Justin maintains that pleasant expression of his, even as I stand there and seethe.
What a piece of work this man is. He kidnaps Parrish and then, what, orchestrates it so that his app finds him? Is that what all of this is? A publicity stunt?
“If you’ll excuse me,” Seamus remarks, apparently spying someone in the crowd that he’d like to speak with. He peels away from our little group, and I take a small step forward, careful to keep my voice low enough that nobody but Maxx or Chasm can hear.
“If you were going to use your app to ‘find’ Parrish, then why ask me to do it at all?” I whisper, but Justin’s expression never falters. Instead, he reaches out and cups the side of my face in a way that might be viewed as fatherly by anyone watching. But his grip is too tight, and his nails are digging into my skin in such a way that I actually have to fight back a grimace.
“The app is not going to find Parrish; you are. That is, if you want him back. If you don’t, I’ll just slit his throat and dump his body in Lake Washington. His only worth to me is his worth to you and Tess. That’s it. I neither like nor dislike the boy. He simply is.” Justin drops his hand by his side as I do my best to ignore the throbbing in the side of my face. “Go mingle with all of my pretty friends. Make yourself seen. I want everyone to know what a beautiful daughter I have. Don’t stay away too long though. I have someone I’d like you to meet.”
Justin pats me on the cheek once more before taking off.
Maxx steps up beside me, tilting my face to his and gritting his teeth in frustration.
“He’s left red marks all over your cheek,” he grinds out, stroking a finger over the indentations as Chas scowls, his eyes scanning the crowd.
“Do you see these people? Fawning over a man they ran out of town? Whether he was guilty or not, it makes them all fucking despicable to me. Either he wasn’t guilty, and here they are schmoozing a guy they framed or else he was guilty and, well, here they are schmoozing a man they know is a total douche. It’s sick.”
“Whitehall Prep is the perfect name for our academy,” I mutter, downing the champagne. “Prepping all those brats to join their parents’ schemes.”
I catch sight of a beautiful, honey-haired girl across the room, and my breath catches.
Lumen.
I did not expect to see Lumen Hearst at my father’s launch party.
“Oh hell no,” Chasm says as soon as he notices where I’m looking. Maxx turns his head to follow our gazes and cocks a brow. “Don’t even get started with that bitch today.”
“This is the perfect place to try to talk to her,” I reason, gesturing around with the hand that isn’t holding the champagne. God, if Tess knew I was drinking here, she would lose her shit. Clearly, Justin doesn’t care either way. “We’re not at Whitehall, and she can’t exactly beat me up in the middle of a crowd, now can she?”
“Maxx, can you talk some sense into our girl?” Chasm asks, frowning down at me in annoyance. “She keeps trying to make friends with her enemies. Lumen had her posse kick your ass; she isn’t redeemable.”
“And you had your posse kick her ass,” I clarify. “Let’s just see if we can’t get her alone. Something is going on with her. Think about it: she went missing for a whole night and woke up in a field. Does that not sound familiar? Like how I woke up in the middle of the woods? Justin could be blackmailing her, too.”
“Blackmailing her with what? Parrish?” Chasm lets out a barking laugh. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Everyone says she’s been chasing after him for years,” I add, trying to fight back a ridiculous spurt of jealousy. Thanks mammal brain, but I don’t need you just now. Let’s save Parrish’s life before we start getting upset about rival love interests. Also, didn’t you sleep with both of Parrish’s besties while he was in captivity? Yeah, not helping. “Maybe he—”
“Lumen doesn’t care about Parrish—certainly not enough to do even half the things you have trying to save him.” Chasm folds his arms over his chest. “You’ll never convince me otherwise.”
“Danyella told me they’ve been playing a ‘will they, won’t they game’ for years,” I continue, and Maxx laughs.
“Danyella, who’s been giving you the cold shoulder for weeks? That, and following Lumen around like a lost puppy? Lumen did her wrong, too, you know. Yet, there she is. Maybe you’re both too nice.” Maxx glances toward Lumen as she laughs and flirts with a half-dozen other Whitehall Prep students who are here at the party with their parents. “As soon as they hit Whitehall as freshmen, Lumen kicked her old bestie to the curb for newer and better friends.” Maxx shrugs and shakes his head. “I don’t trust either of them, to be honest.”
