The Arrangement 12 Read online

  Mel is sitting in a chair across from Trystan. She glances up and beams at me, before lifting a finger toward Trystan. “It’s really him.”

  I can’t help it, I laugh. “I know. He caught me outside. I pretty much fell on him.”

  “You did fall on me, not that I minded.” Trystan sits up slightly and glances around. I’m sure he’s looking for Sean.

  I roll my eyes as I fold my arms over my chest, and throw my hip out. It’s a naughty look that my mother gave me too many times. “Are you picking fights, Trystan Scott?”

  “Psh, no.” He grins broadly, which contradicts his words.

  I drop my arms and walk towards his seat. Trystan leans back and looks up at me when I sit on the arm of his chair. “Listen, Sean will skin you if you mess with him tonight. Do me a favor and leave him alone.” I wouldn’t have said it, but I don’t think Trystan’s a jackass. I’m guessing the disdain for the guy is coming from Sean, because I’m not feeling it the same way from Trystan. It’s more like Trystan is reacting to something. It’s hard to like someone when they hate you. I need to ask Sean what he has against the rock star, because he seems fine to me.

  Trystan doesn’t promise anything, but his gaze meets mine and his smile changes. The corners of his mouth lose that teasing grin and his gaze softens to something that resembles understanding, and maybe even empathy.

  Without warning, he glances at Mel and slaps his hands down on his knees. “So, I’m guessing you two want to talk.” Trystan jabs his thumb at Mel. “She’s had a rough night. Go easy on her.” Then he’s gone.

  I slip into his velvety seat and look at Mel. She looks picture perfect as always. Silence stretches between us and for the longest time neither of us speaks. When I can’t stand it anymore, I blurt it out. “What happened? Are you all right? How can you just sit there and pretend—”

  Mel points a manicured nail at me and her expression flashes from pleasant to furious. “Don’t you dare act like you have a fucking clue about anything!”

  I lean forward and my hands start flying while I speak, begging for an explanation. “Then tell me!”

  “Don’t pretend you care about me. If this didn’t happen in your room, you wouldn’t have even spoken to me tonight.”

  That’s it. She pressed my psycho-bitch button. I fly out of my chair and I’m on my feet, screaming in her face. “Bullshit! That’s total crap and you know it! You know what I thought when I went back to the room? I thought you were under that fucking sheet! I saw your hand laying there, limp and pale and I thought I lost you. I thought you were dead! So don’t sit there and act like I don’t give a shit about you!”

  Mel is in my face with her lips smashed together, ready to verbally decapitate me when a deep voice cuts through the room.

  “Sit down.” It’s Sean. We both glance over at him. He looks more disheveled than I’ve ever seen him. The tension that lines his face is etching deep groves into his beautiful skin. Sean has a drink in his hand and is walking toward us.

  When neither of us moves, he growls again, “Sit.” Mel and I comply, and avert our eyes.

  Mel lets out a huff of air as Sean steps between us. He glares at Mel. “You have no idea how much shit I went through tonight for you. Avery’s your friend, so stop acting like a child. You killed someone and we need to know why.”

  Mel is grinding her teeth and stiffens in her chair. She doesn’t look at either of us and I know she doesn’t want to talk. Her nostrils flare as she breathes and her nails bite into the arms of her chair. She finally looks up at Sean. “I have trouble believing that you’d stick your neck out for me.”

  Sean seems agitated. He rolls his eyes and knocks back the rest of his drink before slamming the glass down on the table next to Mel. She flinches when he does it. Sean is at eye level with her. His voice is deep and menacing. “I didn’t do it for you, I did it for Avery. You’ve been watching her back, so I’ve been watching yours.”

  Mel doesn’t like that answer. “You’ve been trailing me?”

  “I’ve been watching. I watch everything, especially when it comes to her.” Sean points at me. “I know things she hasn’t said and I know things you haven’t admitted. Tell her what happened tonight or I will, and I guarantee you that it would be better coming from you.” Sean straightens and backs away, before taking a seat to the side.

  Mel swallows hard and glances at me again. I lose my patience. “Oh, for the love of God, just say it. I liked you before, when I knew you messed with people. You’ve threatened Naked Guy on more than one occasion. I know you aren’t Mother Teresa and never have been, so just tell me!”

  Mel glances at Sean out of the corner of her eye, almost pleading with him. “This is a bad idea.”

  “Tell her,” Sean demands in a tone that makes me shiver. One of Sean’s brows lifts as he folds his arms over his chest and his icy eyes narrow at her.

  Mel doesn’t like being told what to do. Her eyes shift from side to side and she leans back and cracks her neck. After taking a huge breath, she dives into a story that I wish I never heard.

  CHAPTER 12

  My body tenses as Mel speaks. I’m afraid for her even though I know she survived. After Sean and I left the room, things spun out of control. Mel ordered her dinner and when there was a knock on the door half an hour later, she thought nothing of it. Mel yanked the door open without looking, and there stood a woman with her complexion and caramel eyes.

  Mel explains, “She looked like a fucking twin. It was creepy. The chick was about the same height and weight, and—get this—wearing the same dress.”

  “That’s weird.” My face scrunches up because I don’t like where this is going.

  “No shit. So I’m like, ‘What do you want?’ She laughs and manages to get into the room, but I don’t let her in very far. It was like she was looking for something.” Mel shakes her head and bites her lower lip, thinking before adding, “So, she can’t get past me. The woman thinks there are other people in the room. I left the TV on in the bathroom and the tub was filling. I planned on vegging and watching TV, eating dinner while I soaked. Anyways, the girl steps up to me and smiles this creepy, toothy grin and I feel a barrel press into my belly. The bitch had a gun. She’s not two steps inside the room and she pulls a fucking gun on me. After that, things get blurry.”

  “Mel,” Sean scolds.

  “I’m telling the truth, white boy.” Mel huffs and deep frown lines cross her face. “Avery, everything happened so fast. I went from having the gun in my guts, to ripping her hair out and rolling around on the floor. The bitch pulled my bracelet off, so I crushed the stone thinking Black would send her ninjas, but they never showed. So, I realize I’m on my own and use my knife on the bitch. She had me pinned.”

  “You had a knife on you?” I sound stupid for asking, but where the hell was it?

  Mel nods once. The normal smile that’s on her lips is gone and her head hangs between her shoulders as she buries her face in her hands. “I always have it strapped to my thigh. When I’m doing it, I hide the blade, but it’s still in reach—under the pillow or shoved into the side of the mattress. I take care of me. I always have.” Mel glances up and doesn’t blink. Her eyes are cold and hard, like she’s emotionally shut down in order to tell me the rest of the story. “Before the bitch knows what happened, I stabbed her in the side. She starts muttering about something that makes no sense, after cursing me out.”

  “What’d she say?” Sean asks. “What were her exact words?”

  “Her voice isn’t panicked, it’s creepy, smooth as glass, and she says, ‘You have no idea what you’ve done, you little cunt. Everything was perfect, and now they’ll all…’ Her words get garbled and I can’t understand her. Her face contorts in pain and she starts screaming. That’s a horrible way to die, and with the amount of blood pouring from her like that, she was as good as dead. She started begging me, so I ended it. Then I grabbed my stuff and ran. They must have found the body when they brought in the food.
”

  I can’t breathe for a few seconds and Mel won’t look at me. Sean is watching the side of my face, waiting for my reaction. A few things stick and I blurt them out. “Someone was trying to frame you for something else—otherwise why would that woman be dressed like you?”

  “And?” Sean prompts, watching me closely.

  “The bracelet didn’t work. Either someone tampered with it or it never worked to begin with. Black says she checks them every time we check in, so that shouldn’t be it.” I glance over at Mel. “What do you think?”

  When Mel glances up at me, I want to throw my arms around her and tell her that everything will be all right, but I know it won’t be. “I think we’re fucked. Someone was using me to get to you and they’re doing it through Black. The problem now is that none of this will lead back to her.”

  “But the transmitter?” I ask, still not getting what they’re trying to tell me.

  Mel’s brow is pinched with worry when she looks over at me. Her hand grabs at the hair on the sides of her temples and I hear the distress in her voice. “Avery, there was no fucking transmitter. When the cops look at the bracelet, they’ll think it was junk jewelry. It won’t lead back to Black, it’ll lead to me.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Sean isn’t tense for once. Sometime while Mel was talking, his shoulders relaxed and he’s sitting back in his chair like it’s a throne. His lips are straight, there’s no curve to the corners of his mouth. He stares straight ahead, lost in thought.

  I’m still piecing things together and don’t like the way the puzzle is forming. If someone was impersonating Mel, then what was she there for? It feels like Mel left pieces of the story out, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what they could be. I find myself staring at the side of her face.

  Mel is leaning back in her chair with her neck resting, looking up at the ceiling. “What?” she finally snaps.

  “Tell her,” Sean suddenly says, and glances over at me. “I already told you that I’ll tell her if you don’t.” Mel doesn’t move. Instead she stiffens and seals her lips. “Avery—”

  Mel darts upright. “I’ll tell her! You don’t say a word.” Pain is painted all over Mel’s face. “Someone’s been screwing with you, right? Asia told me that you had her in your room one night—that something spooked you.” My jaw drops. I’m about to deny it, but both of them give me a look that shuts me up. “Tonight, before everything went to hell, I got a text with a video attached. It was you. He said to come get it or he’d post it online. Avery, I was supposed to leave the room and you guys were supposed to be there. I didn’t leave because I thought he was messing with me at first, and then I said I was coming but the food was supposed to be there. I figured he’d wait, so I didn’t leave—I just told him I was on my way.”

  I blink at her. “Wait a second, someone told you they had a sex video of me and that they’d post it if you didn’t come down, but you didn’t go because you wanted dinner first?” I give her a shocked look and don’t know whether I should yell and scream or hug her.

  Sean glances at me. “There’s another player, and you’re his target.”

  I can’t process what they’re trying to tell me. I laugh and shake my head, like they’re both nuts. “You think someone is trying to kill me?” What a stupid idea. I laugh too much and too hard, but when I look up, Mel and Sean are watching me. Neither of them thinks it’s funny—they both believe someone is trying to hurt me.

  I roll my eyes, refusing to believe it. “The guy was in my room when I was alone. Why didn’t he do it then? And what would he have to gain? I have nothing and I’m a nobody. I have no family and no one loves me, except you.”

  Sean watches me with those dark eyes and terror drips into my stomach like acid. It’s because of him. Someone is trying to hurt me to get at Sean. Oh God. My jaw drops open and quivers.

  Before I can say anything else, he scoops me up in his arms and holds me to his chest, crushing me with his strong arms. “I won’t let them touch you.”

  CHAPTER 14

  I sit with Mel while Sean tries to talk to his brother one last time. It doesn’t go well. I can hear them yelling from where I sit. Trystan is back, looking like a spring daisy.

  He arches an eyebrow at me. “What?”

  “Are you nocturnal, or one of those weird people that thrives on two hours of sleep?” I’m slumped back in my chair with a nauseous headache, propping up my face with my hand. Otherwise I’d be lying on the floor, since it started to look comfy a few hours ago. Trystan looks uncomfortable and absentmindedly touches the ring under his shirt. I get it. “Ah, you’re neither, which means you’re mental too. Welcome to the club.”

  He chortles and presses his fingers to his temples and seems to relax again. No one speaks and I keep wondering the same question. I know I shouldn’t ask it, but I do anyway. “Mel?”

  “Yeah?” she says from the floor. Her arm is over her face and she’s lying flat on her back.

  “What’d it feel like?” She pulls her arm off her eyes and sits up a little.

  “You don’t want to know that for real, do you?”

  I’m stupid. I nod. The thing is, if I had to defend myself, I wonder if I could. I’m squeamish around blood, so how could I inflict enough damage to keep someone from killing me? I wonder if it’s like some other part of the brain takes over and that’s that.

  Mel sits up and puts her arms around her knees. “I knew what I was doing, if that’s what you mean. The moment I saw her, I knew something was wrong—like way the fuck wrong. When someone threatens you with a knife, gun, or whatever—there’s no time to second guess anything. It’s you or them, and I’m not dying.”

  Trystan’s eyes flick between us as we speak, but he says nothing. I wonder what horrors he’s seen because he doesn’t react to anything we say. He just sits there, listening, like he knows what Mel’s talking about.

  “But how can you do it? I don’t think I could.”

  That’s when Trystan speaks up. “There’s something inside of you that will wake up if you need it. I hope to God that you never do, but don’t doubt that it’s there. Like Mel said, your body will want to act—to protect you. Don’t think. Just do it, and you’ll live another day.”

  Mel and I stare at him. There’s a second where his words are frightening, but then I feel nothing but empathy for him. He must have learned that from living with his father. The guy beat the shit out of him when he was a kid. It was in the papers and all anyone talked about for a while. Trystan Scott is a beautiful, charismatic, and charming singer. Everyone who meets him, loves him. He doesn’t seem to have a violent bone in his body, but he came from a bloody and battered past. There’s more story there, things I’ll never know, secrets he’ll never tell.

  I nod, and am saved from finding an answer when Sean appears. “Let’s go. Jon can deal with his own shit.” He glances at Trystan and seems like he wants to tell him off, but doesn’t.

  “Wait, what about Mel?” I ask, as Sean’s leading me toward the door.

  “She knows what to do. Don’t worry about her. Come on, I have the jet waiting at McArthur Airport.”

  The jet? Where are we going? I know better than to ask, so I say nothing and follow him outside. There’s a limo waiting. We duck inside and take off. Sean is still angry from whatever happened with Jonathan. He lets out a rush of air and says, “My brother’s an idiot.”

  I smile at him, trying to lighten the mood. “Which one?”

  Sean smirks and glances over at me, before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him. He kisses the top of my head and starts talking. “Jon thinks I abandoned him when he was a kid, but that’s not what happened. Pete seems to understand better, but not Jon. He won’t forgive me, and he acts like his childhood was hell and it’s my fault. The guy has everything, including the family fortune, then he goes and does things like this. I could understand this behavior from Bryan or Trystan, but not Jon. He’s got too much on the line and o
ur mother isn’t exactly forgiving. There are things he doesn’t know.” Sean sighs and stops talking. It seems like he’s going to say more, but he doesn’t.

  “I wish I had a brother or a sister, even if we didn’t get along. I envy you.” Sean makes a sound of disbelief. “No, I’m serious. Having crappy siblings is better than having none. You’re not alone. I am. Besides, Peter seems to have forgiven you. Jon will understand sooner or later.”

  Sean doesn’t say anything, he just holds me tighter and stares out the window until the limo pulls up to a little jet parked on the tarmac. The lights glow softly from inside and the door is open with a staircase beckoning us to board. Sean takes my hand and leads me onto the plane. When I step inside, I don’t know what to do. There are eight huge leather seats that look as if they spin around. There’s a table, a bar, and a huge paper-thin television on the back wall. Everything looks pristine and has that new car, uh, new jet, smell.

  “Sit wherever you like.” Sean gestures for me to continue into the back by myself. He disappears behind a curtain in front and speaks to the pilot before returning. By then I’m sitting in the last row and looking out the window.

  “This is weird.” I’m on a plane—a really posh one—and without going through the airport or dealing with security. No one groped me as if my underwire could be used as a weapon. The TSA confiscated my cannoli once because it wasn’t sealed. I think the organization has a serious pastry problem. As soon as Sean is seated, we’re taxiing down the runway. No waiting.

  He smiles at me, enjoying my amazed expression. “I’m going to spoil you to the point that you don’t think anything is unusual.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible, but I don’t mind you trying.” A lazy smile lines my lips. It’s nearly sunrise and I’m exhausted.