Page 56 of Sinner
“He mentioned it to all of us at the gallery showing, remember?”
Nix just wanted to be sure there wasn’t more to it. He’d never cared what Beck and West talked about before, but now… “He was sleeping with a student, and he just tried blackmailing you into being with him. He can’t be trusted.”
“I had no idea.” West scowled. “That means he knows more about Dew’s situation with Juri than he let on. Actually, we were stumped about where Dew could have gotten the Serendipity account from…Beck could have easily gained access to a few extra accounts with King status.”
“He’s good with computers?” Lake asked.
“Not as good as Nix or me,” he lifted a single shoulder, “but yeah. He also knows me well enough, he can probably work around me, in a way I wouldn’t notice. The problem is, we don’t have any way of checking this out without tipping him off.”
“Not true.” Nix pulled out the tiny device and held it up. “I copied his entire hard drive. If he’s hiding something, it should be on here.” He pulled it away when West reached for it. “We’re not done talking about this.”
“I was never going to cave to his threats,” West said. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t bothering me. I’m embarrassed I didn’t notice something was off about him sooner, and a part of me can’t help but feel like my father was right about me all this time. Maybe I really am just a block in Lake’s path to the throne.”
“Insecurities?” Lake clicked his tongue. “That’s unbecoming.”
“I don’t tease you about your daddy issues,” West snapped.
“Demitrious is a control freak and a sadist. He pits us against each other because he gets off on it, not because there’s any merit to his words. You’re no worse or better than I am, and I definitely won’t hold you accountable for Beck’s actions.”
“Beck has—”
“A lot to make up for,” Nix cut him off. “He apologized to us at the library just now. He made it sound like he regretted it.”
“And you believe him?” West asked.
“I don’t know.” Nix stared down at the device in the palm of his hand. “Maybe this will help us figure that out.” He wanted to continue to press the issue, but everything West had said made sense.
There’d always been a one-sided competition between him and Lake. Demitrious had beaten this idea into West that he would never be good enough and would only hold Lake back. Of course he feared being the cause of that after speaking with Beck.
“I don’t want you to doubt me.” West risked reaching out, grabbing onto the hem of Nix’s black shirt, holding tightly when Nix didn’t pull away. “I was trying to figure out what to say to Beck to get him to see reason. I was hoping, for the sake of our friendship, he’d back down. If I gave in to him, it would hurt you. If I didn’t, it would hurt Lake.”
“That’s more of a reason you should have told us. If it affects all of us, we all have the right to discuss it and come to a solution together.” Nix held his gaze sternly. “Swear you won’t keep anything from us again. Ever.”
“I swear.”
He could stay mad, or he could go to West’s room and get answers to the rest of the burning questions he had regarding Beck. The first would only waste time and drag out something that had pretty much been settled.
If Nix went through Beck’s things and found there was more to this, he could argue with West more then.
“I’m going to borrow your fancy computer,” he announced, and then spun on his heels and headed out of the kitchen, toward the stairs.
Whatever else Beck was hiding, he’d find it.
Then he’d decide what to do about Beck’s audacity.
Chapter 19:
Serendipity:I had fun tonight.
Wildflower:Me too. I’ve never done anything like that before.
Serendipity:Honestly, I’m surprised someone like you got involved with Engima in the first place.
Wildflower:Someone like me?
Serendipity:Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s a compliment.
Wildflower:Sure.
