Dangerous Little Secrets (Saint View High, #2)

by Elle Thorpe

“Angelique has more work than she can handle around here, and I want to free up some of her time. I need someone to keep the pool and gardens neat and tidy and to help with a few other outdoor maintenance jobs.” Banjo shook his head. “It’s okay, I already have a job, truly. I’ll be fine.” “That’s great, because this isn’t the sort of job that pays a wage. It’s a position in exchange for accommodation. We have a pool house that...

“I’m in the position to offer you a safe home. That was important to me when we took Lacey in. And it’s still important to me now. It’s yours if you want it, Banjo.”

“Notice I said you could have the pool house? Perhaps if the three of you want to have sleepovers in the future, it could be out there? Where I can’t hear you?”

“Thanks for not judging,” I said quietly, glancing over my shoulder at the boys. Neither of them paid us any attention. “And for what you did for Banjo.” “What’s to judge? Those boys worship the ground you walk on. I’m glad you’ve sorted things out. I just want you to be happy.” “I am.” “Then that’s all I care about.”

A knock at the door had Selina glancing at me curiously. “You expecting a third member of your harem?” I bit my lip because that comment immediately had me thinking of Colt. I had no idea what he and I were to each other. Enemies that made out sometimes seemed the most accurate description, but how that fit in with what Banjo, Rafe, and me had was undetermined. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to try to decipher that one.

So much gross incompetence. But it was hardly surprising with this yahoo at the head of the department.

But then the back fence shook, and fingers grasped the top edge. The top of a head appeared, then strong shoulders pushed the man up, his legs appearing next as he vaulted over, landing in a crouch on the other side. He lifted his head, and the video froze. So did my heart. I stopped breathing.

“Do any of you recognize this man?” Chief Waller asked, his gruff tone completely no-nonsense and full of impatience. Selina leaned in closer, peering at the grainy footage. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t. Lacey?”

I stared at the face on the screen. The face of the man who’d saved me from death and taken my uncle’s life. I knew. I knew his eyes. His nose. His lips. I’d kissed those lips just last night. Colt. I forced myself to speak calmly. “No, I don’t know him.” Beside me, Banjo cleared his throat. “Me neit...

I glanced at Selina who seemed as off in la-la land as I was. Her fingers trembled as she picked up her knife and fork. Did she know? Did she know I’d been making out with the man who’d murdered her husband? Had she recognized him? I wasn’t sure she’d ever met Colt. I didn’t think she had. They’d both been at my birthday party, but there’d been hundreds of people there that night. A crowd of nameless, faceless, Saint View kids who she wouldn’t have paid any attention to.

“I’m fine.” Everybody knows a woman who says she’s fine is anything but. I wasn’t fine. I doubted I’d ever be fine again.

I closed my eyes and let the memories of that night rush in. The heat. The flames. The smoke. The strong arms that held me close. Colt.

“It was him,” I said quietly. Rafe stared at me. “What are you saying? That Colt killed your uncle?” I had no idea if that was what I was saying. I had no idea about anything. Banjo shifted position on the window seat so he faced us again. “Why didn’t you identify him?” “I don’t know.”

“You do,” Banjo pushed. “Is it because you aren’t sure it was him?” I shook my head. “Then why? Why not tell Chief Waller that it’s Colt on that video?” I sucked in a deep breath, but no words came out. Rafe knelt in front of me, peering into my eyes. He studied me for a second, then swore low under his breath. “Fuck. Are you in love with him?” I blinked. “What? No.” He looked doubtful. “I’m not,” I said again, but hell, even I wasn’t convinced. I blew o...

Banjo stood and crossed the room, coming to sit beside me. “Maybe you aren’t in love with him. Bu...

“None of this is familiar at all to you?” She tilted her head to one side and looked at the house again. “No, should it be?”

“None of this is familiar, Colt. Why would it be?” Fuck. She seriously had no idea.

“How would you even know that?” I laughed. “How? Because I lived right next door to you until you went away, Lacey. Unlike you, I haven’t blocked all that out.”

“I don’t remember it,” she said softly. “I knew I lived in Saint View. But not where. Every time I asked, my aunt and uncle said they didn’t know.” “How is that even possible? They’re your family? One of your parents’ siblings.” She shot me a dirty look. “Thanks for mansplaining what an aunt and uncle is, asshole. Lawson was my mom’s brother. They cut my parents out of their lives before I was born. Or vice versa. I was never really sure why. I didn’t know them at all before I came to live with them.”

She tugged at her earlobe distractedly. “Do you remember my parents?” I reached over and pulled her hand away from her face. “Sort of. You mom used to do that, too. Tug her ear when she was stressed out. We hid from her once, at the back of your yard, beneath some thick bushes. She didn’t know we’d dug the dirt out and could fit beneath them. I kept shushing you because you wanted to reveal our hiding spot.” “How surprising, you were a rule breaker even back then.”

“When we eventually gave ourselves up, your mom had almost ripped her ear off in worry. I couldn’t stop looking at the red blotch while she yelle...

I stared at her profile, taking in the high cheekbones and the pixie-ish slope of her nose that lifted slightly at the end. I’d teased her about it as kids. She wouldn’t remember that. But I had. I’d known exactly...

There was no forgetting your first love. And Lacey had been mine. At five years old, I’d loved her so fiercely I would have moved mountains for her if that sort...

And then she’d disappeared. All of a sudden, up and gone, and her name was never mentioned again. Until Aria won a scholars...

Realization dawned in Lacey’s eyes. “That’s how you knew my name. The man who rescued me from the ...

That was always the way with the two of us. I gave her shit. She gave me hell.

If this was all we had, if I went back home and cops had my house surrounded, then this would be enough. This one night with the girl who had owned my heart for as long as I could remember.

“What happened with Colt?” he finally asked. “We had sex,” I admitted, because somehow that seemed easier than the rest. Banjo kissed my shoulder. “Okay.” I twisted to look at him over my shoulder. “That doesn’t bother you?” He brushed his lips over mine before I sank back down into the pillow. “No,”

“You and Colt were inevitable. Nobody fights like the two of you do unless there’s sexual chemistry fueling it. Rafe and I both know that. But does being with him change how you feel about me? About Rafe?” I shook my head and felt the relief in his hold.

“How much of a scandal would it cause if I rocked up with both of them?” Jagger gaped at me. “You’re coming out as a threesome?” I raised a shoulder. She slammed her palm against the steering wheel and whooped in delight. “Fall Ball is going to be lit this year.”

“We doing this?” he asked. “Yep.” Banjo grinned. The three of us entered the decked-out gym together. And nothing happened. There was no sudden swivel of eyes. No ripple of gossip.

Aaron entered behind us. “Not exactly the commotion you were expecting huh?” “Uh, no.” “That’s good, though, right?” Jagger asked. “Guess you popped that cherry at your birthday party. I mean, compared to that, the three of you walking in here holding hands is pretty grade school.”

I choked on my laughter. “Would you prefer we made a real splash? We could always go at it right there on the dance floor.” Her eyes twinkled with mi...

Colt glanced between them. “Mind if I dance with your girl?” “Our girl,” Banjo said quietly, glancing to me for confirmation. “All three of us.”

Colt cocked his head to one side, then took a step in. “Is that what I am? One of your guys?” For once there was no scorn or sarcasm in his expression. And that gave me the courage to say what I really wanted. “Yes.”

But then Colt’s lips were brushing the shell of my ear. “Dance with me, Lacey. I want to show every person in this room you’re mine. You get that?”

It was as if the rest of the world disappeared, and it was just me and him, soaking each other in, holding tight, needing each other to breathe. I lost track of how many songs we danced to, with our arms wrapped around each other. But when he eventually grasped my chin and tilted it up, my heart ached. He lowered his head until his lips hovered over mine and my eyes drifted closed. My lips met his in an agonizingly slow kiss that smashed my heart to pieces. It was so soft, so unlike any of the other kisses we’d ever shared, it stole my breath. An ache tightened across my chest. This kiss wasn’t about taking what he wanted. It wasn’t about dominance or control.

There were unspoken feelings in that kiss that wrapped around my heart, pulling me into him, whispering secrets neither of us would voice. When the police stormed the building and dragged him from my arms, neither of us said a word. That kiss had already said it all.

I didn’t stick around to watch them all pile into Jagger’s little car. I got behind the wheel of Rafe’s and peeled out of the parking lot and hightailed it back to Providence like the Devil was on my back. Saint View High had turned into the pits of Hell tonight, so maybe he really was.