Bri
After dropping the bombshell that Piers had left for school alone, I’d assumed Mr. Newsome would slink back into his office and do whatever it was he did in there. But instead, he stood, unmoving, in front of me.
I couldn’t figure out why. “What?”
“I’m not sure how you conned your way into this one, but it seems young Worthington isn’t the only one who will leave us today.”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of asking what again. There didn’t seem to be a need to do so. For whatever reason, now that he’d started, he was getting great joy in telling me everything.
“Somehow your file caught the attention of some wealthy people. They have a unique learning faculty they want you to attend. You have thirty minutes before they arrive to pick you up.”
I was completely caught off guard, and I already missed Piers so badly I ached. “What kind of learning faculty? Maybe I don’t want to go.”
Mr. Newsome growled and pinched my earlobe, hard. “It isn’t up to you. No one gives a rat’s ass what you want. Besides, they paid more to ensure you were ready to be picked up today.”
“You sold me? You can’t do that.”
He raised his hand up as if he was going to hit me, but stopped, pleased, when I cowered.
“I didn’t sell you, worthless. I’m making sure you’re ready on time for your new home.”
It sounded like the same thing until he continued, “I did, however, sell that pretty little blond piece of fluff who sleeps in the cot beside you. Her husband-to-be will pick her up tomorrow.”
Was he talking about Emma Joy? He couldn’t be. There was no way she could have a husband-to-be. Not at thirteen.
“And before you tell me I can’t do that, let me remind you, I already have.” He narrowed his eyes. “Go pack. I want you back here in ten minutes, ready to leave, and don’t talk to anyone. Disobey me, and I’ll take it out on your ass, understand?”
Knowing he wasn’t bluffing, I hurried back to my room, barely holding back the tears. I threw all my belongings into an old sack. Emma Joy was sitting on her cot, watching me with enormous eyes. I couldn’t even look at her. Once everything I owned was packed, I leaned over and whispered to her, “You need to run away before tomorrow. Trust me.”
Without looking back, I ran back down the stairs with four minutes to spare.
“Stand up straight,” Mr. Newsome said as a car pulled up the drive. “And don’t speak unless someone speaks to you first and asks a direct question.”
The Learning Academy wasn’t as bad as I feared. At least not to begin with. It was a small institution, very much like a boarding school, but we were all orphans. There were even times I would consider myself happy. But once I turned eighteen, all that changed.
In order to repay the years of room, board, and education I’d received at no charge, I was told they would require me to work for the Organization until it was determined that I had repaid my debt. Looking back, I couldn’t believe how naive I was. They had never given me anything that showed what my so-called debt was or how long it would take for me to work it off. The sad part being it never occurred to me to ask. In my mind, the Learning Academy staff, and therefore the Organization by relation, were nothing but kindhearted and benevolent people who took orphans in and gave them a chance to make something of themselves. I cringed when I thought about it later, but at the time I was proud to work for such a charitable company.
I was a docile employee, and they used it for all they could. Now, I knew they were grooming me, but at the time, I just considered it to be the normal way things worked. It wasn’t like I’d known anything else.
For their part, the Organization kept me clothed and fed and provided a place for me to stay. Eventually, I was deemed trained enough to work in the public sector. Though I held various positions over the years, all my jobs were ultimately controlled by the Organization.
One day, I started hearing Piers’s name being dropped. I recognized it immediately, but whenever I asked about him, they shut me down. Undeterred, I snuck into the main office one night to see if I could learn more. By the time I realized the room I was in was being filmed on camera, it was too late.
Once the Organization confronted me and I admitted to breaking in, which turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, I was very nearly interrogated about anything and everything I knew about Piers Worthington.
That was when the lies started and they tasked me with bringing him down.
When I finished telling him everything, I chanced a glance at Piers. All throughout my telling, I’d kept my eyes focused on my hands in my lap. I didn’t expect anything I said to ease Piers’s anger with me, but I’d be lying to say I hadn’t hoped it might thaw him a bit toward me.
One glance was all it took to see my words hadn’t thawed him a bit. If anything, his expression was more icy than when I’d started.
“You didn’t think I was going to feel bad for you after hearing everything, did you?” Without waiting for me to reply, he added, “I can’t believe all the years I spent wondering about you, worried and hoping you were doing well. It never occurred to me you were planning my demise.”
He shot me one last scathing look before turning and walking out my door.
Chapter 19
Piers
I’m not sure how long I walked around downtown Boston in a blind rage. Hell, I wasn’t even sure where I was going. I had no destination in mind. I just walked.
At first, it was the rage that I was most aware of. Anger that Bri had lied to me. Disgust at myself that I’d slept with her and thought I was falling in love with her. Bitterness that she’d never seen me as anything other than a job.
With each passing block, I was eventually able to get my emotions somewhat under control. I looked around to see if I knew where I was and recognized the neighborhood as one Mia had mentioned her and Tenor had thought about moving into. There was a small grocer at the corner of the street I was on. A few tables and chairs were set up along the sidewalk. Only one table was occupied.
I stepped inside, picked up a bottle of a locally brewed beer, and sat at one of the empty tables to enjoy it while I thought things through.
One, Mr. Newsome had lied to both me and Bri.
Two, Bri was working for a company that had it in for me.
Three, Benjamin Douglas might have ties with the same company.
Four through two million, Bri had fucking lied to me. Even worse, she’d seduced me, played me.
Involuntarily, my mind went back to our first night. Had she been laughing at me behind my back the entire time?
I gnashed my teeth.
“Piers?”
I looked up, surprised to see Mia and Tenor walking toward me. I wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone, but as they approached me, I realized that the only threat to Bachelor International was me. That was why Bri and I had found nothing in all the old files. Either there was nothing useful in them to begin with, or else she’d been able to remove it.
“What are you doing on this side of town?” Mia asked, all happiness and smiles, as always, but oblivious to my dour expression. “Mind if we join you? That beer looks good. I’ll go get us one. Have a seat, Tenor. I’ll be right back.”