.”
“That works too.”
Juliet was where she promised. We set off together down Greek Row, passing by homes in a much rougher state but the occupants weren’t suffering for it. Music poured out of most of them, and through the windows, snapshots of beer pong, study groups, and laughing friends told the story of their Greek life.
“Your sorority is quite different from the others,” Juliet mused.
“You have no idea.”
She took out her phone, read the screen, and signaled for me to stop. “Hadley.” As she listened, her brows inched closer and closer together.
“Did anyone see them?” she asked. “Have you secured the area? Okay. Bring the car.” She hung up, flashing me a look that I did not like.
“What’s wrong?”
“There is an issue with the car. Remain here and—”
“Issue with the car? What issue?”
“Hadley went to get hers,” she replied. “We’ll drive you home. Wait here for—”
Spinning on my heels, I took off.
“Miss M— Val,” she cried. “Please! You shouldn’t have to see that!”
See that? See what?
I parked Ryder’s car on the main street. Reaching the end of the Row, I rounded the corner and stumbled. My jaw dropped, eyes widening at the scene that had my guard, Kennedy, shaking her head as she relayed it to the person on the other end of her phone. Most likely the police.
Spiderwebs of cracks splintered my windshield, blooming from one, two, three points of impact. It looked like someone took a bat to it and all of my windows—if the shattered glass littering the front and back seats was anything to go by. But none of that was what horrified me. Spray-painted on my hood in big, angry red letters was a single word.
Whore!
I DIDN’T MAKE IT TO the Nu Alpha Theta party that night.
I lay on Ryder’s bed, silent as he barked into the phone, berating my security for letting this happen under their watch. I might’ve slowed him down if my mind wasn’t running a mile a minute.
Who did this?
Was I the target? It wasn’t my car, though it was the one I borrowed most often. Was there a chance—even a small one—that I wasn’t once again the target of a hateful lurking shadow?
That’s too much to hope for.
Anyone paying attention the last two weeks as I dropped by the Sally house day after day, parking in the same spot because there was never anywhere to park on the Row, would know whose car to target.
“—anything like this happens again, you’re fired!” Ryder ended the call and flung his phone across the room, pinging it off the couch.
“Ryder, please.” I patted the spot next to me. “It wasn’t Juliet, Kennedy, or Hadley’s fault. All three of them were guarding me like they’re paid to do. We couldn’t anticipate something like this would happen.”
“Something like this is what I hired them to stop.” Ryder climbed in, pulling me to his chest. “What the fuck is going on, Val? Busting out your windows, breaking the windshield, and tagging your car in broad daylight. They risked a lot just to tell you what they thought of you, and that’s what concerns me.”
“What do you mean?”
“A regular, standard-issue asshole is lazy. They’ll inbox you nasty shit. Hiss at you in the hallway when fifty of their friends are backing them up. They might even key your car while pretending to tie their shoe. But this was bold, risky, and out in the open. They wanted to teach you a lesson and didn’t care if they got caught doing it.”
A ripple crept beneath my skin. “Ryder, this is freaking me out.”
“It should, Val. I think this was the same person who ran you off the road. Unless you can think of someone else.”
“No,” I said. “Aiden was in my sight all afternoon. Seriously. Even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t put this down as his style. I amuse Aiden Connelly. He doesn’t take me or my