Page 8 of Dark Tangled Truths
“Goody.” He lifts my fingers to his lips and kisses my fingertips delicately, one by one. A little shiver of awareness rolls down my spine.
My guys are all here. I can breathe.
I turn to look at Damon sitting at his desk. His expression is closed off, but I can tell he’s angry. Not at me, but for me. His love shines in his eyes and fills me with warmth.
“It was capsaicin,” he says. “On the rose. It was covered with chili pepper oil. The same thing they use in pepper spray.”
I look at my fingers. They’re considerably less swollen now than at the clinic. Chili pepper oil explains the burning. It seems so innocuous. Maybe the cuts made it worse? If you touch your eyes after touching peppers, it burns. Same concept with an open wound?
“There was a message on your desk. Did you notice it?” Cam asks.
I shake my head and rest it against Hawk’s shoulder. Once the pain started, the world could have ended around me and I wouldn’t have noticed. My head is heavy and I feel more tired than I did a few minutes ago.
I struggle to stay focused on what we’re trying to figure out. Someone wanted me to hurt. Who wants to hurt me? Jackson? I didn’t think he wanted to cause me pain, but those texts were aggressive. Finishing what he started?
A shiver crawls down my spine.
Even if it was him, how did he get into the school without being seen? Especially when not many students were there today.
A stranger in the building would have been noted by someone. Jackson isn’t the type of guy who can hide in a crowd. He’s tall and built like my guys. I can’t imagine him sneaking in without being spotted.
“It read,Enjoy your men, pretty girl. They’ll only leave you burned.” Cam rubs his hand over my knee to comfort me but also like he can’t resist touching me. I put my hand over his, and he threads our fingers together. The need to be connected is mutual.
“Jackson,” I say softly. The note’s words send a chill through me as I consider them. The author definitely burned me. “He calls me pretty girl, but how would he have gotten into rehearsal?”
“He could have someone at our school working for him or with him,” Cam says. “He doesn’t have money, but he has some influence. At least people might think he does because of the school he attends and his hockey record.”
“What do we know about Brandt Stanwell?” Damon leans forward with his hands clasped between his knees.
“Brandt?” I ask, a little confused and kind of sleepy. It’s like all the energy just leaked out of me. I try to force myself to make sense of this train of thought. The other play rehearsal was happening at the same time today. They had the smaller theater room. So, Brandt would have been at the school. But what does he have to do with this?
Someone came after me hard. If anyone can figure out who it was, it should be the four of us.
Right now, I’m safe, and Hawk is so warm. Everything in me just wants to curl up against him and go to sleep. But I also want to be present for this conversation.
“Brandt’s got money and connections,” Cam says. It almost sounds like he’s reading a file instead of pulling it from his memory. “An ant. Director ofThe Crucible. He doesn’t make waves. Attends parties every now and then. Thinks he’s the shit because of his famous parents and will tell anyone within earshot who his father is. But mostly, he does whatever it takes to win. Overall, I haven’t heard anything too salacious about him.”
“Would he go this far to sabotage Evan?” Damon’s words are fading.
Sabotage? That’s ridiculous. This is clearly Jackson from the note, and it didn’t do anything except make me miss one rehearsal. Definitely not sabotage level. Besides, why would Brandt try to sabotage me? He already knows so many more industry professionals than I do. My eyelids are growing heavy. I need to pay attention. But I’m so tired, and the pain meds are making everything fuzzy around the edges.
“If it was something he wanted, maybe. It’s questionable. His family has connections. He’s going to make it one way or the other. He’s in the fall showcase and there’s an opportunity attached to it. But he’s already set for success. The win won’t matter in the long run. What would he really get from hurting Evan?” Cam brushes his hand over my hair, and a smile tugs at my lips. “She needs sleep.”
“I have to go home.” Hawk shifts me on his lap. I snuggle into him. “Both my parents are there and want to pretend to be a family. This morning Dad said we needed to talk.”
I open my eyes. When did I close them?
“Mine too.” Cam stands. “Or not exactly the same, but Dad wants a status report on my studying and grades, so kind of the same.”
When Damon lifts me against him, I wrap my arms and legs around him and rest my head against his chest, inhaling his earthy scent and letting my whole body relax into him. Crazy as it is, he’s my safe space.
Maybe he coerced me into being his, but now he’s mine.
“I’ve got her.” His words burrow into my heart and make a little home there.
I don’t open my eyes as he walks with me to the door and locks it after they leave. I mumble my goodbyes at some point, but I don’t even know if they’re still here when I do. I wake up on his bed a little disoriented. When I try to turn, I’m drawn in closer to a body. My face is pressed against his warm chest and I release my breath.
“Go back to sleep, little devil.”
