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No one pays attention to how the money is flowing through, and since nothing is technically missing, it works for him. If Rachelle or anyone at Broken Brothers LLC were to start to pay more attention to the ins and outs at the school, it could fuck with that.

Dad’s glare is enough to make me hide a sigh. Noor isn’t going to like all the ways we’re going to fuck with her. We need to make sure she stays quiet about it.

Ciaran strolls out into the backyard, breaking the tension as Dad walks back into the house.

“What did I miss?” he asks softly, glancing over his shoulder at my father as he disappears.

Ciaran is spending the weekend with me in an effort to avoid his parents. This happens often, and we use the time to do homework, practice, or blow off steam at a party. Now, it appears we’ll need to use his computer skills for nefarious purposes.

“I need to find out everything possible about the new girl,” I say. “I need dirt, Ci.”

“Yeah, okay,” he agrees with a shrug, getting comfortable as he pulls out his computer. They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and in some ways, that’s true.

Ciaran’s older brother is in prison for computer fraud and abuse. He got involved with a gang who found out that Rebel was a nerd who had the skills to help them. This led to legal charges for the entire gang when they pushed Rebel to do shit that would get the attention of the authorities.

Rebel sang like a canary, refusing to go down for the entire group. He taught his little brother the same skills, but also ensured Ci would be a lot smarter about it.

So Ciaran is in advanced coding classes that teach ethical behavior as his “easy class”, and also helps me out when I need information. He’s so good it’s honestly scary. Between hockey and his grades, he’ll get out of California without a problem.

I’m ready to see other states, and we all want to get away from our families. Draven’s mom is the only one worth a damn, and she works her ass off as a nurse to support him. We all want out in order to find better lives for ourselves.

I don’t want to be a crook like my dad.

“What can I use against Moo?” I ask. “Dad says she’s a foster kid.”

“Oh,” Ci snorts. “Those files are easy to get into. Let’s see what I can find.”

Fuck yeah. I bet she’ll be fun to play with.

NOOR

The beeping of machines pulls me out of a deep haze, making me groan as I blink blearily at a hospital room.

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“That’s the first thing you have to say?” a hoarse voice says.

Sighing, I gently rub my eyes with the hand not connected to wires and an IV. Liliana’s hair is pulled up into a messy bun and her eyes appear tired and worried.

“Sorry,” I mumble.

“You did nothing wrong,” Liliana sighs. “Noor, what the fuck. Okay, wait, let’s start over.”

Liliana closes her eyes for a second, muttering words in Spanish that are not at all favorable to the girls who beat me up.

“Are you in any pain?” she asks, opening her eyes again. Her anger is banked and deep, but on the outside, she appears to be calm.

I must look really terrible.

“No, I actually feel floaty,” I admit. “Are they giving me something?”

“Yes, Emil told them to give you the good drugs. His words, not mine. There’s nothing in your files to suggest you have problems with controlled substances.”

“Street drugs, anxiety, and POTS don’t mix well,” I rasp. “It’s not something that I’ve really been interested in.”

“Lili, get the girl some water,” a deep voice I recognize as Emil’s says. My gaze flicks up to where he’s standing by the door, and he glances behind himself guiltily before he shuts the door.

Liliana gets up to grab a glass full of ice and water, and puts the straw between my lips so I can sip it. My mouth tastes like ass from puking earlier, and I cough slightly at the memory of that fucking frog.