Page 9 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“I do. She tells me nothing. That’s why I—”

“Snoop, yeah I got it.”

“How do you know?” Catherine asked.

“Because I hear shit, so I ask shit,” Michel explained.

“Who do you ask?”

“Mostly cousins, like John or Andino, and sometimes Uncle Gio when he’s in a good mood.”

Huh.

Catherine filed that info away for later.

“Really, though, you shouldn’t snoop,” Michel said, taking the black book and putting it away. “There’s some things that are better left alone, Catherine. Some of this is a lot of that, if you get what I mean.”

“But—”

“And you’ve got school tomorrow.”

She scowled. “So do you.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been attending the Academy since sixth grade. You’re only getting transferred in this year. I’m in the upper Academy, so I won’t be around for you to ask me a million questions or to keep your ass out of trouble.”

“I do just fine on my own, thanks.”

Michel nodded. “Sure you do.”

“I don’t want to go to that stuffy school anyway.”

Her father took her out of her all girls private school, and decided to transfer her into the Academy of Westforth for her eighth grade. That meant all of her friends were left behind.

“Point is,” her brother said, “you don’t want to be tired and stupid walking around tomorrow. Some of those kids are a bunch of shits, too much money and too bored for their own good. With a last name like Marcello, some of them just want to see how far they can push before you push back. Keep an eye open, that’s all.”

“We’ve got too much money, and we’re bored half the time, too.”

Michel smirked. “Maybe you’ll fit right in, then, but who knows? You’ve got too much mouth sometimes. It gets you in trouble.”

It did not.

“Liliana will be there,” Catherine said of her cousin.

She was only one year younger than Liliana.

“Yeah, that’ll help,” Michel said as he headed for the door. “Another one with too much mouth in this family.”

Asshole.

“What’s your next class?”

Catherine handed over her schedule to Liliana without even looking at it. “Whatever that says.”

“Art.”

Great.

Liliana rattled off the teacher’s name and the easiest way to find the classroom, but Catherine was more focused on the football players finishing their sprints on the field. Sitting three rows up on the metal benches, she had a good view.