Page 24 of Provocation
‘At your dad’s when you were speaking to Marcus. You said that everything had been a test. What did that mean?’
Her question sounds casual, but it’s anything but. There’s fear in her eyes. Jesus, does she think I was part of it?
I go to her and resist the urge to touch her, hold her. She won’t want me to do that while she’s not sure what’s happening.
‘Marcus told the pledges to mess with you. He said it was part of the hazing. We didn’t know about it until a couple of the guys told us the day you went to the Medical Center.’
‘Mess with me?’
‘Yeah.’ My teeth clench together. ‘Some of the same stuff we did, but they had a spreadsheet with a points system. Say things to you, call you names, and follow you around. That kind of thing.’
I wince because some of it sounds a lot like what we did to her, but she doesn’t say anything about the correlations if she is thinking about them.
‘Maybe they were even behind the car that almost hit you,’ I say and she seems to consider.
‘That could be true,’ she allows. ‘It hasn’t been alluded to in the notes. Usually the stalker says something in writing about what he’s done just afterward, but he hasn’t mentioned anything about the car. Maybe it wasn’t him, after all.’
‘It’s possible. I think Marcus had been told to push you,’ I continue, ‘make things difficult for you. To see if you’d crack.’
‘Like I did with Larson,’ she says quietly.
‘Yeah, I think so. I think the Bandervilles… Despite my father keeping it under wraps, everyone in the Novelle social circles heard what happened with Larson. They were making sure their son wasn’t marrying an embarrassment. They were making sure you were cured.’
‘Cured.’ She nods slowly. ‘Too bad I passed their test, huh.’
I can’t help it. I take her hand now.
‘Daisy,’ I say carefully. ‘If you had failed, you’d be back in England now.’
Her shiver is almost undetectable, but it’s there. ‘I take it back, then.’
She looks up at me. ‘How long do you think this was being planned?’
I shrug. ‘I don’t know, but, knowing Pop, a while. Years.’
‘Mrs. Tremaine,’ she whispers, looking away and frowning as she considers something.
‘Who?’
‘She was like…a governess, or something. She’d come to The Heath every other day. She made me learn etiquette and poise, had me walk around with a book on my head and practice walking in heels. I had to get in and out of cars a certain way. Things like that.’
‘When did that start?’ I ask with a frown.
‘About five years ago.’
‘Five years. Yeah, it’s likely she was hired when they first struck a deal.’ I let out a breath. ‘I’m sorry. We aren’t going to let this happen.’
‘What do you know about the Bandervilles?’ she asks, sounding almost robot-like.
But her fingers tighten around mine just a little.
I hold in my wince. I don’t want to tell her about what Blake sent me this morning. I think even the tip of the iceberg will terrify her, but she deserves to know.
‘Only rumors. Their women are trotted out for parties and social events. They aren’t allowed to be educated past high school. Marcus and Joe have a younger sister. Elizabeth. She graduated Birchmore Academy a couple years ago, but she’s rarely seen outside of the usual galas and parties. The mother, Martha, barely even goes to those except when it’s necessary. Banderville is trying to get his daughter married off, but Joe keeps vetoing the matches.’
‘And Joe? What do you know about him?’
I lean against the table. ‘Not much. He’s in his thirties, so no one I knew went to school with him. Publicly, he takes care of thirty percent of the Banderville holdings in preparation for Joseph’s retirement. Privately…’ I hesitate.
