Page 60 of Rules

The guy’s tall, his wide shoulders covered with a coat. He stands for a second at the door, looking left and right, before he finally descends the rest of the way.

The streetlights are shitty in this part of town, making it hard to clearly see his face, but…

“Hey, isn’t that Andrew’s dad?”

Chapter Twenty

BROOK

Putting on my boots by the front door, I can’t help but sneak a peek at the sleeping form on the couch in the living room. The empty bottle of vodka left forgotten on the floor by the couch.

It couldn’t be… could it? She wouldn’t be so crazy as to blackmail…

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I get to my feet.

No matter how much I tried to play it off, Max’s question has been haunting me since last night. Was he right? We barely got a glimpse of the guy. I tried to patch those little pieces of the man leaving my building and fighting with Josephine with the guy from the hockey game a few weeks back, but seriously, it could have been any other tall, well-dressed man. Still, I made Max promise not to say anything about this to anybody.

She wouldn’t be blackmailing someone as high profile as Andrew’s father.

But of course, she would. Josephine would blackmail the president of the United States of America if she thought she would get what she needs and could get away with it. The only question is, what does she have on him?

I would have confronted her, but when I got to our apartment, it was empty. Josephine must have slipped out soon after the man left. It’s not like I could have done anything about it. I had to make sure that Max wouldn’t say a word about this to anybody. I never talked about my life for a reason, and I wasn’t about to start now.

Giving passed-out Josephine one final look, I put on my jacket and scarf and walk out. There is no sense in trying to wake her up now, and I have more pressing things to do. Figuring out what the hell my mother is up to will have to wait. I can only hope it’s not too late once I get a chance to face her.

* * *

“So I was thinking that for Christmas we could…” Lia loops her arm with mine as we walk down the busy school hallway. Or in Lia’s case, skip. Yes, she actuallyskips. Lia is a Mrs. Claus to my Grinch.

You can feel the holiday vibe in the air, and with classes wrapping up next week, Lia’s buzzing with energy and now I have to break her bubble.

“Ehh…” I cringe. “I don’t think I’ll make it this year.”

She stops in her tracks, pulling me to a halt too. My shoulder, the same one Max tugged yesterday, aches in protest, making me grimace. Do they really want to pull out my arm or what?

“What do you mean, you’re not going to make it this year?” Lia frowns in confusion.

Tugging my hand out of her hold, I rub at the sore spot. “I’ll be busy.”

Brown eyes narrow at me. “Doing what exactly? It’s Christmas!”

“Well…” I start, but Lia doesn’t let me finish.

“Is this about Derek and his dad? Because if it is, stop it. You’re family, Brook. Youhaveto be there. Mom and Dad are expecting you.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with Derek and his dad.” I sigh. This is harder than I expected.

Both of Derek’s parents work at the hospital, and this year his mom has to work during the holidays. They had their own Christmas celebration earlier and invited Lia to join them, so of course, Lia’s parents extended the invitation to Derek and his dad to join them on the actual holiday. I was happy for her. Lia and Derek haven’t been together that long, but they are serious. Everybody can see that, even their parents. If spending holidays together doesn’t scream “serious,” I don’t know what does. And no matter how much Lia insists that I’m family, I don’t want to intrude, not on something like this.

“Then what is it?” Lia’s shoulders slump. “It has to be something. Did I do…?”

“You didn’t do anything.” I step closer, putting my hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “There is a lot going on…”

“Like what?” Brown eyes plead with me to open up and tell her something, anything really. Swallowing the lump that formed in my throat, I shake my head.

“Just stuff.”

“Brook, if you’re in some kind of trouble…”

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