Page 164 of Shattered Pieces

“Right now, I’m not okay with it. Can we think about it?” Jensen asked, and as much as I hated not knowing, I nodded. “Good. You need to rest your voice, so let’s think on it tonight and just put movies on for a chilled night. I agree with Luke about the whole Marco unprotected thing though. I think you should get tested.”

It was a good idea, so I agreed, and despite everyone changing the subject to homework, I could tell everyone was a little on edge now.

If I’d ruined my relationship, that was on me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

JENSEN

I’d managed to keep the staff away for a few days, not wanting Rory to go back to Hunter’s. Rory hadn’t brought up Marco again, and we hadn’t either. The thought of him touching her made me violent, and I still couldn’t believe she’d let him touch her.

I wanted to blame her being drunk and him taking advantage, but she seemed quite clear on what had happened. It really didn’t help that Tyler was on board with Marco becoming his ball rubbing buddy from the messages I’d seen him sending Marco.

It was Monday morning and we were all getting ready for school. Rory had somehow kept her talking to a minimum since getting here on Thursday afternoon, and thankfully, her bruises were almost healed. Which was lucky, because Josie wasn’t going to let her hide out for much longer.

She’d allowed her space, thinking it would help her come back into civilization, but she was getting worried now. When Josie got suspicious, she didn’t let things go until she knew everything was okay.

Caden had brought Rory’s uniform here, but Josie wanted her home tonight.

“I don’t want to go back to school,” Rory grumbled, her voice sounding back to normal as long as she didn’t push it too much.

“Just don’t kill anyone and you’ll be fine. Half the school is terrified of you now, so that’s a plus,” Tyler grinned, pulling her against him and smacking a kiss on her cheek. “Claire’s kind of losing it though, so watch her.”

“I should tell her she’s my sister. That would really piss her off,” she joked, and I scrunched my nose. Rory had told us about Claire over the phone while she was locked up, and I honestly still didn’t believe it.

It was probably just Max causing trouble, and if I were Rory, I wouldn’t believe a thing without a DNA test.

“Maybe hold onto that kind of ammo until you have proof. You never know when it will come in handy,” I stated.

“I don’t particularly want people knowing I’m related to her but it would totally be worth exposing.”

“Claire’s your sister?” Caden asked in disbelief.

“I really do have the worst luck,” Rory chuckled, but it sounded forced.

“How do you know she’s your sister?”

“Max. Apparently, Claire is my mom’s biological daughter that she thought died, but Max made her vanish. Mom has no idea she’s alive,” Rory said tightly.

“I think you need to do DNA testing for sure,” Caden answered, looking thoughtful. “Do you think she knows she’s adopted? Do some digging before setting anything into motion. Do it the right way.”

“Since you’re a professional bully, tell me what you’d do,” she replied, eyeing him seriously. They’d been civil since she’d gotten here, but they had a long way to go before things were fixed between them.

“I’d dig up as many facts as possible and make sure I have proof. Once you have facts, you dig into other things like the hotel business and her adoptive parents. You want dirt on them. Don’t let her get to you, she’ll try setting you off to get you in trouble, so hold onto it and remember the plan. The more information you have, the more damage you can do,” he said casually. He was getting a kick out of this, and I couldn’t lie, we all would.

“Deep down, she’s probably shitting her pants,” Lukas pointed out. “Despite her tough bitch bullshit, she knows you’re the reason Gunther got killed, and now Mandy. Max’s body was never found, so she would believe you killed him and got away with it. As far as the school’s concerned, you’re a dangerous criminal who isn’t afraid to kill someone for pissing you off.”

“But don’t use that directly or you could potentially incriminate yourself,” Caden stated, checking the time on his phone and sighing. “We need to head off or we’ll be late. Ty can come with me, and Rory can go with you and Luke, if you want?”

Tyler didn’t look happy about being separated from Rory, but Rory nodded.

“Sounds good to me. What are our new teachers like?”

“You still have Mr. Franklin for English Lit and Mrs. Stuart for Chemistry. Mrs. Munro is our homeroom and Calculus teacher, she’s pretty chilled. Miss Valentino is the Spanish teacher. Mr. Gillard is the art teacher, and we unfortunately have Claire in that class too. Mr. Gillard likes her, so don’t expect him to like you. He’s tight with her parents,” Caden said and rolled his eyes.

“Miss Valentino is really nice,” Tyler piped up, making me scoff.

“She only likes you because you fucked her.”