Page 148 of Vexatious Queen

Rory looked like he didn’t really believe what I was saying, but didn’t argue. He nodded.

“Yeah, I finished my assignment, and I’ll keep coming back if you’re okay with that?”

“Yup, that sounds good,” I said, gathering my things.

“Do you need an escort wherever you are going next?” He looked around like he was expecting one of the guys to appear.

“You don’t need to pretend. I know the guys sent you to keep an eye on me,” I said, and he blushed.

Rory rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…okay, you got me. So where would you like to go?”

I opened my mouth to accept, but Ivy stuck her head in the door.

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

“Looks like like you’re off the hook,” I said, but Rory didn’t move. “I’m serious, we’ll be fine. Just going to the cafeteria for food.”

“I’ll follow you there,” he said. “At a distance, but I don’t like leaving you alone.”

“Where are all the guys,” Ivy asked. “It’s so rare you’re not with them.”

“Myles and Blake are working out. Theo and Liam went to see Ethan, and Nash is with Sabastian,” I said, and Ivy’s face paled.

“Why is Nash with him? Is he going to kill him? Oh my god, this can’t be good.”

Ivy looked like she was about to faint.

I slowly shook my head.

“No, they are carpooling to the training center to meet Coach Richards and swim today. Don’t you have Sabastian’s schedule?”

“Oh…oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

Her forehead crinkled like things just didn’t add up.

“Okay, but why are they carpooling? It seems…weird.”

“I guess Nash is trying the whole friend thing,” I said, shrugging.

Ivy and I walked out together while Rory maintained his distance ten paces back. I looked back to tell him his presence wasn’t necessary, but the set of his jaw and the fierceness of his eyes let me know that there was really no point.

“Hey, so, now that I have you, we need to chat about what happened between you and Zigzag,” I said, and Ivy’s face flamed bright red. “Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”

FEBRUARY 18 – WEDNESDAY 4:00 PM

Nash

Only Princess could get me to agree to this.

Sabastian had hardly said a word since getting into my truck. He held his backpack on his lap and stared out the passenger side window unless I asked him a direct question. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but considering what we’d just learned about his father, it would be nice if he gave me something.

How many kids like Zigzag had Christov taken under his wing and helped over the years? Did he even know that his father did this? Did he know about Zigzag? Because it was obvious that Zigzag hadn’t known about Sabastian until he started digging.

Edmundo was right, Christov was a sneaky kind of dangerous. He wasn’t like my father, who came at you with guns and fists, threatening to rip your heart out. No, Christov played the long game, setting pieces up like little sleeper cells. Players who didn’t even know what they were until it was too late.

“So, you’re okay with me going to this?”

Sabastian slowly turned his head in my direction.