Page 273 of Wicked Brutal

For a second I genuinely don’t understand the word. Saturday. Today is Monday. Five days.

“What the fuck do you mean, Saturday?”

“Dad told me last night. Sainte-Catherine can take an earlier arrival. Everything’s already been changed.”

“Why?”

She looks down at the giant fucking diamond on her finger. “Victor. After Thursday, he doesn’t believe Edgewood is an appropriate environment for me anymore.”

Iz lets out a humorless laugh. “Because we hurt his feelings?”

“Because you publicly disrespected him. The videos are everywhere. People are talking. Apparently the school has become a distraction from my responsibilities.”

Kaid’s mouth twists. “So Thursday scared him.”

“Humiliated him,” X says.

That’s it. Victor didn’t look scared crossing that atrium. He looked humiliated — because I didn’t come when he called, because we laughed at him, because half of Edgewood recorded five teenagers refusing to treat him like the important man he believes himself to be.

“What did Roman say?” I ask.

“That Victor’s right. I need distance from—“ Her eyes move around the locker room. “This.”

Danny puts a hand to his chest. “All of us?”

Despite everything, Ally’s mouth twitches. “Mostly Ryan.”

“Fair.”

“Thrilled to be recognized.” The smile disappears as fast as it came. I already know the answer to my next question. I ask anyway. “Tobias?”

Her face changes. “He stays.”

Fuck. Nobody needs that explained. Roman doesn’t have to drag Ally onto a plane. He just has to keep a six-year-old boy behind.

“He said Tobias needs stability after everything that’s happened.”

“Everything he fucking did,” Danny snaps.

“I know.” My hands curl into fists. Five days.

“We call Arthur now,” Kaid says.

“Already planning on it.”

“You can’t let him fucking take her.”

Every head in the room turns. That wasn’t one of us.

Iz stares toward the showers. “What the fuck?”

A second later, Bella steps around the tiled divider in her tennis uniform, quarter-zip half open, bag over one shoulder.

Penny closes her eyes. “Of fucking course it’s you.”

Bella looks at her. “You say that like I scheduled this.”

“What the fuck are you doing hiding in a shower, Lucifer’s fucking social secretary?” Iz demands.