restrictions ended only three minutes ago.” The car beeps over the line. “Got a hundred-dollar hoagie in my hand.” He’s referring to the cost of the fine.
“Kitsuwon Securities will pay for the ticket,” I tell him, even though my company will be in a deficit the more I throw cash around. Hiring Michael Moretti wasn’t cheap.
“Nah, I’m off-duty. I got it.”
“You’re driving a security vehicle.” I watch as Sulli starts saying goodbye to her sister.
“Farrow let me borrow his Audi while he’s gone. That’s what I’m in now.”
He should pay the fine then. But I’m uneasy about it.
I’ve noticed that Donnelly has been tattooing more while he’s off-duty. He’s even brought some of his tattoo clients to the apartment. And I’m not positive what he’s blowing his money on.
Right now, he sounds like he has enough to cover the fine, so I don’t argue with him.
Once we hang up, I tell Banks, “Xander’s okay.”
His shoulders ease.
Sulli ends her call with Winona and rotates towards the boulder. “Have they moved?”
“Still warmin’ their cold hearts,” Banks mumbles, cigarette between his lips. Yeah, sure enough, they’re all just gathered around the fire. Still chatting.
Still laughing.
Their vocal happiness is almost as infuriating and grating as my talk with Price. Like five sets of nails scraping a chalkboard.
I pocket my phone. “Is Nona okay?”
“No.” Sulli winces, looking between us, her voice grows hot as she tries to whisper, “She punched some fucking bastard in the hallway at school, and she won’t tell me why. Just that he did something disgusting. She said that she can’t explain more because Kinney told her in confidence or something.”
Shit.
I go cold.
The incident at school—Kinney must’ve also told the girl squad.
“You know what happened?” Sulli realizes off my expression.
I nod, and I’m going to tell them. From my angle, the guy involved is a security threat, and if Xander really does go back to school, I’ll need to tell the rest of SFO: Quinn, Banks, Thatcher. And I can see everyone finding out and Sulli being the only one in the dark.
She’s the last to know a lot of things with her family, and I have the power to change that.
Quietly, I explain, “At Dalton, a guy followed Kinney into an art supply closet and showed his dick to her. He pressured her to touch his penis to prove that she’s a lesbian.”
Sulli’s jaw is on the ground.
Banks mumbles Italian curse words.
“Fuck him,” Sulli growls after shock wears off. “Good fucking job, Nona.” To us, she reminds us like we forgot, “She punched him.”
Her dad must be flipping out. He’s been concerned Winona is being too much of a hothead like him. She can shift from a fun-loving sparkler to an explosive rocket. Sulli is more sparkler than firecracker, though she has that in her too.
I sit off of the boulder and tell Sul, “What goes around comes around.”
Banks nods, “Good riddance.” He passes Sulli the binoculars.
Eyeing us, she doesn’t focus back on the other climbers yet. “That’s not all.” Sulli looks scared, alarmed, worried.
Banks asks, “What’s wrong?”
“She got in trouble, didn’t she?” I realize.
Sulli nods. “A two-week suspension for punching that fucking creep.” We have no time to react. Team Apex suddenly unzips their tents.
As they crawl inside and start shrieking, the three of us rise to a stance. More visible to them as they race outside of their tents, shaking out their hair and clothes.
The one thing we’re not going to do is run away.
Banks takes a drag of his cigarette.
And the climbers shout loudly, “Fuck her!” and “That Meadows bitch!”
I bite down hard. Glaring.
“You want to say that to my face!” Sulli shouts.
They look over at us, as we stand up on the hill.
And after a death-match staring contest, they ignore us and start cleaning out their tents.
Banks says, “Looks like both Meadows sisters got revenge today.”
We should be clapping and celebrating, but the news about Winona looms heavy. And Sulli still seems tensed.
“There’s something else,” she says ominously. “Now that Winona doesn’t have school, she said my parents agreed it’d be okay if she flew out here.” Sulli looks from me to Banks. “I said yes. I couldn’t say no. I wouldn’t…” She pauses. “My sister is coming to Yellowstone.”
Shit.
As if things couldn’t be more complicated.
I reach out and steal the cigarette from Banks’ mouth. Putting it to my lips, I take the longest drag, filling my lungs. I pass it back as I blow out smoke.