Page 34 of Framed

His lips twitched, but his stare remained hard. “Briggs sent me to deliver a message.”

Fucking Briggs. “Please, do tell, all-mighty savior.” The bite in my tone was audible even to my own ears.

“Still the same smart-mouthed motherfucker, I see,” he muttered, sounding amused and then irritated that he wasn’t able to mask the amusement.

Until my dying breath.“Are you going to tell me what he said or are you going to stand here lookin’ pretty? Some of us need actual sleep.”

His eyes flashed once again and his lips twitched, but his hardened mask remained in place. “He said not to let the safe out of your sight.”

No…

I stared at him. My brain was still processing the words. The air that slowly made its way back into my chest gave me a headrush. “Are you sure that’s what he said?”No… he couldn’t. Could he?

His brows snapped together. He was now looking at me as if I had grown two heads. “Positive. What does that mean, Scarlett? What safe?” He said my name in a way that made my heart thump a little harder, in that way he only could.

Briggs knew. Why else would he tell me that? The warning couldn’t have been about my mother’s heirloom. It was worth a few hundred thousand, but that was pocket change for the students here.

No, he had to be referring to the notes.

Briggs knew about the notes.

“Get out,” I whispered, an empty feeling in my chest burning. It felt like the ground was slipping from under my feet. I needed to get a grip on reality—I needed that but I couldn’t. It was as if I was driving on a slippery road without traction control. My tires were losing grip on the wet road with every passing second.

“What safe, Scarlett?”

I couldn’t tell him. A part of me still couldn’t face the truth. It was like a slap to the face.

For whatever reason, I still felt obligated to look out for him.

To protect him by heeding the warning ofthatone note from long ago.

He can’t be here right now. I was dangerously close to losing my shit and I refused to let him witness it.

Xavier reached out and for a second, I thought he was going to grab me, but he stopped himself. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and took a sizable step backward.

I needed him out. Now.

“Get the fuck out,” I said, louder this time, harsher. It must have been louder than I imagined because Winter appeared at the door with an accusatory look pointed in Xavier’s direction. Her gaze oscillated between the two of us.

“What did you do?” Winter demanded.

“Get him out of here,” I said.

Winter’s blazing green eyes snapped to mine. I probably looked crazy—it was only moments ago that I requested she give us a moment alone. But she didn’t comment, didn’t ask, didn’t say anything else as Xavier allowed her to push him out of the room. She shut my door behind them with a soft click.

I exhaled a long breath and for the first time in four years, I did the thing I swore I wouldn’t do. I walked over to the closet and shifted my hanging clothes to the side. My hand padded behind the shelf until I pulled out the small black safe. With shaky fingers, I typed in the code and heard a soft click as the door opened. I hesitated, unsure if I should even do this, but ultimately I decided it was time.

With a sense of determination, I grabbed the notes and splayed them out on the hardwood floor.

It was time to take a walk down memory lane.

chapter fourteen

Xavier

FromthefirstmomentI saw Scarlett, I knew she would be trouble. We passed her house on the way into town, Dad driving me to his house after custody officially passed to him, with my mother gone.

I’d been a mess that day, all nerves and grief. I didn’t want a new life. I didn’t want to move. I wanted my mother; I wanted my home; I wanted to be going back to the same school I’d gone my entire life so far, where my best friend Tucker would be waiting for me by the gym.

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