Tiny Dark Deeds: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Court Legacy Book 3)

Dorian

“Yeah, I can get you what you need.” Thatcher swiveled around in the computer chair, legs stamped out, fingers folded. He opened his hands. “But why are you asking me to.”

Hacking into any database wasn’t a thing for my friend, not at his level of technological experience. Knowing the ins and outs of how online security worked from his dad’s security company gave him that, so getting access to a few digital records wouldn’t be an issue.

But of course, that wasn’t why he was looking at me the way he was now.

Pushing the sleeves of my academy jacket up, I leaned forward. “You and I both know justice hasn’t been served.” I nodded. “I need to know any and all players involved in Noa’s case.”

I was aware the parents were conducting their own investigations surrounding Sloane’s kidnapping. They could do that, and what I was doing wouldn’t interfere with it. I just needed my own answers.

I needed my own closure.

Thatcher shifted weight between his feet, his chair moving. I’d caught him and the tech lab in a rare moment where either him or Wells weren’t boning a chick. In Wells’s case, I usually caught him with dudes more. He’d been hooking up with a couple teammates recently, guys who were closeted and weren’t as in touch with their sexuality as himself. I was pretty sure his hookups both knew about the other, but who knew. Thatcher and Wells tended to go through them, Ares too but not as of late. He’d had his mind on other things.

Gone, obviously, were those days for me, long gone, and I got nothing but Thatcher’s sigh in front of me.

“And what will that do for you besides drive you fucking crazing?” He had his jacket draped over the computer desk, and he pushed his arms through it. Leaving the collar popped, he crossed his arms. “I think you’re channeling, my guy. Things are fucking shit right now, and you’re needing something to control.”

My friend thought he knew me, didn’t he?

Thatcher frowned. “Of course, I can get you Sloane’s adoption records.” Thatcher clicked around, putting the monitor in front of him to sleep. “I can, but I don’t see the point.”

He didn’t see one, but I did.

“I mean, what are you going to do?” he asked. “Hunt every fucker down that had anything to do with Sloane’s kidnapping? It’s crazy.”

I didn’t ask for his opinion, and what I did or did not do with the records had nothing to do with him. “I need to know who was involved in this. You can’t just adopt a kid who’s been kidnapped without knowing a few people.” And if those people were out there, they needed to be found. “Noa deserves justice.”

“Yeah, she does. I agree.” He threw fingers through the dark wave that normally fell over his eyes. He let go, and it sprung back, earrings in both his ears today. “But we both know that’s not what this is about. You’re going stir-fucking-crazy because you haven’t talked to her, and now, you’re asking me to do shit I don’t want to do.”

I didn’t like what he had to say.

I didn’t like even more that he was right.

I hadn’t talked to Sloane, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want to. She had so much more shit to deal with right now, and as far as us… us…

I needed this right now, and I needed him to help me. I needed to feel fucking useful for once instead of the fuck up I was and continued to be in her life. “I need less of your opinions right now and more of your help.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head, expelling a harsh breath. “I’ll get you what you need by the end of the day.”

Good.

“But I think you should at least talk to Sloane about this.” He grabbed his bag off the desk, standing up. “These are her records you’re looking into, and this secret shit isn’t looking good on any of us.”

He would know, wouldn’t he? And though I hadn’t killed him for what he’d done, I still wasn’t happy about it. I started to say that, but then the door opened, and my buddy angled around.

We weren’t alone anymore.

“Thatcher?” A head eased into the lab, a body following. It wasn’t rare for girls to just find their way in here. This entire school knew what Legacy got up to behind these walls, and often, they just wanted to get in on it. Another hookup in here be damned.

That wasn’t the case today, and I got up, two things hitting me. One, I was glad we hadn’t been disrupted like a second earlier.

I was already in hot water with her.

And two, no matter how many times I saw the little fighter and was around her and breathing her air, it never ever got any easier to be around her. We’d eaten at the same dinner table multiple nights this week, and I still felt my insides crumble every time. I couldn’t touch her, hold her…

Sloane hadn’t known I was in here with Thatcher, because when she spotted us both, she nearly backed up. She’d started school again with her brother this week. Ramses and Brielle hadn’t wanted them to get behind, but they had given them an option for homeschooling.

The two obviously hadn’t taken it, and her brother was somewhere on campus too. It’d been an adjustment for them, and I think everyone else at the school. Especially since security had been amped up to help with the press.

Brielle was still here too, acting headmaster until she or any of the adults saw differently. From what I’d heard, the school had hired another headmaster, but they were on standby. We were all obviously making accommodations here.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she started, flustered. She tugged up the sleeves of the big Windsor Prep hoodie she wore, the thing covering her down to her thighs. If I had it my way, she’d wear nothing but those fucking hoodies that ate her up, making her look small and reminding me of how she’d looked in my clothes. I’d given her stuff to wear at Wolf’s party one time and nearly nutted myself. “I didn’t know you were busy. I just wanted to talk to you for a second.”

Her sight fell on me, and Thatcher came forward. I think we were both thrown to see her. Especially that him being here had brought her to the lab. “What’s up?”

He looked at me after he said it, and Sloane apparently decided retreating was pointless. We’d both seen her, and she acknowledged me with a nod when she came in, but I think only to be polite.

How had I let shit get so fucked up?

“I guess I heard that you got in trouble,” she led in with. She glanced at me. “With your dad and keeping what you knew about Bru and me a secret.”

Of course, I’d told her this, and Thatcher rubbed his neck.

“Nah, it’s okay,” he passed off. His hair sprung back after he passed a hand over it again. “My dad’s cool. He just needs some time.”

Yeah, he was really passing shit off. From what I’d heard, my buddy wasn’t only grounded but my god dad was getting him in the boxing ring again. They never spared themselves, but Knight beating the shit out of a trainer three times a week was enough to keep anyone from wanting to fuck up again.

“Even still.” Sloane put her hands together. “I wanted to say sorry again and ask if there’s anything I could do? I could talk to him if that helps.” She sighed. “I just feel bad. You were only trying to help me.”

I shouldn’t be surprised she was offering this. Not with what I knew about her. This was Sloane, the little fighter, the protector.

I rubbed my hands, and Thatcher raised his.

“Seriously, it’s fine,” he said. “My dad’s intense, but with a little bit of time, things will level out.”

A hint of hope touched my buddy’s voice, but he was right. My god dad burned hot, but when it came to his kids, his wife, and the rest of us, he had a soft spot. All our dads did, and his was no exception.

“Okay.” Sloane worked her hands, her nod quick before she bowed out. Thatcher looked at me after, and before I could change my mind, I entered the hall after her.

“Sloane?” She whirled around, and I stopped in front of her. “Can I walk you back to class?” I didn’t want my friend to be right about something, but he was.

The lies had gotten us nowhere.

It had Sloane analyzing me with resistance, hesitance. She folded her arms. “Why?”

It had her asking me that.

“Wanted to ask you something,” I said, honest. She had her free period right now, so it’d be a good time. “Do you mind? It won’t take long.”

Please say yes.

Her chin lifted, but when she nodded, I said a silent prayer. Together, we headed off, but we didn’t do so alone.

About half a dozen security was in the hall with us, men and women from campus staff yeah, but others too. I recognized the private security firm that was working for our families.

They had probably followed her all the way over to the tech lab.

A lot had changed since Sloane came back, and added security had been one of those things. I was sure she believed it was just for the press, and the families were leading all us kids to believe that too. They wanted to keep us safe and from the prying eyes of the world, but there were also other things here. They still didn’t trust my grandfather, and I knew for a fact they didn’t want him around Sloane or her brother. I’d heard he stepped back and had no plans to interfere in their lives, but that didn’t matter. They didn’t want him around them, me, or any of us, and the short alliance they’d had with him seemed to be one of the past.

I wasn’t in a position to argue with them, nor to find their concerns unfounded. My grandfather very well could be being honest about his role in the Sloane kids’ lives, but I was the last one to give a shit about that. I wanted him away from them too, from her.

Garret and Harrison, two of the families’ security, nodded at Sloane and me. None of the security was supposed to impose on our lives, but that didn’t mean any of them were giving us any privacy.

“You wanted to ask something?” Sloane pretended not to notice, a few paces ahead of me. She had her hands in her hoodie, but she couldn’t not notice when a member of security waved at her. She waved back, pleasant about it, but I could tell it unnerved her. All this shit was a fucking lot.

We rounded a corner. “This security shit is just the parents,” I said, tipping my chin to some of them. “Maybe there won’t be as many when the press lets up.”

I hoped there wouldn’t be, but again, who knew. As far as I knew, my grandfather was still in town, and until he wasn’t, I didn’t think a lot of things were changing.

Sloane acknowledged this, her head bobbing once, but when we cut another corner, I pressed a hand to the wall. This made her stop too, and I got a full blast of those fucking cookies. I didn’t know if she wore that scent in her hair or if it was her damn fabric-softener sheets. I just knew I loved it, would kill for it. “How have you been?” I didn’t mean to ask her that and definitely had no right to ask her that. I tucked my hands in my pockets. “Everything at home with Ramses and Brielle okay?”

I’d been there pretty much every night, but I wasn’t with them every waking moment. I wasn’t supposed to be. They needed their time.

Just breathe. It’s the right thing, right for them and her.

In my own mental headspace, Sloane eased out of the one she shared with me. Her butt touched the wall, her hands behind her. She shrugged. “We’re all adjusting.”

She was like a shell of the person she’d been before she’d left, my little fighter still in there but so far away. I leaned closer, but more security strode through the hall, and she gave me cheek. Motherfuckers.

I backed off then, and the way Sloane’s breath expelled, this seemed to be desired. She crossed her arms. “What do you want, Prinze?”

A dagger couldn’t have cut deeper. She’d definitely sounded like Bru when she said that. “I guess I just wanted to ask your permission about something.” More security came through, and I gave them my back. Just because they weren’t to interfere with our lives didn’t mean they weren’t snitches. Eyes for our parents. I had no intention to keep what I was looking into from them, but I at least wanted to talk to Sloane about it first. I angled in her direction. “I’m asking Thatcher to look into your adoption. Your records specifically.”

“Why?”

“Because there are other people in all this.” My lips turned down. “Lawyers, caseworkers, who knows. I’m sure Godfrey needed help to cover up a kidnapping.”

Her expression pinched at the name, and I hated that shit, that the name held so much power over her. If that prick who had taken her wasn’t dead, I’d kill him myself. “I’m sure he did, but why are you looking into it?”

“Because someone needs to.” My jaw shifted. “Now, I don’t know what the parents are doing, but whatever it is, what I’m doing won’t interfere.” I got close. “I just want your blessing. I’m not going to sneak around, and me looking might not even result in anything.” I forced out a breath. “But if I do find something, I’ll give it to the parents. Anything I find I’ll give to them.”

She said nothing, blinking. She glanced away. “Why are you even asking me? You don’t ask.”

She laughed a little when she said it, a sad, choked laugh. It broke my fucking heart, a million goddamn pieces at our feet. I’d done this shit to her.

I’d done so much shit.

I had once told her we were perfect, that in our flaws we were magic, and she was wrong that we shouldn’t be together. I still believed that, but I was hanging on by a thread. I kept fucking hurting her, and her being in pain was destroying me.

“You do whatever you want,” she said, easing away from me. Her fingertips bunched the sleeves of her oversize hoodie, her head shaking when she walked away.

I took a step. “It wasn’t about you.” She stopped, her head turning, her back straight. I took another step. “Me not telling you about my grandfather? It wasn’t about you. Never was.”

This was the truth, my issues with him and lack of faith in her had nothing to actually do with her. It was something I’d always known, and even if I wasn’t in therapy, it didn’t matter. I always had the answer, and it’d never been her.

I crossed the hallway over to her, coming around. She wouldn’t look at me, but I didn’t fucking care. “My grandfather is a psychopath. He was before I was born, and even if he claims not to be one now, he was back then, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s enough for me to never trust him.”

I hadn’t even talked to my therapist about this shit.

I didn’t care, and she was going to listen to me here today. She needed to hear this, my truth. “My hate for him, my distrust, was never about you. It’s not, because you are perfect.” I closed space, and her head lifted. “You’re goddamn beautiful, Sloane. You’re gorgeous, and it was never about you. It was always about me, because you are perfect and you always have been.”

She was like fucking light, air and the heaven to my darkness.

The ease to my pain.

She was everything wrapped into one, and if I’d listened to that for a goddamn second, we wouldn’t even be talking about this right now.

I wouldn’t be bringing her to tears.

The chirp in the hallway was deafening, walkie-talkies. Security stopped as Sloane pressed shaky fingers under her eyes.

“I need to go,” she said, more than aware of the eyes on her. “I don’t care if you look into my adoption. I just need to go.”

She just about clipped a security woman on her way out, and the woman extended a hand to her. She asked her if Sloane was okay, but Sloane merely waved her off. My little fighter left, stalking away.

She was always so good at running from me.