Page 75 of The Arrangement

I smiled at him, momentarily forgetting the shadows of the past, shadows that eerily looked like the ones that occupied the vast halls of my alma mater. “Ulwich Preparatory Academy was a viper’s nest.”

He raised an eyebrow, undoubtedly at the vitriol. “What the hell happened at that place?”

“Take your pick. Abuse, neglect, assault—most of which were at the hands of other students.”

He waited a beat, then asked the obvious question. “Where was the faculty for all of this? The parents? You’d think they’d be all up in the school’s business, given how posh it is.”

I snorted. “Wrong kind of posh. Ulwich wasn’t some jumped-up prep school. It was where the elite sent their kids to become just like them… by whatever means necessary. Boys either figured that out early and learned how to work the system or at least fly under the radar. Or…”

“Or?” Marc asked, though his tone suggested he knew exactly what that “or” entailed.

“Or they learned the hard way. Typically, at the hands of their peers. I saw things…” I squeezed my eyes shut, but no amount of darkness would ever erase the cruelty I’d witnessed. Cruelty subtly encouraged by the faculty, cruelty meant to break you, cruelty for cruelty’s sake. “As for the parents. Let me put it this way. The only way to attend Ulwich is as a legacy.” When I finally opened my eyes, Marc was searching my face.

“They knew. They knew exactly what you would have to endure at that place, and they sent you anyway.” There wassomething validating about the undercurrent of horror in his voice. “How young were you when you started there?”

I shrugged as well as I could, given our positions. “It’s modeled after a lot of ‌European boarding schools. The youngest they’ll take is nine.”

“You didn’t answer the question. How old wereyou?” Marc emphasized, narrowing his eyes.

I kept my gaze fixed over his shoulder. “Nine.”

“Jiminy Cricket,” he gasped. My eyebrows shot up, and I couldn’t help but look at him. That was a new one. “What about Andy?”

Was it weird that I loved how his consideration included my little brother? Probably, but I didn’t care. “Andy was a little luckier on that front. Our parents waited longer to enroll him because he was so small. He didn’t start until he was eleven. Not that he was that much taller,” I added with a smirk.

Marc just shook his head. “Son of a biscuit. That shit makes the BS I’ve dealt with look like nothing.”

“Hold up. Don’t eventhinkabout going there,” I said firmly, pushing myself up onto my elbows and causing him to slide to the side. “It’s not a competition. I didn’t share for sympathy or to make it seem like my experiences were somehow worse than yours.” I grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. “I shared so you could know I understand what it’s like to face pressure like that and to feel like there’s no escape. It’s horrible that your father didn’t support your dreams, didn’t want to see and value the incredible man you are. Because you are, Marc. You are absolutely one of the most amazing men I’ve ever met, and frankly, the things you can do with flowers breaks my brain a little.” I gave him a crooked smile and squeezed his hand again before relaxing my grip.

He blinked his eyes a few times, but to my surprise, didn’t look away. “James?” he said, his voice uncharacteristically thick.

“Yes, baby boy?” I replied softly.

“I...” He continued to look at me, though his words trailed off.

It felt like every hope I had for what we could be hinged on what he would say next. I was so intent on him that at the sound of a loud crash downstairs, I actually jumped. We both looked toward the bedroom door, then at each other. Gone was the soft look on his face, replaced with a worry that had lines forming between his eyebrows.

Chapter 37

Marc

Ididn’t bother putting anything on past my boxers before hauling ass downstairs. JD was close behind me, also taking the steps two or three at a time. At first glance, when I landed at the bottom of the stairs, nothing seemed amiss. The walk-in fridge was intact, and it looked like the power was still on, though thanks to the storm outside, it was dark as fuck despite being only late afternoon. Suddenly, I realized the sound of wind and rain was a hell of a lot louder than it should have been.

I raced through the curtain separating the front of the store from the back and emerged behind the counter to a scene straight out of my worst nightmare. The front of the store was gone. Where the enormous glass windows had once been, there was now a gaping hole and the massive tree limb that had clearly made it.

“Holy shit,” JD whispered as he stepped up beside me.

All I could manage was a disbelieving grunt. This couldn’t be happening. We’d barely been open a week. All the workwe’d done. Gone. I looked around helplessly at the ruined displays we’d put together, the broken flowers strewn across the floor, water everywhere; even the display fridge hadn’t escaped unscathed. I moved to walk around the counter in a daze, the wind whipping my hair while rain splattered on my face.

“Wait!” JD shouted, grabbing my arm before I could take more than a couple of steps. “There’s glass everywhere. At least let me grab the shoes from the back entrance. And some brooms,” he added belatedly.

I simply stared at him, my mind feeling untethered from my body. Everything I’d worked so hard for—everythingwe’dworked for—gone. I’d have to start all over again. Fragments of flowers blew around, some landing artfully on the tree limb that would take at least three men to move, if not a truck. It was like Mother Nature was mocking me.

“Okay, here are some shoes. Sorry, the only pairs I could find quickly were mine.” His flurry of movement paused, and he looked at me with concern. “Marc, hey, are you okay?”

“It’s over. I sank everything I had into restoring this place and getting inventory. What am I going to do?” Panic banded around my chest as if someone were tightening the screws, and my breath came out in short bursts. Then James was in front of me, holding my face so I had no choice but to look at him.

“You survived being taken and held for two weeks in a hostile country. You can survive this too.”