Page 21 of Sinful Storms

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense. Did he ever mention him? Even something small?” My voice grew quiet. “I don’t know anything about him, and I-I’d like to know more about my family.”

My godfather placed his cigar in the ashtray, rubbing at his mouth. “He liked to row. Never made it onto the rowing team, though. You…you must understand, Aria. In their day, scholarship students were looked down upon. Even those who didn’t have the right family name… Well, he had two strikes against him from the beginning.”

“That’s still the same now,” I muttered, and it was, in a way. We still had the elite, led by the three gods, and two of those three had been designated as gods purely because oftheir family names. Although…I guessed the elite wasn’t quite so discriminatory these days. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know much else. He…he was very studious. Tutored one or two of the students, I believe. I’m afraid I can’t tell you more than that. As I said, they moved in different circles, and my father wouldn’t have interacted with him much.”

“Who did he tutor?”

“I don’t know.” He reached over, patting my knee. “I’m sorry, Aria. I wish I had more to tell you, but perhaps it’s best that the past remains in the past.”

“I agree.” Jane raised her glass again. “The past should remain in the past. It doesn’t do any good to look back on things that can’t be changed. Look forward to your bright future instead.”

Defeated, I slumped back in my seat, ignoring Tristan’s frown.

11

TRISTAN

“Did we have to meet here? You know I hate being around rich, pretentious assholes.” Roman gave the Nottswood Golf & Country Club terrace a sweeping, disdainful look as he took a seat at the table I’d reserved for us.

“Says the rich, pretentious asshole whose two best friends are also rich, pretentious assholes,” Knox drawled, and Roman gave him the finger.

“Okay. Maybe you have a point. Whatever. Why are we here?”

I sat back in my seat, eyeing my two best friends from behind my aviators. “We’re here because I found something, and I wondered if either of you could shed some light on it. Ro, probably not so much you—no offence—but your girlfriend might have some information. Although…I think it would be best if you could ask her discreetly and keep it to yourselves for now. I don’t want Aria getting wind of it. She’ll just give me shit, and she’s already enough of a pain in my ass.”

“I have no fucking clue what you just said. You want me to ask my girlfriend what?”

Knox drummed his fingers on the table. “Explain.”

As quickly and succinctly as I could, I told them about the box, and where I’d found it, and Aria’s questions last night.

When I was finished, Knox raised a brow. “You think this is suspicious? She probably just wants to find out more about her family.”

“Yeah, but why was the box hidden under the floorboards?” Roman mused. “What was in the journal?”

“Oh, yeah.” I’d forgotten I’d taken photos. “Here. Look at these.”

The two of them studied the images, their heads bent together.

Roman traced his finger across the words written beneath the scales on the journal’s cover. “What does this mean?In nomine iustitiae, omnia iustificata?”

“My Latin is rusty, but according to Google, it roughly translates as something like ‘in the name of justice, all things are justified.’ I’m guessing that’s what the scales are for.”

“Your Latin is rusty.” Roman rolled his eyes, and this time, I gave him the finger. He smirked at me. “So what is this? Some kind of secret society shit?”

“What?” I stared at him. Okay, the thought had crossed my mind when I’d found the box…but surely if there was a secret society, I’d know about it. My grandfather would have told my dad, who would have told me. “What makes you say that?”

“The Latin motto. The names. The secretive location. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yeah, now you mention it, that has to be it,” Knox agreed. “The ring with the crest, too. Don’t secret societies live for that kind of shit?”

“I didn’t know our school had a secret society,” I began, and Knox shook his head.

“It doesn’t. We’d know about it otherwise. We’d be running the whole fucking thing. But it looks like it did at one point.Want me to talk to my dad? See if he knows anything? If the names of both of our grandfathers are on this list, then the odds are high. Are you going to ask your dad about it?”

“I don’t know. He was acting a bit weird when Aria was asking questions last night. I don’t know if he knew something and didn’t want to say or if he just felt uncomfortable bringing up her past since her great-uncle died or whatever, but he didn’t have much to say. I might have to cut out the middleman and pay a visit to my grandfather, and that’s something I’d rather not do.” My grandfather officially had his own wing in the family mansion, but he unofficially lived with my uncle in a sprawling Cotswolds manor house. Every time I saw him, he grilled me on my future plans, my grades, how I needed to improve shit for my future prospects…it was fucking exhausting. “That ring, though. I know he has one the same. I remember seeing him wearing it.”

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