That’s a better indication that Xander still wants Donnelly to be his bodyguard. I nod to Banks while I tell Price, “It’s not your decision on what happens to my men. It’s going to come down to the clients. It always does, and if Xander wants—”
“What about his father?” Price interjects. “You really think Loren Hale will want Donnelly on his detail after tonight?”
“I’m not going to assume shit, Price. You haven’t talked to Loren. I haven’t talked to Loren. And if your men can’t be professional with Donnelly and my bodyguards, then that’s on you.” I’m boiling, but I keep my voice leveled, and before he tries to interject, I add, “I have calls to make. You need something, contact Thatcher.”
I hang up and dial a new number.
Sorry, Thatcher.
But I have to delegate, and Price’s venting is a waste of my time. It’s also a waste of Thatcher’s, but his single-word responses will have Price clicking end call faster than if he were talking to me.
Sulli slumps down against the boulder. No longer watching Team Apex as she listens to her sister rehash the drama. How is Winona even involved?
Confusion grows on my end. As I put my phone back to my ear, I peer over the rock again. No new movement.
Banks blows smoke behind his shoulder, then keeps hawk-eyed on our rivalry with the other climbers.
The line clicks. “What’s up, boss?” I hear whassup. Not only is his South Philly accent thicker than Banks’, but he sounds in a rush right now.
“Hey, Donnelly. We need to talk about what happened quickly. Are you still at the Hale house?” I look more at Sulli than Team Apex since Banks has eyes on them.
She whispers, “But you’re alright, squirt?”
Donnelly says hurried, “No, I’m off-duty. Already told Thatcher. I left the gated neighborhood about fifteen minutes ago. Is this about Price? I dunno what his beef is, boss, but he looked at me like I committed murder.”
“What happened?”
“I was on-duty, you know. Just protecting Xander at the Hale house.” No other client really requests bodyguards to go on-duty in the gated neighborhood, except Xander. I listen as Donnelly continues, “And he’d been outside near the pool talking to Ben.” Talking sounds like tawking. “They were arguing because Xander wants to enroll in Dalton Academy after Christmas break, and Ben thinks it’s a bad idea.”
Shock stiffens my joints.
Xander has always been homeschooled.
“He told Ben he feels confident about it. Ben is just worried about him. He thinks he’d get peer-pressured. But they got heated since Xander wants to at least try and Ben isn’t letting him do that,” Donnelly pants like he’s jogging.
Now I’m worried about him. “What are you doing, Donnelly?”
“Trying to beat the PPA.” He grunts in a sprint. “I only had enough quarters for seven minutes, and I parked four blocks away to go grab a hoagie.”
The PPA is Pennsylvania Parking Authority.
He rushes to say more. “And then Ben brought up what happened with Kinney at school. When he said that something like that could happen to Xander—Xander got upset.”
I’m surprised he knows about the Kinney Hale incident at school. It happened months ago. But as the head of security, her parents gave me all the details. I even learned that Kinney told the Rainbow Brigade first.
Don’t know how Ben or Xander found out, but I’m guessing Kinney told more people. It’s mostly likely that Donnelly was in the room when she confided in Xander. Because clearly Donnelly’s not asking me what happened to Kinney.
He continues, “Once Ben and Xander got closer to each other, Xander gave me a look.”
“What kind of look?” I ask.
Banks glances at me, interested in my call because of Xander. And if we weren’t trying to keep hidden from Team Apex, I would let him listen.
“Like back me up,” Donnelly pants. “And I know we’re supposed to stay out of family stuff, but you shoulda seen him, man. And all I did was step between them. Ben wobbled backwards. I didn’t touch him, I promise. He’s six-five and looked unbalanced, and I felt bad the moment he fell in. I startled Bambi, but I didn’t touch him. I tried to help him out of the pool, but Price came in and acted like I was some…” He trails off. “I didn’t touch him.”
I’m irate. That Price would make Donnelly feel like a fucking axe murderer. “Hey, I believe you. You’re not in trouble. Just log in your account of the event, send it to Thatcher. We’ll have a security meeting when SFO is all back together.”
“Sure thing.” He inhales a sudden sharp breath. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“You get a ticket?”
“Yeah. Parking restrictions ended only three minutes ago.” The car beeps over the line. “Got a hundred-dollar hoagie in my hand.” He’s referring to the cost of the fine.
“Kitsuwon Securities will pay for the ticket,” I tell him, even though my company will be in a deficit the more I throw cash around. Hiring Michael Moretti wasn’t cheap.
“Nah, I’m off-duty. I got it.”
“You’re driving a security vehicle.” I watch as Sulli starts saying goodbye to her sister.
“Farrow let me borrow his Audi while he’s gone. That’s what I’m in now.”
He should pay the fine then. But I’m uneasy about it.
I’ve noticed that Donnelly has been tattooing more while he’s off-duty. He’s even brought some of his tattoo clients to the apartment. And I’m not positive what he’s blowing his money on.
Right now, he sounds like he has enough to cover the fine, so I don’t argue with him.
Once we hang up, I tell Banks, “Xander’s okay.”
His shoulders ease.
Sulli ends her call with Winona and rotates towards the boulder. “Have they moved?”
“Still warmin’ their cold hearts,” Banks mumbles, cigarette between his lips. Yeah, sure enough, they’re all just gathered around the fire. Still chatting.
Still laughing.
Their vocal happiness is almost as infuriating and grating as my talk with Price. Like five sets of nails scraping a chalkboard.
I pocket my phone. “Is Nona okay?”
“No.” Sulli winces, looking between us, her voice grows hot as she tries to whisper, “She punched some fucking bastard in the hallway at school, and she won’t tell me why. Just that he did something disgusting. She said that she can’t explain more because Kinney told her in confidence or something.”
Shit.
I go cold.
The incident at school—Kinney must’ve also told the girl squad.
“You know what happened?” Sulli realizes off my expression.
I nod, and I’m going to tell them. From my angle, the guy involved is a security threat, and if Xander really does go back to school, I’ll need to tell the rest of SFO: Quinn, Banks, Thatcher. And I can see everyone finding out and Sulli being the only one in the dark.
She’s the last to know a lot of things with her family, and I have the power to change that.
Quietly, I explain, “At Dalton, a guy followed Kinney into an art supply closet and showed his dick to her. He pressured her to touch his penis to prove that she’s a lesbian.”