Page 157 of Unwritten Rules

“I’ll take that as a yes. Come sit your cute ass at the table.” I dished up what Reaper brought back and set out the toppings for her.

He nodded in the direction of the backyard. Great hinting skills, that one.

I closed the door behind us and looked back at her looking longingly at the table. Maybe she’d eat something. She also might throw up again.

“I followed that friend of hers.”

“And?”

“I don’t want to give any definitive statements, but she’s Wilders’ daughter. You tell me.”

“They’re the ones responsible for a lot of trouble over the last decade. They do what we do at a high level. What’s to say they didn’t plant her in Fallon’s life? Everyone knew Maria was sick and it would be a perfectly executed plan to keep tabs on her. It doesn’t make sense how it fits in with her aunt, though.”

He shook his head and sat in a chair. “Many things can be true at the same time. What we need to know are the intentions of people. She met with the Whitmore girl, and I broke off from there to see her meeting with the Fitzgerald boy.”

“What do Kelly, Sloane, and Alexander all have in common?” I mused, wracking my brain for a centralized connection. “I know multiple families would want to see ours go down, but what is their play? Sylvia is trying to take over Montgomery Group and just fucked over Jason Haines. There are other pieces to the puzzle that I’m just not seeing.”

Messing with the zipper on his jacket, he seemed to be done with the conversation. He was never one for a long conversation—unless there was action, Reaper got bored quickly.

Sylvia fucked over Jason—which he deserved. She took everything from him, and I needed to know how she did that.

“We’re going to have to talk to Jason for his side of the story.”

“Mr. Vaughn is going to hate that idea.”

“No word about Wilder to Fallon. She’s fucked up enough as is.”

He made a zipper motion with his hands over his mouth and made his way back into the house where Fallon found her way to the table.Good girl.

“This is coconut,” she said. “It’s one of my favorites. Thanks, Reaper.”

He sat down next to her. “If it wasn’t, I would be back there now blowing up the place for giving me the wrong flavor.”

I should have given him more direct orders to not freak her out in general.

I watched her sift through the toppings, memorizing what she chose to learn more about her in a non-creepy way. Simple observation. She liked sprinkles, cookie dough bits, and peanut butter chunks. She ate carefully, watching the two of us sitting at the table with her.

“Are you two going to join me or am I supposed to eat this all by myself?” She cocked an eyebrow at me, a glimpse of her coming back out of her depressed shell.

Grabbing my own, I dished up the same thing she did. I wanted to test the flavor combinations.

“I think I need to leave my hole,” she sighed.

Thank God. She was starting to leave a large dent in that chair.

“You also asked about how to kill people.” I pulled the spoon out of my mouth and pointed it in her direction. “How are you supposed to do that from your chair?”

“Don’t antagonize me, Vaughn. My best friend is missing, the world is on fire, and I can’t keep my stomach out of my mouth. Have some empathy.” Her blue eyes lit up while she ripped into me, and I relished in it. The spark behind her eyes would come back eventually. She took another bite, and I could see the sass re-enter her body.

“Don’t hate me ‘cause it’s true.” I flashed a smile at her, and she looked like she wanted to throw something at me.

Good. Get feisty.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“But I’myourasshole.”

“No. You’re my...associate.”

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