Page 48 of Malice in e minor

Which shouldn’t need to happen. Our crafts shouldn’t be affected by taking precautions from one person. Isobel hadn’t done anything since she was a teenager and might not do anything now.

And, wait a minute. Her father went through a lot of trouble to bury what she did. I knew about the sealed record because my best friend vetted everyone in my life, friend or foe. Meadow hadn’t told anyone. I was guessing there was some sort of NDA involved when her parents took the hush money.

“How did you and the Immortal Nightmare boys not only find out she had a sealed record, but the contents? My best friend practically puts serial killer profiles together on anyone who looks at me funny. She found the sealed juvenile record, but didn’t dig any further. I know why she dug into Isobel, but she’s been here two years. Why did you decide to just start digging?”

“So, don’t be mad.”

“Topher, any time a man says that to a woman, they want to hit him in the face with a frying pan.”

“It would be a crime to destroy this face with cooking appliances like it’s a crime we’ll never fuck.”

“Out with it.”

“So, Azriel overheard Isobel making threats. It could have just been stupid venting because it was right after you got here and pointed out someone was out of tune your first day with the orchestra. Then, one of her friends pointed out your video and Leif being obsessed with it before you got here. She does have friends here and none of them were taking her threats seriously. Azriel did, though. He told all of us so we could come up with a plan.”

“Ass munch, you should have told both Leif and me so we could protect ourselves.”

“Harlowe, we did, once we had the full story. Her sealed record could have been because she didn’t like paying for lipstick. I knew Meadow knew her back then and Isobel has been a menace to her. I told her Isobel had been overheard making threats and asked if she knew anything. She filled me in on the whole horrific thing, even though she’d been forced into signing an NDA.”

“This was when you were kids, right?” Leif asked. “How old were you when you signed it?”

“Is that important right now?” Topher asked. “Harlowe still looks like she wants to find a frying pan.”

“Yeah. My mother is a prosecutor. She fully supported my art, but she made sure I learned a bit about law because I could literally step wrong and end my dance career. Then, I fell in love with choreography, but I still remember. Meadow, did you sign it when you were under eighteen and did your parents co-sign?”

“I was fifteen. My parents are both lawyers and the only way they would agree to the NDA was if I was the only one who signed it. They put the money in a trust for me, but the money and the NDA really fucked up my relationship with them.”

“No, they were looking out for you. Darren Shackleton used to be a lawyer, so he technically should have known having a minor signing an NDA without their parents means as soon as the minor turns eighteen, they can choose to dissolve the NDA and there’s fuck all he can do about it.”

“You could fight back if you wanted to,” Topher said.

She could, but it was a lot of pressure to put on one person. People never reacted how you expected them too. Darren Shackleton’s constituents could go the complete opposite. Instead of forcing him to step down, they could reelect him for protecting his spawn, even if she was a psychopath.

He might not be able to sue her for talking, but he could still have her blackballed. He had connections and could make a phone call every time she had an audition. There were plenty of people who would find what he did distasteful, but I read the dossier JaToya sent on him. He was an ex officio board member for the organization that gave federal funding and grants to arts organizations. I don’t know if he had the sway to get a group’s funding pulled, but the threat would be enough.

“I’m not doing anything without a plan. I’m in, but do you actually know what you are doing? Isobel might not be all that talented with the violin, but she is cunning.

“I’ve seen numerous therapists and tried hypnosis and I still have no idea what happened that day. The hospital claims there was nothing in my system when I was admitted, but a lot of money changed hands. We didn’t go to the same high school, but you could buy whatever you wanted at hers. Everyone who has tried to get me to remember thinks I can’t because I was unconscious.”

“So, this is a lot,” Rue said. “Isobel has already hurt her once. You can’t ask her to put herself in the line of fire again unless you’ve got something solid.”

“I didn’t say you should, just that you can. Right now, we’re redirecting her away from all of you until we figure out if she was just venting or is planning on acting on anything. Dante was with her when she was ranting. He enables her when she’s being a bully, but his mother is in criminal law. He’s stupidly in love with her, but I think he would redirect her if he didn’t outright report her.”

“So, we all just sit back and let you deal with it?” I asked.

“Yes. She wants fame and an epic romance. We’re about to throw three sexy men at her who can give that to her.”

Three? Oh, I could see why they wouldn’t have Misha in the same room with someone who didn’t know what no meant if the dining hall was too much for him. That also wasn’t my story to tell, and I’d take that secret to the grave.

“Who is going to protect you while you’re protecting us?” Leif asked.

“Well, she can’t do shit to me. Darren only has sway in the States, so he can’t do anything to Orion and Azriel either. The three of us have experience dealing with difficult people and still getting what we want. We can do this.”

Could they do it together since they didn’t get along?

“Meadow, you’re with us,” Rue said. “The dancers are now your bodyguards.”

At least one good thing came from all this. Meadow and Rue had been exchanging looks the whole time she was beating, cutting, and sewing her pile of pointe shoes.