Page 127 of Degradation
I burst into Pete’s room and have him by the throat up against the wall before he can do much more than blink. His face is still a mess from Mav’s beating, and I can’t help my smirk.
The idiot struggles under my arm at first but quickly goes limp when I put pressure on his windpipe.
‘What do you want?’ he rasps.
‘I heard about the spreadsheet,’ I snarl, and I’m gratified by the fear in his eyes. ‘So, you knew it didn’t come from us.’
His head jerks up and down a little. ‘It was Marcus. All the way.’
‘That was easy. You’re selling him out this quickly?’ I push on his throat a little more. ‘That’s disappointing. I thought I’d get to break something.’
He pulls my arm down and I let him go, stepping back.
‘Jesus! Fuck, Blake! I grew up down the street from you. We used to play together. I’m here on scholarship, same as you, and I’m real close to losing everything because of all that bullshit at Halloween. I don’t have my grant, and my mom is gonna kill me! I don’t need this shit. It’s okay for Marcus and fucking Rob. They have money. Their families have money. Their problems can go away if their daddies want them to, but not mine.’
‘Tell me what I want to know, then. Why is Marcus so interested in Daisy? He didn’t even know her before she got here.’
‘I don’t know.’
I lunge forward and he cringes back, slamming himself into the wall.
‘I don’t know! Really. I...’ He shrugs, his eyes pleading. ‘He was told to make things hard for her.’
‘Who told him?’ I snarl.
‘I think it was something to do with the Novelles.’
No way it was Shade.
‘Why would the Novelles want to make things hard for her?’ I say through my clenched jaw. ‘Sheisa Novelle!’
‘He never said, and I never asked!’ Pete swallows hard. ‘But he was smug about it. Sure of himself. Like there was something else going on and I... I don’t know for sure, but…’
‘You think John Novelle told him to do it?’ I ask when he trials off.
‘Yeah. Marcus... You know all those rich assholes are in each other’s pockets. He had a meeting in September. He didn’t tell us with who, but... A guy like Marcus, you gotta stay one step ahead. So, I followed him. He went to some ritzy restaurant inniceRichmond. He met Novelle there for lunch. Marcus’ brother and his dad were there, too. I saw them.’
My eyes narrow. ‘That doesn’t make sense. John Novelle is a petty bastard, but he’s not going to waste effort making his step kid miserable. He literally has a thousand better things to do with his time. And he brought her back here. He decided she’d be staying. It doesn’t make sense.’
‘Look, Blake, what happened on Halloween. It just got out of hand. Marcus said?—’
I punch Pete square in the face, rebreaking his nose with a sickening crunch. He squeals, falling to all fours, blood dripping down and staining the beige carpet.
‘Fuck! My nose!’ he yowls.
‘It’s Captain to you,’ I say.
I lean in close. ‘Your mom was a great lady, Pete. That’s the only reason you’re still here. Better start making better alliances or Marcus and Rob are gonna take you down with them when their boat starts sinking. I’d keep it to yourself that I was here, too.’
I see him nod.
‘Great. See you later, buddy.’
I leave his room quietly and make my way back across the house with a pep in my step though it falters a little when I think about John Novelle and the reasons he might have for tormenting his stepdaughter. Why does he hate her so much? And why bring Marcus in? That isn’t like Shade’s father at all. He keeps his cards very close, and he doesn’t trust outsiders.
I wonder if he could be behind the notes Daisy’s been getting, and the infiltration of the security system. He easily has the resources. But, again, why? Despite everything else that’s going on, we need to tell Shade and Mav everything. I know that. He and Daisy are going to that happy family dinner on Friday and I’m thinking they probably shouldn’t go in blind. I have a bad feeling that it’s some kind of trap.
I sneak into Daisy’s room and find her sound asleep. Sighing, I brush her hair back from her face gently.
