“What the—” Penelope mutters, eyes widened the moment she sees Kai and Nathan in the door opening.
“You two had better get the fuck out fast before I slice off another finger and eye,” I growl at them.
I didn’t think they would have the balls to show up here, but apparently they’re happy to lose those too.
Nathan pulls out his own knife. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“We could say the same about you guys,” Dylan says as he pulls out his own knife too.
“Motherfucker,” Kai grits and he homes in on Dylan. “You’re the fucker that made me lose an eye.”
“You tried to take my girl. An eye for an eye,” Dylan retorts.
“Put away those weapons,” my father says.
“Fuck that, don’t you know who those fuckers are?” I growl. “They threatened Penelope!”
“They lit the Alpha Psi house on fire,” Penelope says.
“And don’t forget Kai and his buddy tried to take advantage of her,” Dylan adds.
“Hey!” Kai growls back. “That wasn’t me.”
“You helped your buddy Josh,” Ali replies.
“You fucking burned him to death,” Kai rebukes.
“Boys …” my father tries to intervene, but all of us have our knives out, ready to start another fight. Until I hear the clicking of a gun right behind me. “Put down your weapons. Now.”
I glance over my shoulder to see the barrel of a gun pointed at us.
“Or I swear to God, I will pull this fucking trigger.”
“What?” Nathan scoffs. “That’s your son, you wouldn’t shoot him.”
I smirk. “Oh he would.”
Kai looks shocked. “What?”
My father turns off the safety. “I killed my own fucking wife.”
Kai and Nathan’s eyes widen and slowly but surely they lower their knives, so I do too. I still want to gut them of course, but it’s not worth my fucking life. And I know my dad would definitely put a bullet in us all just to prove a point.
“Good.” My father turns on the safety again and lowers his gun.
I turn to face him. “Why are they here?”
“I invited them here because I’m tired of your feud on this campus,” he replies. “You’ve both done abhorrent things.”
Dylan scowls. “Whoa, you can’t compare—”
“You set one of theirs on fire,” my father says.
Ali’s jaw drops. “How do you know that?”
“Because we told him,” Kai says.
“No one asked you a damn thing,” I say.
“Calm. Down.” My father’s stern voice booms through the office. “I will not have this fight go on any longer. All of this is a disgraceful stain on this university’s reputation to the public.”
“It’s not like most people already know this university is full of criminal families,” Lana muses, rolling her eyes, but father ignores her.
“Mr. Torres and Mr. Reed have confessed to their crimes personally,” my father says. “They were forced to do most of it.”
“Really…” Dylan raises a brow.
And I have to admit, this all sounds a little to convenient.
“Caruso said he’d have our families killed if we didn’t do his bidding,” Nathan explains.
“No wonder he wouldn’t tell us who,” Penelope says.
Nathan lifts his hand to show his four fingers and the stump. “You think I wanted to lose a finger?”
“I’d have taken more if Penelope wasn’t so fucking generous,” I reply.
His fist balls and he grinds his teeth, but my father’s strict gaze keeps him at bay.
“Wait, so you knew Caruso was a bad actor?” Dylan frowns.
“Yes,” my father replies. “I just didn’t know the extent of it, so I needed you to provide proof, which you have.” My father clears his throat. “All of you with the exception of Lana will be doing community service for this school.”
“What?” Ali, Dylan, and Penelope say in sync.
“No ifs. No buts,” my father says. “You actively harmed this school and the students. This is your only chance to make amends.” He looks each one of us in the eye. “So take that opportunity. It won’t be handed to you a second time.”
“That’s why you called them here?” I ask. “To give us all collective punishment?”
“So you stop the fighting,” he responds, looking each and every one of us in the eyes. “Now that the person responsible for your ill behavior is dead.”
Dylan swallows, while Penelope’s gaze connects with Kai and Nathan.
“We did what we had to … to survive,” Nathan grits.
“Even if it meant taking that diary and burning it,” Kai adds.
“Well am I glad you didn’t get the chance,” she retorts, clutching her seat so tightly her fingers turn white.
“The Phantoms and the Skull & Serpents will stop fighting. Is that understood?” my father’s voice booms through the room.
Everyone nods.
“I need answers.”
“Yes, sir,” everyone collectively mutters with a sigh attached.
“Good. There’s been enough bloodshed as it is. The focus must shift toward rebuilding this university and trust.”
“Trust,” I scoff.
My father continues with his speech. “Everyone will report to the groundskeeper Monday morning, seven a.m. sharp.”
“Seven?!” Dylan’s jaw drops.
“Yes. Or would you prefer not showing up entirely?” My father raises a brow. “That can be arranged.”
A laughably hopeful smile forms on Dylan’s face. “What as in I don’t have to help?”
“As in, permanently,” my father says, lowering his gaze, and Dylan immediately looks away.
“Fine …”
Suddenly the door bursts open and Pen’s father steps in. “That’s enough interrogating for one day.”
“Ricci … how nice of you to join us,” my father says with an obvious sneer as he picks up his glasses again and puts them on. “Kai. Nathan. Leave us.”
They exit the room again. Too fucking bad because I was really looking forward to tormenting that fucker about his finger some more.
My father clears his throat. “How did you even get past the officers?”
“Rivera,” her father retorts cynically. “They were nice enough to allow me access after my guards persuaded them.”
Oh … he threatened some cops with a bullet. Bold move.
“I think my daughter has given you enough information.”
“Tell me, are you the one who put her up to this?” he asks.
The room is filled with the same kind of tension I felt the second before the entire hallway of the Skull & Serpent Society filled with bullets.
“My daughter died on these grounds. You should be happy I don’t press charges,” he says.
Or that he didn’t send his men to slaughter every last one of us.
“Then you’ll be happy to know the real culprit is dead,” my father replies.
“How do you know?” Ricci sneers. “It could be you behind the scenes.”
“I assure you … Caruso acted alone,” my father replies.
Ricci’s grip on his gun tightens. “Your word means very little to me.”
My father throws Dylan’s phone across the room.
“Hey! That’s mine,” Dylan mutters, but his protest lands on deaf ears.
“There’s your proof,” my father says. “Listen to the voice recording.”
Ricci plays the tape again, and we all cringe at the sound of Dylan’s father admitting to pushing Eve until she saw no other way out.
Ricci grumbles.
“So … will that settle it for you?” my father asks.
“Perhaps,” Ricci replies.
“There is no more that can be done. The perpetrator is already dead. And this institution will live by good and honest rules now that I’m here to take care of things.”
“Will you now …” her father replies. “I doubt it will be any better.”
“I can assure you, punishments will be swift and cruel.”
There’s a sparkle behind his eyes that I recognize all too well.
“C’mon, Penelope,” her father says, grasping her hand. “We’ve done all we needed to do here.”
Penelope reluctantly goes with him, but her eyes still fixate on mine, almost as if she’s wondering if I’ll intervene. If I’ll stand up for what’s mine.
I scoot my chair back and her father stops in his tracks. “Wait.”
Everyone’s looking at me.
I know our fathers could probably kill each other. But that doesn’t mean I have to suddenly give up everything I ever wanted.
And the only thing I’ll ever truly want is standing in that fucking door right now, ready to leave.
“She can stay.”
Her father snorts and scoffs, “Can she now? I don’t think I ever asked for your advice—”
Penelope shakes her hand free from his grip. “I can take care of myself, Dad.”
“You’re not staying in this wretched place,” he replies.
“You don’t decide that for me. Let him talk,” Penelope says, pulling out of her father’s grasp.
“Felix, what are you doing?” my father asks.
“What I should’ve done a long time ago, when I could’ve stopped someone from making a mistake but chose not to because she made me think it’s what was best for her,” I reply, stepping closer to Pen. “I won’t make that same mistake again.”
She swallows as she moves away from her father and closer to me.
My hand instinctively rises to cup her face, and I tuck a loose strand of that purple hair behind her ear. I used to hate her with every fiber of my being, but I never understood why. Until now.
She makes me feel things I thought I’d buried along with Eve.
“I can’t let you leave, Pen,” I say, caressing her. Her face leans into the palm of my hand. “Not until you’ve forgiven me.”
Her lips part and she shivers in place, and I want nothing more than to kiss her right here in front of all of these fuckers, because I don’t give a shit what they think, or how much her father and mine hate each other.
Because I don’t.
I don’t fucking hate her.
Even when I punished her, I didn’t hate her. I hated what she made me do, how she forced me to slice open my own heart and cut it with a thousand knives.
But if I was in her shoes, if Lana was bullied and pushed over The Edge, I would’ve made the same choice.
I’m not a person to beg.
But for her, I will.
And if she wants her freedom back, if she wants all of this to end between us three, all she needs to say is the magic fucking word.
Yes.
