Page 78 of Lady Killer

“We’re going to the Blackwell Estate early this evening and spending the next twonights there.”

“I didn’t realize the Blackwells went for the early bird special,” I said.

As far as barbs went, it was pathetic but I wasn’t awake yet and I needed to buy myself some time to come up with a reason to stay here.

Alister and Everest were intense enough on their own, and Nixon was mercurial at the best of times. Combined with Locke’s vitriol and Lucian’s overbearing broodiness, I wondered how the six of us would make it through the evening without bloodshed.

“Nixon, Everest, and I have a family meeting first. You may use that time to get settled in your room. Dinner will be served at seven sharp, and your attendance is expected.”

Before I could argue, he was walking away, leaving me still fumbling with the coffee and the sensation of having been ambushed.

The Blackwell Estate lay on the other side of Shady Harbor, and it was a pleasant enough drive.

Minus the company.

As I stared out the window, my phone buzzed in my hand.

Bestie: Are you sure you’re okay?

Bestie: Simone and I can jump on the train and be there to support you.

I sighed, thudding my head back against the smooth leather of Alister’s Rover. The crunch of gravel under the luxury tires was audible as we tore down the country roads that led to the Blackwell Estate.

Before I could question myself, I typed my response.

Me: You’re the best.

Me: You don’t need to come up.

I watched as the three dots indicating she was typing appeared, disappeared, and reappeared again over the course of the next five minutes.

Awkward.

Finally, her response came.

Bestie: Okay.

Something stirred in my gut, but I ignored it. If Autumn said she was okay, then she was okay.

Right?

When I asked Alister what I was supposed to tell my best friend when she got back from NYC on Sunday night and discovered I wasn’t at our dorm, he told me it wasn’t his problem.

Everest was worse.

“Tell her that you met your Prince Charming, your one true love, the light of your life . . . the hot sauce to your Cheesy Gordita Crunch!”

“Everest.”

“Right, and his grumpy, far-less-handsome, awe-astoundingly less-charming sidekick.”

I smothered a smirk. The man was impossible.

Autumn now believed, I hoped, that I was in NYC for the rest of the week due to a death in the family.

As the SUV slowed as we approached the iron gates of the estate, I frowned, taking in the visibly armed guards standing out front that hadn’t been there before.

“Increased precautions, darling, with all the dead girls and such. Nothing for you to worry about,” Everest said, reaching over the console to pat my hand.

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