Just Drop Out (Hannaford Prep, #1)

by J. Bree

“So what do you have planned for Hillsong, then? What skeletons hide in his closet?”

“No explosion for Spencer. I told you, I'm going to end him.”

“Give me details. I need to know what I'm signing up for.”

“I'm going to beat him bloody until he needs a tube to breathe. Anything less and he's getting away too lightly. It'll be hard, but I'll stop myself from taking him out. I'm not sure you'll be able to keep your scholarship if you're aiding and abetting a murderer.”

“I can organize a cleanup crew if you want to kill him,” I whisper, a smile playing at the corners of my mouth. Harley smirks at me and straightens.

“We can talk about how you have access to one of those later, Mounty.”

“Don't ask me how I got this, and please don't start shit with me over it, just take it and forget this ever happened,” I ramble.

“I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner. I don't even have a reason, I just didn't. Like I said, please just forget I ever had it.”

“Lips, this is… I've been trying to get this back for years.”

He leans down and brushes his lips to my cheek softly. My eyes fall shut, and I struggle to stop myself from leaning back into his warmth. “Thank you,” he whispers into my ear, and then he disappears, closing my door quietly behind him and taking his heat and delicious smell with him. I feel gutted.

“Did you know that for the first time in my academic career here at Hannaford, I am sitting on a solid C in math? My dad called me yesterday and offered to buy me the Ferrari of my dreams if I get a B by the end of the year.”

“What are you two doing eating breakfast together? People will talk.”

“The Mounty has just offered to be my own personal tutor for the rest of the year. We’re going to be practically inseparable; doesn’t that sound fun?”

“I could’ve helped you. Why didn’t you ask?”

“No, you really can’t. What’s the problem, man? Avery’s lifted the speaking ban. Any other reason I should be staying away from the Mounty?”

“Just thought you’d be more afraid of spending that much time alone with your stalker.”

“Just get the extra credit work. I’ll help you during the tutoring sessions, but don’t talk to me otherwise.”

“You should have asked Blaise to pay you for your tutoring. He’s a millionaire and, someday, he’s going to be the sole recipient of a billion-dollar empire. You’re an orphan, Mounty, who has lost everything. There’s only a few weeks left of the school year. Charge him, say, a grand a week. That’s literally nothing to us.”

“I’m not being an arrogant asshole, I’m just stating facts. Avery dropped more cash on hair products this week than what I’m suggesting he pay you. It’s a business transaction. A legitimate one. You can replace all of your shit, and Blaise can stop moping around like a kicked fucking puppy because you’re being nice to him for no reason.”

“You’re going to be a man of business someday, Beaumont, and I’m here to help Blaise out with numbers. So, let’s look at some real world facts.”

“I have a full ride scholarship that covers food, shelter, and clothing for thirty-six weeks of my year, which leaves me with sixteen weeks to have to financially provide for myself. I have a hundred grand in the bank. At my current rate of spending, by the time I graduate Hannaford and move on to college, I’ll still have more than seventy grand in the bank. I will get a scholarship for college, full ride just like this one because we all know I’m that good, so that money is going to keep sitting in the bank. When I start out in the career of my choice, I'm going to hit the ground running.”

“I know that to you that amount of money may sound pathetic, but to me, and to most people, I’m set. Major, catastrophic disasters would have to happen for me to have to touch the money I’ve got. So, I don’t. Want. Your. Fucking. Money.”

So I now have two lists I’m compiling. One is an ongoing list of everything the Beaumonts can get away with, which now includes murder. And the second is a to-do list. I’m going to need to call in a favor.

“Who is his nephew? I can’t imagine an Irish mobster going to Hannaford.”

“Kid goes by his mom’s name. Arbour. Blond and blue-eyed like her, too. Apparently, he looks fuck-all like the O’Cronins.”

My heart stops. Harley. Harley is the mobster’s son.

Oh, did I mention I have millions of dollars’ worth of cut diamonds, all of the favors I’m owed, hidden in the safe under my floorboards? Yeah. My life is too complicated.

“Do you fuck gangsters and mobsters, Mounty? Is that why you won't fuck any of the upstanding students here? Does your pussy belong to a monster?” Blaise drawls from the floor. “Do you need the violence to get wet?”

Each of the twelve had a color assigned to them. If you were willing to pay another member in a favor, you had to have the cash to buy and hand over a diamond in the color you’re assigned. I have at least three in every color except my own. I have never given out a favor. I can’t afford to give out favors.

I rummage around until I find the three little red diamonds I’d been given by the Jackal. They are the rarest diamonds, and how he found and purchased three is beyond me. These are the only favors he’s ever given out and I know it’s because in his mind, it’s safe to give them to me. I’ll just give them back to him the moment he orders me to, when he owns me.

“It’s a double-edged sword. He might kill me because he left the family and I’m next in line to take over. A big fuck you to my grandfather if he does that, and if anything I’ve heard about him is true, then I think that’s how this will go. If Diarmuid doesn’t kill me, it could get back to my grandfather that we’re meeting up, and then the family will kill me. Either way, I’m fucked.”

“Are you going to take over the family business?” I say, curious.

“I’d rather fucking die. I will die when my grandfather figures out I won’t change my mind. I’ve made peace with that.”

“Do you trust me, Arbour?”

“Enough to be standing here,” he rasps back.

“Then keep your mouth shut, and I’ll keep you alive. I mean it. Not a single word.”

“Jesus, Mary, and fuckin’ Joseph, you’re growin’ up, kid!” I tug away from his arms and give him a small smile. His fingers press down on the perfect circle scar I have on my shoulder, like he always does. Even fully clothed, drunk, and blind, he can find it. It is his reminder and his penance. From the time he shot me. The bastard.

“Can you give us a minute, kid? I need to talk some business. Family business.”

“I’m afraid not. It’s come to my attention just how sought-after Arbour is.”

“I’m a fickle sort of girl. It brings me great joy to be able to keep Harley from those who want ...

“You bring my little nephew back to Mounts Bay and our mutual friend gets an eyeful of him? Blood and pain, little girl. Blood and pain.”

“It’s a thing of beauty, this. You know what it is, buachaill beag?” He waits until Harley finally shakes his head. “It’s a million dollars and a priceless fuckin’ favor.”

“Tell him I’m buying Harley’s life with it, too. The envelope alone isn’t worth that, and he well knows it. Tell him I’ve picked my first inductee, and when he has questions, he can call me.”

“My Da will come for you both. He’ll kill him for standing here and listening in on ...

“Liam O’Cronin can’t do shit to me. He knows it, I know it, and you should know it too.”

“Oh, I know it. I’m just making sure my little nephew knows it too. He looks a little green around the gills, is all.”

“I came here to have a little heart-to-heart with you about decisions you need to make, but I see you’ve already made them. It all comes down to this: if you don’t kill the old man someday for what he did to your Ma and Da, then I will. And if I don’t succeed, then your little Wolf here will do it for us both. She’s got one hell of a steady hand.”

“Call me when your tits fill in, kid, and I’ll show you how real men fuck.”

I roll my eyes and watch his taillights until they disappear completely. Then I turn and start to make my way back up to the dorms without looking to see if Harley is following. He’s going to rat me out to his friends. He’s going to hate me for interfering with his family’s business. There’re a hundred different things he’s going to do. I didn’t bet on him pushing me through my bedroom door and then kissing me.

“Are you a member of a gang?” he croaks, and I shake my head. “Did you just tell him you recruited me to your friend’s gang?”